When we focus on what we want and what we need we can have a tendency to forget what we already have. Last night I had a moment that reminded me again of the beauty of living in the present.

Lately I have been a nervous wreck. I’m finally full term pregnant with #4 and it feels like I’m a First Time Mom all over again.  I’ve been worried and anxious and even started hallucinating about being in labor, but still nothing. I have been freaking out about my older three kids being sick right as baby is due and how germy my house will be. My anxiousness and impatience has been zapping what little energy I have and causing me to be a bit of a grouchy wife and mama.  

My husband had a meeting tonight and my kids were all coughing and feverish. I half wished I were anywhere else too at first, but then I decided my fate could not be helped and the more I avoided it the worse it would be. So, I decided to turn off my head, put everything else aside and just be with them for a bit. I gave them all baths and I watched them play in the tub. We did jammies, lotion and teeth, and then read books, and sang lullabyes for over an hour. I put vapor rub on their little tummies and feet as I tucked them in and they thanked me for being “the best mommy ever”.  I almost cried. I realized that in my stressed out last few days I almost forgot about the kids I already have. I have been avoiding their noise, their sickness, their constant pleas for attention because I thought the new baby was more important.

Of course baby is important, of course life is about to change in a beautiful way…. but LIFE IS ALSO BEAUTIFUL NOW!!! Life is beautiful PERIOD! 

My children are beautiful blessings whether they are 2, 5 or 20. I don’t want to miss out on how beautiful they are because I’m stressing about making more beauty come faster. I’m not in control anyway.

Did you ever notice that the more you try to control something, the faster it seems to spiral out of your grasp?  

Did you ever notice that when you let go and just enjoy, everything you ever wanted and more seems to fall into your lap?

Even tonight as my kids were whining about headaches, sore throats and stuffy noses, they were all three simply melting into me. My biggest was on my right side perfectly snuggled around my belly, my youngest on my left arm with his blanket in his hand and his thumb in his mouth, my middle baby girl reclined on my lap with her blanket and her thumb. They talked to me about their aches and pains but also about what they were grateful for and what they wanted to pray for.  They told me how much they loved me and how much they enjoyed being there with me. I felt overcome with gratitude for what I had and sorrow for missing out on so much the last few days.

We’ve all heard it a million times, but take a second right now to take it in again.

Count your blessings and be grateful for them. You are blessed in every moment with exactly what you need in that moment, never more, never less. Be grateful for the children you have and those you await. Be grateful for your “single-ness”, be grateful for your relationships. Recognize all the blessings that are meant to show you how loved you are, right where you are. Appreciate what you have now and “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself” (Mt. 6:34).

Read also:

• Control, Anger, Peace and Paradox – Finding Freedom in Letting Go
• Love and Fear – A change in your Heart

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