Just thought I would post before hitting the sack. It's getting late and the kids are all tucked into their beds, hopefully sleeping away. We spent the past few days marking milestones. Bob & my 20th anniversary, Andrew's 14th Birthday, and Anabelle deciding she wanted to sew on her own without mom helping at all. Yes, this is a milestone. She is only 7 and loves to create things. I think she gets this from Megan. So this evening Belle comes into my room with a pink sweater in hand, a spool of thread and a needle and climbs onto my bed preparing to sew down the huge collar on her sweater. She hates big collars and asked if I would cut it off. If I did that, the whole sweater would unravel... so, she did the most logical thing in her 7 year old mind... she sewed the collar to the inside of her sweater. It's a little bulky, but I am not going to undo it. It's her creation and she is so proud of it. I will praise her when she proudly wears it to church in the morning and I will not undo and resew it. She would know. Looking at the sweater and the big stitches reminded me of something. You know how often we make sure that we repair things in our lives, whether it be a sweater or hurt feelings, or some other faux pax that we have created, with small stitches so it's not so apparent or visible to others? I do this. I want things solved with the least amount of attention. When I watched Belle sew, I thought of my silliness in trying to hide or minimalize things. I was reminded that it's ok to see the imperfections... that's what makes each of us beautiful, original, and flawed. Being flawed is a good thing... well, knowing that we are flawed and recognizing those flaws is good because we can never better ourselves if we think we are perfect. ha... there... that's the whole lesson God gave me today.. I am NOT perfect, I have flaws, and it's ok. Now to celebrate them, to embrace them, and to work a bit on them... that's the task at hand. Love you all! Blessings Always~ Mary