Ahhh…..where to begin.

It has been a long couple of weeks and I have so much to blog about I don’t know where to start.  It’s been a couple of trying weeks in our household, and I am a firm believer in the cliché, “What doesn’t kill me, will make me stronger”.

I also know that in the wise words of Mother Theresa, “God won’t give us anything we cannot handle.  I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!”

That statement is tried and true for my life lately.   My baby girl, Natalie, came down with croup that then turned into pneumonia.  She has never been so sick and the high fevers that kept her and I awake, all night long, for 5 straight days was enough to drive any mother insane with worry!  We couldn’t get the meds in her to bring her fever down….we couldn’t get the meds in her to fight off the pneumonia….it was just a mess all the way around.   By the sheer grace of God, she is on the mend, but it wasn’t before she graciously shared her illness with me.

Within 2 days of her fever breaking and turning the corner from extremely ill to just mildly sick, I had come down with a full blown case of….well, it was either bronchitis or pneumonia….which landed me in the ER at 1:30am this past Friday morning, struggling to breathe.  The doctor was unable to confirm which one it was for sure.  With being so pregnant (38 weeks), it didn’t make sense to do an x-ray to confirm which it was because the treatment for me was going to be the same either way.   A high dose of antibiotics and lots of breathing treatments to get me over the hump. It took several days of treatment before I felt semi-human again, but alas.….I’m doing much better than I was a mere 4 days ago.

And while this may seem hard to believe coming from an exhausted, sick, very pregnant, asthmatic who was still recovering from her baby girl being sicker than ever before….the worst of our week was still lying ahead for us. On that same Friday that I returned home from my ER visit, my husband was let go from his job. The company that he had been working for over the past 4 years could not stay afloat with these tough economic times and had to close their doors. He was let go effective immediately.

So….again….allow me to recap:

Very sick toddler

Very sick mommy

Husband lost his job

Baby #6 due in less than 2 weeks

Yep…I guess that about covers everything!

To say we lead boring lives would be a lie. There is truly never a dull moment in our household, and I guess if we want the good, we must also weather the bad. Life wouldn’t be nearly as miraculous or precious if it was always good times. I realize that we all deserve our time to struggle and the up’s and down’s on our journey just bring us closer together and allow us to really cherish the blessings. The bad times are really just more blessings in disguise.

While this has been and will continue to be a trying time in our lives as my husband tries to find a new job, I refuse to let it damper the immense blessing we are about to experience with the pending birth of our child. My induction date has been set for March 26^th at 7:30am if I am unable to go into labor on my own prior to that time. No matter how I slice it, I will not be pregnant for any longer than 10 more days!

And just the thought of getting to meet our latest blessing and newest miracle from God is enough to overcome any hardship we face right now, and thank God that He does trust me so much!

As I get older, I have come to appreciate so much more than I ever did before. I’m not sure if it’s my age or not, but something has woke me up to all the blessings I was missing for so many years. I believe, perhaps, it is a combination of both growing older, but growing wiser as well.

I have found that the one thing I do better as I get older is step back and look at my life. I now have the ability to see just how truly blessed I am. When I was younger, I struggled to see past the day-to-day madness to really appreciate all that God had given me. The financial, marital, and parenting struggles were all consuming for me. I was rarely able to step back and realize that even despite the negative, I was still a very blessed woman.

Please don’t mistake what I’m saying. Not a day has gone by since my first child was conceived that I haven’t thanked God for my children and realized what a blessing and joy they are to me. I just had a hard time seeing past the bills I couldn’t pay, the tension with my spouse, and the constant state of chaos that comes with having 4 children within 6 years to be able to rest assured that tomorrow would bring much of the same madness….and yet was still such a gift from God!

I look at my life now and it’s still just as crazy as it was back then. There are many differences of course….new husband….more children. But there are also many similarities. We still have bills that cannot be paid on time. My husband and I have a wonderful relationship, but it certainly does not come without effort. And my life with my children is crazier than ever.

The biggest difference now is that I am able to push away all the worries, fear, and anxiety over tomorrow….and just take in the blessings of today.

This weekend was like so many weekends have been for us over the past several months…. Work…work…and more work to be done on our house. We are in full swing of remodeling the entire upstairs while adding a bedroom, bathroom, and laundry room downstairs….all the while racing the clock trying to get everything finished before the baby arrives.

The older kids were with their dad this weekend, which is always a difficult time for me. After this many years, you would think I would be used to it by now. But just because there is familiarity in the routine, doesn’t mean it will ever “sit well” in the pit of my stomach.

