Balm

These have been some long, sometimes stressful, days. Health issues and questions (Josiah threw up twice yesterday/today), trying to put our home back together after having floors refinished, working to free Daddy to do his schoolwork and other work, wrestling to find the right discipline battles to fight and which ones to let lie, feeling kinda mediocre-to-poor in the ability to do any of those things well.

Tonight at bedtime, I lay next to Victor for 3 minutes (as is our custom) and chatted about our plans for the morning (as is our custom) and prayed for peaceful sleep and no bad dreams and great trust in Jesus (as is our custom).

And then, when it was time for me to leave, Victor spontaneously wrapped his arms around me and said, "I love you!" and snuggled his head on my shoulder.

And for some reason, I couldn't think of anything so pressing to do that I should get up and miss that sweet hug. His little arm thrown across my shoulder, head resting on my chest. "I love you," he said again. We just snuggled for 10 minutes.

It was 10 minutes of balm to my heart. A reminder of my own Father's love, a little glimpse of grace at work in my little one's heart, a moment to be still and know that God is God, and He is doing good, even when my failures stare me in the face more than any victories.

A sweet gift.