New Years Eve 2008 and a year's worth of blessings

Wow! Has another year really flown by so quickly? Why is it that every new year speeds by even quicker than the prior year?

I can remember being a child of about 4 and thinking each day lasted soo long....and Christmas Day would NEVER come. Oh, to be such an innocent child again. I guess as we get older, fall in love, marry, and eventually the kids begin to arrive - and of course most of us hold full time jobs OUTSIDE the home - our human brains are constantly churning along. Multi-tasking at its best. Seems to me that it would really be nice if we could just s-l-o-w d-o-w-n sometimes and truly enjoy all our blessings. And, my family is blessed - I know that we are blessed far more than others. And yet, I know that I have complained.

For me, my brain is going all the time: I am doing one thing, worrying about the other things I should be doing, thinking of what is for dinner, and which child has what activity or homework. I don't even think our kids are that over-scheduled. Basically, each child just has one extracurricular activity - Jason has baseball, Ryan has soccer and Megan gymnastics. So why does it seem that our schedule is so full?

Of all the activities that my kids could choose - they are doing a sport. They are getting exercise and sunshine. How can I begrudge that? I guess the truth is, that I don't truly begrudge it. I am happy that they enjoy their sports. I guess it is the multi-tasking Mom brain that gets to me.

In no particular order, here are some of our blessings:

• We are blessed that Mike has a great job that is close to home. No more 1-2 hour commutes to Dallas. It has been 4 years - but we are no less appreciative of the time Mike gets to be at home with us and not in the car driving!
• I am blessed to have been married for over 22 years to a man who seems to love me in spite of my flaws and imperfections.
• We are blessed that I can work two part-time jobs that are flexible and allow me to still be a stay-at-home mom.
• We are blessed that we live in such a nice neighborhood where the kids can run and play and be safe.
• We are blessed to have loving and caring family members - some live close like Grammy and Poppy, some in S. Texas like Grandma, and others in Washington State like Mamaw and Papaw - not to mention siblings all over the east and west coasts - they all love us and are willing to help us out anytime. We all love you too! Thank you for loving us UNCONDITIONALLY.
• We are blessed with three beautiful children: Jason, Ryan and Megan. God entrusted these precious kids to us! We try to do our best with them.
• We are blessed with good friends too. I can't possibly name them all here. You know who you are!
• We are blessed to be the children of our Great God.
• We are blessed that Jason took to high school this year like a duck takes to water. He is such a great kid and he is doing super in school. He got to go to a church camp back in the summer for a week and loved it. He also took his first flight on a plane all by himself this past summer. He is playing baseball at the high school and loves it.
• We are blessed that the twins Ryan and Megan finished out 2nd grade in the same class and then were ready to start 3rd grade in their own classes with different teachers!! They did great! Why did I worry? They were totally ready to begin to blossom in their own ways.
• We are blessed with exceptionally good health for all five of us.
• We are blessed to live in a nice house with rooms for each kid.
• We are blessed with 3 pets whom we adore. Even the two pet rats! Our dog Sox is a great dog. We love all of them.
• We are blessed with 2 vehicles to drive, even if they are showing their age now.
• We are so blessed - I can't even finish this list - you would get tired of reading. Maybe you are tired now?

So, I guess the point I am trying to make is this: Maybe we all - but especially me - need to slow down a whole lot. Slow down and enjoy the many, many blessings that God has given us. I need to try and really enjoy my kids before they are all grown up. Sometimes I feel I don't enjoy my kids enough. That seems embarrassing to admit, somehow. But how can I really enjoy all they want to give and share with me if I am constantly worried about schedules, shopping, bills, jobs, etc?? I wish I knew the answer.

For now, I think that I will try harder in 2009 to listen and really hear my three precious children, and Mike too for that matter.

I hope that each of you who might read this will be blessed in 2009. Please leave me a comment and tell me how YOU have been blessed and what you are grateful for.