bess chew...

Feet kicking.  Dancing to the music.  Going through our morning ritual on the drive to school and work. 

We say our prayers.  For health, for healing, for heavy hearts.

'Aahhh-ma', she says.   {Translation:  Amen}

We dance.  We sing.  Victory in Jesus blares through the speakers.  And we are putting on quite the show, if I do say so myself.

And then she sneezes.

'Bless you, baby', I say.

The show continues all the way down Palmetto Street.  We are undeterred by the cars at the stop light.  We throw our hands in the air.  We smile.  We laugh.

And as we pull into the parking lot at school, it happens.

I sneeze. 

And I hear that sweet little voice from the back seat.  The voice that is music to this mama's heart.  The voice that I could listen to all day long.

 'Bess chew, Mama', she says.

Tears spring up in my eyes.  My lip quivers.  I feel the ugly cry coming on.  I manage to hold it together long enough to walk her into school.

I camp on this simple phrase all day.  I ponder it in my heart.  I smile when I recall the sweet voice that uttered those precious words. 

'Bess chew, Mama.'

And I feel it in the very fiber of my being.  The warm, tingly feeling of love.  It radiates all over.  And I know.

I am blessed.  More than I could ever deserve.

This mamahood thing.  It has changed me.  For the better.  It has blessed me beyond measure. 

'Bess chew, Mama.'

Yes, baby.  You have.  More than you will ever know.

"Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:"
Proverbs 31:28