two brown felted noses peek at me beside my pillow, nestled against the softest cheek and the feathery eyelashes of my Littlest.  again, he has snuck in during the wee, dark hours…

 

fearful of the dreams and imaginings that come, unbidden, still confident in the security he finds nestled between us, he worms his way into our king-sized bed and nuzzles up to daddy or me.  somehow his tiny body, spooned into mine, manages to occupy fully half of the bed. 

or a different night, he chooses daddy and his still-little arms stretch to land on my face.

nonetheless, inconvenienced from my peaceful slumber and ousted from my perch by my husband-sized snuggle partner, then joined by next-oldest-in-line for all-out giggle-fest, i lie, in awe, that we are gifted with these five blessings whose trust and confidence in our care is both largely undeserved and fiercely treasured.

we cannot possibly perfectly accomplish all that we long to in parenting our Gifts, but we have been Called.  so here I stay, duck-fuzzy forearm resting on my nose, thankful for every. single. second.

my room, and my heart, are invaded by our hereditary blessings.  and here I stay, begging my Papa to enable me to bless them as they deserve, with boundless love and exemplary grace and when needed, passionate up-building and courageous discipline to help faithfully restore the wandering lamb when called.  grace-unending as His heart calls them through mine for these too-short years.