good morning, joy!

yesterday morning, the boys woke up full of joy. i mean, they were covered in it. at first, i couldn't figure out what was going on. it all started when i woke mac for kids' club. he usually protests going for a few minutes before he surrenders to the plan. but yesterday morning, he popped right up. he was excited and speaking politely to both me and his dad. 

next, i head into bode's room. typically, if things aren't going exactly as he would like, then he's mr. pissy about everything. he's mad about getting dressed, he's mad if mac comes in his room. he's just mad and cranky. well, yesterday, i slip in and say good morning. he says, good morning and expresses concern that his "babies" (rhino and cleveland browns dog) are not in his bed. mac enters, "good morning, bode." bode replies, "good morning, mac. have you seen my babies?" mac answers, "no, but would you like me to help you look for them?" bode says yes and mac clarifies, "ok, i will. but i have to get dressed first." (this was an act of staying focused on what i had asked him to do, rather than being distracted.)

so, i'm kind of in awe at this point. 

now i'm expecting a fight with bode re: clothes, but he says, "mommy, i need to get dressed." i give him clothes and exit. he runs to the bathroom naked and meets mac in the hallway on the way back. "bode, you want me to help you look for your babies now?" bode has changed his mind. "no mac. will you come in my room? i have to get dressed." mac replies, "oh yes." 

bode and mac proceed to bode's room, which is the size of a large walk-in closet. as bode shuts the door, i hear him welcoming mac, "this is my room and there's all kinds of wonderful things." mac says, "oh thank you. can i play with this?" "yes, mac, you can."

i'm in the hallway, "what the hell...?"

this goes on throughout the day. they talked about sharing over breakfast and laughed together. after service, i went to pick mac up first and he had made a sword out of poster board as a part of the lesson. i'm thinkin' oh great. he's going to swing it around bode, bode will have some lame picture and start whining for a sword. well, we proceed to the 3 year olds to pick up bode and mac is holding up his sword ready to chop bode when he comes out. but, behold! bode comes out with the poster board shield he made. the boys are both delighted with the other's weapon as it is a challenging, yet fair fight. i'm like - are you kidding me?

all day... well until about 5 pm or so. it was a post-thanksgiving miracle!

that morning, when mac first woke, he had even asked me about faith. what is it? what does it mean? he told me that God is all around and he's thankful for God.

into the morning, i found myself continuously trying to figure out what had brought this about. i could see right away that there was a great spirit of joy on mac and bode. and i know this is who they are. but what was the formula that got us to this morning of joyful obedience and treating each other with love and respect? was it the family time spent over the weekend? was it the way i discipline in love perfectly all of the time? (haha.) i kept asking davidrussell, what brought this as if it was some perfect batch of kids i had cooked up and i just needed to figure out how i or we did it so we could learn from that and do it more. well, how dumb. it took a while, but it did finally occur to me to just receive the gift. 

these aren't my kids, i just get to care for them for a couple of decades. so who am i to think i conjured up this lovely morning with my parenting skills. and i understand i don't have to be a perfect parent to "earn" great kids. He is doing an awesome work in mac and bode. my job is to see it and tell them about it. so what i learned most is to say thanks and ask for more days like yesterday.