The Miracle of Life

It's been raining and storming for days here in Michigan.

This morning we noticed a huge pond forming in our neighbor's back yard and a fountain spraying high out of the center of it.  Tyson knocked on our neighbor's door, but nobody answered.  We checked the situation out and noticed the hoses were not connected, so water was pumping into their yard instead of to the street!  

With water spraying everywhere, I reconnected the hoses, and all the children joined me in the water to do what they do best... CELEBRATE LIFE TO ITS FULLEST!!

In a matter of moments, Tyson discovered a frog and then shared it with both Mariah and Juliana spreading instant smiles.

Then, ALL the children went on a night crawler search together.  I noticed again that Tyson was sharing nature with his sisters... giving Mariah some of his worms/night crawlers.  Their joy was pure!

As my 5 year old little girl held a slimy mess of these creatures,  I instinctively shuddered at the thought of ME actually touching them!  She did not!  She LOVED them!!  She found so much joy in these discoveries!

I wondered if maybe I was missing out on something beautiful because of my previous biases towards worms, bugs, and other like creatures... maybe I needed to think as a child. Maybe I needed to look at all of God's creatures with a different perspective.

After our excursion to the pond of frogs and night crawlers, we all entered through the back door.  Tyson never paused and ran straight out the front door to check on the baby bird we had been observing over the past few weeks.  He loved this baby bird; he had spent days trying to save an injured baby bird the summer before.  

Tyson quickly returned shouting, "The baby bird is trying to fly!!  It's out of its nest!!" 

For weeks, every time we would leave the house, Tyson said, "There's the Momma bird watching her baby!"  or "Where is the Mommy bird?  ..Oh there she is!  She's watching from up there."  The mother bird was ALWAYS watching.

If I had seen the mother bird from my perspective, I would have just assumed it was yet another bird sitting on a wire... but there was more to this mother bird's story... more to the life around us. 

Isn't there ALWAYS more to the story of life around us?  

I paused for a moment and soaked in the beauty of this world.  I also soaked in the beauty of my children's minds.  They are forgiving and caring... they take TIME for each other and for God's creations... they LIVE in the moment of joy.  

I'm so grateful for the miracle of life and the stories we ALL have to tell.