1 Mother 2 Another

This morning I woke up while it was still
dark, as usual, and got dressed and ready for the day. When I came
out of my room, I noticed Maddie’s door was open and her
reading light on, highly unusual for my heavy sleeper who requires
a military band to wake her up.


I peeked my head in and saw her lying fully dressed on her bed,
staring out the window at the intense blue sky. She was wearing an
Earth Day t-shirt and snuggling hard on her lovey. Without a word I
climbed into bed with her and curled up.


“Look at the color of the sky, Mom,” she said.
“It’s so deep. It’s really pretty. And the birds
are already starting to sing, even though it’s still dark! I
wonder what the sky looks like where the birds are sitting.”
Suddenly inspiration struck me.

“Get up and come downstairs with
me,” I said, refusing to say more.


Maddie good-naturedly came with me, still half awake. I grabbed two
blankets, opened the back door, and crawled up into our tree fort.
Delightedly, Maddie crawled up after me.


Which is how we found ourselves snuggled up on a wood floor in a
tree on Earth Day, watching the sun come up and trying to figure
out all the different bird calls. We watched the sky start to
lighten and heard the birds intensify their song, completely at
peace and living in the moment. We talked about being good stewards
of this planet, and the great responsibility of overseeing all
we’ve been giving in a respectful way. We discussed the
birds' songs, and how they wake up each morning praising God
whether they have a meal or not, whether their nest is still in the
tree or not.


But mostly we just enjoyed the moment.


Happy Earth Day!