Children Are A Blessing (in Disguise)

My favorite defintion of the word blessing is "a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness." I can't tell you the number of times people have looked at my kids and said to me, "you are so blessed." I couldn't agree more. I am blessed with three beautiful children. But I have to be honest. At times my children feel more like a blessing in disguise.

A few mornings ago Adam - my sweet 2 year old - was my blessing in disguise. He woke up at 4:50am. He did not want to cuddle in my bed. He did not want to quietly eat breakfast. In fact, he did not want to be quiet at all. He wanted to cry, and whine and quite frankly be very obnoxious. In order to prevent him from waking the other two kiddos I made the executive decision to take Adam on a walk ... at 5:03 am.

I am a morning person and I love early morning exercise. What I love most about early morning workouts is that it is my time. It is the only time during the day when I don't have to get a snack, or a toy, or nurse a baby, or wipe a bottom, or read a book or blow up water balloons. You get the picture. It is my time to enjoy the sunrise - a physical reminder that God's mercies are indeed new every morning. It is my time to pray and meditate on God's word. Most importantly it is time to set my mind on the things above before my little blessings start overwhelming me with earthly requests. On this particular early morning I begrudgingly accepted the fact that I would be pushing one of my blessings in the stroller as I enjoyed "my" time with God.

As Adam and I started the trek up the hill near our house I began to chat with God. It was tough. I was grumpy. I didn't want to be up quite this early. I didn't want to be pushing the stroller. And then Adam started to sing. As I listened to his sweet voice, I started to notice the beautiful morning around me. I thanked God for the sunrise. And I asked Adam, "Who gave us the sun?" His reply? "God."

ME: Adam, who gave us this morning?
ADAM: God.
ME: Who gave us healthy bodies so we could go on a walk?
ADAM: (no reply ... but I'm pretty sure he knew).

And from there it happened. I was filled with the most incredible joy, and peace and appreciation for my children, my husband and my God. As Adam and I reached the top of the hill the glorious sun was up. We stopped for a minute to take it in. I stooped down by my little man, gave him a kiss and thanked God for revealing Himself to me. And for using my little blessing in disguise to do so.