do you believe in magic...

lyla no longer naps. a sad fact, but one that i am determined to get used to. instead, lyla either reads quietly in her room or watches a movie while olivia sleeps. i would love to tell you that she sits quite still for an hour and a half, but that wouldn't be true.

instead, her *quiet* lulls me into a feeling of safety...of trust if you will. but i've learned that you can't always trust a 2 year old.

i've been tired. so tired. and so, there are some afternoons that i curl up with a pillow and blanket on the living room floor and sleep during this so-called quiet-time.

and that is when a certain little someone, full of mischief and glee, ever so sneakily sneaks into the kitchen to explore.

and bake.

and taste.

and make a good ol' fashioned mess.

i think my *favorite* so far is the time i thought i was being so clever and hid my salt container way up on the highest shelf in my cupboard. lyla still figured out how to get it down and managed to pour enough on the floor for livie to play in.

yup, that was fun.

anywho.

sunday was my day of rest. tony, being the wonderful husband that he is, let me crawl into bed during livie's nap and all was quiet and peaceful. or so i thought.

instead, when i woke up and blearily made my way into the living room, tony told me to go look at lyla's bedroom walls.

this, my friends, is what i found:
can you see it? the somewhat straight lines placed oh so artistically on her nice, clean wall.

"big deal!" you say.

big deal indeed if she had used those washable crayola types. i would laugh along with you and shake my head at the craziness of it all.

she used permanent marker.

per. ma. nent.

i had heard the claims of the *mr. clean magic eraser* and had actually used it on occasion to clean up small messes and was amazed at the results.

i said more confidently then i felt to my husband who was concerned with the state of our rented walls, "the magic eraser, dear sir! it removes all dirt and grime". (i'm sure that was written much more eloquently than i actually said it...)

and so, we went to work:i held my breath as i made my way through wall number one. would it work? would my arm fall off? should i start exercising again tomorrow?

and before my eyes, the so called permanent marker became nothing more than a memory before the great and powerful *magic eraser*:

as i sat here, writing this out for lyla to laugh at in the years to come, these verses kept racing through my head...

Psalm 103:10-15 (New International Version)
10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him;
14 for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

i don't know about you, but today, during this Christmas season, i needed to be reminded of why Jesus came. i needed to be reminded that in the precious, tiny, frail form of a baby, he came to erase all my sins. all of them. even the ones i deem as permanent.

they're gone! not because of anything amazing i've done, other then to open my heart to Him and trust that He will turn what is ugly in my life into something that He alone can use. to trust Him when He says, *kimberley, it's gone! all of it!! stop trying to find the markings on the walls...they. are. gone. believe Me.*

and so, in the *quiet* of quiet-time, i choose to believe...