The simple things
I spotted her in the grocery store today, a new mom struggling to check the items off her list as she attempted to comfort her squealing infant. When our eyes met, I wondered if the tears pooling in her baby blues would soon make a beeline for her chin. I grabbed the infant carrier from her cart and rocked it like a hammock while the young mom excavated her wallet from the ten-gallon diaper bag flung across her shoulder.
“Kids make everything so much harder,” she confided as we pushed our grocery carts to the parking lot together.
“They can turn life upside down,” I agreed. Once the baby carrier had been safely strapped into the car, I gave the sweet young mom a one-armed hug and promised to pray for her in the weeks to come.
Without a doubt, children complicate life. Decisions that were once made with only our own needs in mind become multi-dimensional as we consider the many facets of family life. Routine tasks become difficult when little hands insist on “helping.” And marriages once focused on romance and play become training grounds for selflessness and perseverance. Yes, children complicate things indeed.
But the great paradox of parenthood is this: if we allow them to, children have a miraculous way of drawing us back to the simple joys of life. 
They open our eyes to butterflies in the garden, to mudpies in the rain, and to pictures in the clouds. They tune our ears to laughter, to bird calls, and to the chatter of squirrels in our backyard. They open our arms to snuggles, to cuddles, and to hugs that seep into the soul. 
Today, why not celebrate the simple things with your children?
Don’t worry, they’ll show you how. Set your agenda aside for a moment and follow your little ones’ lead. Toss a rock into a pond and listen to the musical plop. Catch a bug in the grass and count its tiny legs. Watch the garbage truck munching trash and applaud its grungy might. Walk barefoot. Run for the sheer thrill of running. Jump and skip because you can. Sing at the top of your lungs. Pick dandelions and leave them on your neighbor’s doorstep. Savor the simple pleasures of childhood and thank God for inviting you into His Kingdom through the gift of childlike faith.
Today’s Overflow: And(Jesus) said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 18:3
Yes, I love this! I’ve thought so many times about things I would never be doing if it weren’t for my Mason–making up songs about bowling and locomotives at bedtime, realizing the incredible features God built right in to the plants and animals he created, skipping along the sidewalk, riding my bike in circles on the driveway, noticing simple beauty, being excited over big tires. I hate to think what I’d be missing without him and am so thankful to God for the reminder to enjoy the simple. Lord, help me take time to notice!