I have made a goal to be more positive and appreciate the many blessings in my life.
On my first official day after making this goal, our day was not going very smoothly and I started to get really frustrated. I decided we just needed to go out and decided to take the kids to the library only to realize it was already late afternoon!
Exasperated, I said, “How did this day pass so quickly?!”
Elora looked up and said, “Because we are having so much fun.”
I think time stopped for a moment. We had done nothing extraordinary. School, chores, music lessons, a couple stern talks about being nicer to siblings and trying to do our best on school work…
Everything shifted after that. I could see how blessed we are. We sang a couple songs together, packed up our sand toys, and headed to the park close to home.
We enjoyed sand ice cream cones after feeling disappointed that someone threw wet sand on the playhouses we wanted to play in.
Worked together making rivers, mountains, lakes, dams, bridges, and tried to figure out how this whole teamwork thing goes.
Talked about why it is good to share when you have four buckets and someone else has none.
We found a ball we lost the last time we were here, got a little too dirty, had a couple tough moments, but more nice ones, found joy in working hard to clean the mud-covered slide, found ways to play so everyone could enjoy themselves, and let Marion wear her fancy new skirt she got from a friend to play in the sand.
Sometimes the tough moments and the messes are worth enduring so we can make memories, appreciate small moments, and remember that in the midst of the rough patches we are building a life that is beautiful.
