It takes days to get ready for the party but only about 90 minutes to completely undo all that had been done.
The table is littered with an hour’s worth of four-year-old fun: markers and crayons, glittered heart stickers, glue and tape, sugar cookies on pink plates with colored sugar piled high. Lunch plates, dessert plates, cake frosting marking the table with hardened sugar.
By the time all the kids have left the Valentine themed birthday party, the balloons have already begun to fall, helium leaking through microscopic holes in the latex.
“Mommy, can you open this?” Naomi asks as she brings one of her new toys to me.
The house is quiet. Only a few grandmothers, aunts remain to stand in the kitchen and wipe cracker-crumbs from the counters, chatting as they clean.
And I grab the scissors, snip a few rubber bands and the new doll is free.
“Thanks, Mom” she says in a tone that sounds strangely pre-teen, even though she’s only four. She runs off, her party dress stained with juice, her cheeks stained with pink cookie icing and her fingers stained with markers. She’s been looking forward to today for weeks, maybe months.
[Every day since Christmas: "Am I FOUR yet?"]
And now, in an instant, all her friends are forgotten, her sweet can-I-be-older-yet longings belong to yesterday and her tummy is full of sugar. All the waiting (all of her mother’s planning and working) are over. It’s undone.
Like the explosion of sparkle stickers on the dining room turned craft table. Order has quickly changed to chaos.
But every minute has been worth it.
Cutting out hundreds (I’m sure) of tiny hearts and taping them around the room. Worth it.
Her face as each of her preschool friends walked up to our porch. Worth it.
Her eyes this morning as she remembered her gifts and specially-created-for-her Valentines that awaited her downstairs on Sunday morning. Worth it.
All this work for a short few moments of joy. It’s all worth it.
And we’re worth it.
Christ creates and plans days and months and decisions and challenges just for us. Millions of tiny details that all focus down into one moment, one time. And He sits back and watches us. He sees our joy and our growing-up and it’s worth it.
For millennia He has been crafting His story to come down to just a few moments. A few moments in a manger and on a cross.
But all of it is worth it to Him.
Coming to earth. Worth it.
Dying. Worth it.
Enduring the grief and pain of earth. Worth it.
We are worth it to Him.
Have you done anything lately requiring effort but has been worth it in the end?
Thank you for the simple reminder. We are all worth it. Thank you.
It sounded like an amazing birthday for Naomi
Not going to go into a lot of details; but this made me cry cry cry. It IS so worth it. And God knows what I mean.
Thanks Sarah
more effort than i thought possible is what we’ve put into our marriage in the last few years and yes, it has been so, so worth it. worth. every. single. bit.
i agree. marriage is one of those things… so difficult but so worth it. =)
Sarah,
I know this, but I love hearing it again. Each of us is so special to Him.
It sounds like you prepared a wonderful party for your daughter. I’m sure she noticed the details and she’ll tell you so about 20 years from now.
I loved this, how each one of us is like a child to an extent, so special to our Father. So worth it.
Thank you.
I’ve never really thought of it this exact way. Wow. Thank you.
I put together a small package of love to ship to my sister in law for Valentines Day, she is going through a rough spot. When she wrote to tell me she received it and felt loved I knew it was worth it.
Thank you, Sarah.
A beautiful post! I actually planned a Valentine’s party for my son and some of his little 3 and four year old friends. It wasn’t a birthday, just a day of celebration and for preschoolers to feel special. So worth it! And I will do it again as well.
This post is so so lovely. I don’t mean to bring down the comments here, because this is actually a very good thing…but birthing my baby who had passed away in my womb at 18 wks, when there was an “easier” choice, was so worth it I can’t even say it enough. One of the most beautiful days of my life.
So often the easier way will have us miss amazing beauty…
Nausea. Heartburn. Fatigue. Sore back…hips…ankles…tummy. Constant trips to the bathroom. Leg cramps. Baby kicks keeping me awake at night. And the anticipation of labor.
All. Worth. It.
Baby #4 might be taking a mighty toll on my life and the life of our family, but I can’t wait to meet him!
Staying Married Despite Seemingly “Unforgivable” Sins . . .
What a long year. (What a ridiculous understatement.)
But every day improving. Loving God better. Understanding suffering more.
And days like today – where even the unreliable “feelings” are there as well. What a lovely surprise.
So worth it!
so good sarah. you rock at writing AND throwing awesome birthday parties!
My daughter turned 3 on 2/2. To see her enjoy her party was so worth all the time and effort.
This is a beautiful illustration of how God does so much for us everyday.
Driving to GA to spend time with a dying friend, upending our school schedule for an entire month, cramming all of the year end cleaning into just a week when we got home, listening to my 13yo fight with anyone and everyone about anything and everything for the entire month, and all of the million other things that happened because of this trip were worth it at the moment I got the first hug I was able to share with Jackie in 5 1/2 years.