While Texans always joke about the odd weather here, I think this winter is even more odd than most of us could ever expect. I call it winter loosely, as the middle son has been in sleeveless shirts, shorts, and sandals all week. I'm taking a moment now to jot down a couple of moments that have brought me great joy and touched my heart this week.I don't want to forget them, so here is the place I'll come back to look some day.
Yesterday, we had CC. The kids are all in the afternoon writing and grammar class that I teach. We had 8 students and 4 parents in the room and the temperature was high. I had not dressed for summer because it was January 31 and I hardly ever remember to check the weather forecast. By the end of class, I just wanted to escape the heat. Now, it's pretty common knowledge that I'm normally cold, so you can imagine that it was quite warm for me to be so miserable.
After class the kids and I walked to the car and this is where the moment of joy occurred. I dropped my bag in the trunk and turned toward the slight breeze in the air. It felt amazing! I stretched my hands up and said, "isn't this amazing. It feels so good." the kids quickly agreed. And then it happened. Out of nowhere, the girlchild raises both hands up in the air and begins to praise. She says, "thank you Lord for this beautiful weather..." and continued quite loudly. One of the boys yells out, "Amen" and the other joins in with a "hallelujah." at first I thought, "you silly kids" because I thought they were just kidding but just as quickly I realized they were totally serious. Immediately I thought, " why didn't I think of that?" and then, "thank you Father that they praise you so easily and unashamedly." Of course a lady that we didn't know happened to be walking to her car at just that moment, parked right next to us. The look on her face was a bit interesting. She wasn't really sure what to think.
The entire moment was a gift from God. He showed me that inspite of all my failures, my kids have learned one of the most important lessons in life. To praise Him in the small things, the everyday things; not just at church on Sunday, not just when major things happen, or prayers are answered; but when the weather is just right and the breeze is a welcomed respite after a sweaty writing class. Thank you, Father!
The second thing was just a silly conversation today. Again, it was a warm temp for February 1st. As we drove to our field trip the kids and I were discussing the weather. The girlchild was describing the fact that it's like summer during winter right now. I threw out a thought, "let's hope that this doesn't mean it will be winter during the summer." The youngest replies, "we'll call it swinter," then the girl says, "no, wummer," and I said, "bummer would be more like it." for some reason this entire conversation was so funny to all of us. I love the random silly things that we talk about. Especially because they are mixed in with some of the most meaningful conversations as we all learn to love our Lord and draw closer to Him.
