“Just thinking about life, Mom!”

My kids are a consistent source of inspiration to me. As tired as I feel some days from the managing of the daily chaos of life with kids, I would not trade it for the world. They are my greatest teachers, which is not something I expected from motherhood. Those little nuggets of wisdom they drop into my lap at the most unexpected moments remind me that God is so present in their being and their light, like all children, is meant to shine so that we all may learn from them. We just have to be listening.

One normal day last month, my daughter Ella (age 3), needed to run to the bathroom at the park we were playing at. In her normal Ella style, it was an EMERGENCY, and we had to hustle to get to the park restrooms as fast as we can.  Side note, it’s rarely an emergency for her, but she likes to run and make it a thing, so we play along. As she’s sitting on the potty in a random park restroom, after her big burst of energy to get there, she got very still and began quietly looking at the ceiling. When I asked her what she was doing, she responded with “Just thinking about life, Mom!” And then proceeded to say a prayer, out loud, thanking God for the wonderful world we live in and for the fun day at the park. Moments later, she was off and running again. 

The lesson I learned from this experience is that I can pause at any point in my day and take a moment to breathe, pray, and continue on. So often, I am thinking about what’s next, what’s for dinner, who is picking up the kids, the list goes on and on.  The running just doesn’t stop because I don’t take moments to pause and thank God for all my blessings or the wonderful world we live in. My habit is to schedule in prayer and quiet time in the morning before chaos begins. This is a great habit for sure, but after seeing Ella just mix in this moment of reflection during her day, in a random park restroom, I can’t help but think she’s onto something. 

Ella’s Public Restroom Prayer: “Dear God, Thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for the sunshine and for our time at the park. We love you. Amen”