I've always loved this little Scripture verse. It's one of those passages that you could easily miss, especially if you're not a mother. But, as a mother, my heart resonates with this passage often, especially in moments when no one else is around to 'share' in this or that moment with my children. I will often smile to myself and offer a little prayer, "Enjoy this one with me, Lord!" knowing that He truly does take delight in these precious moments....Here are some for you to enjoy, though it's never quite the same as 'being there':
-Papa, while going through a Catechism lesson with M and L in bed, asked "What do we mean when we say that God is the Supreme "Being"? I heard an endless hysteria of laughter for about 5 minutes straight. Apparently, M and L thought Papa was saying that God is the Supreme "Bean", and no matter how concise his explanation was after that, they didn't get very far in their Catechism lesson that night!! (As a side note, the next day's Catechism homework for M included, "Define 'Being' and 'bean'. Explain the difference to L, and decide together if God is the Supreme Being or Bean.")
-At Mass, L asked me, "Mama, can we ask Father O'Doherty why Jesus is King of the Jewels?"
(And, we did indeed. Father actually thought he really wanted to know this literally, and bless his heart- he came up with a wonderful explanation about Jesus being the brightest Light of all, etc.... He thought his question was pretty profound!)
-Last night, around 4 am, after changing a wet diaper on C, who then didn't want to go back to bed until I got her a cup of water, and having L join us in bed 5 minutes after that and smushing his little self up as close to me as he could get to 'snuggle' (who, my nose detected after another couple minutes, also had a wet diaper... though, did not want me to change!), my precious M pipes up all of a sudden- "Mama, my throat kind of hurts...." "Are you thirsty, Sweetie?" "Um, yes, but I don't want you to have to get out of bed again." Let's just say, after that kind of thoughtfulness at 4-something-a.m., I was happy to get out of bed to get my daughter a glass of water!
-At Mass this morning, L was drawing pictures of Jesus on the cross and kept whispering (well, I wish it was whispering.... he's not a quiet child!) questions to me:
"Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?" "Why did the soldiers put nails in his hands?"
"Why does Jesus still have holes in his hands and feet from the nails?"
"Why did they put pointy thorns in his head? Did they hurt when they went in really bad?"
I tried to whisper answers that would satisfy his curiosity (at least long enough to get through Mass!), and as we were leaving Mass, he began repeating some of the questions again...
"But, when they whipped him and beat him so hard, did it really hurt Jesus?"
I nodded solemnly and told him it definitely did. He got a very perplexed, thoughtful look on his face.
Then, with a little click of his tongue (that reminded me of a little ol' lady expressing sympathy!), he declared, "Ohhhhhh. I just wuv Jesus so much."
Oh, yes, "Mama Mary" (as we call her in our house)... I understand 'pondering these things in my heart.'
