Precious Moments

Its those four seconds out of every twenty-four hours that are so dynamic, so powerful.  Just four precious seconds can make a whole day that had previously been filled with endless hours and toilsome chores melt away.  Those can be the moments that make life and motherhood so precious and worth waking up to.

After a long day of coping with whiny, "trip-lagged" kids and a feverish hubby, all I wanted to do was to sit down with a cup of good strong 'joe' and some madelines and do nothing.  But as I'm sure other parents out there can attest to, its those last few minutes before your longed for break (where all the kids will be in bed and you get a little peace and quiet) that all hell breaks loose.  You can see the finish line, you can almost taste the coffee and cookies, feel the relaxation, but darn it if the little one doesn't wake up crying before the bigger one is asleep.  And when the little one is quiet, the bigger one has to pee or needs a drink of water, or sees a fly, or hears a noise, etc., etc., etc.  Aaagh!  "Would you please just go to sleep!"  I often feel like screaming.  But yet, within all of that chaos can be my precious little nugget of gold, hidden beneath all of the mess and my impatience.  

Tonight, as I put Elliott back in bed for like the fourth time and he was crying about why he can't just have a little sip of orange juice and won't I please lay down with him, we heard a pretty little tweeting outside the bedroom window.  

"Oh!  Elliott, did you hear that?  Maybe if you're quiet that little bird will sing to you again..."

That statement brought on a little discussion about a dead bird we saw on the pathway outside of our favorite Sunday lunch spot, Carmen's, a few months ago.  

"But what happened to that bird that died at Carmen's?  Where is he?"  Elliott asked.

"Probably in Heaven."  I replied a little vaguely.

"No.  But Jesus probably picked him up."  he replied. 

"Yes, He probably did." I replied, a bit shocked.

"But what if he went up into a tree?" he asked, worriedly.

"Jesus always knows where he is."  I assured him.  "And when you die, Jesus will come and pick you up and take you to Heaven."

"But why?" he asked.  And then before I could reply, he continued, "I just want to walk with Him.  How come Jesus won't just let me walk with Him?"

So...  Those were the four precious seconds that made my day.  (And after that, Elliott still got up out of bed at least ten more times!)  Care to share yours?