April 16

The internet was down (literally) all day, so when Abby and Isaac got home from school, they didn't know what to do with themselves. I headed off to my room to pray and then promptly fell asleep, and when I emerged an hour later, I noticed that they'd gone outside.

I had no idea what they were up to, but from my vantage point in the dining room, I could see that both of them were smiling and they seemed to be enjoying the exchange. So I edged a little closer and realized that Isaac was wearing his glove and had a baseball in one hand. And that Abby had a baseball in her hand. And then she took a step... and threw it toward the net as Isaac observed.

I gasped: he was teaching her how to pitch. And she was having fun.

I ran upstairs and snapped this image from Isaac's bedroom window. And then I breathed a prayer of thanksgiving, because these interactions between my kiddos --when they're just being real, just being free, just being themselves with each other--  are everything to me.