SIMPLE GIFTS

SIMPLE GIFTS

Tonight was a night of simple gifts.

I came home to folded laundry piles and dinner on the grill.

While I was cleaning up after dinner, we had the front and back doors open. The breeze was fresh, and our home felt light. My youngest, a gift giver, brought me a flowering branch.

My middle child asked me to come see the beautiful blooms on the tree.

I went for a short run with our lazy dog. (The majority of the run was spent tugging him and begging him to pick up his feet.) We finished our run at a local park where the rest of the family was playing.

I watched my youngest perform a “dog show,” my middle child roller-blade, and my boys play basketball.

Back at home, I cuddled between the girls with a couple books. My son said, “Can you snuggle me tonight?”…. and I did.

We were present, and we were alive. The sun was shining, and so were we.

As my little ones were drifting off to sleep, I knew this night was a gift. It is so rare when the world slows and we are just us together. It will not be long before the stretching and growing of youth will pull my young ones on, but tonight was ours.

I am so very thankful for simple gifts.