He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother...

I have been getting really homesick during holidays. It's hard being so far away. This week,Valentines day wasn't any different. For about three days everything about my surroundings bothered me.

Yesterday, the kid's Grandma came to visit and I needed to do some running around town to prep for her arrival. I had the my purse, the stroller, both boys, a gift from a friend that I ran into, and the kid's birthday invitations to pass out at school. I thought I was doing a pretty good job running my errands especially with out having a car. After a while, however, my load seemed very heavy and my attitude became less then loving. I had even won a 10LE (about $2) gift card from the grocery store and instead of being grateful I was annoyed at the woman because she didn't have a pen for me to sign my credit card slip with.

I breathed out a sign of relief when I arrived home. It was rough out there. I put the food away and baby down for a nap. As I picked up my purse off the floor I was surprised by how heavy it felt. Looking inside, I realized why. All morning long Luke had be on a grand adventure. He had been "treasure hunting" as most little pirates do. He had found about 20 beautiful Egyptian stones scattered around the streets and had been slipping them, tenderly, into my purse. I could not believe that I had been carrying rocks around all morning! And then it hit me...my view on the culture had nothing to do with my surroundings but had everything to do with the nice little stones that I had collected throughout the week and placed in my heart. This next week, I am going to try not to carry rocks around. If I find an interesting one, I am going to pick it up, look at it, think about it and then leave it where I found it. Hopefully my load will a lot lighter and Grandma can carry Luke's rocks.