'Down to the market'

On Saturday morning, Brad and i helped out for an hour, at his sisters garage sale before i prepared to head to town for a dear friends baby shower. At nine thirty in the morning I was already so tired. I had woken up tired and knew that i had a huge day ahead of me. It had been a long week full of assignments, work and sickness and the supermarket shopping gotten overlooked in the flurry that is my life. There was literally no food in our house to make breakfast.

In between leaving the garage sale and leaving for the baby shower we decided on a 'no effort required' breakfast. Off we went to the Paraparaumu Beach Market, for a sausage sizzle and fresh pastries.

As soon as i reached the market i became instantly relaxed. The sun was shining, their were happy people everywhere. Bright colours from fresh fruit and veggies, cut flowers and hippies' hats lifted my mood. I bought a deliciously fresh pear and custard pastry, and i carried it in it's brown paper bag with the same love and tenderness I'd treat an infant. We followed our noses and made our way over to the sausage sizzle.

A man with long dreadlocks and sunglasses perched on a stool at the pancake stand was playing his guitar and singing tunes that remind you of the likes of Tiki Tane, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. This made me so happy. I looked around the market, letting all the positive energy fill my soul to the brim.

And then out of the corner of my eye, i saw the sweetest thing. A little girl, stood i amongst the vegetable bins, holding a plastic basket, which was almost too big for her to carry. She must of been only two or three years old, she had a red woollen hat and gumboots to match. She was drawn, like a magnetic force, towards the man on the guitar. She stared at him, mesmerized by his art. Her face was so full of curiosity it was hard to tell what would happen next. Then she danced. She bopped her head, and moved her feet to the beautiful music. The most honest smile spread across her face, and amongst the flurry of the market i saw something beautiful.

It was then as if a light bulb had been switched on inside my tired, gloomy head. Sometimes we need to stop what we're doing, look around us and look for what is good, honest and beautiful in this life. Life is busy, but that is no excuse, to look past all the gifts we are given daily and to not acknowledge all that is right with this world.

I stood there and thought about Erica and her lovely round belly. I thought about how exciting life is, and how the impending birth of her child is a miracle. I thought about how happy i am for Josh and Erica to be able to experience this wonder.

I made a promise to myself. If i am lucky enough to one day be able to share only one morsel of knowledge with Baby Gray, this would be it...

Sometimes it's hard to see any good, when you are tired, stressed and woeful. However, with all that is wrong with this world, there is beauty, happiness and good all around you. If you look really hard you will see it. And when you don't ('cause sometimes you wont, eh Dr Seuss? ) i will tell you how. For I saw it in your mother's eyes when we once talked about your arrival. I saw it in the smiles of your family, when guessing whether you'd be a boy or a girl. But most of all I felt it in my heart when i felt your kick. And I felt it in my heart every time i thought about the first time I'd get to hold you and gaze into your eyes.

Congratulations to Josh and Erica, and to their families. I can truly not wait to meet you Baby Gray. You have literally your whole life ahead of you and i know with the parents you have, and all the support and love they have, it is destined to be a great one.