The Best Ever!!!

All my adult life I have loved mornings. To me they have always symbolized a fresh start, a new beginning, a clean slate. In the here, I usually jump out of bed, fairly early, and a little voice inside me proclaims that this day will be the BEST EVER! Well, "the leaf doesn't fall far from the tree"....or if you prefer.."the hen doesn't sit far from her chicks"..or .."the bee doesn't buzz far from the honey"...what in the world am I talking about?! Let's try this again....My children, after every Christmas, every vacation, every birthday, have proclaimed to me that this is the BEST EVER!

We, as a family have taken some pretty great vacations, the family trip to western Canada, when we went to a family reunion with their grandparents, all their aunts and uncles and cousins. That was their first time flying and it was an awesome trip all the way around.There was also the missions trip to Mexico and the trip to Haiti. These, of course stand out, but I am talking about the yearly trips to Hilton Head Island just 2 1/2 hours away. We don't do anything great or wonderful, we always stay at the same place, and over the last twenty years have pretty much the same routine.When the children were really young, we just swam in the pool and stayed out on the beach.When the age of the children reach "double digits" the boys began surf-fishing and Amanda and I rent bikes and then we make a dozen or so trips each moring to the Java Hut for coffee. The trick, which we have never mastered, is getting a full cup of coffee, which is placed in the wire bike basket, back to the boys and still have enough in the cup for them to drink. Hence, the dozen or so trips each morning. It works out that they get their morning cup of coffee one sip at a time. It also pretty well fills up the morning for Amanda and me. We usually go out for one very nice dinner somewhere but most of the time we are just together....walking, fishing, biking, eating boiled shrimp, and looking for shells.We have never, while we were on the island, gone to the movies, played putt-putt, or gone to the water park. But always and every year, on the way home, the kids tell us that this year was THE BEST EVER!

The same goes for Christmas. It would stand to reason that the best Christmas would be the one Santa brought the five week old bassett hound puppy, or the year he brought their bikes, or even the year Santa came through with a computer, forcing us into recent time. We again, have the same traditions year after year. We go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve after eating our traditional New Orleans spicy shrimp with homemade french bread and ribeye steaks (when they were below "double-digits" we didn't have steak). We come home and they open a present, always christmas pajamas( Amanda still gets christmas p.j., Russey gets a game for his play station) so we all look good for pictures in the morning. On Christmas morning, I always get up before the rest (unlike my baby sister who seems to have trouble getting up before the kids) and start the coffee and put the breakfast cassarole in the oven. Santa, (oh yes, in this house Santa's contract is for life..not his but ours) always leaves his present to them unwrapped under the tree so that they see them first. We eat and drink while we open presents, then we get dressed and head for the grandparents house. Both grandparents were fit into the day when my in-laws were alive. There, at the grandparents, is another meal and present opening with aunts, uncles and cousins. It never seems to matter whether it is cold or warm, sunny or raining, whether they get a lot of presents or just a few, whether it is just want they want or what we like to term a "good intention", at the end of the day there has always been that familiar phase....this christmas was the BEST EVER!

Birthdays...some have been celebrated with a big party, some have been celebrated by taking them to the big city of Atlanta to shop and then have dinner, some are spent with just the family going out to eat, sometimes the grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins can join us and other times it is the four of us. There have been times with great gifts but like most families there have been birthdays when we couldn't spend much money but... it doesn't seem to matter...we are still blessed with that pleasing phase...this birthday has been the BEST EVER!

I have been continually writting about how I have been filled with joy to the brim of my soul in the here. That part of my life can be summed up with the children's phrase, this has been the BEST EVER! You know that I have struggled with the question of what will the after be like. As you also know, I have spent the last twenty plus years literally being their teacher but could it be, that at least in this, that God has chosen my children as the teachers!? Could it possibly be that their honest, pure, god-given, childlike enthusiaum and simple joy for anything and everything is an example to me on how I need to and will view the after!? It appears that my children have learned the lesson in James 1:2 that tells us to "consider it pure joy, my brothers.." and "you have filled my heart with greater joy..." Psalm 4:7a It appears that they understand the lesson of Nehemiah 8:10b, "..this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

This mom needs to follow in the footsteps of her children, this mom needs an attitude change like the one the Lord bestowed on the King of Assyria, "For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleaven Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the King of Assyria.." Ezra 6:22. My children have reminded me of the scripture in Psalms that reads, "You turned my wailing into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give you thanks forever." Psalm 31:11-12. And so, with pure joy today I will say thank you my God and King and thank you my children for walking ahead of me to teach me. Thank you, that if we work on the lesson of joy, in the after, like my kids, I will be saying this has been THE BEST EVER!!!