Sand in my Shoes
Today we went out and played in the sandbox.
I wanted the girls to have some fun, shady, breezy time, as summer seems to have hit us today. :) It was great! I love doing things with my girls that help me remember just how great being a kid can be. I love remembering that, because it helps me remember that every moment I am doing things with them, I may be creating something that they will remember always. I want those memories to be good ones! :)
Our sandbox is under the playset, so it’s nice and shady. The girls have been having so much fun in there this week!
Today’s play was a smashing success, even though this daughter threw up on the grass after she ate one of her sand cookies. (Yes, I’m serious…she ate it, right as I looked over at her and before I could stop it…one of those things that seems to happen in slow motion.) :) But, as you can see from this picture, she was none the worse for wear.
It was just a great day of being kids (for me, too!) We also played on the swings, and it was a good chance to try to help one of my daughters remember how to “pump her legs” to swing herself, so that I could swing the other three.
Though she had figured this out last summer, she struggled to remember it today. I stood nearby, and kept gently reminding her, “Out….and in! Out, in!”
Though she was making progress, she didn’t feel like she was. But from where I stood, I could see her getting gradually faster and higher the more she pumped her legs. She just didn’t feel like she was going anywhere, though. So she’d stop and say, “Mom, please just do it for me???”
I kept encouraging her to keep trying, telling her that she really was getting there! Then she said, “But mom, I’m not 27 like you!”
I laughed, and it reminded me of myself, so often. So much of the time I find myself doubting myself, thinking that even though I’m trying hard, I am just not getting anywhere. How often do we find ourselves wishing He’d just make things work for us, and saying to our Heavenly Father, “But Father, I’m not strong like you!” (or smart, or good, or patient, etc.)
But He can look at us from just a small step back, and see that we truly are making progress, and that we truly are getting there. He can see it, even when we cannot. We just need to trust Him when He quietly tells us to keep trying, and we’ll get there! :)
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