Thank You, Lord,
for children
sleeping in our beds;
thank You
for new hairbrushes
and dress-up headbands to place
on the already-numbered-hairs
of their precious heads.
Thank You
for each child’s
confession
of fears
unspoken,
never before told.
And thank You
for the tender hearts
You have given us to carry,
the sweet hands
You have given us to hold.
Thank You, Lord,
for fingerprints
on car windows and doors,
for dirt in our RV
and on our floors.
Thank You
for the photographs we have to share,
and for cut paper scraps
and messy glue everywhere.
Thank You for all You provide for us to eat.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
And thank You, too, for the constantly dirty feet.
Thank You for all the muddy hands….
And thank You especially for surrendered plans.
Thank you for every urgent text and voicemail,
and thank You
that not one good word You have spoken
will fail.
That’s really all I need to know
when You send me out
to love
and to sow.
And when my days and hours
are not what I thought they would be,
I still thank You, Lord,
for Your faithfulness…
and for eyes to see You in the faces around me.