But even with the constant work…..

Even with the absence of my older children….

Even with the checkbook I struggle to balance each month….

Even with some of the pettiness that eats up time and energy in my marriage….

I realize that I have so much to be grateful for….that God’s blessings have always been right under my nose!

So whether or not being older has made the shift in my perspective, I guess it doesn’t really matter what caused it. What I do know is that I feel much wiser to the gifts in my life today. I am seeing clearer today, than I ever did in the past.

And aside from thanking God for the obvious….I want to thank Him for the wisdom to finally see it….to finally see that I am blessed beyond measure in the form of the craziness I call “my life”.

Do you know that sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach sometimes or that lump in your throat when you need to cry but you are fighting back the tears??? That’s how I felt after reading a dear friend’s blog earlier this evening.

I call Ethel Mae Potter a dear friend and yet I’ve never even met her.  I know her purely by sharing a love of her writing with many, many other fans of hers.  Her writing style has such finesse and when she tells a story, it’s as vivid with details as a Thomas Kinkade portrait. I stumbled upon her blog after she posted a comment to one of my first posts, and we have been blogging “buddies” ever since.

Anyway, I read her most recent post and she is truly going through some rough times right now.  Financial worries for her aging parents, family members with addiction issues, and her own health is in question now over some seizures she has been experiencing for no apparent reason.  I sat for quite a while after reading her description of life as she knows it these days, and I wanted to weep for all that she is going through.  I can’t pretend to know what she’s feeling, as I have never battled cancer or had sudden seizures creep up on me.   I think all of us on some level can relate to worrying over our parents or financial struggles….and I definitely know what’s it’s like to live with a family member’s addiction, but to even try to claim I know how she feels would be a blatant lie.

So….for the first time in quite a while…..words failed me.  I wanted to post a comment on her site.  I wanted to offer her words of encouragement or say something that might lift her spirits.  But instead, I just sat there staring at my computer screen with tears welling up in my eyes.  I  just sat there praying to God that she is going to be ok because when I count my blessings each night, I thank God for this woman and the inspiration she has brought to my life with her words…with her honesty….with her beautiful, colorful,  rich stories.

In just the short time I have gotten to know her….as much as you can come to know a complete stranger who bares her soul for all the world to read….I pray that she will be well again soon.

I am firm believer in the old adage that all people come to us for a reason, a season, or for a lifetime.  And with Ethel Mae Potter….this world needs her for a lifetime!

It’s nearly Christmas and I always appreciate how this time of year seems to make all of us just a bit more cognizant of our blessings.  I love to look back over the year and reflect on all we have achieved and experienced over the past 365 days.  I relish the rewards of our hard work, thank God for the struggles that only brought our family closer together and made us stronger than before, and I always pause in awe of all the blessings I have to be grateful for.

I’ve always been the type who never feels worthy enough of such gifts from God.  Every year my life seems to get better and better….and I have to ask God, “Why me?”  I just don’t understand what I have ever done to deserve such immeasurable good fortune.

Anytime something goes wrong in my life…anytime we hit a rough patch in the road or things feel like they are falling apart….those are the times I seem to understand the most.  I never question “why me” during the difficult times.  It always seems crystal clear as to why I need to struggle….what I’ve done wrong to deserve such strife.

But the good times….the gifts like my amazing husband, wonderful children, loving parents, and true friends….those are the blessings that I just can’t wrap my brain around. Why do I get to experience such overwhelming joy?

Why am I so blessed to have found my soul mate when there are so many other lonely people in this world?

Why do I get to watch my children grow into amazing young men and women when there are parents every day that have to watch their children suffer and die from illness?

Why am I given the gift of good health when so many other much more deserving people out there do not have the same blessings?

So as I ponder the last year of my life….as I reflect upon my numerous blessings….I am brought to my knees in gracious thanksgiving for all that God has brought to my world….both the good and the bad!

I pray as well that this holiday season finds you all happy, healthy, and full of God’s grace.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all!

Why can’t every day bring on this kind of joy in my heart, inspiration to my mind, and peace in my soul?  I guess if every day was as moving as today has been for me, than I wouldn’t be able to truly appreciate it the way I am right now.  Nothing “major” happened today to elicit such feelings, but it’s just been one of those precious days when you wake up and you are truly thankful to be alive.  I know I should wake up every day and feel that way, but I’m sorry…I’m not Mary Poppins and I’m merely mortal.  I wake up many days sleep deprived and dreading the never-ending to-do list on my counter.

