Last Monday Morning...

Well, friends, another week has gone by without much time at all to sit down at a computer.

I have been wanting to share with you about last Monday morning, but here I sit a week later realizing that I never did get around to doing that!  But it was one of those wonderful starts to a week that I think I'll just go ahead and share with you now...

First of all, it was refreshingly chilly outside - probably the first truly cool day we've had, and the morning air was delightfully crisp and fresh.  The house was cool when I woke Madi up for school, so I made her the first cup of hot cocoa of the season!  She just loves hot cocoa.  Then, it was even cool enough outside to wear knee socks (a new favorite thing) and an actual sweater to school!  Listen, we celebrate the little things about fall in the Sunshine State.  :)

After she left for school I lit some candles so the scent of autumn would flood my house, and settled into my green chair with the new Women of Faith Bible study I've been going through and a hot cup of coffee in my favorite oversized teacup.  I have a set of pictures that hang on my wall through the autumn and winter seasons.  They are of teacups, and the one simply says, "In the mid autumn, the oranges on her teacup were particularly vibrant."  I've always been taken by that phrase and that picture, and thought of it as I sipped the flavors of coffee beans and pumpkin spice.

If you ask Trevor what my favorite part of the day is, he would probably tell you that it is in the morning when he sits with me on my green chair while I sip my coffee and do my Bible study.  The older I get, the more I long for those quiet dates with my Heavenly Father and my little son. More and more I find myself craving time in the Word, and cherish when Trev sits with me for a few moments as I read and study the Bible.  Last Monday morning my pajama clad sweetheart climbed on my lap as I pulled out my Bible, devotional book, pen, and journal.  I asked if he wanted to sit with me while I did my Bible study and he said yes, then all of a sudden his chocolate eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "I want to do my Bible study too!!" He then reached down and pulled up a little Gopher Buddies Quiet Time book that Jimmy had brought home for him - it has a verse and thought and activity for each day of the week.  He very intently went through page after page, asking me to read him the verses and doing the little activities.  It was as sweet as life could get for me.  Honestly, sending my schoolgirl off with hot cocoa and marshmallow kisses on a glorious fall day, the scent of apple cider and cinnamon and tastes of pumpkin and spices filling my senses as I sat down to spend time with God and His Word, and a boy who didn't just want to sit with me while I did my Bible study, but wanted to do his Bible study too...for me, I could not think of a better start to a Monday morning!

As I look at these pictures (which I am now so thankful I snapped using one arm to hold the camera above us as we sat together) I see those little hands and I pray that they will not just throw balls and catch fish and do all the other wonderful things that little boys hands do, but that they will also be used to spread the kindness and love of Christ.  I pray that even though he is rough and tumble and busy and curious, that he will always maintain the sweet sensitivity that makes him love learning Bible verses and stories and asking questions and talking to Jesus.  I pray he will live out what he is learning, and that somehow in the absolute busyness of life God will grant Jimmy and I the grace and strength we need to shepherd both his and Madi's heart.

The other night as I was tucking Trev in, he kept asking me where God is.  Several times he pointed to the top bunk of his bunk beds and asked if he was up there.  After explaining that God is Heaven, but is also always with us (a hard concept to explain to a three year old) I asked him why he kept asking.  He said, "Because I want to give Him a kiss because I wuv Him."

Oh, how I pray that my son will always want to kiss the face of God.  How I pray that his love will always be that sincere and innocent, his fervor always that passionate.

I pray all these things with a grateful heart this Monday evening.