Everyone needs inspiration. Mine comes by way of a headless angel.
Christmas morning of 2011, I opened a gift from my 6 year old. It was a glass angel. My daughter had a twinkle in her eye as she proudly told me how she found it at the school's annual Christmas Shop. She said, "I found it and I knew you'd love it." And I did...and I still do. I kept the angel on my table. It seemed like she was always smiling.
A few weeks later, while I was eating dinner, I looked at my angel and noticed that she had a chipped piece around the bottom. I examined her closer and realized her head was glued back on. I looked at my girls and before I could say one word, my wee one broke out into, "I'm so sorry, Mommy. Sissy and I were fighting over her and broke her head off." As the story continued, it seemed they had found glue and, working together, they'd fix her head back into place. They'd agreed to keep it a secret.I believe their punishment was severe enough. They were in tears as they told the story. I told them it'd be okay. However, good ol' school glue doesn't work on glass, yet I didn't have the heart to tell them.
Over the next few months my angel's head fell off six or seven more times. Each time, my girls would work together to glue her head back into place. With each application her face was becoming more and more covered in glue, and distorted. My wee one felt disappointed and would apologize accordingly.
I asked her to say a little prayer over the angel that her head would stay put. My wee one did. She asked God, "Please hold on to the angel's head until she is okay."
Six months went by. The angel's head didn't fall off. Probably because I placed her on a shelf where no harm would come to her and not due to the last layer of glue. Or, maybe it was the prayer ?!?!
Right around this time we started packing to move into our new home. I wrapped my angel in a cloth and placed her into a box with other fragile items. When we started unpacking at our new house, I opened the cloth and there was my angel...headless. My heart skipped a beat. Tears came to my eyes. I thought of how badly my wee one would feel that the angel's head was lost. And sure enough, it was gone.
I set the angel back on the table, wondering when the girls would notice the headless angel. A few days later I asked my wee one, "Have you noticed the angel? I'm sorry about her head." She answers, "It's okay, Mommy. We did our best in trying to save her. God knew it was time to let go."
The angel still sits at the table--headless. She is a reminder of hope, love, caring and effort. And most importantly, letting go when necessary, even when one has tried so hard.
Christmas morning of 2011, I opened a gift from my 6 year old. It was a glass angel. My daughter had a twinkle in her eye as she proudly told me how she found it at the school's annual Christmas Shop. She said, "I found it and I knew you'd love it." And I did...and I still do. I kept the angel on my table. It seemed like she was always smiling.
A few weeks later, while I was eating dinner, I looked at my angel and noticed that she had a chipped piece around the bottom. I examined her closer and realized her head was glued back on. I looked at my girls and before I could say one word, my wee one broke out into, "I'm so sorry, Mommy. Sissy and I were fighting over her and broke her head off." As the story continued, it seemed they had found glue and, working together, they'd fix her head back into place. They'd agreed to keep it a secret.I believe their punishment was severe enough. They were in tears as they told the story. I told them it'd be okay. However, good ol' school glue doesn't work on glass, yet I didn't have the heart to tell them.
Over the next few months my angel's head fell off six or seven more times. Each time, my girls would work together to glue her head back into place. With each application her face was becoming more and more covered in glue, and distorted. My wee one felt disappointed and would apologize accordingly.
I asked her to say a little prayer over the angel that her head would stay put. My wee one did. She asked God, "Please hold on to the angel's head until she is okay."
Six months went by. The angel's head didn't fall off. Probably because I placed her on a shelf where no harm would come to her and not due to the last layer of glue. Or, maybe it was the prayer ?!?!
Right around this time we started packing to move into our new home. I wrapped my angel in a cloth and placed her into a box with other fragile items. When we started unpacking at our new house, I opened the cloth and there was my angel...headless. My heart skipped a beat. Tears came to my eyes. I thought of how badly my wee one would feel that the angel's head was lost. And sure enough, it was gone.
I set the angel back on the table, wondering when the girls would notice the headless angel. A few days later I asked my wee one, "Have you noticed the angel? I'm sorry about her head." She answers, "It's okay, Mommy. We did our best in trying to save her. God knew it was time to let go."
The angel still sits at the table--headless. She is a reminder of hope, love, caring and effort. And most importantly, letting go when necessary, even when one has tried so hard.
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