Thoughts from Two Little Girls

When life starts to feel too complicated - and it often does - I would be wise to stop for awhile and listen to my children. They have mastered the art of simplicity in life, in appreciating what is there and making the most of it. Sometimes I think they have more worldly wisdom than I do, simply because they have not been so affected by the world.

As we were driving home one night at sunset, The Oldest piped up, "I'm imagining my honeymoon. Me and my husband will be driving toward the sunset, in a convertible." Where will they go? "Um... I think we'll go to the lake and go fishing. And then we'll catch crawdads, and then we'll make a crawdad pie for our honeymoon dinner."

(Nevermind the fact that I've never suggested we catch and eat crawdads... for such a big thing to be dreaming about, it is so beautiful in it's simplicity!)

And I must share this letter, from Littlest One to The Daddy while he was away at work. It outlines the very most important things of her day.

"I love you and I miss you.
I rode my bike. I got ice cream. I loved my day and I went out and fed with Mom. I went with a walk down to the mailbox with Mom, Chloe, Jussie, Libby, and Phillip and Aurora. And it was so fun that I just loved it. I climbed a juniper berry tree and Mr. Bear's tree. And we're gonna think of makin' a tree house. And I went through Cactus Canyon with Chloe. Cactus Canyon has rocks and cactus. It's on the hill. And I had nachos cheese with Mom. And Old Grandma Tree is doing fine. And Mr. Bear's Tree is doin' fine. Mrs. Squirrel's Tree is doing fine, too. Our tree is Grandma Tree."

How often do we stop to listen to our children when they tell us what meant the most to them that day? Trees and ice cream and baby goats top her list of Important Events in the day. It doesn't take anything fancy to please her, just the freedom to roam and explore and appreciate what is there.

Sounds like a pretty good life lesson, doesn't it?