A breath of fresh air

Today was the kind of day I have been needing. Badly. The past few weeks have been rough, and that's putting it nicely. We went straight from the holidays into several weeks of illness, injury and all sorts of other stuff. Don't get me wrong, there have been some pretty amazing blessings mixed in there, but the overall tone has been illness and fatigue. We've been dealing with a chronically ill child mixed in with the normal highs and lows of raising a family which has just left us tired. Really tired. 

Today has been different. My Bible Study started up today for the spring semester and it was really great to be back at a table with some really lovely ladies. After Bible Study, we took Noah to a specialist appointment.  Probably seems odd that something like a doctor appointment would fit into a "highlight" sort of day, but we have been waiting and praying for so long that we would begin to get some answers for the infections that have been plaguing our little boy. This was a huge step in the direction of getting some answers. 

The true highlights of today, though, came at home this afternoon. Today is the first sunny day we've had in what feels like weeks. We had been out and about until early afternoon so we definitely needed to spend the afternoon at home.  While the boys napped, I soaked up some sun while processing the doctor appointment info with a very special friend of mine who has a chronically ill child as well. I got to just sit and be for a while. After the boys got up, I got them in their play clothes and sent them outside to play. This is when my heart started to melt. Noah just adores his big brother and as much as they aggravate each other at times, they have so much fun together.  It was the first time they had been out in the yard together in months. Watching my little boys run around and play just did something really amazing for my soul.  You see, I've had so many days of struggling through mothering these boys recently that I really needed to have a moment like this. It's sad to admit, but I have not enjoyed my children the way I should.  I've been too caught up in my own struggles to stop and enjoy my children. It makes me sad to think about. But, I think that's why I enjoyed them so much today. At one point, Caleb was standing in front of me showing me something and Noah came trotting over to see what we were doing. He stood right up next to his brother and they were both just grinning at me. That image is frozen in my mind. My two beautiful boys standing there just smiling at me. Does it get any better than that?

Today was a good day. A normal day. One that I've been needing. I was able to enjoy my precious boys. And it all just felt like a breath of fresh air.