Gracie Marie smiled gleefully from her high chair. Wisps of
blond hair brushed her cheeks, as she giggled with glee. She was enthralled
with picking up each tiny Cheerio and would celebrate the achievement of making
that Cheerio stick to her wet fingers and get in her mouth. Her joyous laugh
made me smile, too, and I was so grateful that God had blessed us with such a
joyful child, 2 ½ years ago.
I leaned over and kissed the top of her head, smiling, and
continued cleaning up the kitchen, strewn with breakfast dishes from our older
three kids who had already left for school. After clearing the table and
filling the sink with soapy water, I turned back to wipe down the table. It was
then that I noticed that Gracie had tipped over the bowl of applesauce and was
finger-painting with it on her tray and in her hair.
“Oh, Gracie! Applesauce is to eat, not play with!”
I quickly removed the bowl, spoon, and cup from the tray and
scooped up the remaining applesauce, as best as I could, with a generous swipe
of my washrag. Then, I tried to wipe Gracie’s face clean and smear some of the
applesauce from her hair, too.
“Oh, Gracie! Gracie! What will I do with you?” I said in a
sing-song way, smiling, remembering the outbursts of anger I heard at home,
when things didn’t go as expected.
I was grateful that, today, I could show Gracie the grace
that I was learning to experience from my Heavenly Father, too!
Precious Linda, c. 2012
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