September 6

One of the most important realizations that's come to me over the course of the past seven years is that it's good to have a soft, open heart -- even when it means people will hurt you now and again. That doesn't have much to do with today's actual entry, but I felt compelled to throw it out there. So there you go.

Onto today's reflection. I was going through Brady's backpack this evening when I found this:

These 'about me' pages are always among my very favorite bits of school work because I love the windows they give me into their little minds. Once I got over the inventive spelling and started to read his answers, I couldn't help but smile. Some of the answers --mac and cheese, "Paw Patrol"-- were delightfully predictable. But when I got to the bottom, I almost lost it, because apparently, he wants to be a miner.

I showed it to Adam who, rather remarkably, was not only unsurprised by the revelation but was able to explain why our youngest wants to venture along that particular career path. Apparently, Brady wants to become a miner so he can dig for gold, strike it rich, and support Isaac's quest to become a major league baseball player. We joked that we should just teach him how to play scratch-off lottery tickets and then the conversation stalled, but in hindsight, I have more to say. I love that Brady wants to support his bigger brother's dreams. Imagine for a sec what it would be like if we all wanted to live in a way that could somehow bring hope or healing or happiness to someone else.

It'd be a Jesus-kind of world, I think. And though the idea of Brady becoming a miner is quite far-fetched, his heart --his soft, open heart (see what I just did there?) is in the right place.