Sweet Times....

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Remember Your Creator While Young Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. --Ecclesiastes 11:5-8

Katie works in Savannah, and I work at our church here in Springfield. In order for her to get to work on time and still get a good night's sleep, we have worked out a system in the morning. We all get up at the same time - and while Katie showers & gets ready for her work day, I wake up Olive, feed her breakfast, and get her ready for "school". While we have a lot of family time together, and Katie has some evenings alone with Olive while I'm in meetings or rehearsals, my time with my girl is early in the morning. This is my sweet time. Our alarm sounds at 6:00am and I am off to Olive's room to wake her up, if she is not up & chatting already. I dress her (in the outfit Katie has already picked out) and we play with our dog Lilly before we play "I'm gonna getcha" all the way into the kitchen. (I have occasionally strayed from dressing Olive in the outfit Katie has preselected for the day -- and it has not been met with appreciation...)Olive runs and laughs down the hallway as I chase her. She must think I'm the slowest Dad in the world because I haven't managed to catch her one single morning of her life. I fix her breakfast and she usually eats while I get her juice and snack ready for the day. But sometimes -- she wants me to stay right with her. These are truly sweet times. She laughs, pretends she's not going to put the spoon in her mouth, or offers her oatmeal to Lilly and me. After her breakfast, she is ready to see Mama, and so again we play "I'm gonna getcha" to the bedroom where she finds Mama getting ready. We all sometimes lay on the bed for a minute, talk about the day, or tickle Olive while she pretends to go back to sleep. This family time early in the morning is priceless to me; I wouldn't trade it for any thing. I think about this time almost everyday after they leave. How lucky am I to have this sweet time with Olive? I think of my life as a blessing with Katie and Olive -- this time with them is my "success." These are just my thoughts for this morning...

-T