I saw great acts of courage, loyalty and comradery tonight.  All from seven year olds.  

It all happened at a birthday party.  

I was enjoying a conversation with a friend when all of a sudden another mother scurried past me and said: "I think Chloe got hurt."

I immediately rushed over to check on my baby.  By this time a crowd had gathered.  She emerged from the inflatable with tears streaming down her face.  And boy did she have one fat upper lip.  Bless her.

The group was buzzing, all at once telling the story of what had happened.  Finally I was able to hear Chloe tell me what happened.  

A little boy, not in our group, had run into my girl's face, head first.  

She explained to me what had happened.  The funny thing is, is that the emphasis was not on the collision.  

The emphasis was this:  "After he ran into me, he looked back at me and saw I was hurt and he 

DIDN'T EVEN SAY HE WAS SORRY!"

More tears flowed, but not because of the fat lip.  

The entire group couldn't believe he had not said he was sorry!

We went and got ice from the concession stand and she sat with me for a bit.  She kept saying: "he didn't even say he was sorry."

I tried to explain to her that not everyone is taught manners.  

A couple of minutes later a couple of boy classmates came over to check on her.  

They wanted to know who did this to their friend.  

I couldn't help but snicker when I watched the two boys discuss how they would handle this.

They wanted to know the shirt description.  

Chloe told them he had on a yellow shirt and pointed him out.

I was beginning to think I was on some first grade crime show because they were going to get to the bottom of this.  They were going to get him to say he was sorry.  The two little boys ran off saying: "oh, I know which one it is." 

I have to say, I love how this little group sticks together.  

I saw it firsthand tonight.    

I think these sweet children have a special bond.  They will travel through each grade together, unlike other schools.  One class per grade.  Small classes.  I love this.

I love how they've been taught to love one another.  

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.  For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" ~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

I think of her sometimes.  Especially today.  I wonder what she is like.  I wonder what she is doing.  I wonder if she has other children.  I wonder if she ever thinks of my girl. 

I want to tell her how much my girl is loved.

I want her to know how sweet my girl is, how smart she is.  

I want her to know how beautiful my girl is.   

I want her to know how funny my girl is, how she loves to play jokes and how she loves to play games.  

I want her to know how she loves fruit and grapes are her favorite and how she likes the edges cut off the bread.  

I want her to know how she's good at most everything she's tried.  She's a great dancer, but an excellent athlete.  

She's very strong.  

Now, when I hug her, I barely have to lean over she's gotten so tall.  

  

I want her to know sometimes my girl talks so fast her words run together.  A trait she seems to have picked up from her daddy.    

I want her to know how sensitive she is.  

I want her to know my girl's daddy reads the Bible to her every morning and I read it to her every night.  How, when I finish reading, I have to rub her back, arms and face before she can go to sleep.  

Sometimes, I wish I could meet her.  Other times not.  I'm insecure.   I would be too afraid.  What if my girl wanted her instead of me.  Silly fear some might say, but real nonetheless.  

I don't think on these things very often.  If I did, I'd go crazy.  

  I am thankful to have been part of God's plan for my girl.

She is a miracle to me.   

I love being her mama.   

So today, I'll just trust that she knows, the girl she gave birth to is thriving and is so loved and how very thankful I am to have her.  

Happy Mother's Day!  

After one failed attempt to release the frog (I say frog singular, because the other two disappeared), we finally pushed our frog off the lily pad.  We tried last Friday but my baby talked me right out of it.  "They won't survive" she said.  "They're too small to make it on their own."

We loaded them back up and brought them back home.  I'm a sucker for animals. 

 To make myself feel better, I talked with an environmentalist last Saturday.  She was showing reptiles and amphibians at the weekend River Fest here in town.  I jokingly asked her if she "took" frogs.  She said she didn't but inquired about my question. I explained our "situation."  

She very seriously (with a smile) said: "You have got to let them go.  They are going to get big."  

Don't get me wrong.  I have enjoyed raising these frogs more than my daughter.  I have been a bit of a worrisome frog mother, so to speak.  I have checked on them every day.  I have been intrigued by their transformation.  I mean, it's pretty amazing that just a couple of months ago they were swimming around like fish.  

I remember getting so excited when their back legs popped out.  It wasn't long that we saw front legs.  Then, just as God orchestrated, they crawled up onto the rocks to breath air.  It is miraculous, really.  

This is crazy, but I'm a bit sad.  No more frogs on the front porch.  I can only hope the two that disappeared will make it.  Maybe one day we'll see them in our front yard.  Who knows?

We picked a spot at Berry, across from the water-wheel.  We walked down a good 40 yards away from any hiking traffic and said our goodbyes beside the creek.  I took a few pictures.  

I know we picked a great spot because as were watching him sitting still, checking out his new "home", a little salamander scurried by.  

