Counting "Buggies"

My older kids recently watched a Herbie movie and have now taken up an activity that my brothers and I practiced in our younger days - counting "buggies" more commonly known as Volkswagon Beetles. It is fun to see how excited they get when they spot one, and I love watching the younger kids copy the older ones and shout "Buggy!" from their car seat or stroller.

This week I realized something interesting. In spite of the fact that I haven't consciously counted Volkswagons in at least 20 years, suddenly I am noticing them again. Twice this week I while I was out without Josh and Annie I counted them and reported the total number and various colors to the children when I returned home. Today I saw 6 just on the way home from the gym. I had never noticed how many there were.

It was then that I began to wonder about how many other things I don't notice. Am I missing important things that I should be noticing? Do I notice when someone is lonely or sad or worried? Do I notice if a neighbor needs something? Do I notice when a friend hasn't been at church lately? Do I notice when my kids need a little extra time or attention from me? Do I notice when someone does something nice for me? Do I notice how God provides for my needs and supplies me with so many "wants" to boot? And, more importantly, what do I do when I notice?

I don't want to get so caught up in the "stuff" of mothering that I don't spend enough time just loving on my kids. I don't want to be too busy to help or too tired to say "Thank you." Maybe we need to look around at the people around us more carefully than the cars on the road. Maybe next time we're out counting buggies we'll start counting blessings.