Fight the Fight!

I am remembering the line at the end of all fairy tales....and they lived happily ever after. As I get sucked into a fairy tale, the ups and downs, the scary and funny parts....the line at the end seems to be just what I want to hear. Isn't it what we all want to hear?

The reality is....the end of the fairy tale is only the beginning of life! You can't just write off a lifetime in one fell swoop of "they lived happily ever after" and it's over. The same bumps and pitfalls that brought that couple together in the fairy tale are still there after they finally come together! They don't go away.

Life is hard. Things get in the way of that forever happiness. Now...that's not to say that it isn't all worth it....it IS worth it! But it's hard nonetheless.

If it was worth the fight to get together, then it's worth the fight to stay together. Champion the cause! Be your spouse's best defender!

Rawley Turns 6!

Those eyes....
That smile...

The goofiness....

That sweetness....

Has all conspired to create the Rawley we know and love!

He is our gorgeous, funny, clever, surprising Rawley....and we love him very much.

Loving Through Sin

How do you react to someone who has sinned....and the consequences are obvious? Do you shun them? Do you embrace them and let them know you love them? Do you pretend you don't notice?

My dear friend has someone she knows who is having to begin the process of living with an obvious consequence of a sin. My friend is so very gracious and is loving her friend through this process. I love that about her!

Do we think, for some reason, that because the sins we have committed don't have such obvious consequences, that we are better than anyone else? I don't think so! Sin is sin.

I am proud of my friend and her love toward others. The reality is that we all sin....our children all sin....we will all continue to sin. When I mess up, I would prefer to have people who love me, keep our friendship through the whole thing. I will probably have already beat myself up more than enough.

Spam Frustration

What kind of strange people leave a comment that is no comment, but really just ads for their blogs, websites, etc? I end up having to go through my posts and marking them all as spam. Ridiculous!

My Big Regret and A Wedding

We are headed to a wedding today. The daughter of old friends of ours is getting married. She is the same age as our oldest and the girls have been friends since they were about 5. It is an exciting day, indeed!

But, for me, it's also a sad day. I made mistakes early on after our children began arriving where I put them ahead of Ben...their needs, their wants....were always more important than his were. Ben made a comment to me a couple of years ago where he said that our wedding day was the last time he remembers me looking at him as though he hung the moon. I am so sorry that I ever did anything to make him feel that way. I can't even begin to express my regret.

So when we go to a wedding now, or when I even think about my children getting married, I remember that comment and wish to shout at them, "Don't do what I did! Don't ever lose that look in your eyes! You can never erase the pain it will cause."

I am thrilled for our friends and their daughter....but I am also sad and will be all day as I silently scream at her to learn from my mistakes.

Reviewing Blessings of 2011

Each year, on New Year's Day, we review our blessings from the previous year and create our Gratefulness Globes. Today was no different....we began by reading the blessings that we put into our blessing box throughout the year. What fun to read those and remember things that happened in the year! For example, I had forgotten that our air conditioning had gone out over the summer. (how could I forget that?) Well....there were several blessings written about that getting fixed! :)

So we begin anew with filling up our blessing box. What a joy and privilege to recount our blessings....the things that God provides for us!!