Sharing Popsicles

I had just handed out popsicles and come inside to warm up my afternoon cup of tea when I looked out the window and saw this...

I had to grab my camera.

Not because it was so great a picture or so special a moment, but simply because of the ordinariness of it. They were eating and sharing popsicles.  Do they know?  Do they understand the amazing blessings they are to me and to each other?  Do they understand the blessing of their friendship?  The lifelong friend who understands completely their heart, their inner make-up because he, too, was made of the same clay.  The only ones who will understand their pain when the inevitable storms come.

Daily they make memories, and I find it my duty to record them here so that one day they will see and they will remember.  Otherwise I fear we would all forget these days which seem to pass so quickly ~ like sand literally slipping through my fingers.  I am watching them grow.  And, occasionally, in the rush, rush, hurry, hurry of our everyday life, I catch a glimpse of a foot or a hand or a little boy chest beginning to resemble that of a man, and I am caught off guard.  Too fast, Lord, too fast!!

I was talking with a friend the other day who just sent her baby off to begin medical school.  And, she pointed out to me, as so many often do, that time will go by so fast I will not believe it.  "Before you know it, they'll be grown."  And, the long, physically hard days of having 5 young children will be but a memory.  

So, come Erik, let's make the memory sweet to savor!!

I desire for my children to remember their home as a place full of love, joy and peace ~ a place of surprises, laughter, learning, and best friends, a place that nourished their souls, a garden of fertile soil for them to grow into the men God called them to be ~noble and true. 

And, as I stared out the window watching them ~ laughing and talking, licking their own popsicles and then offering and trying their brothers' flavors, I was overwhelmed.  I watched their eyes watching each other, listening, responding, laughing, smiling, agreeing, and sometimes disagreeing.  They are building friendships that will long out last their mama.  Friendships that will shape them and hold them throughout life's storms.  Friendships ordained by God and deeply rooted in the rich soil of home.

It was an ordinary moment, little boys sharing popsicles, but I guess to me it was symbolic.  In their lifetime they will share so much more than popsicles...