Watering the Flowers

A man (he can be Asian, Korean, Hispanic, Anglo, Black, whatever you prefer) went down to the river every single day to get water. He had 2 buckets. One bucket was shinny, beautiful, not a single imperfection on it. The other bucket was cracked, full of blemishes and leaked water. How can this bucket still be useful for the purpose of carrying water? One day while the man was getting his water he overheard the buckets talking to one another. The old, rusty leaking bucket was complaining because he didn't look like the shinny new bucket. The bucket didn't understand it's value. It was concerned that it didn't serve a purpose anymore because it wasn't as "good" as the other bucket. As the bickering continued between the two buckets the old man interrupted and begged the old bucket to see it's purpose. The man said "Do you see all of these beautiful flowers on your side that lead all the way up to the palace? Do you see that they are only on your side, and not the side of the other bucket?" The old bucket was speechless. The old man, saddened by the fact that the old bucket didn't feel valuable, pleaded with the old bucket. He told the bucket, "I only planted the flowers on your side because I knew you leaked water and every single day on our way back up to the palace, I knew you would be watering them. Can't you see how beautiful they are, because of you?" 

Kids, the moral of this little parable, that was shared with me by a friend, reminds me of Sophie and how imperfectly perfect she truly is. From the outside Sophie looks perfect. She doesn't have a single blemish. Some of the physical characteristics, such as always smiling, wide set, deep eyes that she has because of MWS, are truly beautiful physical characteristics  for her to  have. From the outside, one wouldn't know that Sophie is incomplete on the inside. It is true, Sophie doesn't serve the same purpose as me. Her purpose in this life isn't to be "fruitful and multiply" by the standards God set for us. Her purpose isn't to go to work every single day and make a difference in the job she performs. Sophie's purpose is much bigger, much more spectacular!

Sophie is changing lives my friends. For those of you that have been blessed to be in the presence of Sophie, you can attest to the fact that she is truly a special little girl. Not special as in special needs, but special because God is using her to transform our lives EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Even if you just know Sophie through my posts or my pictures, you can tell that Sophie is extraordinary. I get to wake up to a child who is up to shenanigans inside of her crib and when she is caught, she just smiles as if it wasn't her. I get to come home every single day to a child whose face lights up when she hears my voice and her eyes search the room to find me. I get to put to bed a feisty little princess who is fighting sleep, but not in the way you would think. She fights it with giggles, laughter, hitting her daddy because she wants to interact with him, all while she is rubbing her eyes because she physically needs to go to bed, but won't because she is too busy making memories for her mommy, daddy, and brother. Friends, that is my reality!

It wasn't too long ago that I was the rusty old bucket. I was the one who was complaining that my daughter wasn't as good as my friends kids. I was the one that was complaining because in 5 months my daughter will be 3 and she still isn't walking or crawling, but my niece was walking before she turned a year old. Don't misinterpret what I am saying, I was overjoyed for my sister and BIL, that my niece was walking, but there was also jealousy inside that was eating away at me like maggots on a deteriorating piece of flesh. (Nice visual, you are welcome!) I wasn't looking at  how beautiful Sophie truly is. Sophie is a miracle, no matter which way we look at it. How many of you have been told by friends that when they look at your child, they see Jesus? We have been told that countless times and it never gets old.

 My Simply Complicated, isn't so simple, but it also isn't so complicated. I am beyond thankful for where we are today with Sophie. I am beyond thankful for the different surgeries that she has had to make her a healthy little girl. I am beyond thankful for her smiles, her laughter, her babbling sounds that sounds like she is saying mama, because it is a lot more than what I had anticipated back on January 2nd, 2012 when we received the diagnosis of MWS. Sure, Sophie is full of imperfections. I mean come on, she is missing a gene on her 2nd chromosome, she has a patch on her heart to close a hole that made her quality of life a lot less than what it is now, she has 6" less of a colon than she is supposed to, and a beautiful scar in the middle of her chest reminding me that I have so much to be thankful for. Sophie IS like the broken bucket because she is truly making this world a more beautiful place because God has used her imperfections to water the flowers!

**Thank you friend for sharing this story you heard with me this morning. I thank God for you!