Hidden Moments of Joy

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I knew that having 2 kids under the age of 2 would be hectic, trying, and pull my hair out crazy at times. Yesterday was one of those times.

We went to the beach with my sister-in-law, her girls, and Grammie Susan, and had a fun time playing in the water, getting covered in sand, and just enjoying the beautiful weather. When we finally left though, both kids were exhausted! We had to leave the parking lot quickly to avoid having to pay for another hour of parking, and we had driven ourselves separately, so a few miles down the road I start looking for a place to pull over, to get us all situated for the 45 minute drive home. As I'm looking, K says to me, "I spit up." and almost simultaneously B starts crying. (Why does it always happen that way??) I finally pull over and look back at K, yes she threw up cheerios and Doritos (not a whole lot, but still) all down the front of herself and her car seat - gross! B is continuing to cry and starting to get more upset (you know the frantic newborn cry). I'm trying to figure out which child to deal with first.

So, I jump out, grab wipes and a change of clothes for K, and proceed to try to clean her up as quickly as possible as B screams. Whenever B screams, K gets really upset too, so she starts crying and fighting my efforts to change her clothes and get her back into her carseat. Finally, I finish up with her, give up trying to put her in her seat, and go to get B, when I realize I don't know where I put the car keys. I search around but have to stop to get B out, who is gasping at this point, and bring him into the front seat to nurse him. K is crying and wants to do the buckle on her carseat herself saying, "I do it!" over and over. I finish nursing B and change his diaper and onesie because he was all wet from me carrying him with a wet bathing suit on. Put him back in his carseat and he is fortunately relatively calm. I'm still looking for the keys, desparately digging though my bags, shaking out wet and sandy towels, trying to remember what the heck I did with them.

I'm not having any luck, so I try to get K settled back into her carseat, but the straps are all messed up and I spend at least 5 minutes just trying to get them straightened out, and get her back in, so I can keep looking for the keys because I'm starting to panic about them at this point. As I'm frustratingly messing with the straps and taking her in and out of her seat, she starts singing Jesus Loves Me.

Oh... deep breath... "Yes sweetie, that's right." My 1 1/2 year old is reminding me of what I so often fail to remember in the middle of the craziness. So I say to her, let's pray. And we pray that Jesus will help us find the keys.

I'm getting her settled back into her seat with the straps all worked out, and hear B explosively filling his diaper. Another deep breath. I get him out and change his diaper, again. Get him back into his seat. Start looking for the keys, again. Oh, there they are, of course.

I change my soaking wet clothes and put on new shorts and t-shirt over my bathing suit. Get back into the car, another deep breath, a silent prayer of thank you, look back at my beautiful babies, and just have to smile.

Things can get crazy, life can get hectic, babies will wake up and scream at the exact same moment, yet they are so sweet, so tender, so loving, so innocent - and they remind me in simple ways to stop and remember that it's not about all that. Jesus loves me, Jesus loves them, and He is with us in the midst of those moments.

"Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children." Luke 18:16 (NLT)