As with any child, they change us, they make us better (or at least they should!). Any child tugs at your heart strings and changes your perspective on life. There are many things that start to change in your life, things that use to matter seem not so important anymore. At some point sitting home on a Friday night eating a "cardboard" pizza watching an animated movie seems like the best Friday night ever. Oh and not to mention that you are in bed by 9PM!
Lydia is no different in that she has changed me. I think, because of her journey, it has changed me in a lot of ways. Because she needs to work at almost everything she does, things seem so much more important. Because you understand how intricate walking is, and every single detail that goes into it, it's a BIG deal.
I never understood that with my other children, because I did not have to understand. I did not understand how important it was to crawl and why each step is needed in the progression of a child's development. I did not have to because my other girl's progression came naturally. It comes with Lydia, she just needs to work on it more.
Lydia has taught me how to SLOW DOWN and RELAX. Life is not a race, it is a marathon. You need to take care of all the details so you can persevere until the end. You need to condition yourself, practice and push yourself. And you need to take in all of the things around you so you can prepare yourself!
Our life has become more simple since Lydia has been here. We have taken every moment to embrace everything. We celebrate every moment. Often times we celebrate every single second. Lydia often looks to us for encouragement by praising her. The girl's face lights up every time we give them praise.
We have learned to take every opportunity to tell them that we love them, to celebrate whatever it is that they are doing, and to just SLOW DOWN. Our lives are too busy and we miss things that our children are doing. I feel so blessed that God has given us this journey so we can learn this.
When we hear of a school shooting or some kind of tragedy, we often hear that we need to hold our children tighter. The problem is that we should be doing that all of the time regardless of the situation or circumstance. I know that I have taken the time with our children and I have embraced the moments. I know that they know I love them and we are a close family. I am proud to say that we have that relationship. We still eat almost every meal together, we pray in the car, we do devotions. I take every moment to tell my kids I love them and I am proud of them. I help them with their schoolwork and I am involved in their education, in their spiritual education.
I am still a long way off from being "perfect" in this area. Often times I find myself sucked in my the computer, blogging, a book, a movie (we don't have TV for this very reason), or tied up in some kind of cause. Not that they are bad, but I need to remember to RELAX and SLOW DOWN. I need to remember what Lydia has taught me. Work hard on everything, celebrate often, and be proud of who you are today!
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