Peace

This week our routine has been a little off and we are all a little stressed out about it. We had too many places to be and pushed ourselves too hard. Consequently we were all a little grumpy last night. But instead of the expected response, we had the best evening home we've had in a long time.

We sat down to dinner and instead of gobbling our food as fast as possible we ate slowly and actually talked. Charlie had gone to the movies with Grandpa and had lots to say about it. We slowly cleaned up the kitchen while enjoying each other's company. Chad had hurt his back earlier in the day so he went to soak in the tub. After a few minutes I realized I didn't know where Charlie was. I found him in the bathroom sitting on the clothes hamper eating a chocolate chip cookie. Chad was listening to Chuck Swindoll so Charlie was, too. It was very sweet. The two of them stayed in there for the whole radio sermon.

I was sitting on the couch reading a parenting magazine I had gotten in the mail when Henry climbed up into my lap with some books. Charlie grabbed some books of his own and we read for an hour. After Henry went to bed, Charlie and I continued to read and talk and we ended up talking about heaven. It was the sweetest conversation we've ever had. I wish I could replay the conversation but I feel I wouldn't be able to do it justice. The greatest part was in the end when Charlie decided he wanted to sing. He sang all the Sunday school songs he could think of and tried to act them out as he was singing. I couldn't help but watch with wonder as his natural response to our conversation about Easter, Jesus, and heaven led him to want to sing praises. It brought tears to my eyes even in the silliness of songs like "Fishers of Men".

I'm so thankful that the Lord brings peace to our hearts even when we are busy filling them with stress. And I'm thankful for the reminders he shows me through my children. Have a wonderful Easter weekend.