Welcome to Bigger Picture Moments, a place where we step back and take in life.
Head over to Maegan's to join in this week! I'll be hosting next week, so be sure to keep your eyes and heart open to the bigger picture and come back to share...
As I type I'm surrounded by all sorts of messes.
I have Donald the train and his coal car (aka his tender... ) and a little red matchbox car to my right. The pillow that Fynn has dubbed the scratchy one is under my left elbow, which has been pinched out of love so often that it's permanently sore by Paige. Train tracks, fire engines, books and a bpa free tea set are strewn across the floor, under my feet.
And I'm not picking them up.
Nope. I'm leaving them there, as my children dream about their day of blueberry picking, as reminders of my babies. Little tokens of the fact that they played here today. And they'll pick right up where they left off first thing in the morning.
And for that I'm thankful.
Our local news has been buzzing about a family a few towns over and their tragic loss. I'll spare the details, but twin girls {barely older than Paige} are no longer waking up to play in their living room. A tragic, heartbreaking loss, and the family has been in my thoughts and prayers all week.
So I've been hugging my babies a bit more. Breathing in their sweaty little heads and their popsicle stained skin. Holding them tighter. Loving on them a bit more than I thought I could.
These little reminders are terrifying. But we need to hear them. To face the reality that life is precious and sometimes short.
It doesn't mean we stop living, out of fear, but that we continue with all the love and zest we can muster.
It means we need to hug more. Be a little more patient. Take deep breaths instead of yelling. And maybe, just maybe, it means that we leave the toys out after the kids drift off into blueberry filled dreams.
**I'm also linking up with Alli n' Son's Thank You Journal - another fabulous Thursday Link Up!**