Bless you before you depart...

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.  Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so.  One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky, and want, more than all the world, your return.
-Mary Jean Irion



I have used this quote before - in my very first blog post ever.  I love this quote, and I need to be reminded of it from time to time.  We had our normal day today.   Nowhere to be, nothing to prepare for... just 'be'.  It was wonderful.  Owen and Colin ran around the house in just their diapers for two hours this morning.  They fussed and hit and pushed and shoved occasionally - yet it was all good.  They were tired, and rightfully so after a string of crappy, busy days with missed naps.  They went down for a nap right after lunch, and slept for four straight hours.  When they woke up, they were much more pleasant to be around.

Rylan and I enjoyed our four hour break by doing a relaxed stint of school work and calling it good.  She completed a math workbook and finally got to use the giant sticker for the last page.  We put it on the fridge.  She played with attribute blocks, built a mini dollhouse out of an empty Pampers box, drove her Barbie around and did Reading Eggs for a solid hour.

I sorted receipts, opened the mail, washed dishes, started a load of laundry, cleaned off the desk and got Rylan's first science lesson ready to go for tomorrow.  We had a very nice dinner, and played a dinner table game while eating.

Nothing of what I just wrote about was spectacular.  No pictures to share.  Yet, I too, want to bless this normal, average day before it departs...

I didn't have to nurse a sick child

I didn't have to worry about not having enough food to eat or clean water to drink

I had a safe home to enjoy my time in

I went about my day with the quiet assurance that multiple family members were only a phone call away if I needed them

My husband was working hard at a job he loves

My car was in the garage, if we needed to go somewhere

My computer connected me to my friends, my library, my bank, my world...

The sun was shining and a soft breeze blew all afternoon



When times get hard, don't complain and cry out "Why me??!!"  Just remember that there were plenty of normal days when it was just not your turn...