She Touched My Heart

Rhiannon touched my heart today. She is in general an extremely empathetic and sensitive child. She is a peacemaker and loves to make people happy, especially her parents. She is compassionate and giving and caring by nature.

Tonight as the night wore on my patience grew thinner. The younger two were being difficult, loud and challenging. Getting them through storytime and into bed was becoming an Olympic event. Rhia could sense my growing frustration and the effect it was having on me.

She switched gears and just wanted to be helpful. She asked to call her dad to pray - then I discovered she shared with him that I had a headache and was not feeling well. She wanted to put her siblings to bed so I could rest. She was trying so hard to find a way to help me, anyway she could.

She helped Ciaran who was scared of his frogs in the dark, she sang to Sirah, she brought me a warm washcloth for my head and some water to drink. Did I mention she is just six years old?

After the younger two fell asleep she asked if she could rub my back and what else could she do to help me? She laid in bed with me and rubbed my back and chatted. Her kindness touched me more than anything else. She really was loving me and wanting to help however she could, it was on her heart to do so.

We ended up laying in bed talking for well over an hour and she shared some questions she has had about a variety of things. She was genuine and honest and I could see the difficulties she faces at such a young age with understanding so much. Her knowledge is already a burden and a blessing to her. It made me wish she could just be a carefree child without any knowledge. Yet I know that is not possible so we talked about it.

She wanted to know about my life and the things I have been through and things that I found difficult or challenging. She wanted to know more stories like the time I saw a bear while camping, swam with stingrays or sharks in the ocean, and got stung by jellyfish. I would not burden her with such things now and we were able to steer the conversation to more positive ground.

She shared her fear of my dying and what would happen to her and how she is glad she is homeschooled and can she always be with me or does she have to go to college? I told her we could revisit how she felt about that when she was about 16. The same answer we gave the kids when they asked why they could not marry each other.

It was a precious night. The kind of moments you just want to bottle up and keep taking out to refresh your spirit. The kind of moment you will always remember and be thankful you had. The kind of moment you want but can never create for yourself, they just have to happen.

I am so thankful that I did not shut her out tonight. It would have been easy to do. I was tired and truthfully I just wanted to be alone. Yet Rhia was persistent in her desire to show love and caring to me and in the end it gave us one of our best heart to heart and snuggle times in a long time if not ever.

Hug those children. Listen to their hearts. Cherish their love and their adoring hearts right now. Be there for them and let them be there for you, even when it seems to make things take longer. Let them love you and let them care for you in the ways they know how and are able to. Don't dismiss them, don't break their spirits. Build them up and let them love you as you love them.

Let your little ones touch your heart as you touch theirs. Let them talk while you listen. Let them care for you and do their best for you. Let them "give you the day off" like Rhia is going to one day this week. For we can never get these moments back and we need to cherish and treasure them so our children know how much we cherish and treasure them.

Peace,
Tenn