This Week: The Numbers

6 – Tappers who live by simple family rules: Work hard, play hard, always share, and love well
23 – date of the last day of school
2 – weekdays spent adjusting to the idea of having all four kids home together
18 – number of worksheets completed at home in one day
8 – bags of VBS craft supplies in my hallway
59 –number Ethan has learned to count to in French
78 – item capacity of my dishwasher
7 – number of times my dishwasher runs
3 – different locations to which Mike reported for work
32 – days between the actual granting of the boys’ citizenship and our receipt of any form of notification regarding the decision
3 – number of outfits Abby is likely to go through in one day
49 – estimated number of picture books read
6 – number of weeks I’ve completed in my second-to-last 8-week course for my Masters degree in Human Services (Marriage and Family concentration)
0 – minutes Andrew sat out of his last soccer game (I may have mentioned his capacity for intensity before?)
85 – hours of visit time (sleep included) with Gramma and Pappy, up from Pennsylvania
13 – loads of laundry required
14 – seconds between the time Jadon’s freshly cleaned glasses are placed on his head and the time they are completely smudged
5.0 – Richter scale measurement of the earthquake that shook our house Wednesday, knocking things off shelves
27 – approximate number of times I had reassured the kids after the Haiti earthquake that earthquakes don’t happen in Canada because we’re in the middle of one of the big rocks under the ground (Obviously, 0 would be the number of times I had heard about intraplate quakes or read about the history of the western Quebec seismic zone…and 27 would be the number of conversations I wish I could take back for the sake of trust-building)
214 – hugs and kisses I received (maybe more?)
1 – often tired but extremely blessed wife, mom, daughter, friend
72,186 – moments for conscious attention to what matters
And with that, here’s one more: 4:4-5 – verses from Philippians that remind me: “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!”