Today my family celebrated my oldest daughter's 16th birthday and this evening as family lingers long after the festivities to visit, play board games, and eat dinner, I began reflecting over the last 16 years we've been blessed with her. I'm simply in awe of the gift God gave my husband and me all those years ago! I'm proud of the young woman she is becoming!
It also makes me think back through all the years and time, places we've lived, things we've been through as a family, both personally and professionally. I can clearly identify seasons in our lives that we've been through, both blessed and challenging.
For the past 2 school years, I've personally been through much with working full time, being a Mommy (and sometimes Daddy with my husband's health issues), and full time student as I worked on my Master's degree, as well as serving with my husband as Lay Children's Pastors at our small church. My degree not only belongs to me, but to my family and you can't convince me otherwise. You see, if not for my family, for them picking up much slack from me at home, for my oldest not helping more and more, it would not have even been possible to have accomplished this. Sure, I've had the Mommy guilt that I'm sure many have faced..."Why can't you play with me?, etc." My previous role, while I didn't realize it at the time, took a lot out of me personally. I take my work seriously and don't need others to motivate me or reward me (though those are nice), but this compelled me to say "Yes" too much. A dear sweet mentor has told me for years that I needed to work on saying "No" and not take on so much, but it's just now that I'm learning to do this. This school year, I've entered into a new season, where I'm trying to rediscover my balance. Sure, I'm going to work to the best of my ability and still take things home as they are seasonal to my new role, but I'm finding it important to also spend quality, laughing till your sides hurt, watching old classic movies till late, playing all the board games in the house, kind of time with my family and friends. Balance, in a word. It's making choices and enjoying those choices. I hope you have a chance to discover ways to find your balance.
I've too come to the conclusion that this decision to find a balance in my life is crucial to my inner peace and happiness. I'm so happy that you've come to that conclusion as well because then your list of regrets will be almost nonexistent when you reflect back on your life. Happy Birthday to your 16 year old! Her siblings and she are truly blessed to have such wonderful parents!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sylvia!
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