22 February 2011

Of Appreciating Gifts

Tonight I made (almost from scratch) a crab ravioli with tomato-cream sauce.  Philip and I were fans.  Micaiah took a bite, choked it down and declared, "I don't like it!"  Three and half minutes later, she was clapping, "Yay!  A hot dog!" 

Now, typically she eats what we eat, like it or not, but if she's not going to appreciate quality food that took me time and love to prepare (and that I think is darn good), I don't want to waste it on her under-developed toddler taste buds.  When she was younger I did the same with things like crescent rolls - things Philip and I love and will eat every last crumb of.  To an eighteen-month old, bread is bread.  So she had her some sliced Wonder while we devoured our flaky goodness.  Selfish?  Yes.  But there's only so long we can get away with making the switch like that - in fact, our non-crescent-sharing days are already behind us. 

But it all got me thinking.

I am so glad our Heavenly Father isn't as stingy as we can be as parents.  It's a wonder that He chooses to share the marvel of his creation - the splendor of a sunset, the resonance of a sweet rain, the glistening of a brand new snowfall - with His children, who, most of the time, act like spoiled toddlers, too immature to truly appreciate what we have been given.  Much like the joy of a hot dog when faced with culinary art, we trade the whisper of a breeze through the grass for the tin sound emitting from our computer speakers; we swap the glorious colors of a blooming flower for the glare of a television screen.  "Yay!  Noise!  Yay!  Distraction!"  It makes me wonder why He wastes His time.

I've been working toward Thankful living these days.  Noticing the beauty that surrounds me in the here and now.

The beauty of today included tiny fingers pouring M&M's into a bowl of cookie dough (and splattered egg white on a stunned toddler face), sunshine and a cool breeze between the car and the superstore wasteland, and, of course, this face:



I am grateful.  Grateful that God shares with me what I am often too busy to notice.  Thank you, Lord, for not giving up on us.

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