Today really started no differently than any other day.  I woke up with this insatiable toothache (root canal scheduled for tomorrow..whoo-hoo), I didn’t get much sleep due to said toothache, and I have a to-do list a mile long.  However, it’s been one of those days where something minor…something seemingly insignificant…..shifts my entire perspective on my day, my life, and my whole demeanor.

So what was this “minor” shift that pushed me past my normal “daily grind” attitude into blissful delight?  Well, it was the comments I received from yesterday’s post.  I think people quite often underestimate the power of a kind word or a gentle smile.  I woke up and read the wonderful things people wrote to me, and it literally brought tears to my eyes and made my entire sleep deprived face light up.   There was even an email sent to me from an “unofficial” member of my family letting me know that some of my posts lately have helped her cope with the very difficult time she is going through in her personal life right now.   I don’t mention this to toot my own horn, I’m writing it to try and get my point across….that we ALL can make a difference in people’s lives by the smallest, random acts of kindness.

I’m sure that many of you who sent me a positive comment or have commented on other posts in the past didn’t think you were doing anything special or that it was going to affect me the way that it did.  Just as I never know when I write a post if my words can or will effect anyone who reads them.  I am quite often as clueless to my impact on people just as all of us are.  For example, I know that my very favorite blogger, ethelmaepotter, doesn’t realize how deeply she touches my soul when I read her posts….how her words linger with me all day long.  Just as I’m sure that the friend who stopped me at school today to ask me how Avery’s tutoring was going didn’t realize the impact her sincere inquiry for my son had on me.

You see, it doesn’t have to be big and grand to make a large impact in people’s lives.  I believe that sincerity, love, empathy, and pure kindness in our gestures will carry people through even their darkest hours. While I may not have the ability or capacity in my life to crusade for world peace or raise millions of dollars to fight hunger, I do have the knowledge that a sincere “how are you doing” to a friend in need or a simple “I love you” to my child who perhaps had a rough day at school can truly change the pendulum in people’s lives.

So I want to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for reading my blog.  I thank you for your positive feedback, which inspires me to keep writing.  I appreciate the kind words and prayers from friends on behalf of my family….sometimes for no apparent reason other than people just want to be nice and pray for us!  I am grateful for the people who play significant roles in my life and perhaps don’t even realize it…teachers, friends, family, and even the stranger reading this right now or the gas station attendant who shoots me a genuine smile.   You all make a difference in my life and for that I am eternally grateful!

And no matter how corny or cliché this may sound, please don’t ever forget that we all have the capacity within ourselves to change the world….one smile, kind word, or meaningful gesture at a time.

My husband, Corey, has this friend….a friend who is really more of acquaintance, or an email buddy.  Corey has known him for years but their main interaction was simply forwarding emails to each other.  The gentleman lives just 2 blocks away from us so when we take family walks, we always stop by if he’s outside and chit-chat for a bit.  Corey and I even went to dinner one evening with he and his girlfriend, but that was really the extent of the relationship.

This neighbor of ours… friend, acquaintance, email pal…whatever you’d like to title him…passed away suddenly just a few weeks ago.  He had a massive heart attack on a Saturday morning and that was it.  Corey received an email from his live-in girlfriend stating very plainly that Dan had passed away unexpectedly that very morning.  She didn’t know most of his friends so all she could do to let people know what had happened was to send out a mass email to all his contacts.  As you can imagine it was quite shocking to find out through an email, but more disturbing has been the aftermath of the terrible news.

Corey’s in box has gone from several forwarded emails a day from this gentleman to radio silence.  He quite figuratively fell off the face of the earth in a blink of an eye.  I drive by his street several times a day and see the “For Sale” sign in his front yard, and it still blows my mind that one minute he was here, enjoying his roaring 60’s, sending out jokes to tons of email buddies, and then poof….he was gone!  I feel terrible for his family’s loss, as losing anyone unexpectedly is traumatic.  But what really keeps me awake at night has been the idea of….What did Dan leave unfinished the day before his death?  What tasks at work did he save for “tomorrow”?  What relationships did he leave unattended with the thought that he could always make that phone call “tomorrow”?  What loose ends around his home did he make the choice to do “tomorrow”?

Now I know for Dan, none of the earthly life he left behind matters to him anymore.  If he was a believer, as I will assume he was, he passed from this life into glorious eternity in Heaven.  Life here on earth instantly became of zero relevance.  But what about the things, jobs, chores, and most importantly the people he left behind?  To those individuals, what he left “unfinished” may haunt them for the rest of their lives.

