Small bright moments
Tonight I want to write something beautiful or profound. Unfortunately the events of today don’t seem to be lending themselves well to such writing. The day definitely had the peaceful spirit of a Sabbath, but I was busy with doing things and never had time for profound thoughts. It’s hard to ponder life and the eternities with a wiggly Patches in my lap, Kiki trying to snuggle on my shoulder, and Gleek making loud explosion sound effects while smashing a pencil through a piece of paper. And the cheerios, today they merely existed to fly through the air and land on the floor. All of this during Sacrament Meeting where I’m striving to not allow my children to prevent others from having profound thoughts. I’ve gotten compliments on how well behaved my kids are during church, which tells me that I’ve managed to keep the chaos below the “disturbs other people” threshold. That is good, but it is not the same as non-chaotic.
Sacrament Meeting was followed by filling in for Link’s Primary teacher. I actually kind of enjoyed that. 8 year old kids are old enough that they can actually think and respond to a lesson. I could direct a discussion rather than just show pictures and read stories. 8 year old kids are also young enough that they are still focused on bonding with adults rather than pushing toward independence. So I enjoyed teaching the class and wasn’t stressed by it, but it definitely did not provide time for me to think about anything but class and lesson management.
The post-church part of the day disappeared into some reading, a cat nap, and a ward potluck dinner. All of those things were pleasant and worthwhile, but again not something from which I can draw deep thoughts.
And yet I look back on the day … and it was beautiful. All through it are snatches and bright moments that shine in my memory and remind me how precious ALL of my days are, even the ordinary ones. Today Gleek flew high on the swing while I pushed her feet and she giggled her delightful giggle that sounds like bubbles in a pond. Today Patches and I had several very serious conversations about trucks and trains and colors during which he looked at me with his blue eyes and formed complex thoughts and put them into full sentences. Today I walked into the kitchen to discover that Link had invented another “new” food. He took a glass of milk and added cheerios then proceeded to eat them. Today Kiki who is not yet allowed to wear long dangly earrings came running up to me to show me how she’d made dangly earrings by spearing the posts of her small earrings through large rose petals.
Of such small bright moments is lasting happiness made.