Rejoicing in Our Little Ones

Just look at that smile!

I just spent a good half an hour with tears slipping down my cheeks as I read the blog of a girl whose six-year-old daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting last December. We share the same faith, and therefore the same understanding of why we are here on the earth and how our families can be together forever. Reading her words, even as she processes her grief, is uplifting and inspiring to me. I pray she can heal and continue to find happiness and joy among the sorrow. Although I cannot come close to really knowing how she feels, I can imagine how it would feel to lose one of my daughters and the thought alone makes my heart break. I'm sure it is really so much worse.

I don't share this to be a downer. I feel that when the Lord commands us to "mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:9), he is giving us the opportunity to expand our abilities to understand and care for others and lift their burdens. To carry a tiny bit of their sorrow with our tears and prayers and compassion. Reading this blog tonight made me want to look at my adorable little people and rejoice in them, which is probably the most important thing we can do for those we love. It can be so easy to get caught up in the mechanics of life, the things-that-must-be-done, and we all know that doing so can make it hard to treasure up the most beautiful (and much more important) moments.

Every day I try to really think about the amazing little people I am blessed to spend my days with. They are so good and kind and compassionate and funny and fun. It is really a delight to be with them and to be their mom, even though there are tantrums and frustrations on all sides. I see them at their most vulnerable and I understand them better than anyone else in the world, and for now they trust me more than anyone else in the world. It's a good place to be. And I know that we all have more fun and feel happier when I purposefully try to engage them and just spend time doing things with them, rather than letting them play while I "get things done."

So here's to more days of bubble wrap painting and little girls wearing aprons that go all the way down to their feet and smiles that light up their whole bodies. More days of little girls so wrapped up in their creations that they can't stop painting for a moment to say cheese, and who gasp at the sheer beauty the first time they peel a piece of paper off the bubble wrap and see the glorious print left behind. Yes, please!