A Week in Thought

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh excuse me please" was his reply.
He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't even watching for you."
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown
He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,
while dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said
"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled "I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em especially the blue."
I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay,
I love you anyway."
I said, "Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

Why is it that we treat the people we love the most and the people who do the most for us we treat the worse? Over the past week or so I have been reflecting a lot about how I have been living my own life and making a lot of changes regarding the decisions I make, the time I devote to things but most especially how my family fit into my life. Up until recently I think I honestly believed that family was *just another part* of life. Can you believe that? Just another part of life? That sentence makes me sick to think of. My family IS MY LIFE. I have decided that my life revolves around my family, my husband and my two little beautiful daughters that have been the Lords gift to me. The are my sunlight on rainy days. They are my nourishment when I hunger. And most important they are my joy when I am down.

I was just looking back over the last year. We have been in our new house for a year now and I have been reminiscing of sorts about how the first year has gone and what was hard and what was really fun etc. Then my thoughts ventured back through all the years of Nate's and my marriage. When Nate and I were first married we lived with my parents...literally in my old bedroom. After about 5 months we moved into my brother and sister's house and lived in what was a VERY generous situation for the next 5 years. Then last July we purchased out new home. After a very long year of trying to get settled I am just now starting to feel like this truly is our very own home in which we make the rules for "our" kids, we get to decorate for the Holidays, we can come and go as we please without fear of waking other children and so on and so forth. It is a feeling like no other. I truly feel like we are a family now. And one for which I am very grateful.

As I have been reflecting this past week or so I have been making lists (you all know how much I love making lists :) ) of Family Goals, Individual Goals and Personal Goals for myself and the rest of the family to work on as well as some ideas of things for us to get out and participate in with the girls. Overall this week of retrospect has me yearning for growth within my small (but very important) family. A family that means so much to me and yet often goes unappreciated. I love you all and thank you for all you do!