The Best Heart

I have officially come to the conclusion that 2 year-olds have the best hearts. I know...you are now thinking of the "terrible twos" and some certain child who was a terror at that age. But from what I have witnessed these last couple months, I have to disagree. My daughter has absolutely the best heart, and she is only 2 and a half! I am sure she is not the only one either.

I have had a stressful/disappointing/faith-testing couple of months. Call it whatever you like, it's been rough. I just haven't felt like myself, been more negative than usual and I have just felt blah. I am sure that this extended winter we had did not help the matter. To be totally honest, I've been short on patience, motivation and I have just been grumpy lately.

Anyway, enter Little Miss. She is just the best little girl in the world. Her world is so full of love, so full of excitement, that she cannot seem to be able to contain it. She does not have a care in the world. This has been my light the last couple months and the thing that makes me smile.Granted, she's two, so we have had our share of meltdowns.However, I have noticed that she does something better than I do. I think she does it better than most adults do. She moves on. She truly forgives and genuinely forgets. It is amazing. Her fits last about one minute, then she moves on. It doesn't matter if she's upset at the way I made her sandwich or crying because Luke head-butted her and gave her a goose-egg (true story), after about a minute she forgives and is ready to move on with her happiness. No grudges, no whining, just done with it. What an amazing thing to be able to do.

She finds true joy in everything. I love to watch her experience the simple things, because I know that one day she will want more. She currently loves swinging, playing with sticks and leaves, and helping me water flowers. Somersaults and running in the grass seem like they could bring her joy forever. She loves carrying the dog's food bowl to it's place. She skips everywhere she goes and sings nonsense songs. Everything about her eludes joy and love. She loves when I make peanut butter and jelly. She loves the world and is so joyful about her life.

I read somewhere recently an article written towards parents of 2-4 year olds. It said "You will never be more loved than this." Oh, how that sentence pulled at me. She shows me more unconditional love than I could ever want or deserve. I tear up when I think about how absolutely blessed I am that God gave me this much love in my life. I thank Him for giving me her, for giving me this absolute love and joy. It leaves me speechless. She never seems to tire of giving me hugs, kisses or cuddles. Every time I see her I get a giggly, smiley welcome and the best hug you could imagine. It doesn't matter if I was gone for the weekend or I just went to the basement to switch laundry. Each reunion is equally as excited and joyful. It is just something that makes my heart swell. I never want this overwhelming love and joy to leave her. "You will never be more loved than this", made me realize this time with her is fleeting. Soon sticks and leaves won't be good enough to play with. Picking her up from middle school will surely not have the same excitement. I know there will always be love, but it won't be of the same magnitude.

So, I am on a mission. I don't know how to get there, but I will surely welcome any advice. I am going to embrace her whirlwind of love and hold onto it as long as I can. I vow to never turn down a hug, extra cuddle or kiss. Spontaneous, "I love you Mommy"'s will always make me stop and tell her how much I love her as well. I just want to keep her little and store all of these things in my heart. Long-live the loving, joyful whirlwind that are the toddler years.