Redolence.

Madeline and Jacob came home today. Things are a little less lively around the house when they are at their Mom’s, so it is always nice to have them back. The back door was open when I returned home from work and the late afternoon sunshine was spilling in. I managed to convince an ever-willowy Madeline to go on a run with me while Papa Bear prepared corn on the cob and the trout that he and the kids had just returned from catching.

My favorite nights with my family are nights such as this. Even though we were missing two (it seems like we always are), the summer evenings spent sitting at our kitchen table with cloth napkins left over from the wedding four years ago, eating and sharing stories are pictures I will always treasure.

Now Jake sits wide legged reading a lego magazine by the kitchen light and Maddi sits in Joe’s lap giggling at her father’s recycled humor. Mama is naturally doing laundry. The evening light is fading and I am feeling decidedly poetic. Perhaps you have noticed. I am thankful for this. God has blessed me with quite the family and such a youth that I can only hope to provide for my children. It is not without it’s trial, and for that I am also thankful.

It is easy, in this moment, to find joy in trial and temptation. It is easy, in this moment, to rejoice in the building of perseverance and in the majesty of God who, in his infinite wisdom and depth, is all that He is wholly and fully. It is easy, in this moment, to worship. I wish I could bottle this moment and wear it as perfume.