Choosing Well

About 4:30 am I heard my sweet girl from the other room, the kind of half-cry which alerts that the paci had gone and jumped ship. I stumbled into the room and silently told the night light off for not being enough for me to see. As soon as I flipped a switch and found her bedtime buddy, my middle girl-- the one who never cared much for a pacifier-- popped up. My heart sank a little.

"I'm hungry, Mama!" Then she started to giggle, which made the baby giggle and I thought-- well, why not? This is why I'm here, this is why we do what we do. This was one of the many chances I have every day to be a {albeit tired} stick in the mud or to be the kind of Mom I always hoped I'd be. Day by day I need to remember to ask for the grace to choose well.

We tiptoed down the steps and into the kitchen. I found some granola bars and we huddled up on the couch under the soft blanket I had given my Mamaw on her last Christmas Earth-side. We giggled some more, at Alysse's favorite baby doll that Maddie made dance, at the fact that we were getting crumbs all over the couch at the crack of dawn. We got up and sliced some strawberries, bananas... defrosted blueberry muffins and made a fantastic mess in the process.

Just like that we ate and I slipped Alysse back into her crib and she happily drifted right off. Maddie curled up between Joe and I and was soon fast asleep herself.

Memories.

Come morning I had a mountain of laundry that had taken two days to wash, dry/hang, and put away and I was determined to finish it. I also had a number of other projects that had piled up and they, too, demanded my attention I believed. The girls were all getting restless and wanted that attention, but I was busy. I filled up their water table with rice for fun, but they wanted me. Suddenly the house began to shake.

It took a few seconds to register what was going on-- an earthquake! Nothing too dramatic I am grateful to say, but still... an earthquake. We were all okay, but as the thoughts turned over in my mind, I was reminded... it only takes seconds for everything to change. Everything.

I dropped my agenda and grabbed the girls. Surveyed our "Summer Bucket List" and decided to finally make those shell creatures and starfish, which later morphed into mermaids and more. We gave the hot glue gun a work out. But it felt so good to create, to be together, to laugh over a project whipped up out of random bits of nothing and everything.

Memories.

Extra thankful for these chances realized this day to choose well.
~Katrina