Froggie Hansard is in the center, salamander is top-right.

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”  So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”  And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

Genesis 1:20-23

I've been reading a lot lately on good mothering.   I have been challenged and have vowed to make it a point to  do better.  I don't want to miss anything.

After arriving home from work tonight, I was enjoying a conversation with my husband when we heard a big crash in our baby's room.  I then heard a big sigh.

As I was walking through the hall heading to her room to find out what had happened, I heard  - "Mama, can you help me?"

We picked up what seemed like 1000 legos then she found a new gift from Christmas that had yet to be opened and asked me: "When you get done doing whatever it is you're going to do, can we do this?"  I answered with a very positive yes.

We laid in the floor making bracelets out of candy wrappers.  I had so much more to be doing around the house, but chose to be with her and focus on her and boy did I get rewarded.

She reached in her backpack for an early Mother's Day gift.
Words written on her hand-prints. 

It reads:

You love me.

Bake cookies and cupcakes and brawnis (brownies) and cakes.

Takes me plasis. (Takes me places)

 Cars about me. (Cares about me)

Rids to me. (Reads to me)

These are five things she loves about me. 

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children."

~ Charles Swindoll

  

God wanted us to have you

Our girl had a hard time falling asleep last night.  After a full day of triathlon competition she came home and napped, making it hard for sleep to come when bedtime arrived.  We went into her room last night for Ben to do his nightly prayer and out of the blue: "Mama, why didn't you have a baby out of your stomach?"  It's funny the timing of questions.  I had no idea this was on her mind.  I thought we'd discuss the race, the swimming, the fun weekend, anything but this.

I looked at Ben, and he at me.  He jokingly said: "We're waiting..." I thought for a second of what direction I was going to take this conversation.  I explained how daddy couldn't have babies when we got married.  "But why didn't YOU have a baby out of your stomach?"  Well, I explained, it takes a mama and a daddy to have a baby.  Knowing this was going to get a little heavier than we wanted, Ben chimed in and said: "God wanted us to have you!"  He always knows the right thing to say at the right time.

That seemed to satisfy her.  Thankfully.  

I've been thinking about his comment and my feelings yesterday while cheering her on.  There was something special about running along side her while she was competing.  I thought of how my parents must have felt when my sister and I were young.  My parents were there for everything we did.  They never missed anything.  They were our biggest fans. This is the kind of parent I want to be.

"God wanted us to have you."

We are her biggest fans.  God put her with us so we could cheer her on.  The role of parent is so important.  I take my job very seriously.  And, yes, I know the most important thing we can do is teach her about the Savior.  My # 1 goal is that she will be a follower of Christ, to live for Him and glorify Him with her life.

These precious moments like yesterday must just be icing on the cake.

"The voices of childhood echo throughout life.  The first learned is generally the last forgotten."

~ Charles Spurgeon

2nd Triathlon

Today, our baby completed her 2nd Triathlon.  I'm amazed that she is only 7 years old and can do this.

This morning before the race I heard her in her room.  She was talking so I stepped in to see who she was talking to.  She was in her floor playing with barbies.  I thought to myself, she is still a baby.  She was about to do a triathlon in a  few hours but it didn't seem to faze her.  I felt enough nerves for the both of us.

Parents were told we could not enter the pool area for the swim.  We were told we could watch from windows above the pool area.  As the time approached, I saw other parents down there.  Now, I'm not a rule breaker.  I try always to follow rules but if other parents were down there that meant this mama would get to go too.  Ben remained in the designated area, I went down to the 'restricted' pool area.  :)

I saw her start, swim 50 yards, then climb out.  She looked tired.  I cheered for her and followed her to the transition area where she jumped on her bike.  Ben and I then raced to the road to see her.  Ben continued out of site while I stayed back close to the transition area so I could cheer her there.  When I saw her coming back in sight I dashed back to the transition area where she jumped off her bike and hit the road.  I ran along side of her for as a long as I could.  This was my favorite part.  I ran beside her talking to her the whole time. She stayed really focused and kept her eyes straight forward.  I told her to keep a slow and steady pace.  Ben had told her not to sprint until the finish line was in site.  He knew she would tire quickly if she started sprinting at the beginning.  As the road came to an end for me, she had to continue on without me. Unfortunately, parents can't do the entire race with their children. ;)  I told her to keep it steady and I would see her at the finish line.  Come to find out, Ben found a way to run about a quarter mile with her.  He said there were other nutty parents on the trail too.

While I was running along side her, I had the greatest feeling.  I kept thinking, this is the girl that God gave us.  He plucked her from around the world and gave her to us.  He gave her to us so we could encourage her, so we could cheer for her, so we could love her, but most importantly so we could tell her about Him.  I just can't believe how blessed we are to have her.

Exiting the pool

Transitioning from bike to run

The finish!

The post-race banana

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

C.S. Lewis