My day began with laughter this morning. I’ve been sleeping in the grandchildren’s room on a twin bed this week. My granddaughter is used to having her two older brothers in there with her so I slept in there with her. No bedside table near my bed but a large cedar chest at the head of the bed where I’d reach up and place my glasses and phone and iPad each night. Been writing my blogs in the dark each night pecking them out on the iPad.

Anyway, I woke up this morning and knocked everything off between the cedar chest and bed. I asked my granddaughter to come help me find my glasses. I noticed she had a funny confused look on her face and then she says, “Patty, you have them on your face. You all right?” No child, I’m not all right, I wanted to say, and you need to help me pack for Shady Oaks. We laughed and I told her about the time the Baptist preacher asked my grandmother, “Big Ma,” to lead the prayer in church Sunday morning and she said, “I can’t pray without my glasses.” They were on her head! But we knew better than to laugh in church.

Patty Day Camp ended today and my precious granddaughter went home. I know she missed her mama and family. Her brothers have been at Scout Camp this week with their daddy. I’m tired and worn out with happiness and full of love from two beautiful little girls. Each day was so much fun with the girls and we laughed the days away. So many wondrous memories were packed up this week and I’ll always carry them with me. I hope the girls will, too!

It’s mid-morning and I’m back perched in the porch swing, bird watching and eating my bagel and fruit. Penelope is home from vet brother’s boarding and is sleeping happily in her play pen. She’s full of canned chicken and bacon treats. The sky is so pretty and blue, full of wispy white clouds. I checked on my garden and found three cucumbers and some squash ready to be picked. I love cucumbers and couldn’t wait to eat one in a salad for a late lunch.

I sat in the swing in the early evening and watched the sunset. Been missing pondering on the sunset. The sun was bright and blinding, her sterling silver rays filtering through the old stately magnolias and the majestic tall oaks. As the sun perched on the horizon stage, Mother Nature washed the horizon in her golden watercolors and the sun rolled down dragging the twilight behind her. As the twilight raced down my street the lightning bugs started blinking in the little short row of blooming sunflowers, so pretty as the day’s light gradually darkened. Father Sky waked the moon and bejeweled stars and the night was awakened as the day fell asleep.

Love this quote my friend sent today. “There are no perfect parents and there are no perfect children, but there are plenty of perfect moments along the way,” Dave Willis. Chief and I always looked on our children as cherished gifts from heaven to a loving marriage. We can learn so much from children and they can enlighten the world. I think one of the greatest lesson children can teach us is unconditional love. They love us even when we fail and fall short of their expectations. They also could give the world a lesson in getting a long with each other by teaching us we don’t have to agree on everything to love and respect each other.

Life is full of so many perfect moments and they are so fleeting specially when our children are young. Don’t wish for them to grow up quickly. Let them relax and enjoy the world before they have to get out and make their way in the world. Listen to them when they talk and give them hope for tomorrow. Hug them often and tell them you love them. Teach them to put their faith in God. Teach them to pray at bedtime and say the blessing at meals. Let them dream big, embrace their mistakes, encourage their laughter, and most importantly, have fun with them.

God wants us to be happy but he desires to make us holy. Happiness can be fleeting but a life blessed by putting God first can lead to true happiness.

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” — Forest Witcraft