Saturday, September 26, 2009

My sweet boys and one humbling moment...




Can you see Jack's 2 bottom toofers? He knows how to use them, too! Ouch :)


Not only does he have teeth, he's learning to sit on his own. How did he get this big already?



He's so proud of himself!


Okay...let me explain!!! The other day, Jagger was looking for a random toy, and while I helped him search, I got the grand idea of dumping all of his toy boxes/crates/buckets...you name it...because it needed to be organized anyway (and I got a little frustrated, too)! What was I thinking? Then, of ALL nights, we got a call that our realtor was going to show our house the NEXT day!!! Ughhhh...so guess what I did all night!

This picture tells a story to me - a special story. Last week, my sister (who is a high school teacher) handed me a folded hand-written note from one of her students - who happens to be one of my former students as well. She was always one of my favorites; she stood out because of her sweet spirit, kind heart and hard work ethic. But as a teacher, I was also drawn to her because gave so much at school yet had so very little at home. She was one whom I would have loved to fix up, take shopping, give her a makeover...you know what I mean? She had so much to overcome, and I just loved her.
Well, to my surprise, she had mentioned in her note how cute she thought Jagger and Jack were (Alaena has shown her pictures) and she wanted to give them something. At this point, Alaena had pulled two hats from behind her back that this student had asked her to give to Jagger and Jack. As Alaena handed me the hats, I noticed immediately that they were both old, worn, and dirty, and immediately I was humbled because I realized that this was all that she had to give.
There were no fancy tags to tear off, no pretty packaging - just 2 hats that she wanted my boys to have as their gift from her.
I was just in awe and so very humbled when I received this gift. Not to mention that Jagger was so excited! He LOVED his new UK hat, and it didn't matter to him in the least that it wasn't brand new. It was a gift, and he was so excited. I washed the hats when we got home, and now they're as good as new...and pretty cute, too.
This reminded me that God truly can use anything and anyone to teach me a lesson and bless my heart. This little girl blessed my heart with her selflessness. If only we all had that kind of spirit. The greatest gifts are not the most expensive ones.

1 comment:

Nikki said...

As I read this post the phrase "Pay it forward" came to mind. Ashlee I believe that her desire to share what she could with your boys is wonderful reflection of how you impacted her life.....it's hard to find stronger evidence that you chose the right profession!!