Blessed

How wonderful it was today to receive a 5:30am phone call and have it be good news! No school today! And a Friday, at that! It was even better news than I originally thought, as neither one of the girls is feeling very well right now. Since they both don't like to miss school, this was a blessing. 

So they spent the day lounging...in fact, Serena hasn't left her bed much at all. Sometimes you just need a day like that, ya know? 

Last night we enjoyed a basketball game. It's not that I'm that much of a fan of sports, but i love the atmosphere of a hometown game. The students, the band, the sound of squeaky shoes on a gym floor. Brings back memories of being young and carefree. As Nat said on the way home, "mom, my cheeks hurt." I said, "from playing your sax?" "No, from laughing so much with my friends!" That's so cool, and she does have wonderful friends!! It was nice to sit by one of the dads of her friends. We've spent years sitting near them in the stands while our daughters played side by side. Now that Natalie is unable to play sports, we miss that. Turns out "friend's dad" misses us too. Nice to know. Natalie really misses playing sports and spending that time with her classmates. It seems unfair to me, I guess, looking at it from a human perspective. She wants so much to do the things she enjoys, but her body says a big fat "no".  And yet, there remains a purpose.

That, and many other questions plague our minds as we face the upcoming surgery in June. She asked me just today if I'd be willing to pay the "pay to play" fee in order for her to be an honorary teammate sitting on the bench after her surgery. I got to thinking, of course we would do that. But why not also be believing that her body will one day again allow her to participate in sports? We have a big God, right? I'm believing! 

And who can forget that God has blessed her with a musical gift? She is self-taught, which amazes me every day! She learned the Charlie Brown theme on piano just for me this Christmas!! I love hearing her pound it out for me every chance she gets. BLESSED am I and BLESSED is she. She is also singing more and more and is developing her range. A "shower singer" myself, I don't know much about singing to teach her, but I know my ears are happy! 

So on this day, I've enjoyed spending time with my pajama-clad girls, my snoozing pup, and my homemade bread. Thankful for a recent financial blessing which answered some prayer. Thankful for my dad's bread recipe! Thankful for warm weather in January that gave us a "weather day".  Just plain thankful. Just plain blessed.