"Suddenly something that was, all at once, pain and longing and adoring had welled up in him, almost choking him. He had wanted to tell someone, but he had no words, inarticulate in the pain and glory..." ~ A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Vanauken

Tonight we are enjoying the last night of our vacation. The kids are asleep, the sandy shoes have been shaken out, and the good desserts we've just eaten are giving us the gift of full bellies on which to rest. The condo is being lulled to slumber by the dishwasher and dryer that will return plates to stock cabinets and twenty-five dollar pool towels to tiled bathrooms to await the next visitors ready for resting and relaxing. Tonight as we said our bedtime prayers with our beautiful children, they fell asleep in our arms. It is an incredibly rare thing for this to happen. Soren (a.k.a. Miss Independent) normally asks us to go to our own beds for she wants to sleep. Joseph takes a little more coaxing with bumping (a McLaughlin family rocking-to-sleep tradition), darkness, and quiet. But tonight, we were so long-winded with our prayers of gratitude that they were snoring by our "Amen". The scriptures say (in Psalm 63) that "on my bed I remember You" and, tonight, I most certainly did.