Two Trees for One Little Boy

For a long time now, I have wanted to plant a tree above Knox's gravestone. When we were at the funeral home making the arrangements the guy there helping us set up an appointment for us to go to the cemetery and choose a plot. Because he had put it that way, I imagined going and finding a shady spot under a tree; I guess that was comforting to me somehow. When we got there, we were driving back through the cemetery, and were told, "Here in Babyland, everything is fair and you just get the next plot."
Since finding out that you can plant one tree, I have wanted to do that. A couple of weeks ago, we ought a peach tree and Mr. Council, Jack, Creed and I planted it. I didn't take my camera because it had been pruned down to a stick and I didn't think I'd have anything to take a picture of, but Jack helped shovel dirt and pack it down and Creed did his best to get to help and I do wish I had been able to capture it on film.
However, we bought a second tree so we could plant one at home and my dad planted it last week. Later that day or the next day I looked out the window to see something in the ground beside it. This is what I found:


Elizabeth had made a flag and wrote "Always a Joy" just like on his gravestone. I love that girl.

I chose a fruit tree because I wanted a tree that would provide flowers, shade, and fruit. His short life was fruitful and continues to be so and this peach tree is symbolic of that. It is going to have a tough time surviving out there in the hot Texas sun with nothing to protect it, and if you are inclined and find it fitting pray for it to weather it out as well as its "twin."

In Light of My Last Post

I read this yesterday in C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces:

On a great day the thing that makes it great may fill the least part of it --- as a meal takes little time to eat, but the killing, baking, and dressing, and the swilling and scraping after it, take long enough.

The Best Things in Life Can be the Hardest

and the Hardest Things Can be the Best. This can be especially true of being parents. I was thinking yesterday about parenting little ones. I feel extremely blessed to be parenting older ones and younger ones at the same time and thankful that while I feel clueless a lot of the time, I have learned a few things along the way for which I am grateful and hope I am wise enough to put into practice. One of these things is how the good and difficult go together.
We try to keep Creed in worship with us on Sundays. Some weeks he is really good and other weeks not so good. I didn't have high expectations yesterday because I knew he didn't get enough sleep on Saturday night and was a bit cranky, and he did have a difficult Sunday, but there were definitely some highlights. I love seeing him sitting all the way back on the pew with his feet sticking straight out and his hands in his lap trying to be like everyone else. His sweet little "Mamen" at the end of prayers melts my heart. I can't help but smile as he mumbles through The Lord's Prayer in Creedspeak and hums along as we sing. It makes all the wiggling, talking, and climbing up and down, trying to get laughs from the people behind us, and unpredictability all worth it because I know where we are going. I know what are goals are and where I want him to be and I see him getting there bit by bit. The road traveled to get there just isn't always easy, but it is still joy-filled with so many pleasures along the way. It would be such a tragedy to get so bogged down with the hard things and miss all the great things. I could branch out from here to pretty much all areas of life and not just worship, but I think I'll let this stand alone and touch on those another day. I hope everyone had a blessed Lord's day!