Little Favorite Things

Today I've been mentally compiling a list of "little favorite things". You know, those things that you find yourself enjoying, even loving, but that aren't big deals like a new car or a job promotion. So, I thought I'd put them in writing for your amusement and enjoyment. My little favorite things list:

1. Soaking wet swimming pool hugs from a kid with blue lips
   
2. That familiar smell of my husband's neck
3. Capri pants, flip-flops, and freshly painted toenails
4. The sound of my son's voice in a whisper
5. The sweaty smell of a baby after a good, long nap
6. Belly buttons
7. A long, hard run - one where your muscles ache but it feels good
   
8. Ringtones that let you know a loved one is calling
9. Gentle rain falling in the night
10. My husband bringing me home dark chocolate from the store, even though he went there to get medicine for himself
11. A cool breeze on my shoulders on a hot summer day
12. Listening to a Sunday sermon by a loud preacher, but hearing God's voice louder still
    

As the song says, these are just a few of of my favorite things. But #6 really got me thinking. How cool are belly buttons? Not just because of the incredibly miraculous part they play in nurturing us prior to birth, but the fact that they stick around. That everyone has one. That most people's are ticklish. They are a forever reminder to us that we were loved by a mother once. That our existence was totally dependent on her for a while. She at least loved us enough to give us life, and most likely went well beyond that. No matter how far we go in life or how independent we become, we were all a parasitically dependent being at one time. As a daughter, that is a humbling thought. As a mother, it is a delightful one.
To trump that, how cool is God that he saw fit to bestow such a blessing on women. Every belly button is a gift given by a mother to another human - through God's design. What a task we women have, not just in passing on belly buttons but in being the portal through which each generation to come will come. God never makes mistakes and always does things in an orderly, purposeful way. He could have easily made our bodies so that our belly buttons disappear shortly after birth. But he didn't. He let us keep them as midsectional reminders of his divine plan.