Through a child's eyes.

A fun afternoon....the kids came home after camp yesterday with their step brother who is visiting for 6 weeks from Florida. He lives with his mom and comes to see his Father, Stepmom, and the kids on school holidays and vacations. Scott told me about the afternoon, and how dimensional it was-I was hoping he would be coming home with us today as well.

Making sure that he and all of the kids know that at the heart of it, we are all part of one huge extended family, and wanting them all to occupy each others lives as much and as easily as possible. 

It is amazing to me to watch the 4 of them ( ages 6-13 ) play, laugh and look out for each other. 

I can not imagine what it might be like to spend such little time together and with his Dad, and have so many questions. He is such a sweet and friendly kid-assuming the role of the oldest ( with ease ) and talking about his Mom, Cousins and friends at school..I am so thankful for the kids who make everything so easy, and who just want to be and love each other and those around them. It is such a good reminder of what is important. 

When we drove home later, and it was just Zach and I in the car, his stories and memories about trips with family, a cousin that was living to be with his father for a while, the tension between other adults in his life told me there was so much conflict on his mind. What must it be like for him to be away from his Dad, and the family he was now a part of ? I have my own theories, but don't know what is really there. I have my own wants for them, but realize better that I focus on being and becoming myself. 

What I keep thinking about, is often how easy it is to stay in your own head, and experience things with your own past, hurts, and lens.  Yesterday was about love, about belonging and knowing that the kids can move freely in all of their worlds, and any they choose. 

The afternoon, and conversation on the way home reminded me of one of the responsibilities of adulthood. It is about being the person you can best be. Living from a place of love and grace, and knowing how closely all of the kids around you are paying attention.

It is often this that shapes them, and it is this that we leave behind.