My kids are back in town...

If a kid does a good thing in the middle of another city and the mom doesn't witness it, is it still a good thing?

Obviously, yes.

I've really been chewing on this one all week.  Kid 1 and Kid 2 have been serving on mission trips this past week.  I'm glowing.  My kids are out there doing "good things".  Clearly that makes me a good mom.

I'm hoping I'm not the only parent who relies on their kids for an identity boost every once in awhile.  I get to feel a bubble of happiness when they tell me about all of the lives they have changed on their mission trips.  I want to know about all the fun and greatness they stuffed into themselves, while I wasn't watching.

I haven't seen them yet, but i can imagine how the scene will go.  I'll bombard them with a ton of questions...Was it fun?  Did you make new friends? What were your jobs?  Were they hard?  Do you think you made a difference? Would you do this again?

At first...they will look me straight in the eye and shrug their shoulders.  I dunno.  Classic kid response when you're trying to pick details out of them.  And I'm dying.  I'm like a crack addict...looking for my good mom fix.  Tell me how awesome you were so I can get my fix, dammit!!

But good stuff doesn't work that way in kids.  Most of the time.  Their good deeds have an intrinsic value that can't be seen or sucked out by fix thirsty mom.

Their hearts get changed.  Their values shift.  Life decisions become easier.  The world gets a little bit bigger while they get a little bit smaller. And they don't even know it.  Sneaky, eh?

What happens to our kids in the middle of acts of greatness can't be translated into words because it happens so deep and so magically, they don't even realize it.

Shucks.

But if I'm patient...if I'm smart...I'll notice a few subtle changes.  A tighter hug.  An extra snuggle in their soft cozy beds.  An extra appreciative word for a meal I've prepared.  Patience with a sibling.  A little less "gimme" at Target.

And my feel good fixes will get doled out into smaller bites...and I better be paying attention or i might miss them.