October Reflections

I just LOVE my family!!

It has been SO BUSY around here (we do tend to over commit to things, just being real) that is has been so hard to stop and breathe it all in. My parents have the kids today because I had a baby shower to go to this morning and another friend's birthday to go to this evening, so I have some time to get errands done by myself in between. I've been really meaning to update the blog, but it can only happen really late at night and I have been valuing sleep instead. :) 

Chris started a new job (which is a whole entry in itself) and is really working so hard to balance home and family with his odd schedule. I just want to brag about him a bit because I think he is AMAZING! I know most dads/husbands struggle with work/life balance, but it's extra tough for my hubby because he has a job that requires him to work on the weekends (even Sundays directly after church) and work from home (often on his days off). With that, he has worked even harder to keep our family as a priority. His phrase when he gets home to me is, "What can I do best to serve you right now?" He means it...and does it. Depending on the evening or the time he arrives home, that could be cleaning the kitchen, putting the kids in the bath, jumping in for a well-awaited wrestle time with the kids, or just holding me a little longer than normal if the day has been extra rough. I also really appreciate how he always makes time with each of the kids in bed each night. He prays with each of them and lays next to them to talk about the day. They treasure it (so does he). The advantage to his odd schedule is that he has Bible time with the family at breakfast. He reads the scripture, a little devotional, and talks about it with the kids.  Since he has midweek days off, he volunteers every week in our son's class. On nights where he can't join us for dinner, we call him and he prays for us on speaker phone. It takes being purposeful and creative with the time he is given, and he purposefully and creatively uses it well.

Also, I have to esteem my son who has been striving to learn at grow in his first year in class all day. He is working on being a leader rather than a follower. He is learning to be patient and raise his hand rather than calling out. He is learning how to be gracious and share the teacher's attention with 29 other students (though he'd really love it if she called on him every time he raised his hand). He is learning how to foster relationships with his very good friends who are at another school or have moved to another class. He striving to do his very best work and persevere when he doesn't perfect something the first time. He is beginning to understand the value of doing work that isn't his favorite because he knows it is what will help him grow and be stretched. He is maturing. I see it before my very eyes. I love it. I see my little boy becoming a man. Through struggles, trails and times of being stretched, he is growing. I pray for him. I am proud of him. I see how hard it is to grow. I see it with my own eyes, and I see it through his eyes. I hope he knows, how very much I love him and how blessed I am that the Lord allowed me to be his mother!

My sweet Abigail is blossoming in so many ways too. She is academically ready to start kindergarten; thankfully, she is still at home with me another year. Since we have opened our home to nanny, Abigail is growing in hospitality and grace. She is learning that all that she has is from God who has called us to willingly share. She is learning to be a "big sister" to little Ben by showing him grace and coming along side him with kind words of redirection when he breaks something of hers or wants to put it in his mouth. She is still my easy, simply happy little girl who loves it when I pick out her outfit the night before. She is so theatrical and has completely acquired a witty sense of humor. Her love for books and music have only grown and she is a master at impersonating voices and memorising quotes from the CD books we get from the library. She cannot get enough of her Daddy. If I were to put money on it, I would guess that she'll still love her back rubbed or scratched when she is a grown woman. I cannot believe I have a girl who I love so much (and that she is so much like her Dad).

Also, I have to stop and praise God for all the little moments I enjoy each day and, far too often, take for granted. I am privileged to be able to read in a warm cozy home with my children, drive around in a van that we have paid off, have medicine to help my son's allergies, have a family who loves me so much, have the privilege to teach art to my son's class, have the opportunity to help run a preschool for my daughter, have the opportunity to invest in the lives and hearts of the kids I nanny and our kiddos at AWANAS, listen to heartwarming belly laughter as my kids engage with their Dad, kiss the man I have loved for almost half my years on this earth, and know that none of this compares with the hope I have of one day being at home in heaven. 

Oh, to stop and pause...it's almost overwhelming. 

Thank you Jesus!