Since my word for the year is SAVOR, I am trying to pay more attention to moments and to the here-and-now. My mind tends to work weeks or even months ahead of today and I miss things because I am thinking about something else when life is happening right in front of me. So, I'm trying to record stories of moments I want to SAVOR. I mentioned one last week. Here is another:
Every night, once my son is ready for bed, I read a chapter or two of a book to him. This is something we have done since he was a baby and it is a ritual we enjoy as a family. Once the story is done, my husband comes in and the three of us pray together and then I sing a bedtime song and we put my son to bed. [I am trying to SAVOR this ritual because I am afraid he will grow out of it all too soon, but that's a story for another time.] Lately, we have been reading in my husband's and my bedroom, so we can stretch out together on the bed for the story.
A couple weeks ago, as we were waiting for my husband to come back to the room for prayer, my son and I were snuggling on the bed. I kissed his head and told him that I always love him and that I hoped he knew that. He looked up at me and said, "I always know that."
As a teenager in an angst-filled home, I sometimes wondered if my parents loved me. I knew they were proud of me and expected a lot from me, but I did wonder sometimes if they loved me or if they would still love me if I stopped meeting their expectations. Some of that is a function of adolescence, but some of it also came from not hearing many "I love yous." [They may have been said - it was an angsty time, as I mentioned - but I didn't hear or internalize them.] So I have always felt driven to let my son know that he is loved. And I hope and pray that he hears and internalizes it when we say it, because I know we say it a lot. And in this one little moment, he confirmed that he has heard and recognized our love.
A moment to SAVOR for sure.
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