I am so glad I do not have to be perfect!

Boy! Am I ever! Because then I would have a long, long, long, long....you get the idea...way to go!!

Over Easter, while visiting with Steven, Andrea, and Vivian, I had brought a kit to make an Easter bunny house out of cookies, candies, and icing. I forgot my icing bag and tips, so when Vivi and I went to make it, my lines came out crooked and thick in some places. My darling granddaughter patted my arm and said,"It's ok, Nanny! We do not have to be perfect! Jesus loves us just like we are! This is OUR bunny house! We can make it how we want. Just do our best! It does not have to look just like the picture on the box!"

Then she happily proceeded to decorate the house the way she wanted. Every time I would make an oops, she would laugh and say it was ok! It was our house and we did not have to be all "perfecty perfecty!"

Such wisdom from a 4 year old. I am so glad her mother does not require perfection from her but just requires her best effort. And she judges her best effort by 4 year old standards not adult ones.

We have extended our "buy nothing Christmas" to include birthdays and other occasions. For Andrea's birthday, I decided to give her the gift of a shiny sink. Of course, Vivi had to help! She was so cute with an old toothbrush scrubbing around the edges and scrubbing the faucet. What a joy this little one is as she grows up knowing she does not have to be perfect, that Jesus loves her just as she is, that all she has to do is her best, and it is not money or stuff that brings happiness but time and love!

Happy Birthday to an American Hero!

Happy 28th Birthday, James Douglas Wilson! Each year on his birthday I light a candle, say a prayer, and wish him lots of love and happiness.

Against tremendous odds, this young man made it to adulthood, joined the Army, served this country in the first tours in Afghanistan, and on 2 tours of Iraq, being injured in Afghanistan and in the last tour of Iraq. He now has a Traumatic Brain Injury from that last injury and fights daily not just to survive but to get the treatment he needs from the government.

I love my country. I just wish we treated our veterans better. A friend of mine who served during Vietnam was so bitter when I told him about my son's enlistment. He said the government would just use him up and throw him away when they were done. Still naive, I believed he was wrong and just old and bitter. Now I have seen it happen not only to my son but to other veterans, I am saddened to my core.

Happy Birthday, son! I love you with all my heart!