Last night after work I stopped by the church for the ward Valentine's Day party. For the first part I mostly just danced with the grandkids of some friends that were there. The teens, for some reason, think standing in a circle and slightly moving to the beat qualifies as dancing... sigh kids these days. So I had fun anyway. The whole ward knows I'm a nut, so it's not like I had to be embarrassed to be dancing with a six year old, a four year old, and a nine month old. Sister Xob Liam does crazy stuff like that. In fact a friend even came up and asked me to teach her the country swing that I had been showing the six year old. So I dance with her too.
I was about to give up however and go home. It had been a long day, I'd worked a double (kids were at Grandma's), and I can only do just so much to try and help the poor teens. Just then they announced a game of musical chairs. While they set up I said a few goodbyes, but caught the end of the first round.
The music stopped and a 4 year old boy was left without a chair. I smiled with pride as a young man who didn't even know the boy quietly got up and stepped to the side while the others excitedly showed the boy to the chair that was vacant, like he still had a chance to win if he hurried.
I resumed my goodbyes and the next round started, and when the music stopped again there was that boy, out again, except that the young man who had beat him to the last chair scooped him on to his lap and another young man snuck away to the side. Now I was interested, so I lingered, watching.
From then on the little boy was right by his new friend's side. When the music stopped they were there, stacked two deep in a chair the others made sure they got. Round after round the chairs dwindled, until it was one chair, and three boys.
That round lasted an eternity, and we all laughed and cheered over the antics of the two teens and the 4 year old. Suddenly the music stopped and, before he even realised it was time to sit, the boy had been scooped up by both teens and planted in the victory seat.
I love that there are still heroes in the world.
Today I have been able to spend quite a bit of time with Joe. That doesn't happen often, between our work schedules and life in general we are like two ships, rocking on each other's wakes. Today he stayed up really late. We got some work done at his Mom's house, went to lunch all seven of us, then the kids went home with her and I brought Joe home to sleep. Instead of sleeping like he should he sat and talked with me for a while, about art and fences, and who knows what else, you know just talked. It wasn't a power meeting about how to handle the hurdles we are up against, it wasn't catch up time on all the information the other doesn't have. It wasn't strategy planning for handling the kids. It was just talk. It was nice.
Lord, thank you for everyday heroes, and for for long conversations with my husband.
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