Thursday, April 18, 2013

There's Joy Tucked Inside

Today I wanted to share all of the joys I am feeling in setting the rewind button on parenting (we were 3 years from having all "grown" kids and now are 12 years from having all "grown" kids!).

~Recently we had a movie night at church. Once my kids were settled in their seats with their movie snacks and were happily giggling over the movie, I just sat and reflected... I could have been the mom who finally had time to "do whatever she wanted" but here I was...and I realize I WAS doing whatever I wanted! I was lovin' on my babies!

~Last night we had our first campfire of the year. We had spent the afternoon with friends at the park. Dear friends had brought us a gift of pizza, chips and homemade cookies for supper. Later in the evening it was time to light the fire and enjoy smores for our "before bed" snack. When it was all done and I was sitting and resting from a busy day my little 6 year old came up to me and grab me tight around my neck. "I love you so much!" she said and then skipped away. This is the same little girl who would refuse to hold my hand the first 4 months we knew each other...it sure helps me remember what a gift it is when she expresses love to me.




~There's watching my oldest daughter braid my youngest daughter's hair, or watching my boys (1 teen, 1 younger) wrestle around or my teen son teaching the kids to properly shoot a basketball...

~There's my Spanish mistakes (I tend to use the word for "pee" when I mean the word for "angry" so I say, "Are you pee?" instead of "Are you angry?" which totally works in making a angry child giggle!) and seeing their English increase and improve. 

Normal everyday life has plenty of "hard" with a good dose of "really hard." It's easy to let yourself sit there...and miss the blessings. It's easy let one bad or a few bad moments rob you of the good in the day, the good in your life. 

The truth is, our messy, crazy, funny, sad, challenging, exhausting, loving, happy, life with twists and turns is full of joy and life! It's good, very good and I wouldn't change a thing!


(Shared at We Are Grafted In . Follow the link and see other great stories of joy!)

2 comments:

  1. Karen, so wonderful to hear your joyful progress! What a wonderful family you have.

    ReplyDelete

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