Full Circle

There is something to be said for a quiet home. And, since ours is a very active home, the only time it is truly quiet is when we are gone or most of the occupants are asleep. This afternoon it is the latter. . . Joshua and JCT are napping away, and I am enjoying peaceful music, an ice-cold glass of water with lemon, and a blank computer screen beckoning me to fill it with words. Tranquility. Thank You, Jesus. Because it is not always tranquil here. . . There are boys who argue, who too often fall or bump heads, and there is a mommy who is often tired, moody, and just plain easily irritated. And, it is in times like these, the tranquil moments, when I regroup, gather my thoughts and emotions, and get focused once again on what truly matters.

And, thinking about what truly matters, makes me think about my little Elijah growing and kicking inside of me. I am 34 weeks pregnant with Elijah. In a matter of weeks, my family will once again change. And, I will learn to juggle one more ball. I keep thinking about him. It is as if he could come any day now. . . and, I keep reminding myself that it will be a little while still. But, I am eagerly awaiting the day when I can hold him in my arms with his little newborn tree-frog legs and tiny baby feet.

Today as I put Joshua down for his nap, I layed down with him to sing him a song. I don't know why, but I love to lay beside him and play with his hair and his ears while I sing to him. So, I lay there and sang "I love you up to the moon" by Kim Hill. I have sung this to him since he was a newborn with tree-frog legs and baby feet. There is a line in it that I could never sing to him without crying when he was a baby. It says, "And, one day if you rise up and call me blessed, I'll say it was a joy to give you my best." Oh, that line used to get me everytime, and it still does from time to time. So, today as I sang to him and played with his soft red hair, I thought about how it truly seems like yesterday that I sang this song to him and kissed his newborn head. I could almost smell that newborn smell. And, Joshua just stared at me with eyes heavy, and my heart swelled. I told him every reason under the sun that I was proud of him and thankful that God gave him to me. He's not my baby anymore. How does that happen so quickly? I can't even recount how many mothers have told me to "enjoy these days. . . they grow up so fast." I am beginning to see the truth in that.

On another note entirely, but I wanted to mention it because it made me smile. Last night when I went to the church nursery to pick up Joshua and JCT, Julie took me aside. Julie is the head of our church nursery. She is always in the nursery, always. She is our children's constant and a blessing beyond measure!! She also keeps my boys on Fridays to give me a little time to work around the house, go to doctor's appointments, etc. Anyway, she had a young African American girl helping her last night. She said that JCT walked right up to Shodra and very plainly asked her,

"Are you chocolate?"

You may think my children never leave the house, but this is not true. JCT even has 4 African American cousins. Someday I will dedicate an entire post to my sister who has 8 children (4 of her own and 4 adopted). So, I am not sure why JCT was surprised by her dark skin?? But, the comment tickled me, nonetheless.

And, on that note, I am going to post one of my favorite new pics. This is Joshua and Kyleigh, my sister's youngest daughter.

Well, I hear JCT crying, the phone is ringing, and Rain just let out a little bark. The tranquility is about to give way to the activity of life once again. And, so we have come full circle, and I guess that is a good place to end.