clearly i am raising him well

a real life conversation: 

mommy:  well, buddy, should we vacuum?

harrison:  no.  get some coffee first.  

my boys

the shy and sweet one...

the gregarious and hilarious one...

or at least that's how they were acting today!  

have toys, will travel

this morning i awakened to see two little eyes peeking at me from the side of my bed.  i said, "good morning, love.  want to come up and cuddle with mommy & daddy?".  i guess that is exactly what he wanted because he quickly began handing me all the essentials...

* a mercer mayer book (a gift from meme & papa which harrison recently told me is his "new favorite")

* a tape measure (we don't go anywhere without it these days)

* a stuffed dalmation puppy dog (his bedroom is decorated with vintage fire trucks and the dog had been sitting up high on the shelf until he realized that he is now tall enough to reach it)

* his blue woobie

* his white woobie (the hospital-issued one that we used to swaddle him up tight when he was a newborn)

he climbed up, gave me a hug, and said what have recently become my "new favorite" words..."i love you lots, mommy".  

it may have been 6:30 in the morning (a bit too early for my liking), but that was the best start to a day i've had in a long time!

today is wednesday

that means one thing in our house:  it's trash day!  and trash trucks are a very cool thing to a two-year old boy!  today we saw blue trash trucks and green trash trucks.  we also got to see the blue recycling truck.  man, oh man, wednesdays are fun!  

harrison has taken a great liking to trucks of all kinds.  he can tell you the difference between a dump truck, a semi truck, a ups truck, a bulldozer, a bus, a trash truck, a mail truck, a cement mixer, and just a regular old pick up truck (which is every bit as cool!).  he loves watching the trash collectors do their job.  he loves watching construction workers do their jobs.  he loves watching the mail man do his job. 

he is just down right fascinated with trucks and the people who drive them!!

the best thing about this is getting to see the reaction of the trash collectors when they notice that harrison is watching.  they smile, wave to him, and even honk the truck's horn!  which, of course, excites my little man to no end!  

what impresses me the most about this is that harrison thinks that being a trash collector is the coolest thing on earth....the best job ever!  it makes me wonder when the world will start influencing him to think otherwise.  when will he become jaded or judgmental or embarrassed about things like collecting trash?  when will he stop wanting to help me take out the trash? when will it become un-cool to love the trash truck?  

i don't know the answer.  what i do know is that i am going to SOAK UP these moments of being able to see the world through his two-year old eyes.  i have loved waving at the trash collectors as much as he has...and thanking them for the great job they do for us!  i hope for many more opportunities to experience things through the lens of an innocent child!

dear guido,

hi.  you may not remember me.  we've only met two, maybe three, times.  i used to work for a couple of guys you know.  when you would call them, i would answer the phone and patch you through.  i know that in your line of work you meet lots and lots of people.  i would not be at all offended to find out that you really don't remember me.  

i just wanted to let you know that i will never forget you. 

my first "encounter" with you was before i actually became the official "phone-call-patcher-through-er".  the girl who was training me answered the phone one day and chatted briefly.  the next thing i knew she had her head bowed, her eyes closed and she seemed to be listening intently.  i knew that whomever was on the other end of that conversation was praying.  and i could tell that he was praying specifically for her.  she hung up the phone, dried her teary eyes and explained, "that was guido...he is so awesome".  actually, "awesome" might not have been her exact word (she's not really an "awesome"-saying kind of girl).  nevertheless, i quickly understood that getting a call from the guy named guido would be, if nothing else, very interesting. 

turns out "interesting" doesn't really do you justice.  

the first time i actually spoke to you was just a week or two after i officially took over the job. we chit-chatted for a minute and then you gave me a challenge.  you strongly encouraged me to figure out why i had been named rachel.  you suggested that it could be a very powerful "realization" for me...that i was not named by chance...rather, i am rachel for a reason.  you may or may not have prayed for me that day, i don't recall.  what i do remember, though, is getting off the phone with you and having a sense of being known, being befriended, being cared for, and, most importantly, being called to figure out something deeper about myself.

five minutes on the phone with you and i had a new goal in life.  

i pondered it.  i prayed about it.  i did word studies.  i read scripture.  (i must admit that i got a bit hung up on the story of rachel & leah...specifically, that rachel was the beautiful sister...but that was just down right silly of me).  the answer did not come easily.

but i never thought it was supposed to.  

it wasn't until years later, long after i had left that job and moved to a new city - long after i had seen/spoken to you for the last time - that the "realization" finally surfaced.  instantly, the tears flowed.  they were tears of sorrow.  tears of knowing - deeply and truly knowing - that...

i am a lost little lamb, in need of a Shepherd to rescue me.

socrates said, "the unexamined life is a life not worth living".  obviously, i have a whole life to continue examining.  but, let me just say, this particular examination was eye-opening.  it was life-changing, as you promised it would be.  it was recognizing why i do the things i do...who i am.  it was surrender.  it was understanding - really, finally comprehending - that salvation and reconciliation and redemption are not just words in a concordance.  they are VERBS...living, breathing, and active in our every day lives!

it was a deeper level in the life-long journey that is leading me closer to Christ.

guido, there is so much more i could write about you.  maybe about the time you asked my boyfriend (who had just met you 30 seconds prior) to pray for you while he was driving down the interstate, rushing to get you to your destination?  maybe about how you've been an encourager to my former boss and his wife, upholding their marriage and family?  maybe about how you will travel at a moment's notice, sometimes going to the airport without even knowing the destination, just waiting on God to show you the way?  maybe about how you've dealt with pain in your own family, all the while lifting up others?  maybe about how you intercede for others?  maybe about how you speak the Truth?  maybe about how you reach out to people in a very difficult, wearing industry and fulfill a calling that others may consider far too radical?

yes, i could say all that.  although, i have a feeling you wouldn't want me to mention any of it. my sense is that you would have perfect contentment without ever knowing the affect you've had on me.  (that's what makes you far more than "interesting").  i, however, just felt the need to share with you how thankful i am to God for having used you so mightily in my life.  and thank YOU for always listening to His voice and following where He leads.  blessings to you, my friend!