Miss Elizabeth

My wild woman has been working really hard around here lately, and has surprised me more times than I can count. She is still a firecracker - I don't foresee that every really changing, but I have seen her do some amazingly mature things lately.

We purchased mulch to put on the flower beds and in the vegetable garden which we will be planting in the next week or so. Each day I have gone out  and worked on spreading the mulch where the flower beds as I have time. As I was getting ready to call the kids in for the night last night I found Elizabeth with a bucket, shovel, and rake. She had applied about 3/4 of a yard of mulch to our sandbox area - all on her own without any help or being asked to do so. I watched her as she took her 2 gallon buck filled it to the brim, walked it over to the sandbox area, dumped it out, and then raked it so that it was even. Back and forth she went, over and over again. As she usually does, she was humming a tune to herself quietly just going about her business one bucket at a time.

It was a moment I will not forget. Watching her in her own rhythm, doing her own thing without me interrupting or rushing her or giving her mandates or rules she went about and completed a task for the family. It was an honor for me to watch her for the 10 minutes or so that I could before being called away by one of the other kids. To see her as she was in that moment - in HER private moment was a true blessing.

It is unfortunate, but true, that my days are so full of busyness that I often do not get to glimpse moments like these in my children's lives. Seeing Elizabeth, for that brief moment in time, made me realize just how much I am missing out on. It is time for me to slow down and savor this wonderful, beautiful life that I have. The things that are truly important will be get done - all of the rest of the stuff is just filler. I want to have less filler in my life and make time for the things I truly cherish. After all, these moments too shall pass.  I need to savor every moment that I can, and hold them close to my heart for now, and always.