Thankful Thursday-Learning a Valuable Lesson

Do you have a great memory? You know the kind. A simple, completely unpredictable moment that presented itself in an uncharacteristic way, in an unexpected time, unknowing of the great effect that it would take on you, and the way it would grip your heart, and in effect your mind, forever? A moment that made you feel as though time all around you had stopped; as if you were in a snow globe that had been shaken by the chubby hands of a three year old, and although everything was moving in a blaze all around you, you couldn't see or hear a thing. And just as quickly as it begins, it ends. Your mouth takes a quick, sharp in-take of breath as your lungs remind your brain they haven't had oxygen in over a minute, and even in that moment of pure exhilaration, you know that in that one second everything is going to be different. That you are different. That you now have more than a moment to hold onto. You have a memory.

Although the story I'm about to tell comes from a post that I wrote on my family blog over 2 years ago, it was one of the above described experiences and changed my life. I'm so thankful for the lesson I learned from the eyes of a 2 year old and think about it almost every day. This was my moment...

***So lately I've been really trying to become better about just going with the flow of things and accepting that everything in my life does not have to be run on a schedule. There does not have to be a written script for everyday of my life and it's okay if everything doesn't go exactly as I planned for it to. Some days we have naps, some days we just play all day. Some days we do laundry and some days we let it pile up. Some days we make our little boy eat well balanced meals and some days he lives off McDonalds chicken nuggets and french fries. I've tried to be better about setting up my priorities in a way that what's best comes first (my family), what's better comes next (my church responsibilities) and what's good comes last (housework). So far it's working out okay and I seem to be able to balance things a lot better when I'm not trying to make everything a "best".

A couple days ago it was pouring rain outside (well almost everyday the past 2 weeks it's rained, but this one was a really good downpour!). We were coming home from running errands and it was already an hour later than our little ones usually goes down for a nap. We had been out all morning and I still had more errands to run once I put them down for naps before I had to be home that night to babysit for a friend, so I was eager to get him inside so I could be on my way to accomplish the next thing on my list. (BTW-To Do lists and I are becoming quite good friends) Mr. Sweet Love ran the baby girl from the parking lot to the porch by our house and I was left to bring our little boy. I put him down on the sidewalk so that he could walk because I was carrying armfulls of groceries. The second I put him down he was off, running the opposite way we needed to go and jumping in any puddle of water he could find (in his flip-flops!). I was yelling at him to stop and please come with me but he would just laugh and run farther away, thinking it hilarious that his mother was getting drenched, waddling after him with jugs of milk and chicken breasts. I finally just set the groceries down and ran after him pretty angry grumbling, "Why now?! I have too much to do!". Then right when I was about to catch him he jumped into a huge puddle of muddy water, totally splashing me, and started laughing so hard he fell down. I then had what you might call an 'Aha' moment because I realized what I was missing out on. I was focusing so much on this little event in my day that I was ignoring the big picture-and more importantly the importance of the big picture. Here was my little 2 year old boy, enjoying his life to the fullest. Begging me, without using words, to play with him. To enjoy the world from his perspective. To let go of the responsible adult in me and, for just a couple minuets, be a child again.

So I jumped in the puddle right next to him and sat down and laughed with him as the rain soaked us. Mr. Sweet Love came out and looked at us like we were crazy, but I just told him to go up and grab the camera. I wanted a picture that would remind me that sometimes it's more important to say "Why not?" than "Why now?"



And just a couple other pictures of his fun!






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This little one stayed nice and dry :)


He was SOAKED, and freezing!


But it was SO worth it!


Love this boy!


Thanks for teaching me a great lesson little one. I love you!***

Thank you for popping over for a visit today! Have a sweetly lovely day and remember to say, "Why not?!" :)