Several months ago, I began to notice that my son’s left eye was wandering.  For seemingly no reason, his eye would turn inward at random.  While most families would dismiss this as a lazy eye, my heart went into a panic.  The year before, a good friend’s nephew had experienced similar symptoms and was diagnosed with a very dangerous form of cancer in his eye.  He had been the same age as my son at the time.

Thankfully, we received a mild diagnosis of vision problems and my little boy was fitted with the cutest pair of glasses you’ve ever seen on a kid.  My friend’s nephew hasn’t been so lucky.  After a year of battling the disease, exhausting the family’s finances and enjoying a year in remission, at the age of six his cancer has returned.  The prognosis isn’t good.  The doctors are saying that the next course of action will be to remove the eye, it’s surrounding tissue and bone.  Even with those extremes, the odds are against them. 

I’ve never met this little boy and still, I cried today.

Over the past couple of years, I have learned the hard way how very FRAGILE this life is.  In the blink of an eye, our flimsy realities can shatter leaving us with only remnants of what used to be our lives.  The things that used to be important become irrelevant.  Dreams that once were sought after are abandoned.  Everything changes… the way you think, the way you live and certainly, the way you love.  While I never anticipated that I would grow up to be a crazy mom, I am so thankful that I did.  My little family is my whole world and they bring me more joy than all of the freedoms combined that a single life could ever offer me.  Even though my world is nothing short of pure chaos most of the time, it is EXACTLY where I want to be.

Tonight, before my head touches my pillow, I will sneak into my kids’ rooms and watch my babies sleep.  I will lean over their beds, kiss their cheeks and whisper in the dark how much I love them, how thankful I am to be their mom, and I will pray for their health and protection. 

Be thankful.