At church last Sunday, I noticed a little boy, not more than 3 or 4 years old, staring at my daughter. At first I thought he was looking at both Josh and Faith since they were giggling about something. But no, his gaze kept staying at Faith. I just smiled inwardly, thinking, there goes another admirer.

About 15 minutes later, while Faith was sitting on her dad's lap, I saw the little boy slowly walking over to us with his hand outstretched. He stopped in front of her and grunted, "Uh", all the while holding out his hand to her. It was a dried leaf. Faith just looked at it and smiled then turned back to her brother. Poor little boy. My whole family was watching by now. To my surprise, he once again went back to Faith, this time clutching a bigger green leaf in his hand and once again giving it to Faith. She was looking at it when the boy's dad came over and got him with an apologetic smile.

Goodness, she's only four. What will it be like when she's 16?


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Yesterday when we dropped off Joshua at school, I kissed him at the gate and murmured "I love you", as I always do every morning before he walks off with his humongous stroller bag. And, like every morning, he yells back (yes, he actually yells) "I love you too mom!!"

I remember thinking as I walked back to the car, will he ever stop yelling I love you back?

Will I ever be prepared for that to happen?