Try Again

I am thinking I need to revamp this section.  I had an idea of how I thought it would go when I started it, but it sort of went all over the place instead (imagine that, coming from me).  What I would like to do is be intentional (hence the deliberate part of the little tag line) and to do it every day (ah, that would be the daily, right?).  I'm not good at doing anything consistently (except complain), but maybe I can get this ship slowly turned around. 

My attitude is very bad!  I am not a grateful person.  I really do complain a lot, and if not out loud (which Mike would be right to say I do do it right out loud) then in my heart.  I just reread one of the verses I put at the beginning of this page; it says,"My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you..."  Praising God naturally leads to joy.  I know this is true.

I'm rambling for sure.  Here is something I wanted to share today.  There were pipers at our church this morning celebrating both a Scottish heritage (Presbyterianism) and unity even though there is diversity in the church.  We are all part of Christ's body.  I am convinced that there is some Scottish blood in me...the bagpipes, they really move me! 

Stink.  The file is too large for me to email from my phone, so I will have to figure out how to get it off my phone and then onto here.

You will just have to wait! 

Waiting to Go Home

Michaela went to New York with her grandma today.  We never arranged a good way for her to get home, though, since I was leaving for home the day before their trip.  In the end, we switched our tickets from Orlando to Dallas to next Sunday, extending our stay here for five days.  I will meet her at the airport when they arrive, and then we will head back to Dallas.  It will be a long day for her, but it seemed the best way to get her home.  She didn't want to fly by herself.

So, Christian, Eliana, and I will be hanging out with Wendy and the kids (and Bobby a bit, as well as Mr. Bob) for a few days.  I am so grateful to have in-laws who don't mind having us around. 

This also gives Mike a lot more time to get stuff over to the new house without having to worry about us.  When we arrive he'll have everything in the house, and put away!

Not really, but he could have a lot done, and possibly have a lot organized in a way that we were not able to do in our previous moves. 

I am rambling.  I am trying to find things to be joyful about.  I know they are there...making my heart appreciate them is quite a task.  I wonder if I wake up and think right away,"What can I be grateful for right now, and how can I find joy in this day?" if that would help?  Maybe I will try that tomorrow.

Double Digits

Today we joyfully celebrated Michaela's tenth birthday.  She shares her birthday with Grandma Diana.  It's a lot of fun when we are here in Florida and can get together for dinner, cake, and presents. 

I cannot believe she is ten years old.  She...leaves me speechless.  Seriously, I've started three sentences and I can't find the right words to say what I want to say.  She is not a perfect person.  She gets in fights with her siblings, and has enough sass sometimes to make me wonder if she is actually fourteen instead of ten.  But she is incredibly sweet and loving.  She loves me in a remarkable way, even when I have fallen far short of being a good mom.  She is very patient with her sister.  She and Christian can still create imaginative scenarios and play together for a long time.  She is smart, and talented in so many ways.  Her poise surpasses mine at her age (or now). 

I wish I could go back sometimes to the first couple of years of her life.  I feel like that, in particular, went by very fast.  I was pregnant with Christian by the time she was one and a half, and when he was born she became my big girl.  She went along with it beautifully.  We would sit on the couch and nurse our babies together.  Or read.  Or she would run loops through our apartment, pit-stopping every now and then at his blanket (or at my lap) to give him a tickle or smile at him.  Since I was holding him all of the time, I didn't get to give her baby-girl/big-girl toddler/preschool snuggles as much.  She was already so big (it seemed).  And I didn't realize what I was missing, since I had never done this mom thing before.

This year I want to do a good job appreciating her for the little girl that she is and the young lady that she is becoming.  I want to be a good example to her of so many things:  homemaker, follower of Christ, wife, mom, fun-lover.  And I really want her to be happy.  I think this last year was stressful for everyone, and that she quietly carried around a great burden that she didn't even understand or truly know she was carrying.  I pray that this year is different, even though it may be a slow change.  May it be an intentional one.

I love this girl.

Happy Birthday, Michaela.  You will always be our baby girl.

Reminiscent

This post is, oddly enough, going to be very similar to the previous one.  As I wrote about the end of the year, I thought a lot about some of the harder things that I went through.  (I am a little self-absorbed.  I need to work on that.)  At the end of it, though, this thought popped into my head...all through that difficult year, Mike loved me.  He loved me when I didn't love me.  He loved me when I did not act like I loved him, or anyone else around me.  He loved me when I was unlovable. 

That is something worth writing about.

That is a cause for joy.

That is something to look forward to this year...love.

Love

Today Mike told me many times that he loves me.  It astounds me every single time.  I haven't been easy to love lately (or longer).  But he loves me anyway.

I feel that way about Someone else.  The Creator of the universe.

The One who made me.  And also sent his son to live and die and rise from the grave for me.

If that doesn't bring someone joy, I don't know what can.