When the day is over, and sleep quenches Charlie's activity, I go to my computer and think. Tonight, as he lies in the next room with his cheeks sagging into the sheets, and his lips puckering open in the smallest of snores, I wish that one-year-olds could understand apologies. I've not been the mother I wish I'd been today.

It's been a hard couple days around here. Charlie has been sick with a cold and hasn't been eating or playing well. He wants to be held anytime I'm not down on the floor playing with him.

I have been clinging too--clinging to my desire to get just one task accomplished without having to pick him up in the middle. God's sanctifying work? Revealing how being a parent can bring out the toddler in me. I pray that tomorrow I'm kinder, more patient and above all loving as I raise this little man to know and love the LORD.

Still, with all the "together-time," we've had some moments of joy, he and I. They are God's mercy, in reminding me that all is not lost. Here are some pictures of this Mama's hope tonight--offered up in thankfulness for the ongoing process of God's redemption!