Do you ever have one of those days where you just feel thankful, emotional, overwhelmed, and undeserving all together? We need to feel that way more often about the way God continues to bless us, but today I had a couple reminders of just how blessed I am. It was one of those "Indescribable" "How Great is Our God" days.
I dropped into Olivia's school to check on her for her first day back after the accident on the playground. I ate lunch with her and made sure she was feeling OK. We are so blessed to have her at the school where she is. I actually got a call from one of the secretaries the other day saying they were all praying for her after the playground incident. Hearing that after Olivia telling me how one of the teachers that was her teacher in preschool came over to pray for her swarmed my heart with gratitude. How amazing it is to hear people say "we're praying for your daughter in school". What a freeing and encouraging thing to know your kids are in a school that are open and excited about prayer. As I walked her in to school this morning and had people stop to ask how she was doing, I was so blown away by the kindness of others. Not only that, but I remembered one little important thing that I became so grateful for. Had Olivia fallen on the playground exactly 7 days earlier, she would have been all banged up for her school pictures. I know that sounds vain or unimportant, but it was a little thing I was thankful for. She is at the age now where she really cares what she looks like, and I know she would have been so self-conscious about having her picture taken with a swollen mouth, crooked teeth, and huge cut on her gums.
After I had lunch with Olivia, I was walking through the neighborhood where our church is, and decided to drop in the school where my mother-in-law works. I did this last week on a whim, but she had gone home early that day. Today, I thought I would surprise her and let her show Judah off to all her co-workers. It was such a treat for her. While there, we spent some time in a special-ed classroom where two students were playing. Both had severe disabilities, and one actually had a seizure while we were in the room. He must have them all the time by the way the teachers were reacting to it. My heart broke for that child. For his family. Judah was even trying to play with him a bit. My eyes welled up, and my heart cried out to God in thanksgiving for the health of both my kids. It shouldn't have to take seeing someone who's really sick or disabled to make you thankful for your kids, but sometimes we're guilty of taking our kids and their health for granted. I prayed the whole walk back to the church and thanked God for my beautiful, healthy, growing, and amazing kids. They really are the light of my life, and being a mom is the greatest gift in the world!
As I got close to the church (I'm still walking at this time), I decided to keep walking and just enjoy the nice, fall weather. The neighborhood where our church is really is my favorite at this time of the year. The trees are just absolutely beautiful! Each street I would cross over was the picture-perfect image of fall. Yellow leaves lined the sides of the road. Tall, gold and orange trees stretched to the sky and grew over to each other. It was just breath-taking! It sounds silly, but I seriously got emotional thinking about the artist God is. Amazing that he made everything from those magnificent trees to the blades of freshly cut grass on each lawn. I really just tried to take it all in, enjoy, and give thanks for the beauty that is all around us everyday. Again, another thing many of us take for granted most of the time.
So I may be hormonal, or just super-sensitive and emotional today, but these were a few of the things I felt blessed by today! God is amazing!
I dropped into Olivia's school to check on her for her first day back after the accident on the playground. I ate lunch with her and made sure she was feeling OK. We are so blessed to have her at the school where she is. I actually got a call from one of the secretaries the other day saying they were all praying for her after the playground incident. Hearing that after Olivia telling me how one of the teachers that was her teacher in preschool came over to pray for her swarmed my heart with gratitude. How amazing it is to hear people say "we're praying for your daughter in school". What a freeing and encouraging thing to know your kids are in a school that are open and excited about prayer. As I walked her in to school this morning and had people stop to ask how she was doing, I was so blown away by the kindness of others. Not only that, but I remembered one little important thing that I became so grateful for. Had Olivia fallen on the playground exactly 7 days earlier, she would have been all banged up for her school pictures. I know that sounds vain or unimportant, but it was a little thing I was thankful for. She is at the age now where she really cares what she looks like, and I know she would have been so self-conscious about having her picture taken with a swollen mouth, crooked teeth, and huge cut on her gums.
After I had lunch with Olivia, I was walking through the neighborhood where our church is, and decided to drop in the school where my mother-in-law works. I did this last week on a whim, but she had gone home early that day. Today, I thought I would surprise her and let her show Judah off to all her co-workers. It was such a treat for her. While there, we spent some time in a special-ed classroom where two students were playing. Both had severe disabilities, and one actually had a seizure while we were in the room. He must have them all the time by the way the teachers were reacting to it. My heart broke for that child. For his family. Judah was even trying to play with him a bit. My eyes welled up, and my heart cried out to God in thanksgiving for the health of both my kids. It shouldn't have to take seeing someone who's really sick or disabled to make you thankful for your kids, but sometimes we're guilty of taking our kids and their health for granted. I prayed the whole walk back to the church and thanked God for my beautiful, healthy, growing, and amazing kids. They really are the light of my life, and being a mom is the greatest gift in the world!
As I got close to the church (I'm still walking at this time), I decided to keep walking and just enjoy the nice, fall weather. The neighborhood where our church is really is my favorite at this time of the year. The trees are just absolutely beautiful! Each street I would cross over was the picture-perfect image of fall. Yellow leaves lined the sides of the road. Tall, gold and orange trees stretched to the sky and grew over to each other. It was just breath-taking! It sounds silly, but I seriously got emotional thinking about the artist God is. Amazing that he made everything from those magnificent trees to the blades of freshly cut grass on each lawn. I really just tried to take it all in, enjoy, and give thanks for the beauty that is all around us everyday. Again, another thing many of us take for granted most of the time.
So I may be hormonal, or just super-sensitive and emotional today, but these were a few of the things I felt blessed by today! God is amazing!
God must really be trying to speak to me about my kids. Just heard a pastor from Hillsong lost his 10-wk-old son today. They've had several heart-breaking losses too. So devastating!
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