Thankful

This afternoon I had every intention of sleeping this illness off, but just as my opportunity to do so arose (i.e. school work was done and the baby was down for his nap) the big kids started playing outside with several neighbor kids. Now, I could have made them come in, but I just didn't have the heart to do that to them. So, I took pillows, a blanket, and my book to the bench on my front porch, made myself a nest, and tried to get some rest as I kept an eye on my kids.

We have some wonderful neighbors and a great neighborhood, and I am so very thankful for them. I really enjoyed watching my kids in the big neighborhood sandbox at the top of our hill getting as much wet sand to stick to themselves as they possibly could as they dug to the middle of the earth... or somewhere just as mystical. As I watched them, I tried to soak it in. This is what I have always dreamed of. A neighborhood full of kids that play together. Explore together. Dream together. Get dirty together. I am glad that I know to appreciate it - to not take it for granted. I have not always known such things. Life has thrown me a few punches that brings me to a place of appreciation for small things like this... and for that I am also thankful.

Within this "picture perfect neighborhood" moment, I also gained some perspective. I overheard a couple of the boys that my kids don't usually play with discussing if Bud Light was a drug or alcohol. I observed one little boy whose dad passed away 2 years ago - almost to the day - and wondered about the hole that was left in his heart. I reviewed the stories that my kids told me of being cussed at yesterday while they were playing at the sandbox and some older boys invaded. I was reminded that the outside of a person or a situation means nothing. It is what is on the inside that is real - the inside of our neighborhood, the homes in it, and the people that live here. I was reminded of how thankful I am that my kids are usually sheltered from the big bad world and hopeful that I will get to gaurd them from it a while longer. All the while letting them slowly see what is really "out there" and challenging them to be true to the values that they hold no matter who they are around.