Above the sink in my kitchen is a Happy Meal Super Mario. I need him there.

The first two weeks after we bought our house, we visited McDonalds at least four times a week. We packed and scrubbed and painted as we prepared the house for our move… and the kids got Happy Meals. I felt terrible.

Not at empty nugget calories or extra ketchup packets. But at my lack of time with my babies, my distracted attention. With my snappiness and harsh words while I packed, and organized, and unpacked. At my anxiety over mess in our small place, and all the time in the car as we went over nightly to prepare our house before we moved in. Moving is a difficult task with babies, and I didn’t do it gracefully.

A year and a half later, as I sorted through toys ready to be passed along, Isaiah pulled Super Mario and Yoshi from my pile of give-aways. “You can’t get rid of him!”

“Why?”

“We got him the week we moved in!” (Don’t let anyone tell you that children have limited memories before the age of 4.)

“We did.”

“Momma, you can’t get rid of him. We got to eat McDonald’s with Meema and Beepa while they helped us get our house ready.”

My five year old son healed me in places I didn’t know needed healing. While I thought I was doing some lasting harm to him, he was making an incredible memory.

It’s a good reminder to me now. We’re currently gutting our kitchen, and living on frozen pizza and premade salad kits. I might see boxes and unending mess and total chaos, but he’s still focused on finding a cup to provide water for the bugs outside and finding snacks in our new and improved refrigerator.

Lord, that I would remain calm, and take time to play Legos while our house is under construction. That we would enjoy eating dinner outside in the fading sunshine, letting the dog snatch pepperoni from under the table while our dining room is stacked to the ceiling with boxes. That we would snuggle at the couch longer to read, instead of sitting around the kitchen table to talk.

In a busy world, full of crazy schedules and mom guilt, Mario serves as an important reminder. We’re not going to get it all right, no matter how hard we try. We make the best decisions we can in difficult situations. We love, even in our messiness.. And we give all of it to Christ, who daily bears our burdens. (Psalm 68:19 NIV)

Somehow, He is still transforming and working all things to His glory. And giving us eyes to see and ears to hear, even through Happy Meals and a plastic Super Mario figure. Who has earned a permanent spot on my windowsill.

Blessings.