Playing House

It's what they do on a regular basis, pretending they're "big". I did it as well, when I was their age, and the beautiful thing is, I had two sisters too. There's nothing like this kind of play that can draw me back to my own childhood of dolls and teddies, tea parties and fort-building. I wonder why we wanted to grow up so much.

Watching this scene play out before me, the giggling, the somersaults and politeness at tea, plummets me into memories of innocent days gone by. Days laden with three sisters climbing willow tree branches and swinging from "Tarzan" ropes, of diving board contests and towel-wrap fashion shows, of bedroom garage sales and trading stickers, of friendship pins and sneaking into each other's beds in the wee hours. Days before the divorce and re-marriages, long distance moves, trauma and bone disease.

I whisper prayers for these little ones of mine, for their carefree hearts and their pure, sweet minds. Protect them!, I plead to the only One who can. The One who held me in the dark when I cried myself to sleep as a little girl. The One who redeemed my adult life so I would know joy in the midst of aging, no longer innocent and unfettered by the world. Protect them and make them wise without the pain, I pray on.

But, is it possible?

Can we grow, change, become wise without pain? I pray they do, without holding onto sin, that they always look to the One who sees them now, pretending to be "big".

My children playing house without knowing the hardships of what "real house" might look like... praise God for His overwhelming blessings.

Gratitude:

604. the way they speak politely (sometimes with an English accent) when they sit down to "tea" with their dolls

605. how they suck on (dirty) icicles that hang from the deck

606. my husband's Sunday afternoon nap... finally getting to rest after 6 days of labour

607. how hope is real and good and so we wait for how God is going to move in our friend's life

608. for a shy but willing woman who shared her story yesterday with a large group of women... she asked in prayer first that God hide her behind the cross so that hearts could be changed by the way God redeemed her world... and they were

609. for an impromtu afternoon at the salon for haircuts for all my children and how it was so slow that day that my girls got pampered with their hair curled for free

610. how Oliver pushed the hairstylist in the chair and spun her round and round, her laughing and whooping it up

611. how God is taking care of the unseen for us... long-time prayers we cannot see the answers to but know He's working out His plan for our good

612. for a family with a vision for the arts... http://www.solideoballet.com/

613. for a preschooler and kindergartener who are always asking, "How do I spell...?"

614. for the ability to get back on the horse and begin another exercize program--so grateful for health

615. for how we can still smell "baby" in her eight year-old forehead when we kiss her... I'm convinced this is a little gift from God, reserved just for me :)