Children - God's little reminders:

I was sitting by the fire pit earlier tonight watching Alex play in the woods with Navarre and my thoughts were flooded with childhood memories. As the boys were jumping off of the boulders and running around I realized that they were unaware of me watching their every move but none the less I was there with them. This got me thinking about my relationship with God and how often I get caught up with myself and fail to realize that He is there with me whether I am acknowledging His presence and including Him in my activity or not. Earlier this year it took a total stranger coming up to me and telling me "God loves you and wants you to know are not alone" only moments after I consciously said to myself that I didn't want to be alone and wish I had someone to keep me company. Needless to say I was instantly aware and somewhat overwhelmed with His presence. Since that day I have made an effort to constantly be aware of God's presence and when I begin to falter it seems there is always a little reminder to get my attention, watching Alex tonight was that reminder.

A short time later I was reminded that He is there to lift us up and comfort us when we need Him and if we have made Him an active part of our lives we don't even have to ask, He is there with us through good times and bad.

I was reminded of this as Ariel and Alex were racing each other on their bicycles (that's right less than 4 days after removing his training wheels Alex is challenging his sister to races). They made a full lap around the house and as they were coming down the hill in front of the pond their tires rubbed together and Ariel had her first major wipe out which included her imitation of superman flying as she went over her handle bars and gravity proved itself to us once again. I was there watching the entire event unfold and was there to lift her up. Thankfully she wasn't hurt (except maybe her pride as she lost the race to her little brother) and together we had a hardy laugh as we replayed her attempt to fly without a plane.

God has blessed me with 2 wonderful and healthy children and has used them to show me that a relationship with Him, just like my childrens' relationship with me, doesn't need to be hard and for that I am grateful and truly blessed.