smells like grace...

When I think of the places I've been and the mistakes I've made I am truly grateful to be where I am.
A few days ago, I walked in from teaching all day and realized I beat Bryant home. I scurried around to get the house picked up and the breakfast dishes done before my sweet husband was to walk in the door fifteen minutes later. I lit a bunch of candles and opened all the windows so fall would flow in. He walked in the door just minutes before I was done and said "it smells like pine in here...what is that?" I grinned my cheezy grin (the one when I'm trying to be funny) and said, oh that...that's grace!

Funny thing- it took me back to tutoring this summer for a wealthy Plainsboro family, for a little boy who hated reading because he has extreme adhd. I love challenges and by the end of the summer he was excited about reading and wouldn't stop reading even street signs while he was in the car. It was one of those experiences that is so fulfilling you can't even put it into words. Well at the end of the summer his mom (who works every day in NYC) bought me this $45 set of four votive candles from a boutique. One happens to be named "grace" and that is what Bryant smelled when he walked in the door.

Since then I have smelled grace often (not the candle) and it brings a smile to my face every time remembering just how much I have to be thankful for.