We had such a nice day in the Richards house. It started out a little scary...Mom coming back to the house after three days, only to find that poor Dad had the stomach flu and the natives were ruling the island, so to speak. I decided to call a Teacher Work Day. I figure the school does it all the time, so why can't I? The kids were all so helpful in getting things picked up that I made them a special lunch and let them watch "The Aristocats" in the basement. This allowed me to vaccum and mop the main floor. I timed myself and this takes approximately 75 minutes. No wonder I have a hard time fitting it in. It was so nice putting praise music on and getting this done. But the best blessing came as I brought their lunch tray to the basement. I served them their food on a special little table with a table cloth....I was really trying to make them feel honored for working so hard. The movie had already started as I walked out. I was starting up the stairs and heard Luke say "Wait, just a minute." I thought he was talking to me, but as I poked my head through the door I saw that he was speaking to his siblings, as he paused the movie. He said "Before we eat, let me lead us in prayer." He prayed the most beautiful blessing over their little basement picnic. I was so proud of him, knowing he's following in his Daddy's footsteps, learning to lead his own family some day. I love that even with special goodies in front of him and no grownups watching (or so he thought) he picked up that mantle. As I was done mopping he came up with a board game and asked if I had time to play it with him. I dropped to my knees and looked him in the eye and told him that he had blessed me so much by leading his brother and sister in that prayer, and by keeping things peaceful while I cleaned. I told him that there was nothing on earth I would rather do than play that game with him. The look on his face was worth a million dollars. The trouble is, often I tell him "No." because there are dishes to wash and floors to scrub and laundry to do. But today was different......somebody must have been praying for me, because today felt just as refreshing as the retreat I went on this weekend.....it's seeing that fruit bud that makes the hard work seem not so hard at all, but eternal in value and time well spent.