I have no room to complain

Watching "Good Morning, America" this morning, my eye kept getting drawn to the ticker running alongside the bottom of the screen because it was something about a 4 year old boy, but I kept missing the first part. I knew it probably wasn't something good, but something in my stomach forced me to keep watching in order to get the whole sentence. When I finally read it, I really wished I hadn't: "Body found in central California canal belongs to 4 year old boy kidnapped from his home". It was something along those lines and my eyes immediately started to well up with tears. The thing that made me saddest though, was that this sentence was strung along with dozens of other headlines streaming across TV's all over the nation like a passing thought or a whispered piece of gossip. It's like the message was "this isn't that important, but thought you all should know". But for that family? My gosh, I can not even begin to imagine the pain and horrific sorrow that is ripping them apart right now. Being a mom has made my heart much more fragile, and I hate that news like this is a normal part of the everyday in this broken world. And of all things in life that make me question the heart of our Saviour, it's stories like this. Someone so innocent who did not deserve what came their way, but I guess that perfectly describes Jesus, doesn't it?

All that to say, that while this story shook me up a bit this morning, my attention span with Israel was renewed today. I rocked him to sleep for both his early nap and his bedtime tonight. Rather then sitting in front of the TV while nursing, I took the time to feed him while sitting in my rocker and watch him. Instead of checking Facebook or playing a game on my phone while he goofs around on his toys in the living room, I challenged him to a crawling contest and then tried to teach him a more modern version of pattycake. My friend Amber wrote something once that I really, really liked. She talked about investing in her kids, taking those little moments to pour into them, not just try and survive the day to day in this thing called motherhood. I think that's SO important because it's what makes anything you do enjoyable. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it, and today, despite the sadness of this morning and the heartache I feel for that family, in a weird way the snippet inspired me to make the most of my day with my son. I don't want to complain about the cuteness that is my sweet little bundle of smiles because truly I'm blessed.