Sweet little blessings...

After finding out that we were going to Africa, I put this money jar on my kitchen counter as a visible reminder to save every penny that we had in preparation for our trip. Well... you see it filled up with all those beautiful little coins...wanna know how they got there...

...these sweet little blessings. Without hesitation, when they saw the money jar on the counter, all three of my children ran to their rooms to grab their own piggy banks. They then ran back into the kitchen and dumped EVERY LAST CENT of their own money into our Africa jar. They said, "mama, we want to help all those people too." Be. Still. My. Beating. Heart. These are the moments as a mother that I live for. The moments when my children do something so profound that I think maybe I'm not doing such a bad job after all. Honestly, I feel like there are so many things that I get wrong as a mom. I believe my highest calling is to help guide my children's' hearts to their Heavenly Father...to make sure they grow up grounded in the Truth of who God is and who they are because of Him...to make sure they grow up knowing what really matters in life and what is really just insignificant...to make sure they know that God created them and formed their little hearts...that He has a special plan and purpose unique to each one..I want them to know that they will experience heartbreak and disappointment....that life will not always be fun or fair and many, many times they won't get their way...I want them to know that life was not made to revolve around them...that it is never supposed to be about us but always about Him...I want them to know that in living their life for Him their lives are so much better than any life they could ever plan for themselves. I believe that if I can succeed in that, the other million things that I get wrong won't really matter, because they will be connected to the Source of their every need, want and longing.

There is so much I can learn from my children. I want to give of myself with such childlike faith. I want to empty myself with such reckless abandon. I want to give and love like they do. I am so thankful the Lord entrusted them to me and so thankful for everything He teaches me through them.