It's in the little things.
Isabel has been struggling with her prepositions lately. In her language 'to', 'for', 'from', 'at', 'in' ... they're all interchangeable. She grabs onto the big words, the ones she deems most important, then kind of stammers through everything in between. Lately, her loudest and most clearly pronounced mistake is in song: "Stand up! Stand up to Jesus!"
I can't tell you how many times we've tried to correct her. "No, honey, it's stand up FOR Jesus -not TO Jesus."
"I know, I know, Mama." She then starts another verse, rallying troops against Christ. She doesn't care much for those little words, but they hold a bucket of meaning.
Sometimes little things mean a lot. Sometimes we are so busy focusing on what we deem important we forget the meaning behind those little things.
Today my big struggle has been boredom. Both Ellie and Zach want my attention all the time. I'm not allowed to be a spectator or innocent bystander. No, I must get down and dirty with every game they imagine. Sometimes I love it. Today ... well, I haven't been lovin' it. We played for half an hour with a piece of ribbon. Then we ran back and forth from the couch to the stairs pretending one was a bus and another was a train. At each stop we had to be sure our seatbelts were fastened just long enough to unfasten them and start over. This went on for about an hour. The whole time my mind was filled with the thousands of other things I could be doing. I thought about the piles of laundry in the basement and the dishes in the sink. I thought about that bill I needed to pay and some notes to remember for a writing project. I remembered a deadline quickly approaching and a friend I promised to call. I was bored out of my mind playing with ribbon and invisible transportation. But you know what? Isabel and Zach had a ball! They guffawed big belly laughs and sang happy little songs. Their eyes sparkled in a way I haven't noticed in a while. These little ones are so important! Yes, that eye twinkle is a lot smaller than the pile of laundry calling my name. The giggles and tumbles and sweet imagination stories sometimes get lost in the big stuff, what I deem more important at the moment. But when I miss those little things ... well, I've missed all the meaning - haven't I?
My challenge to you: savor the little things. In giving little words of encouragement or a little smile; in those little, sometimes hidden moments of life we can find all the meaning.
I can't tell you how many times we've tried to correct her. "No, honey, it's stand up FOR Jesus -not TO Jesus."
"I know, I know, Mama." She then starts another verse, rallying troops against Christ. She doesn't care much for those little words, but they hold a bucket of meaning.
Sometimes little things mean a lot. Sometimes we are so busy focusing on what we deem important we forget the meaning behind those little things.
Today my big struggle has been boredom. Both Ellie and Zach want my attention all the time. I'm not allowed to be a spectator or innocent bystander. No, I must get down and dirty with every game they imagine. Sometimes I love it. Today ... well, I haven't been lovin' it. We played for half an hour with a piece of ribbon. Then we ran back and forth from the couch to the stairs pretending one was a bus and another was a train. At each stop we had to be sure our seatbelts were fastened just long enough to unfasten them and start over. This went on for about an hour. The whole time my mind was filled with the thousands of other things I could be doing. I thought about the piles of laundry in the basement and the dishes in the sink. I thought about that bill I needed to pay and some notes to remember for a writing project. I remembered a deadline quickly approaching and a friend I promised to call. I was bored out of my mind playing with ribbon and invisible transportation. But you know what? Isabel and Zach had a ball! They guffawed big belly laughs and sang happy little songs. Their eyes sparkled in a way I haven't noticed in a while. These little ones are so important! Yes, that eye twinkle is a lot smaller than the pile of laundry calling my name. The giggles and tumbles and sweet imagination stories sometimes get lost in the big stuff, what I deem more important at the moment. But when I miss those little things ... well, I've missed all the meaning - haven't I?
My challenge to you: savor the little things. In giving little words of encouragement or a little smile; in those little, sometimes hidden moments of life we can find all the meaning.
Labels: details, encouragement, parenting, play, sacrifice
1 Comments:
I remember so well when my son was three, playing "car" with him on his bed (a bed he never slept in, incidentally; it was only for playing on during the day). He was the driver, I the passenger. With me beside him, he reveled in pretending away, but when I said something to play along, he said, "It's only a bed, Mama." Boy, did I feel silly! Now this boy is no longer a boy, he's a young man. And I have no regrets--a mouthful to say--because I can say I was there for the little things. Looking back, they aren't little now. All that dirty laundry I left undone? Those things are out of date now, not to mention wouldn't fit anyone anymore! You're right, those chores don't matter all that much right now.
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