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The Extraordinary Ordinary

Babbling babies and muffin crumbs.  Sun glimpsing through rugged pecan trees.  Gentle breeze and soft, purring kitty.  Morning light stretches onto our porch.  And I am thankful.  Thankful that all five of us (baby number 4 included!) are sitting here in our normal groggy state.  Nothing new.  Nothing exciting.  And my heart is beating with thankfulness.

Yesterday we traveled home from visiting Cameron's parents.  Like we did that day.  We stopped at a mall for a short break.  Like we did that day... we had eaten in the food court, and Makiah and I played "I spy" while we waited for her Daddy to shop.  We made another quick stop to pick up something handed down for the new baby (thank you Melissa!!).  Like we did that day... the last time I touched Makiah was when we stopped to meet someone at a Mcdonald's to pick up a baby seat purchased from Craig's list.  When Cameron suggested we eat at Cracker Barrel (like we did that day!) I drew the line and had to confess my secret charting.  He hadn't noticed the similarities.  Or my inner churnings stuffed deep down where anxiety likes to grow.  I drove the last 2 hours, and I admit there were no sighs of relief until we were in the driveway.  Makiah died 23 miles from our house.  So very, very close.  We were almost home...

We even got home at the exact time we should have arrived on October the 8th 2010.  The story of two days written so similarly... except for the endings.  And I am thinking of how we don't know each morning how the day will end.  There usually are not hidden clues.  And how sometimes we are bored with normal.  Or wish that something were different.  And how often we don't even know what we have been spared when we unwrap a normal, boring day.  The wrappings are plain and maybe unsightly.  But oh the sweetness of the moments inside!  The extraordinary ordinary.  A gift worth noticing.  A Giver worth thanking. 

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