Gratitude Day 333

Wed., Oct. 2, 2019

Psalm 116:6: The Lord protects the simple and the childlike;

I am reminded again and again how important the simple things of life are.

I call this blog Simple Words of Faith for a reason. My whole goal here is to connect faith to our everyday, ordinary lives. The “real” parts of our lives. Where the rubber hits the road. Where we find just a little bit of faith and God at the intersections of ordinary, real life.

It happened again for me in the simplest of ways. While I didn’t snap a single photo to capture the moments, I realized later, these little things are exactly what I want to treasure in my daily life.

Sometimes, I am present when three of our grandchildren get off the bus after school. These three are Rick’s son, Darran’s children. Darran runs a milk route. This means he picks up milk from dairy farms and transports it to a processing facility. This isn’t a straight 9 to 5 job. Sometimes, he runs late and needs someone to be with the kids until he gets home from work.

This fall, I have made myself available to do this. Together, the three kids and I spend quality time together.

Ellie is 9 and is into cooking. Well, really baking. A few weeks ago, she told me what she wants for Christmas. She marked some cookbooks and other cooking items on my Amazon account so I would not forget what she really, really wants.

Today, I brought along promised cookie dough so we could make cut-out cookies. As soon as she knew I had brought dough along, she was washing her hands. Her brothers, Waylan and Dylan, were only interested in taste-testing the dough. They headed upstairs to find other things to do.

We used season-appropriate cut outs to make the cookies. I showed Ellie how to tell when a cookie is appropriately baked by touching the top of a cookie and seeing if your fingerprint remains. We frosted and decorated the cookies as well.

Soon, Ellie was looking for a container. She wanted a container, so she put cookies in it, and she take them to school and share them with her classmates. “What a great idea,” I told her. We found a container just large enough to hold all 25 cookies. Unfortunately, the dough wasn’t gluten free. So, one boy won’t be able to eat these cookies. Next time, I’ll know.

I loved how she decided to share these cookies with her classmates. She wasn’t just thinking about how she could keep them for herself and her family. It made making the cookies with Ellie even more special.

After we finished the cookies and worked on a school project, I hunted down Dylan. Earlier, he had showed me a game he was making. Using paper and a pen, Dylan’s game had counted squares on it. Participants roll a dice and move their little paper tokens through the maze to the finish line. On some spots, players receive rewards. On other spots, people are penalized. While the rules changed a bit every time we played the game, I loved seeing Dylan use his imagination. His creativity shown through and included a written list of rules. we discovered that his game was really fun to play.

Making cookies. Playing a homemade game. Nothing big. Just simple things. But oh, so meaningful times that I get to spend with our grandchildren.

I purposely try not to look at my phone while I’m with the kids after school. Our time should be playing outside, making a special trip to the Dollar Store or helping them with something they want to do. Making sure homework gets done. I treasure every afternoon that I get to spend with these important people.

Pause for a minute. What is something that seems so simple but really makes a big difference in your life when you do it? How often do you make time for this? Why is this activity so special to you?

I’m sorry that I didn’t get any photos of the cookies nor the game. My memories just recorded in my brain. But they certainly are special ones.

For rediscovering the simple things in life, I am grateful. 

Lord God – Too often, we get caught up in making sure things get done. And we miss out on prioritizing things that will fill our soul. Thanks for the weekly time with our grandkids. I pray they value this time as much as I do. Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

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