Happy in the dark

I put my children to bed

and made myself a cup of coffee.

I smiled as I realized

that I don't really need cream,

it is honestly only sweetener I'm after.

It's funny,

but I don't even know why I started putting cream in my coffee.

I don't know if I needed it at one time

or if I just assumed I did.

It's odd that sometimes

we carry on routines

and don't even know the how

or the why behind them.

While the origin of my coffee add ins may remain a mystery,

my trips to my swing are not.

My swing,

is the place I go to wind down,

to consider my day.

As I sat there tonight

and looked at my piece of the world,

I had to smile.

My son was peaking from his window

and as I peered up at him,

I felt happy.

This evening,

as my family sat watching a movie,

my little son sat beside me.

His looked at me and kissed me.

I asked him if he was my little guy

and he enthusiastically nodded and signed yes.

The entire night he sat

and cuddled,

laughed

and giggled

and just generally

wanted my attention.

He's been sleeping a bit better

and today

when his sister beamed him in the head with a plastic fish

and was punished,

he grinned.

He looked at her with such a typical sibling look

it was,

for a moment,

hard to imagine

that he wasn't just a normal pesky brother

happy his sister was reprimanded.

From my swing I watched him,

sitting in the darkness,

letting my mind wander...

above my head there was a streak of light

and for a moment,

just a moment,

I almost thought a shooting star had passed me by.

Then my eyes realized what I'd really seen,

and I smiled

and mused about catching a few of the blinky bugs

that were gracing the evening sky.

Now here I sit,

looking at an Eiffel Tower tattoo on my arm,

a prize for a successful scavenger hunt at the local art museum today.

I realize,

as I think over the things that concern me,

that some of my worries are different today

than they were a year ago

while some remain the same.

More to the point...

I will always have things to consider.

That is just life.

But,

here I sit,

with a tattoo,

a tummy full of coffee,

a yard full of flying starlight

and I know...

yes I KNOW...

I am blessed.

This night,

think with me,

count the wonders that surround you,

just for a moment set down your burdens.

I pray that in the week ahead,

that you and I,

that we,

will be able to keep the calm peace we feel in our personal refuges.

...Better yet,

I pray that we remember that the One

who made those twinkling bitty bugs...

will always love us...

will always walk with us...

He is better than my swing...

You can run to Him when it is raining...

and your seat won't even end up wet!

May you,

be blessed.

This night and forever.