Sweet dreams, darling

My daughter just repeated back to us tonight, "Sweet dreams, nite nite, I love you!" at bedtime (the "I love you" was the best part since she rarely says it and this was as clear as day).  She is growing up soooo fast.  Next month, when she turns 2, I just might cry at her birthday party.

Don't say I didn't warn you.;)

"Dodging bullets"

Wow.  Do you ever have to just THANK THE LORD for not giving you your way sometimes? I mean, just think about one time (or many) where He may not have allowed you to get a job you really wanted, to date a person you really desired, or to get some place you really wanted to go.  Now think about the path having that thing would have led you down.  We always like to think that we would have been richer, happier, or just plain better off because of it, but that is so not necessarily true.  That dream job that you applied to and so DESPERATELY needed to have two years ago that would have been the end to your money problems forever?  That company just decided to lay off every new employee they hired since, get this, two years ago.  That person who would have made the PERFECT boyfriend/girlfriend?  Just cheated on their current love.  That place you didn't make it to because you got lost/was running late/accident on the road kept you from making it?  There was just a shooting there.  Some people may call all of these instances "dodging a bullet" or a "coincidence", but really it is so much more than that.

God sees the future (not to mention the past and present).  We see the present and what our future could POTENTIALLY look like, but God sees what it IS and what it can/will be.  So praise those moments that do not come into fruition, because sometimes, most of the time, it is because God is choosing to bless us with a better course of events in our lives.  

Lead Me

I was reading this blog today and it really made me think (she definitely has a way with words).  She speaks about how her son wanted to desperately play a game with her and she told him that she would play with him a little later.  Meanwhile, he was preparing the table for the game when he accidentally spilled milk.  She got after him and he went up to his room and cried.  She went up and apologized to him and he told her he loved her.

Our sweet little girl has gotten into the habit of coming to us, taking us by the hand whereever we are in the house, and leading us to where she wants us to be.  While sometimes I am in the middle of something, I always allow her to lead me away...now.  I made a mistake when she first started trying to lead me away and she let me have it.  I now understand that it is important to her, even if it is just leading you to watch a cartoon with her.

Sometimes you need someone to lead you.  Lead you away from the dishes in the sink.  Lead you away from the computer.  Lead you away from your phone.  Lead you away from the laundry.  She is more important than all of that and more.  Whatever she is leading me away to may not seem very important to us at the time, but it is very important to her.  The time spent watching her favorite cartoon with her is quality snuggling time.  The time spent coloring with her is quality educational time.  The time spent outside with her is quality exercise time.  These are all moments of time that we will never get back.  So cherish them.  Each and every day.

So go ahead, my sweet little girl, lead me to something great.:)