Soak it in

I'm not going to make this a cliche' post about how fast time flies and how it seems like just yesterday that my children were helpless newborns.   (Although it's true -- and I will use the cliche' another time, you can count on it!)

Instead I will tell you about yesterday.

The children in our church collect coins for children in Peru.  For just pennies a day our children are able to help feed hungry families that can't afford to eat. It's quite an amazing program, and the kids take such pride in donating their coins.

Sydney is no exception. Although they are not necessarily her coins, she still brings a handful of coins from where we sit in the back row, all the way up the center aisle, puts them into the big jar and goes back to her seat.  Usually we kind of walk up with her and help guide her.

But yesterday I decided to guide her to the center aisle and then let her go on her own.

I let her go.

She walked so carefully down that center aisle, so slowly, with such a beautiful smile on her face.  She looked from side to side, smiling at all of the people sitting down.  Every eye was on our sweet little Sydney, and I stood there at the back of the church and just watched. I soaked it in.  This was our baby, who was proudly walking down the church aisle, who was somehow getting everyone else to soak her in.  With every step she took, she seemed to give off this amazing, addicting energy that I can't even put into words.  She continued to walk to the front of the church, and when she got to the jar she carefully placed each coin inside. One at a time, she lovingly placed each of her special coins into the jar to help feed the children in Peru who are not nearly as fortunate as we are.  With all eyes in the room on her every graceful move, I was told that I wasn't the only one with watery eyes.

As she turned around to slowly walk back, she continued to smile her sweet little closed-mouth smile that she smiles whenever she is proud of herself, and continued to watch every single person that was watching her.  And when she saw me standing at the back of the church, my knees bent, my arms wide open, her smile grew ten times larger, her eyes grew ten times brighter and she ran for me with her own arms wide open.  I grabbed her in my arms, scooped her up, showered her with kisses and told her how proud I was.

The whole thing kind of happened in slow motion.  Sydney's very slow and methodical pace had a lot to do with that, but as I watched it all unfold, I was so filled with pride that I could almost feel her growing up before my eyes.  I could feel her doing amazing things with her life with that same purpose and that same captivating grace that she showed yesterday as every eye in the church followed her every move with anticipation and delight.  I could feel her walking down the same aisle as an adult, her daddy by her side. And I could see myself with her as well, looking back and thinking about how she once walked down that aisle as a toddler to put her pennies in the jar. 

I soaked it in.

Because these moments don't happen every day. 

Life is often quite rushed for us. I don't always remember to stop and just let the moment happen.

Yesterday I did, and I soaked it in.