"Four eyes, Four eyes..."

"You need glasses to see-ee!"  - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

I've worn glasses (well owned glasses, I don't always wear them) since around 6th grade.  Unlike most glasses wearers, I kinda like them.  Getting a new pair glasses is even better than getting a new pair of shoes in my book.  Glasses put a nice little frame around the window to one's soul.  They can be fun, funky, stylish, and even make you look smarter than you are (I need all the help I can get in that department.)  So when Anya was prescribed her first pair of glasses I was more than a little excited, but I was also apprehensive - How was she going to react?  Would there be tears?  Would she refuse to wear them?

I'm not sure why I was nervous - This is Anya we're talking about here.  The QUEEN of accessories!  She thought this was the most brilliant idea since the Silly Band.  There were a few tears, though, from big sister Charis.  She wanted glasses so bad.  I found this placed me in a very difficult position.  Trying to tell one child "you will love glasses", and the other one that "they aren't any fun at all".  Knowing that would never fly.  I tried to explain to the girls that they were both "fearfully and wonderfully made" and that God made them just the way He wanted them.  

Next was the actual picking of the glasses.  Anya is so funny when it comes to picking things out.  She takes no time to look at anything and falls in love with everything.  I kept hearing "Mom, I LOVE these."  I'd point out that they might be a little big, or wouldn't fit quite right, and she would be on to the next pair.  Until she found "The pair"  "Mom I'm 100% sure I love these and no other!"  They're black, and black is my color!!"  I'm 120% sure, I LOOOOOOOOVVVVVE them.  How do you argue with that?  Besides the pair I liked were twice as expensive, and if she loved them she'd be more likely to wear them, right?

I was really happy for her, and excited to share my love of glasses, however strange a love of glasses is, but I was a little sad too.  When she put on her glasses, she grew up a little bit, right in that moment.  I looked down at her and could no longer she a chubby toddler, or precocious preschooler.  She was a kid, a real live KID.  And before I know it, this kid is going to be packing her bags and heading off to college, or *gulp* getting ready for her first date (which as she has been informed by her father, will not be until she's at least 30.)  And though these thoughts are filled with uncertainty.  I know that my job is to hold my children lightly, because they are only on loan to me.  They aren't mine to do whatever I please with.  They are the Lord's and I am merely preparing them for their journey ahead.  Motherhood is a wonderful gift, but my ultimate goal is to work myself out of this job.  Some days I'm ready, some days I'm not, some days I don't think it will ever get here soon enough.  Thankfully I still have some time to figure it out.

Anya will always remember 1st grade as the year she got glasses.  I will always remember it as the year I realized that she was really going to grow up, and those glasses will be a constant little reminder.  Though as sobering as that thought is,  I still have to say that my heart melts, just a bit, every time I see that adorable, bespectacled face.  You're too cute for words Ani B.!

Happy Heart

Micaiah has just recently started drawing pictures.  He hadn't shown any interest in coloring or drawing until the last few days.  This morning he ran up to me to show off one of his latest creations.

Micaiah:  Mama!  Look what I just drew for you?

Me:  Oh wow, Cai, that's wonderful.  We should put it on the fridge to show Daddy!

Micaiah:  Yeah, ok, but I wanna show Jesus too.

Me:  Hmmm...How do you think we should go about doing that?

Micaiah:  Just like this! (he lifts up his shirt) Now you hold it up to my tummy, so Jesus can see from my heart (which happens to located in his belly button).

Faith of a child.  Priceless.