On High Scores and Blowing Bubbles

Aren't children wonderful? 

Isn't it great how they remind us of the little things that matter?

Don't you delight when they share their joy?

At our house the delight came in two places this weekend...

The seven-year-old learned how to blow bubbles with his bubble gum and the four-year-old got the high score on "Temple Run" (please lecture me later about how much time my children should spend with electronics and just rejoice with him at his 600,000+ score).

High scores and blowing bubbles.  Are these the things lives are built on?  Are these the most important skills my children will have?  Are these even really all that important?  You can answer "no" to all of those questions and I won't challenge your answer.

But, what I am reminded of (thanks to high scores and bubbles) is the importance of finding joy. 

What has brought you so much joy lately that you had to share it with someone else? 

What has sent you off to your spouse, friend, parent, co-worker, or child to say with pride, "Look!  Look what I did!"?

What little joy in your life makes you smile and feel good and feel accomplished? 

Beginning 2013: A Big Small Thing

Sometime in the past...perhaps last year, perhaps longer ago...I remember reading on another blog (forgive me for not remembering whose) a comment about realizing that it was important to not be too busy to go to the bathroom when you need to.

Sounds a little basic, huh?  A little like something we learned when we were three or four.  A little like something we try to teach the three and four years olds around us.

But I find myself frequently realizing that nature is calling and then deciding to just finish this one last thing...wash the little one's hair, write the last couple sentences of the sermon, make one more phone call.  And every time I do this, even as I forge ahead into that one last thing, I remember the advise of some brilliant blogger.

So, as 2013 begins, I'm not making big resolutions (certainly not ones I know I'll abandon by next week).  But I am going to try to do this one small...but big...thing.  I'm going to try to go when I need to go.

And maybe, just maybe, this is about more than bladder relief.  Perhaps when I pay attention to that one small (or not so small) thing, perhaps I'll find myself slowing down to pay attention to other small (or not so small) things as well.