Footprints in the sand...Handprints on the wall...

As many of you know, and some of you who don’t, I have about 6 weeks left in my pregnancy. For those of you who are pregnant, that is 47 days. With that said, I am going through the nesting phase. This time, though, it is a very severe case. I have been up on a six foot ladder the last three weeks painting the kid’s rooms. If that is not enough (and as if I had time) the base boards, pantry, etc. are getting a very good cleaning. I can almost hear their sigh of relief as I wash the two-year build-up of dust that has accumulated.

Well, I just had the greatest idea today. I thought that while the kids were down for their nap, I would touch up the walls. You know, all the little hand prints, nose prints, foot prints (from temper tantrums, of course) that leave their mark. Although, I would hardly say that “touch-up” is an accurate statement because I actually end up painting the entire wall as I have 4 ¾ kids with lots of fingers and toes.

As I was touching up one said wall, I came across a perfect handprint. All five fingers were perfectly pressed into my master bedroom wall. It brought to mind a story I heard once about two neighbors that were talking outside their houses. One woman, who had several children, was looking at how beautiful the other woman’s front glass door was. Not a handprint in sight! A perfect pane of glass that you could actually see through! The other woman, who had been trying to have children for years, was looking at that mom’s dirty, smeared front glass door thinking how beautiful it would be to have one just like it.

Isn’t it all in our point-of-view? Matthew and I are so very blessed. Sure, we have had our share of heartaches, but we have 4 beautiful children with all ten fingers and toes. They are healthy, happy (for the most part!) and WHAT do I have to complain about?

So, I left it there…in all of its glory. Maybe I will frame it to remind me of what I am put here to do…and it is not to erase all the fingerprints.