in this moment too, you are blessed.

I woke this morning in the dim light of an overcast day to a small child crawling into my bed and a puppy excitedly greeting her. My first thought was "too early!"...sleep has been scarce of late. Not because it evades me, oh no. When my head hits the pillow, I am away to dreamland. But when your head hits the pillow in the wee hours of the morning, the moment for waking always comes too soon.

Even still, waking can be sweet, when the things that greet you are beloved. My husband, up for work and smelling deliciously of cologne (just one more hug, darling, I want to breathe you in and melt a little more). Fall, which has suddenly appeared in gray and beautiful glory. That puppy, tail wagging in pure unadulterated joy. That small child, willing to cuddle with me in my still-sleepy state. A new day.

I'm glad for the chill in the air, finally, and I pull on over my bare legs the new polka-dotted knee socks my dear friend gave me. Rosalie laughs. "Yook, mommy, poke-a-dots! You silly, mommy." Silly? me? never.


Emma and Annabelle are up by this time, and our day truly begins. Breakfast, clothes, teeth-brushing, piano-practicing, a quick shower for me, bible and prayer time, and we settle in for school. As we work, gathered around the kitchen table, a breeze and the scent of rain to come blowing in through the open window, curly heads bent over books and crayons, I am struck by how grateful I feel. This morning has nothing "big" in it, no moment that would stand out to anyone else, no spectacular revelations. Just a steady realization all over again of these simple and astounding everyday gifts that are mine; a quiet joy to be found in the ways God has blessed me, in the graces of our commonly extraordinary lives.

I brush Annabelle's hair out of her eyes and take a sip of the tea that warms my hand. The drops dot the window as the rain begins to fall, calm and steady and beautiful, like the thankfulness that fills my heart and puts this smile on my face.

"how precious is Your loving-kindness, O God!... in Your light, we see light."
from psalm 36