Five Alive!

My oldest daughter turns 5 today.  FIVE!  How is that even possible?  Everyone tells you that time flies and to enjoy it when they are young, and I remember telling them that it was dragging by.  There were times that I felt she would never grow up and never really “treasured” the time, even when people told me to time and time again.  I felt like I treasured them, but many times I brushed those times aside.  I am not going to lie; the past 5 years have not been easy.  I have been overworked, lost sleep, sometimes bored out of my mind, adult interaction deprived and driven past a breaking point more times than I choose to admit.  While all that was happening, I also have been blessed beyond belief.  Little things that she and her sister have said and done have impacted my life so much.  Kids change the way that you look at the world. 

When I was younger, I went on a mission trip to Mexico while I was in high school.  I came back with my perspective on life completely changed.  I saw the poverty, the struggles and every day things that we take for granted in a new light.  When I had a child, my perspective on life completely changed.  I learned to enjoy the little things more.  I learned to enjoy grocery-shopping kid free, which used to be a burden.  I learned to enjoy making things from scratch and meals and having little hands help me.  Things that used to be burdens to me now became blessings because I had a different perspective on life. 

When we ask God into our hearts, and REALLY ask Him to be the Lord of our lives, we are changing our perspective on life.  It is like seeing the world through children’s eyes.  I love going places with my kids.  I love taking them to museums, parks or events where they don’t know anyone, and immediately, they befriend the kid next to them and start playing.  They don’t care if that kid is not “normal” in some way, shape or form, they don’t care what color their skin is, they just play with them- they are a new friend.  (Inevitably a fight breaks out at some point and time, but that goes against my point so we won’t talk about that.) 

Matthew 18:3 “Truly, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Think about the kids you know, maybe if we looked at the world from their point of view, things wouldn’t be so bleak and life wouldn’t be so terrible.  So to my big girl- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Thank you for changing my life for the better- I love you!