Joy, joy, joy!

Yay!

Wonderful news!

On Friday, September 2nd, my post will be featured on (in)courage.  I'd be pleased as punch if you take a minute to stop by!

If you've never been to (in)courage, well, you just don't know what you're missing.  It's the online beach house for women, the pull-up-a-chair-and-let's-chat cyber getaway where we gals can meet and connect and share. As they put it, it's home for the hearts of women.  I couldn't agree more.

See you there and.....don't forget to bring the chocolate!

beginning of the end


As the new school year starts, a lot of us moms are lamenting how fast time passes.  I'll join right in with my rant since tomorrow my youngest becomes a senior in high school.  (I have no idea how this has happened, being as I'm still 29). 

This should not be - just last week I was sending him off to first grade, terrified he wouldn't be able to navigate the hallways by himself and praying he'd eat his lunch.  Today he navigates roadways as the driver of a car and is currently at China Buffet paying for his own dinner.  My, my, my.

One day they depend on us, the next day not so much.  And there we stand, mothers without a children's world anymore.  Moms with no need for back to school lists and lunchboxes.  Momma bears that have more free time on their hands than ever and are looking around for something to do.

It's all the way it's supposed to be, and I get that.  And if you've been here before and read what I've had to say, you can see this is a (slightly) recurring theme with me.

Because it blows me away.

Because time moves so fast.

Because I so love being a mom.

It's time for me to shift a bit.  Handle a little emptiness, listen to a little quiet.  I can do it.  I'd rather not....but I can.  Now to see what God's going to do next....

Keeping track



I walked.  She ran.

I had on baggy summer clearance items from Kmart.  She looked stylish in her spandex leggings and tank top with sparkle trim.

I was squinting in the sun, while she wore large square Foster Grants that completed her outfit.

I felt less than trim and fit; she had my dream figure already but was still working out.

Comparisons.

We all do it (especially us women), and it's deadly and dangerous. 

If I had allowed myself to dwell on the differences between this gal who I shared the track with and myself, I would have felt defeated within moments.  The more I looked at her, the more I felt inadequate.  And that simply isn't the truth.

I don't know this woman or her circumstances.  She may be out running because she has to battle the depression she faces over losing her job.  She might be killing time because she can't deal with another evening alone in an empty house where there used to be family.   Or, she might be like me and just simply getting some exercise before heading to the store to buy groceries.

Fortunately, age and experience has taught me to not play the comparison game.  I'm better than I used to be at silencing those contrasting thoughts and realizing that I'm summing someone up by appearances only.  As a child of God, I know that my acceptance and worth is wrapped up in being His child, and I need look no further than up to know that I am wholly and fully loved.  Just as I am.

And that frees my soul to keep walking.


21 today


21 years ago today I was getting ready to be driven to the hospital to have a baby girl...today, that girl drove herself out of here to return to her apartment at college.

I'm not sure how this is humanly possible. 

Her old bedroom (which used to be my old bedroom) is now my office;  I can decorate and accessorize it to my heart's content. 

Yet there are many days I wish it were still filled with curling irons, styling spray, contact lens cases and various bottles of perfume.

She's loud and occasionally obnoxious and a bit bossy.....

But I miss hearing her sing to her stereo and yell out my name a hundred times a day.

I always tell my children I didn't have them so that they could grow up and leave me, but....

they do anyway.

And amazingly, that's the way it's supposed to be.

Just takes a little getting used to.