Blessings From the Lord

When my three children were young, I had a sign in my house that said, "Lord, give me the patience to endure my blessings." I was reminded of it this weekend as we had the pleasure of our granddaughter staying with us. Hannah is five. She made her debut into the world on her Pops' fiftieth birthday. They have a relationship that cannot be invaded by mere mortals such as Migi (my grandma name).

I don't remember parenting being as exhausting as grandparenting can be. Maybe that is because being a parent is what you do while you are doing everything else. Grandparenting is what you do instead of everything else.

We started out Saturday morning on a quest for yarn for a new sweater for Hannah. The green sweater she has had for years is now too small, but she refuses to give it up until she gets a new one. After resorting to calling the manufacturer of the sweater to see if they still make it, my daughter decided to punt to Migi. She told Hannah to bring the sweater to my house and I could make one like it. In order to nail things down a bit, I asked Hannah what it was about the sweater she liked.

"The sparkly green. The zipper. The hoodie."

"What about the cable design?"

"Yes. And the pockets."

The quest was on. Designing the sweater would not be too tough. But, that sparkly green yarn was going to be a challenge. Fortunately, in a moment of compromise, when we found the EXACT color (thanks be to God) she decided she could settle without sparkles as long as there were pockets, a hood and a zipper.

When she stands next to my chair to watch me knit and tells me the things she loves most about me is that I make her things, she guarantees that I will be designing whatever she wants for as long as she wants.

Then, there is bedtime. Hannah hates to sleep alone. When she comes into our room in the middle of the night and I return her to her own bed, she is like a boomerang. Before I can get settled in, she is back again. Last night, I resolved that she was going to have to sleep in her own bed so that we could all get some rest. She countered my comment with a suggestion that Pops sleep on the couch so we wouldn't be so crowded. The third time I returned her to her bed, I told her to stay there. After about twenty minutes (a good faith effort on the part of a five year old to get to sleep) she returned to my side of the bed.

"Migi, I just don't like to sleep by myself."

I caved. I figure she will get over this stage before she goes off to college (her mother did). This age is all too fleeting to worry about little knees in the middle of my back for another night. She climbed in bed and snuggled up, drifting off to sleep almost immediately.

So this morning, as I attempt to drink enough coffee to compensate for a lack of sleep, and stretch to work out the kinks in my back caused by sharing our bed with the little one, I am reminded to pray for the patience to endure my blessings.

A hug and a kiss when she gets home from school today will be more than sufficient to compensate me for any of my troubles. And, by the time her daddy comes to pick her up this evening I am sure I will be sorry to see her leave. I assume I will get over that about bedtime.

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3