Tuesday, December 13, 2005

A Parent's Gratitude

As the year draws to a close, editor Mick Silva of Your Writer's Group has been reflecting on his gratitude for the blessing that is his tiny daughter:


It was nothing short of amazing how she gained personality and new preferences each week. We couldn’t believe all the growing tastes and opinions. Never before had we realized so unavoidably the relentlessness of God. He pursues us and you can’t escape. When she'd count to 20—every time forgetting fifteen and repeating eighteen—when she'd recite her favorite books, when she'd ask to sing “eetsy-beetsy,” we felt assaulted by an insidious need to thank God for such love. Just normal, everyday parenting stuff, but until then, such unconditional love wasn’t appreciated, at least not as fully. Before her, I could not understand the pride God feels for us. But I get it now. He loves us beyond any ability to reason.

I know you're eager to read the rest, but be sure to grab a couple of tissues before you head over there.

I've got more than two decades of parenting under my belt, so I could tell Mick that the gratitude he's experiencing will increase with each year that passes. But he might have trouble wrapping his mind around that.

Both of my boys are in college now, and my husband recently caught one of them napping (in the literal sense). "Huh," he said to me, sounding a little surprised. "He's still cute when he's asleep."

I went and looked. "Yeah," I agreed. But I couldn't help noticing that he needed a shave.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Favorite moments with my kids:

- baby hugs, where the whole baby is wrapped around your neck, and you're cheek-to-cheek, with milk-scented breath wafting across your ear

- "I know" - the favorite saying of a little girl who is trying so hard to be smart and grown up and a friend to everyone

- the light in their eyes when they see you for the first time at the end of the day

Cheers!

Brenda Coulter said...

Many thanks for reading and commenting, F.W.