Monday, September 9, 2013

A multitude of blessings

Tonight I came home from getting my hair did around 8:40 and was immediately irritated. Xander was still awake and helping a frazzled David search for his phone which he had lost somewhere in the house. I could still hear Amelia Jayne in her room chatting with her stuffed animals.

My first thoughts were purely selfish and ugly. Somehow I kept them to myself (though I'm sure my voice and attitude gave away my feelings to both David and Xander) but God knows all my thoughts, so they weren't really hidden anyway. Those thoughts went something like this:
"I wanted some alone time when I got home!"
"Why are these kids still awake when they have to get up for school in the morning?"
"Why must I come home and put them to bed when I was expecting to have a break from the normal nightly ritual?"

But what I initially thought was an irritation turned into a thing of beauty.

I called David's phone and he found it.

I laid down with my tired son and I kissed his head, held him while he drifted off to sleep and prayed for him, telling him how much I love him.

I went into my daughter's room and her head popped up over the crib. She reached for me and I went in to pick her up. Her smile lit up the room. And when I picked her up she clung to me in a tight embrace. And I rocked her. And prayed for her. And held her little body in my arms and stroked her head and whispered words of love and sweet prayers to our Lord. And then she started playing with me. And we giggled. And then I became the responsible mama again and told her that we needed to go to sleep. And I sang to her and she laid her little head on my chest while I sang hymns and precious-to-me songs.

And I was reminded of what a blessing it is to come home to a house full of people I love.

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