Heart Treasures

This morning was a busy morning: a 9:00 a.m. soccer game for Josiah (it was lightly raining during the game, but David and I gleefully sat on the sidelines to support our favorite player...I've caught a little cold this week so I know it wasn't a great idea to do that as far as my health, but there seemed no choice...oh, the sacrifices parents make for their children--and, almost always, the children are blissfully unaware of the sacrifices, as my own parents reminded me after dinner tonight!) :) -- and then a (free!) John Farrell concert with the boys and our friends Misty, Trinity, and Houston after the game. I had never heard of John Farrell before, but I was so glad we went. He is a talented, down-to-earth, kid-friendly singer/performer.

I know "precious moments" is such a cliche, but it seems perfectly appropriate to describe some of the day's happenings...
~ Josiah kicking a ball into the goal during practice, then running to the back of the line, then turning and blowing a kiss to me
~ Josiah waving "hi" to me while running during the game, then colliding with another kid because he was looking at me and not paying attention to where he was going
~ Josiah running off the field at the end of the game, and looking a bit anxious until he saw where I was...knowing that at that moment, I'm the most important thing in the world to him; and as he stretches his wings and flies, he still needs to run back to his mommy because his world still largely revolves around me
~ Josiah marching up to the front of the auditorium during the concert when John Farrell invited the kids in the audience to come up to sing the last song...Josiah went so confidently, without a bit of prompting from me...to see him singing "Love Grows" and acting out the hand motions was enough to bring tears to my eyes...love does grow; and when it's my love for that boy, it grows so high and wide I can't even contain it
~ Josiah saying, "Mommy?"...me answering wearily, "What?"...him simply replying, "I love you!"
~ Josiah giving me a bear hug at bedtime and holding me in that hug while he counted to 31, then him wanting me to hug him and count to 4 (for our ages)

When I read in Luke 2:19 that "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart," I think I understand that so much more fully now than I ever did before I had children. I know the day will come when Josiah won't blow a kiss to me while warming up before a sports event, so I cling to the beauty of these days before they flutter away in the winds of growing-up.