It's the Little Things

God continues to use Coralyn to remind me of important, yet simple, truths. Like on Sunday...

We are grocery shopping and have already made stops at Aldi and Wal-Mart. Coralyn asks if we are going home next. I tell her we have to go to Hy-Vee first. Rather than being disappointed, she is quite excited, as she knows Hy-Vee means two things: a car cart and cheese! The girl seriously knows her grocery stores, and Hy-Vee is by far her favorite because of these two things, not to mention free samples on almost every visit :)

We pull into the parking lot, and Coralyn is basically bouncing up and down in her seat at the thought of riding in the car cart. Other kids must do the same thing, because these car carts are few and far between. We always try to tell her that the car carts might be all gone and other people are using them. And that we can be okay riding in a normal cart. Coralyn, however, is determined to get a car cart this trip. As we are looking for a parking spot, she eyes a car cart in one of the cart corals and yells, "I see it! There it is! Car cart! Red one!" Not wanting to assume there are other car carts actually in the store, Lawrence goes off to get the beloved car cart as I get Coralyn out of her car seat. Lawrence pulls up with the car cart and Coralyn is jumping up and down with glee, the biggest smile ever on her face. He lifts her in so she can "drive" and she sings, "Car cart, car cart" the whole way into the store. This is the highlight of her day, entire weekend really!

Then we get inside...immediately, she asks for a slice of cheese (that would be the cherry on top for her). Since there is a long line at the deli counter, we do our other shopping first. After each item is placed in the cart, Coralyn wants to know if cheese is next. It must have seemed like forever for her as we had to get milk, eggs, cereal, peanut butter, etc. first. But oh the wait was totally worth it! We finally arrive at the deli counter to get our ham and turkey. The whole time the person is getting our order ready, she is almost shouting, "Cheese! Cheese! Cheese, please! Orange cheese!" I kindly ask the deli worker if he would get a piece of cheese for my daughter. The second that piece of cheese was in Coralyn's hand, the world was perfect and complete (in her mind at least). I was proud of her too, as she said, "Thank you," without any reminders from Lawrence or me. Once again the smile on her face was from ear to ear. "Yummy, Mommy!"

It's the little things in life...car carts and cheese. As an adult with grown-up responsibilities, I think I often let the busyness and stress of life consume me. I forget to slow down and enjoy the "little things." And so God has put Coralyn in my life to help me remember...

*the beauty of the moon every night (as she points out any and every time she sees the moon)

*the brilliant colors of fall as the leaves change colors (as Coralyn announces every time we drive anywhere there are trees)

*the niftiness of pockets (as she loves to put her hands in her pockets, along with other treasures we find the next time we go to put on the jacket)

*the wonder of a bubble floating through the air and catching it on your finger (as Coralyn rushes to show me a bubble she has "caught" at storytime)

*the thrill of hearing a train or seeing an airplane flying through the sky (Coralyn shouts, "Choo! Choo!" every time she hears a train, and I swear she has the ears of a bat because she hears even the faintest train whistle)

*the joy of reading and the far off lands books can take you to (the other day we read books for 45 minutes without stopping and only then did we take a break because we had read every book we had checked out from the library, a few multiple times)

*the fun you can create with just a little imagination (turning a box into a puppet, a table into a tent where you can hide from the rain or the mouse that is coming, a blanket into a horsey)

I am sure I could think of many, many, many more examples of how Coralyn reminds me how precious the "little things" in life really are. I love the simplicity of her life, the sparkle in her eye, the bounce in her step, and the joy that overflows from her. I want to be just like her when I grow up! ;)