Little Surprises

Last evening, my son Joe came to me as I was working and asked if he could tell me something. I told him, "Sure!" and gave him my full attention. He then reported to me what he was working on  for "Duty to God" and gave me an action plan for things he wanted to do to make progress on his three goals. One of those things was to do "Acts of Random Kindness" (he likes the abbreviation ARK). He decided that one of his ARKs would be to roll in the garbage cans for his brother. I then challenged him to look around and find more things to do for others. It just warms my heart to see him earnestly working on self-improvement, his relationship with God, and his relationship with others.

I'm so grateful for Joe in our lives. He is such a loving and calming spirit in our home. He expresses love to all of his siblings and to me often. He's a hugger (a trait he inherited from me) and affectionate in other ways, too. When he gets out of the car every morning for school, we have this tradition, started way back when he was small. He used to draw a heart with his two hands and then point at me, meaning, I love you, and I would do the same to him. Over the years, his version had become just one hand drawing more or less a circular shape and then pointing at me. Because I knew what it meant, I never really questioned it. Then when school started this year, Johnny asked me a few weeks into the year why Joe always drew a "circle with a dot" when he got out of the car. I busted up laughing. In previous years, I had always dropped Joe off after Johnny, so Johnny didn't really see the evolution of this ritual. I explained that it was supposed to be heart, and that it meant I love you. Now all the kids (except Kelly who is too cool) do the heart thing. I hope they never stop!

When the kids get out of the car, there's a bunch of "I love you" and "Goodbye" and "You're in my heart forever" that takes place. Johnny says these things to me, but to his sister Laine's dismay, he rarely says it to her. This morning, when he got out of the car, he answered Laine's comments and told her he loved her, and Laine just glowed. She was so happy!

It's moments like these that remind me to be grateful for the joy and peace I am privileged to have in my life now. The first time I realized that my life was missing it was January (2005?) after Patrick and I split up the second time. I woke up a bit late and went running down the hall to be sure the kids were up and getting ready for school. I happened to be in socks and when I tried to stop, I slid partway down the hallway, and I laughed out loud. Before you know it, all of us were running and sliding down the hall in our socks. I realized it had been a long time since I felt happy enough to laugh out loud. I resolved at that moment that I needed to have more joy in my life, and be even more grateful for the blessing of the children in my life. I'm so blessed.