Smiling Mom

The kids and I were visi­ting a new church today.  It’s been my quest to find a church that bet­ter fits the value sys­tem and core beliefs I hold dear.  We’ve been to seve­ral churches this past year.  This Sun­day was no excep­tion.  Today we tried Presbyterian.

Thank good­ness Chris and Claire have adven­tu­rous spi­rits.  They try on each church with excitement.

I was a few minu­tes early to the ser­vice today, giving us enough time to use the bath­room and find the Sun­day School room.

As we wal­ked down the hall we pas­sed an ama­zing sight.  There were thirty to forty elderly women and men stan­ding together in bright white cot­ton robes with white sashes lining their collars.

One man in par­ti­cu­lar was breath-taking.  He stood over six feet tall with white hair and a long white beard.  Pic­ture Santa but taller and thinner.

At this sigh my son, Chris, loo­ked up at me and said with as much cla­rity and con­vic­tion as an almost six year old can mus­ter, “Mom, that must be where all the angels gather.”

Maybe it was because the sight was so ama­zing.  Maybe it was his inno­cence.  But my breath caught in my throat and my eyes began to sting.

My boy saw his first angels.

At that moment I knew today was going to be a great day.

“Mom, do you know that Mar­tin Luther King Jr.‘s birth­day was Mon­day?  Ya, and it’s impor­tant because he has the same face as Barack Obama!”

“Yes, he’s an Afri­can Ame­ri­can just like Pre­si­dent Obama.”

“Ya, and did you know that Mar­tin Luther King Jr. tried to ride a bus that light tan peo­ple were riding on? And the dark brown peo­ple were not allo­wed to ride it and they kic­ked him off!!??”

“Really??”

“So Mar­tin Luther King Jr. sol­ved the pro­blem and  just made ever­yone dark brown so then they could all ride the bus!  Isn’t that cool??”

“Yes, very!”

The con­ver­sa­tion BC had with me the other day was so sweet and inno­cent.  But I think the thing I enjoy  the most is that having this con­ver­sa­tion made me appre­ciate even more that we live in a com­mu­nity where my kids are surroun­ded by peo­ple of all dif­fe­rent colors, beliefs, and orien­ta­tions.  And my kids will grow up to know that no mat­ter who a per­son is and whether or not you have the same beliefs or skin color, peo­ple are peo­ple and we can all get along.

For that I am so grateful!

BC: It’s with BLUE and YELLOW.  You know how I know?  Because the ocean is BLUE and your pee is YELLOW.  When you pee in the ocean it turns GREEN.  That’s how I know that BLUE and YELLOW make GREEN.

Me: Note to self… no more peeing in the ocean in front of my son…

BC on the recent election…

BC:  I wish John McCain won.  I mean I LOVE the way Barack Obama’s face looks, but John McCain’s name is WAY cooler.

Me:  ?????

Babe,

Today you tur­ned 32.  And although you’ve already had a chance to see this pod­cast, pic­tu­res and all, I wan­ted to post it here so you can come back when you might be doub­ting the impact you have on our chil­dren, or when you are fee­ling down.

The time you spend with us is pro­found.  The extra effort you put into get­ting eClaire to gig­gle is so won­der­ful.  The spe­cial atten­tion you give BC when you teach him about science, earth, or just how to fix things around the house are for­ming las­ting memories.

When you read to our chil­dren in the eve­nings, you soli­dify your pre­sence in their lives.

The man you are comes through in the daily actions of your chil­dren.  Your daugh­ter is meti­cu­lous.  Your son is a gent­le­man.  Your daugh­ter a so very bright.  Your son is help­ful and kind.  Your chil­dren reflect you.

I’ve added the video to this post for you to come back to every time you begin to won­der what you really mean to our kids.

You are the best man I know.

Happy Birth­day.

Love,

Me