And So It Goes....

It is the middle of summer.


And I've been thinking.

I've been thinking a lot about how my first little baby all of a sudden turned twelve. As much as it pains me that he will never be little again, I'm thrilled for all that he now can do. He is my light.


Also, not long after Sam turned twelve, my baby baby, Anna, turned five. Seriously in the blink of an eye. She is a wonder to us and truly our sweetie.


And then, as if time were not moving fast enough, my darling Claire turned seven. While it's difficult to believe she is growing so fast, she was born with an old soul and so, seven doesn't seem so startling to me. She has always been so capable and sure of herself. Oh! She is my heart.


Also on my mind is the new little baby that will join our family around December 5. We are so excited to meet this new member of our family!

I've been thinking a lot about my role as a mother.


I've been thinking about cleaning my laundry room.

And organizing my closet (and I actually acted upon this thought).

I've been wondering about friends and how sad it is that some times they seem like lovely, long ago dreams.

Currently I'm wondering why people feel the need to shoot off fireworks every single live long night in July.

My brain has also been fairly occupied with the future. We are sitting on the brink of so much change, but I suppose we always have been. In another 5 years, I will have 3 teenagers. How will our lives be different because of that? I'm not sure if I'm ready, but who ever is? Have you ever heard anyone say: "Bring on the teenage years! I'm totally ready for it!"?


Well that's also how I feel about having another baby after 5 years. I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I felt the same way during each of my pregnancies, and you know what? Things turned out just fine. I'm not saying the road was paved in gold, but the end result so far has been so much joy and happiness.


Jeremy brought down our cradle from the garage today. Jeremy's dad made this beautiful cradle for us before Sam was born. A few years ago it fell down from the shelf in the garage and sustained some damage. It was a freak accident. We don't know what caused it to fall, but I thought it was a sign. We just put it back on the shelf thinking we would never have a need for it again. Until today. Today, Jeremy assessed the damage and concluded that it was fixable.
I thought how my dad would say, "There's a gospel message in that."

I've been thinking about how the Lord blesses us in our trials. Truly He does. While He doesn't always take away our burden, He can make us strong enough to bear it.

I think I would like to shout it out the next time I'm at Costco. "Hey! Everyone! God really does love you and He wants you to be happy!"

I think I'll just shout it out here.