This is where my thoughts are tonight.  Morbid as it may seem, I can’t stop thinking about what would happen if I just didn’t wake up tomorrow morning.  What unfinished business did I leave behind?  I know for me…on my way up to those pearly gates…it will not matter the second I take my last breath here on Earth and open my eyes to breath in Eternity with the Good Lord in Heaven.  But what I leave behind…what I leave unfinished will matter to those left to carry on in my place.  My loved ones, my friends….they will know what I didn’t finish.  They will know what I failed to get done in my time here on Earth.

And with these thoughts I am left with an overwhelming desire to just have more time…I want more time to do so many things.  There is so much to do and to see.  There is so much I want to accomplish yet with my life.  I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface of what’s out there for me to do.    So with all the prayers I send up God’s way…I think most of what I truly desire is more time.

More time with my children to watch them grow up.  More time to see them walk down the aisle and graduate from college.  I want more time to snuggle up with them on Sunday mornings watching cartoons….and more time to make Christmas cut out cookies and decorate the tree each year.  I want time for more family vacations to Disney World and more summers at the local pool.  I want more time to gingerly walk them through their first heartbreaks and the birth of their first child.  I want to be around long enough to see that what I did as a mother paid off ten-fold in the form of well rounded, thoughtful, caring, empathetic, spiritually mature, adults who know how to love more than just themselves….who know that life is so much bigger than their own little world and it all matters…it all matters.

I want more time with my husband.  I want to stand by his side as we watch our children grow up.  I want more time to see his hair turn grey and precious wrinkles form on his forehead.   I want more time to crawl into bed with him each night and fall asleep on his chest.  I want more time to dance in the dark with him holding me close once the kids are fast asleep.  I want to travel around the country with him in an RV after retirement just like we always talk about doing.  I want to live long enough to see our golden anniversary, and I want more time to live out our dreams together…just me and him against the world.

I want more time to enjoy my family.  More time with my parents to see to it that their senior years are all they deserve.  I need to show them that I can be all they dreamed of and more.  I want more time to spoil my niece and watch my brothers’ develop into amazing young men.  I want to see them get married, settle down, and have lots of cousins for my kids to play with someday.

I want more time with dear friends and their families.  I want to enjoy cookouts and birthday parties, family reunions with 5 kinds of potato salad and my utterly insane extended family, and the annual round robin we try to accomplish every Christmas day.

I want more time to develop personally, emotionally, and spiritually.  I know God has a greater purpose for my life than the meager things I have done thus far so I want more time to live out His Will.  I want more time to make Him proud of who I am and what I have done with my life.  I want to make a difference in this world.  I want to leave my mark on the people I meet….a mark on their hearts.

I want to be around to see my face develop wrinkles in the form of laugh lines…lines that tell the world….I’ve led a long, happy, joyous life!

So now, I have to ask…..What did you leave “unfinished” today?

We learned a hard lesson this evening:  NEVER CAR SHOP WITH A 14 MONTH OLD WHO NEEDS TO BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE OR EATING EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY!  Yes, that is the difficult lesson Corey and I learned tonight as we took Natalie with us to test drive a few vehicles.

Now mind you…I’m not new at this whole parenting thing.  It is not my first time around the block.  I’ve been here…at this age and stage…a time or two (or perhaps 4 times) before Miss Natalie.  So I truly was prepared…or so I thought.  Sippy cup, snacks, diaper bag loaded with distractions…I had all the makings for a successful outing.  I changed her diaper before we left and fed her a hefty portion of Mac and Cheese and raspberry yogurt for dinner before heading out on our expedition.

I was leery, but I really did think all would be ok.  Boy, did I under estimate my little girl’s ability to scream so loud that the sale’s guy at the dealership was concerned about the windows of every vehicle on his lot spontaneously combusting from the sheer decibel of her wailing!  She apparently had decided that no amount of bribery…not even mommy’s cell phone (her favorite “toy” in the whole world) was going to rattle her conviction that she DID NOT want to be car shopping tonight!  We tried to test drive a couple of vehicles but by the second stop, she was out of her mind angry and screamed so loud through the rest of the test drive that whatever noises we were supposed to be listening for…the “bad” noises…would have been music to our ears over the shrill of Natalie’s wrath in the back seat.

