The gift of an ordinary day....
Today my little guy turns 10!! It really is hard to believe how fast the time has gone and how many memories that the years can hold. So in true mommy fashion, I broke out the baby pictures! Jake and I sat on the couch looking through pictures and I cried. And Jacob, who has always been an "old soul" had mixed emotions about "never being in the single digits ever again"....he truly does get it honest.
"The gift of an ordinary day". I read this quote a while back and it has truly stuck in my heart and my mind. Sometimes the ordinary seems just that....ordinary. We get tired of doing the same old, same old day after day....pick up messes, cook, clean, laundry and all of those other ordinary things that just have to be repeated over and over again. But how different life is when our ordinary is shaken up; it is then that we miss it. Then we long for "normal" and our ordinary days and routines. But I don't want to wait for my world to be shaken up for me to appreciate my days. This doesn't mean that I never blow up and loose it or wish for a "day off" or a mini vacation. But this truth...the gift of an ordinary day.....surely gives me more patience and a more grateful heart and mind. It allows me to pick and choose my battles and choose what really matters to me.
My mom gave me the best advice a few years ago and she still reminds me of it now....one day I will miss the mess. And how true! I sat in Noah's room rocking him and looked at all of the baby toys in the floor and my heart knew that they would only be there for such a very short time until we would move those out and bring in new ones as he grows. In my living room there is a box full of dress up clothes, which rarely are actually in the box; they are normally all over the floor. My kitchen table always has crayons, paper and art projects going on. Often times my kitchen chairs will be missing and I will find them being used to make tents with blankets draped over them. And of course there are Lego's and army men and stuffed animals galore and laundry baskets full of clothes that have never made it to a drawer. But one day these messes will be cleaned up and I know beyond the shadow of a doubt I will surely miss them.
So today I am grateful for so many ordinary things. I am grateful for baseball gear at the door, shoes in a pile in the garage. I am grateful for little ones that wake up and need to be fed. I am grateful for sweet babies in pajamas and sippy cups. I am grateful for two little girls making a PILE of birthday cards for Jacob. I am grateful for the laundry because that means I have that many people here. I am grateful that I have to clean my table off every single time we want to eat because someone is always making something that requires crayons and LOTS of paper. I am grateful for Lego's and muddy boots. Grateful to pick up the phone and be able to talk to my parents. Grateful for my kids to have grandparents to call and say "Happy Birthday. I love you". I am grateful for my door chime that lets me know Jack is home. And I am so unbelievably grateful for birthdays because we get to celebrate the most precious, priceless thing of all....each other.
" Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom" ~Psalms 90:12
