lessons from a five year old.

today is day two of rylan being off to his conference in salt lake. and i have been surrounded by love these past two days. it has been very cool. ihave not been looking forward to it. i hate being alone and apart from my rylan. but this is important so off he went.
but yesterday, which i was expecting ot be really hard, i was surrounded by people who loved me. My friend Leslee and I did lunch and talked and visited for a couple of hous. Before that, I wentot a little store in town, whose owner I know and justa dore. We visited some and all of that. In the store I ran into some of our neighbors who are just darlings and big hugs were exchanged.
then last night a friend of mine from high school called and we talked for almost two hours, just catching up.
and through all this has been our dog. i love our dog.

today, a really beautiful touching thing happened to me. Kyla, all five years old that she is, is a gem, and the jewel of my eye. as any of you know who read this already knows, she is just brilliant and awesome. well we were having a snuggle fest. just hugging, hanging out, reading stories, running aorund. Grandpa - my dad - decided to tickle me. I am horribly ticklish. awful. have been since I was little. And he decided to tickle me something fierce. so of course, i start to laugh and scream and kick (carefully so I don't set a bad example to kyla as to kicking people, or to show violence like that and upset her for me kicking her grandpa..) and i'm just suffering, partially gasping for air.. and kyla starts to yell, "Grandpa you leave my Becca alone! You leave my Becca alone! I'll take her tickles, Grandpa, I'll take her tickles....Tickle me instead!"
and it struck e as seet and endearing then, but it also struck me as such an act of love. that she would take my tickles for me so Iwouldn't have to have them.
and it made me think of the savior. who took all my sins and sorrows, everything, for me, so I wouldn't have to deal with the results.

that little girl never ceases to amaze me and I count myself blessed to be in her life, and her in mine.