It's a Wonderful Life

This is probably going to sound odd. But I've come to a realization about myself recently: I'm pretty good at life.

My life is full, and it's good. This is largely thanks to God, who has blessed me more than I believe is fair. I mean really; have you SEEN my husband? Have you SEEN my son? It's like I'm hoarding all of the best looking and most wonderful people for myself.

But I think that a teeny tiny fraction of why my life is lovely is me. I think I make some decent choices with my time and my self. I maintain a balance of me time, time with Matthew, time with Benjamin, time with all three of us, and time with my friends. I juggle the working mom life pretty well. I cook, I clean, I play, and I rest. I suck the marrow out of life, if you will. I find joy in simple pleasures, and I revel in whatever God has given me. On the weekends that Matt is gone a lot at church, I do special things with Benjamin, like going to the beach or the park. When I get one of those rare moments to myself, I read, watch ER, play with pictures, or waste my life away on Facebook; whatever my soul needs most at the moment. Matthew and I make sure we have time every week alone with our son and alone with ourselves. While we find ourselves short on babysitting help, we don't get much time alone together. But when we can work it out we do. On rainy days I curl up with a hot chocolate, a snuggly blanket, my jammies, and my boys and watch movies. On sunny days I go outside with my boys and play. I cherish the big and little moments that make my life special. And when special means challenging or sad, I work through it. I find the bright spots, I mourn the losses, and cling tenaciously to the two great loves of my life.

I'm also growing into my self. We have neighbors/friends who are part of our daily lives. As a very introverted person, living in community has always been very challenging for me. But in the short time that we've lived here, what was at first painfully challenging has become second nature. Our friends are going through a hard season right now, and I am so glad that we can be right beside them through the journey. I'm also learning to be more social at work. And in the midst of finding ways to come out of my little shell, I've found ways to give of myself to others in need, like organizing meals for a coworker going through chemo, and being the one teacher who cares about the kid with out of control behavior. I've learned that I'm not necessarily a big missions trip type of person; I'm more of a see a need and fill it type of person. It's beautiful when you can figure out what God made you for.

My life has never been easy or quiet; but somewhere along the way, I've managed to figure out how to find all of the little and big pockets of joy that make it worth living, and living well.

Go me.