evidence of a life well-lived

Our house is a little messy right now. Here on the desk is a cloth baby wipe, a bulb syringe, my phone, Emma’s medical card, Ben’s Red Ribbon Week pencil, and my camera. On the dining room table there’s a cup of pedialyte, a thermometer, a sewing machine, an open issue of Entertainment Weekly, and cloth diapers that are half-fixed. On the coffee table you’ll find an empty coffee cup, a sippy cup of water, burp cloths, some laundry, Mater, Emma’s bunny lovey, and a scarf on knitting needles. On the couch is a pile of unfolded laundry, more cars, a large mixing bowl, and a little boy sleeping off his sickness beneath a hand-knit blanket.

And when I look at all these things I tear up a bit. Not because it’s messy (although sometimes I do tear up about that). But because all of these little odds and ends are proof of a lovely little life. These things don’t just prove that I’m too exhausted to keep my house picked up (although that’s certainly true). They prove that a family lives here.These are little pieces of the three people I love most in this world and the life we have together. For the most part it’s a small, simple, quiet life.

It’s a wonderful life.