Every now and then, if you're lucky, you have one of those moments where time seems to stop, just for a second or two. On those rare occasions, you pause and take a mental snapshot, realizing with a real sense of clarity that twenty or thirty years later, you're going to remember that moment. You're going to remember what you were doing, what you saw, and more importantly, how you felt.
I had one of those moments this morning, after I returned from a run in the neighborhood. I had finished my run at Bongo Java on Belmont Boulevard, so I could grab a cup of coffee for me and a muffin for Jude. I walked across Belmont's campus, listening to an episode of "This American Life" on my Ipod and enjoying a beautiful spring morning. I'm always in a good mood after an early morning run, so I was smiling as I walked up the steps on our front porch and let myself in the front door.
I heard Jude and John Patrick upstairs, talking and laughing. I walked up the stairs, still sweating from my run and saw them sitting together in his play area in the hall, outside his room. John Patrick was facing his bookcase, playing quietly with a couple of toys while Jude two or three feet away, watching him. Every couple of minutes, he would look back at her, then play some more. The lighting was perfect. John Patrick had pulled one of his teddy bears off the bookcase and it was laying beside him, playing music.
As I sat in a chair and took in the whole scene, it hit me. This is one of those moments I'm going to remember, clearly, for the rest of my life. I'll think of it when John Patrick is walking across the stage to receive his high school diploma, when he leaves for college and when he stands at the front of a church and watches his bride walk down the aisle toward him. I'll think of it many other times, too.
God has truly blessed me more than I deserve.
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