The sweet things in life

I have been really learning a lot how to enjoy the small everyday moments with my kids, the wake up early in the morning and jump in our bed moments, the crying in the night and needing to be rocked moments, the needing to be held right now moments, the I just want you to read me a book moments. These moments are precious, they are flying by.

I am so grateful for fresh perspective. And a lot of that starts with prayer. I am finding myself sleepily offering thanks to the Lord at 4am while I rock a restless baby back to sleep. I smile instead of groan when little feet come padding into my room before the sun comes up wanting to "cuddle" in bed, which really results in giggling, bouncing, and talking. I cherish those moments of little voices asking questions and innocent hearts that need to be treasured and directed.

I know I still have a lot of growing to do and I am thankful that I am ever changing, moving more toward the mother I desire to be. There are moments that I certainly feel overwhelmed, guilty, and out of control. I respond harshly or forget to add a measure of grace to my discipline. I just flat out fail at making the right choice under stress. I feel disgruntled rather than blessed, stressed out instead of at peace.

Praying through my day opens my eyes to more of the little blessings. It allows me to see the power of grace in moments of chaos. It gives me strength to change one more diaper, clean up another spilled drink, or fish toilet paper rolls out of the toilet. It allows me to feel at peace in the middle of the night when I hear my children crying, or when I don't get that break I so longed for in the day. It awakens my soul to the beauty that is developing before my eyes, to the amazing revelation of God's goodness that is constantly before me.

My prayer is that my focus may always be on what is eternal, that my heart would be tender towards my children, that there would always be time for one more story, one more hug, and one more kiss. That I wouldn't base my reactions on feelings, but strive to put God and my children first. I want to look back on these years and know that I didn't just rush through them trying to get everybody potty trained and off to school. I just want to be in these moments...really truly in them.