Today.

Today was a good day.

Today I woke up at 5am after sleeping for 6 straight hours, and felt ready to take on anything.

Today all five of us walked into church together and I felt a tremendous sense of completeness and calm.

Today I was able to sit in church, sing songs and recite liturgy that had real meaning to me, and relished the idea of sharing my faith with my children.

Today I talked to people at church whom I genuinely care for, and who genuinely love my children.

Today I went to an open house and after we left, I realized how much I love the house we have, and how lucky we are to have a safe, warm, and stable house.

Today I sat on my front step, feeding my baby, and watched my girls run around playing hide and seek in our front yard while Dan raked up the yellow and orange leaves. The afternoon sun was hitting them all just right; they all had the sun behind them and from my perspective they all had brilliant outlines of sunlight around them.

It was breathtaking.

Today I felt the love and peace and joy that comes from having healthy children and a loving, fun spouse.

Today I thought for a moment how empty my life would be if one of these precious people was missing from my life: Michaela and her boundless energy and toothy, easy smile; Jenna, all sweetness and light; Alec with his handsome face and easygoing attitude; and Dan with his humor and gentleness and steadfastness, who takes care of all of us in so many ways.

Today I thanked God for my blessings and tried to savor the moment. Because life goes by so fast, with one day melting into the next, filled with meals and laundry and frustrations and homework and phone calls and celebrations and doctor's appointments and shopping and the next thing you know, a week and then a month and then most of a year has gone by.

So today, I will focus on today.

Just today.