What A Joy...

Our 10 year old wiener dog, Cocoa, has something wrong with her (absurdly long) back---we are taking her to vet to this morning.  When we discovered her ailment last night my oldest son sat by her side, petting her gently and weeping.  His little lip quivered and I could see him fighting the tears to no avail.  He looked up at me with his big chocolate eyes and said, "I can't stand to see her hurting."  It was heart-felt, non-contrived raw emotion, and he was in no hurry to move on from it.  I was sad to see Cocoa hurting too, but my tears was spurred on by his.  

What a joy to see such a tender contemplative heart

 in my little man.

And then there's my youngest son, sitting there next to our dog as well.  He still has his Mario Kart steering wheel in his hand.  He too, is sad; concern and confusion plaguing those light green eyes; but unlike his older brother, Blake feels that sadness deeply for a minute and then moves on.  He's got to move on the next thing, because if he doesn't, heck, he might miss something.  His ability to live each moment, but to quote U2, not get stuck in a moment, delights me.

What a joy to see the life that exudes from him in any given moment.

They come from the same gene pool.  Have been raised in the same home with the same habits and form of discipline.  Yet, in the two, you have polar opposites.  I would dare say they are extremes, or at least close to it...

Which instills in me an awe at God's craftsmanship.  I do believe these boys were knit together by the Creator, fearfully and wonderfully made by a loving, imaginative Maker (Psalm 139).  They were deliberately made to be the people they are and I wouldn't have it any other way---He wouldn't either.

What a joy to see God's fingerprint in the lives of my children every day.