It’s not even 9am and a little girl is napping and two little boys are out “on an adventure” in the woods. They’ve been finding new treasures this last week in a world that’s not blanketed in snow anymore. Bits of broken plastic and metal and frozen frogs and acorns (“chipmunk’s food”) and everything you and I would walk past but is the delight to a young child. The boys barreled through the pickup I wanted them to do this morning so they could grab their mud boots and jackets and get outside. I tell them they’re incredibly blessed as I bundle them up (it’s still chilly at 8:30am.) and Ellis asks, “Because my boots are so big that I can jump in puddles?” Yeah, buddy, because of that and so many other reasons.

This morning I read to my kids about how the very first people God chose to tell about the birth of His Son were shepherds. They were probably smelly, probably dirty, and very much nobodies, and that’s who God told. Because they were somebody to Him. I’m so thankful that nobody is a nobody in God’s eyes. I’m a somebody and you’re a somebody and let’s remember this. Yeah, buddy, we’re blessed.

My alarm goes off early and I crawl out of bed. Start the coffee, pack a lunch, make a warm breakfast to give to The Husband when he comes downstairs showered and ready for his day. He kisses and hugs the boys, myself — an extra kiss for me — and off he goes. He’s one of the hardest workers I know, providing and caring for us — his people. Yeah, buddy, we’re blessed.

And then we start our day. I read a Psalm as I drink my coffee and nurse a baby. Boys play puzzles (attempting to do so quietly), then watch one morning show. I skip my morning exercise and we go upstairs to regain some order. Boys somehow end up dressed for the day even though what I heard were giggles and play punches and pretending to be dogs. We make all the beds, get hampers of dirty clothes downstairs, pick up each bedroom, brush our “choppers”, and make our way back down to get breakfast rolling — bowls of hot oatmeal for boys and a plate of eggs and leftover vegetables for me. All of this done together. There was some fighting to address, the start of some complaints to put a stop to, a babe who didn’t want to be on the floor so I stirred oatmeal on the stove with a lady love on my hip, but together. Yeah, buddy, we’re blessed.

And because we’ve boots to wear and puddles to jump in. Because the sun rises and warms our earth. Because there’s a God who cares for us, provides for us, grows us, walks with us, and loves us. We are so very, very blessed.