We high-tailed it back to the dealership, I threw her car seat and her flailing little self back in our car, Corey ran…and I mean literally ran….to let the guy know we would “think about it”, and did what all good parents would do after the hour of hell we had just lived through….we drove straight to the nearest drive thru and bribed our stubborn, tantrum-throwing, angelic monster with FRIES!!!  It worked like a charm too!  The second we hit the drive thru window she instantly stopped screaming.  She looked at me with a huge smile on her face…but did not make a peep for fear if she made a sound, the woman taking the order from daddy might not hear him correctly and she would not get her “nummies”.

We drove away with fries in hand and our little Miss Natalie was as pleasant as could be the rest of the ride home…..fry in one hand and a smirk on her face a mile long that spoke volumes!!

So I guess the bigger lesson learned here tonight:  get the damn fries BEFORE the test drive!  ;o)

How can I have so much going on in my life right now and still be struggling to write a post? I feel like I have writer’s block or something.  I think it’s because all that we are experiencing right now… house issues, car issues, children issues, and family issues are all so personal.  I feel like if I blog about any of it, I’m betraying someone on some level.  I really just want to blurt out all that’s going on and all that I’m feeling and just get it off my chest.  That’s what would bring me some peace and help me sleep at night, but unfortunately, it’s not that simple.  When you are writing a blog that strangers across the country read…hey, no problem…they don’t know my family or me. Sharing personal details is easy when there is no face to go with it, but I also have family and close friends that read my blog.  Divulging “private” information to that sector is a bit more difficult.  I don’t want to offend anyone or step on anybody’s toes…nor do I want to create a panic so every time a friend logs into to see what’s going on in my world, they instantly think I’m a basket case and my world is falling apart. It is truly not that dramatic, but I have come to realize that sometimes when I am writing about my personal life, people take it more seriously than I meant it to come across.

All things considered, I’ve decided the last several weeks…as my life is full of changes…to just keep my mouth shut!  As much as it pains me to go through much of what we are experiencing alone, I know the backlash of putting it out there will be worse than just keeping quiet. So for now, I am going to struggle to make “small talk” about daily activities.  I am going to muster up the self-control to just button my lip and sit on my feelings…at least “publicly” for the sake of all who are involved.

So just an FYI…if my subject matter lacks over these next few weeks…you will try to understand, won’t you?  Try to realize that my personal life is in a bit of disorder right now, and that I am just clinging to the last days of summer or a trip to the zoo to blog about without getting overly personal…something I clearly struggle to do.

And to my wonderful friends and family who read this and will instantly think the worst, please don’t. There is no ensuing divorce….nobody is sick or dying from cancer…it’s all relatively positive changes…just VERY personal.

And when the dust settles around here…when we have some resolve to the major life changes we are going through…I will be back to putting it all out there.  I will be free to speak my mind and clue in my audience.

Until then….how about those Brewers??!!  ;o)

Why do we all chase after the untouchables in our lives?  I am sitting here watching SpongeBob with my kids…and one of the characters, Plankton, spends his life chasing after his nemesis, Mr. Krab’s, hamburger formula.  Of course, he is defeated every time but he continues to make it his life’s mission to chase after this unattainable prize.  I realized that I do that with certain things in my life as well.  I know…I know!  You know I’ve had too much coffee when I’m finding meaning in SpongeBob….and I’ve really went over the edge when I’m finding parallelism between a cartoon and my own world…but just go with me on this one.

I realized that there are things in my life that I “chase”…things I have been chasing forever…that I know I will never reach.  I have family members I want to change.  I try to save them from themselves, even though I know they will never be any different than they are today.  And the funny thing is…I watch them chase after me trying to change me into the person they want me to be.  It’s all nuts!  I try to force relationships between family members that will never click and yet I try anyway to forge the gap between them.  I keep insisting that I become the skinny little tot I was when I graduated High School fully knowing that after 5 children, my stomach will never even resemble the flat tummy I once knew.  And I’m embarrassed to admit…I too try to “keep up with the Jone’s”.  I never “covet thy neighbor” in the sense that I wish I had “it” and they did not.  I just see the lifestyles some of my friends lead and wish I could run in the same circles.

Well, I have made the decision to try and change this unfavorable trait.  I am tired of trying to accomplish the impossible. So I have tried to find some resolve with certain “thorns” in my side.   I have concluded that no matter what I do, there are certain people in my life that will never get along with each other.   While I am not giving up on being healthy and fit, I am going to accept that I will NEVER have the body I had 15 years ago. And I’m all done trying to keep up with the next guy.

