Peace Like a River

Super Coop and I have been tooling around town all week rockin' out to the Veggie Tales. It's true. We picked up their top 25 Sunday School Songs album on Wednesday and haven't stopped car-dancing since. Yes, this is what happens when an itty bitty wee-one waltzes into your life and steals your heart.

You can't not smile (the double negative felt good there--I had to just go with it) when you hear a classic VBS tune (Give Me Oil in My Lamp) with insanely creative mixed in lyrics like:

Give me gas in my ford, keep me tracking for the Lord

Give me gas in my ford I pray
Give me gas in my ford, keep me tracking for the Lord
Keep me tracking till the break of day.

I don't even drive a Ford and I still adore this verse.

And my all time fave:

Give me umption in my gumption

Help me function, function, function
Give me umption in my gumption, I pray

Give me umption in my gumption

Help me function, function, function

Help me function till the break of day

Seriously. Umption in my gumption. Brilliant. Love it.

I digress. We were listening to Peace Like a River for the 14th time through when I became overwhelmed with a sense of peace and washed with abundant joy.

I paused my jazz hands mid air and got to thinking about my job. It's silly to me to call it a j-o-b. It's SO much more. I LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do. I really do. When I am doing it, I feel completely in the center of where I know God wants me to be. It's crazy. I crave knowledge about what I do and savor every second of every session with every child. Even when I get slimed with yogurt. And scratched by lions. And sprayed with lizard lisps.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have a career that makes my heart happy. No doubt, I miss my Coop like crazy while I am working.  I won't lie. I catch myself daydreaming about spending the day at the splash park and drinking Starbucks at 10am while strolling the aisles of Target, I really do. But I love that I can put my passion into practice and love on so many well deserving little people four days a week too.

When I am in the middle of it, up to my elbows in verbal apraxia and autism and language delays, I am overcome with a sense of humility. There is just absolutely nothing more humbling.

So tonight at Saturday night church (shameless 12 Stone plug AGAIN--guess who's gonna be chowing down at Dutch Monkey again in the mornin??) I praised God for allowing me the opportunity to work. To roll up my sleeves and to do what I love.

As I rocked Coop to sleepytown tonight, I sang (in my best Bob the Tomato voice, no doubt):

"I've got peace like a river, I've got love like an ocean, I've got joy like a fountain in my soul."
 
And for the fam, a montage of our day out on the lake...
 

Wawa! Wawa! Dada? Dada? Wawa. 

More? More?

Zzzzz.