Happy Life

Sometimes when I’m at work and I miss my kids or it is late at night and I feel lonely, I pull up Facebook and I look back over my pictures.  It is such a wonderful thing to have your whole life in pictures right there and all you have to do is scroll down or look at the different albums.   

I did this recently, and besides an occasional silly face by Jolie or Joe, do you know what I saw? Happy, smiling, thriving children.  I am so blessed beyond my worth.  Our children are healthy, smart, funny, kind, helpful, beautiful, and in all honesty I could look at their pictures all day.  I know most moms feel this way, and I am so blessed to have been given a mother’s heart.  If you know me, you know my world revolves around my children.  Their needs, wants, and happiness are put first.  Some people see this as a sacrifice, but I do not.  I love my family.  I love spending time with them.  I love playing with them, making memories with them, being silly with them, getting dirty with them, etc.  This is the way I was raised, and I love that that is a tradition I am passing down to my children.  I pray that my children have a happy childhood.  I know that they will probably need therapy for a few things, but hopefully not too much.  Do not get me wrong, we do have rules and certain behaviors are expected of them.  I am sure some of the people that know us, believe we may be too strict or expect too much, but our ultimate goal is to make them Godly people who will thrive in their adult lives.  

The next thing I notice as I look over the pictures is the many faces you see in the pictures as well: their grandparents, their cousins, their aunts and uncles, and their friends.  I truly believe it takes a village to raise a child.  Sometimes I reflect on the “village” we have created for them, and it makes my heart glad to know that they are surrounded by people that love them, pray for them, and want the best for them. 

As I look back over the pictures, I know you can not fake the happiness you see.  It makes me feel as if maybe sometimes we might be doing something right.

Wedding Dress

Sometimes I get Pinterest envy.  I scroll through Pinterest and I think, oh, I would have loved to have done that for my wedding, baby showers, birthday parties, and so on and so on.  Oh well, what’s done is done, and I will forever have the memories and pictures of the way we did do our wedding, baby showers, birthday parties, and so on and so on, but in reality does all of that even matter?  You can have the most beautiful wedding and it be the most perfect day, but if there is no foundation of love and friendship, will it last?  The number of people divorcing that married around the time that Joe and I married scares me.  I often wonder are we next?  Will we survive?  PLEASE UNDERSTAND ME, I am in no way judging anyone divorced, nor judging divorce itself.  Most people in my family and life have been divorced.  I know that sometimes it is a mutual decision that both people are okay with.  I know that sometimes one person is devastated while the other person walks away.  I know that most of the time it is difficult for everyone involved.  I was blessed with a wonderful step-mother that loved/loves my brother and me as if we were her very own.  I know that people move on and remarry, and as in everything else, life goes on.  I must admit though, it still scares me.  I pray over my children and I pray that they never know divorce in mine and Joe’s marriage and in their own marriages. I pray for the people that they will marry.  I pray that their spouses (and they) are Godly people who will be the husbands and wives that the Bible calls them to be.  I pray that my children find spouses that love them, respect them, and treat them as they should be treated.  I pray that we all get along and enjoy spending time with each other, Joe and I with the people they marry and them with each other’s spouses.  I also pray for my future grandchildren, and their future spouses.  I would love to leave behind a legacy of love.

In honor of our 11 year anniversary back in May, I took pictures of the girls in my wedding dress.  In some pictures they are holding a picture of me wearing the dress.  It was a beautiful touching time for me.  The dress is just a dress, but it has become a symbol of faithfulness, friendship, love, perseverance, trust, and determination between Joe and me.  My prayer is that on their wedding day, Joe and I are still married so that they can proudly display the picture of them in my dress holding a picture of me in the dress.