Riotous, rapturous, raucous – that’s life!
Riotous, rapturous with a bit of raucous. Those are the words on the street today.
In the circle of life with its cycles and seasons, it’s the “life” part that has me throwing confetti and shouting, “HooRAY!!”
It was at a family hoo-ha about five months ago that a small, pig-tailed niece announced to those assembled that, “We’re getting a baby at our house.” Into the stunned silence that followed, someone finally mustered enough coherence to say, “It’s not April Fools, is it?”
No, it wasn’t, and yes, they were, and so we rejoiced together.
Their mama, grinning quiet, told the story. Told us how shocked they were. How she’d been two weeks away from making the phone calls that would take her back to school. How the stick had turned pink, rocking their world. How she was 38 and the baby was in school, now, all day, every day. How she’d held the news close, working it through ’til she could embrace the truth of this holy interruption.
Check, check, and check. I knew how she felt, being 38. How she felt, finally having everyone in school. How the earth shook when the stick turned pink, and how it takes a mama and a daddy some time to work it through, to receive such news; to say, finally, “All is well and all will be well.” I knew.
This past Saturday night, we walked, eager, happy, through the gleaming halls of the hospital to meet this precious baby; this unexpected gift; this fragrant, swaddled blessing. Sitting there, I held our tiny niece fresh from Heaven and looked into her face.
“God knows what He’s about,” I said to her mama. “She’ll be such a blessing to all of you.” And as I held her, our own “holy interruption;” our own “unexpected blessing” slipped up, patting his brand-new cousin’s bundled form, welcoming her to the family circle.
“I love you,” I whispered in Leah Kristine’s ear as I gave her back to Mommy.
Because it’s Monday, we continue to count, continue to find the fingerprints of God in the mundane. We celebrate traces of the holy in the everyday. Thanking Him for…
– the sight of Boy Two in his new show choir jacket and watching his first performance as a senior, having another chance to do what I do (holler for my boy)
– Baby Leah’s safe arrival, the feel of her on my shoulder, seeing The Senior holding her in his arms
– Leah’s tough, ex-military daddy’s tenderness with her
– a great start to a new school year for Boy Three
– a funny text from the new driver, “Wolf out,” and knowing that it means “I’m on my way home.”
– “I love ’em!” Little, exclaiming over his new shoes
– barking a laugh out of The Mister and The Mister barking one out of me
– passing on an “I’m proud of him” to same Mister from his mother
– Little popping popcorn, sitting on top of his daddy on the couch and sharing a bowl
– finding a name for the column, an answer to a years’-old prayer
– and many more!