This morning, with sad little tears trickling down my cheeks, I turned to my husband and said, “Don’t you sometimes miss life before kids? Back when it was just us and we could take road trips and do all kinds of fun things whenever we wanted?”

My husband, who adores his little girls more than just about anything, looked at me strangely. “Nope,” he replied. “Being a parent is the best!”

My hubby and sick munchkin

He was right, of course, and I knew it. But a girl that I know is going on a road trip with her husband down the California coastline and it looks so amazing and it’s not fair and blah, blah, blah. The last time we attempted a vacation, the four-hour drive took eight hours and we ended up coming straight back home the next day because our daughter had pneumonia. So, although envy is a sin, I sure was struggling with it today!

The grass is always greener on the other side, right? Wrong. Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows …” The grass is greenest right where we’re at.

Rather than waste my day by continuing to act ridiculously, I decided that we were going to enjoy our little patch of green grass by having a fun “staycation”. We would intentionally make some special memories.

My husband and I packed up the kids in the stroller and walked to the park. Then we let loose. We ran and kicked our legs and twirled around. We went into the greenhouses and saw the flowers and turtles and birds and fish. We chased squirrels up trees. We went to the playground, saw some old friends, made some new friends, and … um … even I climbed up the ladders and went down the slides a couple of times (with one of the girls on my lap, of course … and I didn’t get stuck this time).

When we came back home, I put a bin of water outside and we splashed around in it. We put up the tent and blew bubbles and played in the sandbox and had a picnic.

The girls are now napping. Meanwhile, my husband went to the store and bought some chocolate ice cream and waffle cones. I’m anxiously awaiting the end of nap-time (I don’t think I’ve ever said that before!) so that we can have our treat.

I could have continued to let envy rob me of my joy. But I didn’t. You see, no matter what stage you are at in life, there are blessings all around. God lavishes His love on us every single day in a million different ways.

This morning, I chose to look for and delight in God’s blessings. Now that I’m midway through one of the most fun days I’ve had in a long time, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t trade my life for the world.