We are selling our house, and most people do that to “upgrade” to the next level.  They leave behind the starter home in order to move into the larger, upscale home.  This pattern happens until the kids are all grown and homeowners of their own and then downsizing begins.  We chase after these big fancy houses and huge, beautifully landscaped yards while our children are young.  We want the best for them, but the time and energy it takes to maintain that huge yard and clean 4 bathrooms each week is actually a detriment to our children.   And don’t get me wrong.  Our house has been on and off the market for 2 years now.  The plan all along has been to “upsize”.  We even had blue prints drawn up of our dream home and had every intention of building it once this house sold.  But in the recent months, with all the things that have hit us lately…my son’s dyslexia for example…my perspective on everything has changed.  My priorities have shifted and I feel that I’m seeing clearer now than ever before.  I have faith that there are no coincidences in this life.  My house has not sold for a reason.  God needed to give me all the time I needed to figure some things out….and thankfully, I am finally getting it loud and clear.

Translation:  my husband and I have made a decision that may seem backwards to most people.  We are going against the grain and doing what feels right for our lives at this time.  We have committed ourselves to downsizing…rather than upsizing…the home we buy once ours is sold.  I want my home to feel “cozy” and warm.  I want their bedrooms to be small enough that it forces them to come out and join us in the common areas of the home.  And I want to save on my mortgage…I want to spend less on a house payment and more on family vacations and their collage funds.  I want to create the “simple life” I have always dreamed of but been too afraid to go after.  I’ve always been too worried about how crazy all my friends will think I am to be buying a smaller house rather than “moving up in the world”.   I don’t want to explain to people why I’ve decided to get rid of all but one of the TV’s in our house and how I really do believe we can live without cable.  I just want to make the changes in our lives that we deem appropriate without needing to explain myself or justify our choices.

I’m always so concerned with what others think of me…what they think of my crazy family members…what they think of how fat I’ve gotten or what they think of my house, my car…But no more.  I refuse to do it anymore.

Today I turn over a new leaf…a new year’s resolution in August, if you will.   I’m going to create the life that I desire…not the life that matches the neighbor’s version of living the dream.  I’m going to start living our dream!

This weekend was simply glorious!  The sun was shining…the birds were singing…all was right with the world.  It was the simple pleasures of the weekend…rest, relaxation, the great outdoors….that really made it so special.    

Saturday we enjoyed attending my oldest son’s basketball tournament in Milwaukee, WI.  His team did well, and I’m always in awe at the energy and skill level these young 5th grade boys bring to the game.  They are truly remarkable to watch, and it is very apparent that their love of the game shines through every second of play.  God has given them a gift and they are using it to its full advantage.  

On Sunday, my two older sons went with their dad back down to Milwaukee to finish the tournament so it was just my two daughters and my youngest son, Avery (age 7).  My oldest daughter, Kylie, and I went for a 2 mile walk  in the morning…..a rare moment with an almost 13 year-old that I would not have traded for the world.  The conversation was light…nothing too dramatic, but that’s part of why it was so enjoyable.  I shared a story or two from my childhood and she shared with me her knowledge of dog breeds…where certain breeds come from…where they get their name.  She is an animal lover to the end, and it was fascinating to find out just how much she knows about dogs.   

When we got home, the baby had fallen asleep in her daddy’s arms so I went outside with Avery to enjoy the sunshine.  He rode his bike around the yard, and I sat and glanced through a magazine.  After a while, he decided to come sit on my lap for a snuggle.  We just sat there chatting.  It was one of those moments you wish you could bottle up and keep with you forever.  We then decided to play with sidewalk chalk…always one of my favorite summer past times.  I’m not much of an artist, but I love writing scripture verses or messages of faith in the driveway.  I always think it’s in the small opportunities to spread God’s Word that we make the biggest impact ….so I try to do so through sidewalk art.  

After the baby woke up, we headed to the park to play some frisbee golf.  I could not get past how much energy and zest for live my little 7 year old has.  I mean, he literally ran to every basket….he ran to every piece of playground equipment he played on…he ran…and ran…and ran…and ran!!!  I can’t imagine being that excited about anything, much less playing at a park; however, his enthusiasm and energy were infectious and just spending time with him made me feel young again!

I finished out the evening with a long walk and talk with an old friend.  I hadn’t seen her in ages so it was such a blessing to catch up with her and reconnect.  The best part about having my friendship with this particular woman is that we can go months without seeing each other, and then when we do get together, it’s like time stood still.    

While nothing extraordinary happened this weekend…just ordinary events.  It was in God’s amazing delivery of these simply pleasures that made for such an extraordinary weekend!