Oh, the places we'll go...
I had visions of grandeur heading into my first summer home with the kids. In the past, I had spent the summer counting down the days until I could stop paying for summer camp, but not this year. NO, this year was going to be different. As the first day of summer quickly approached, I spent a few evenings thinking through just what our epic summer would look like. Each child was to pick a Bible study and a goal that we could work on. Screen time was going to be limited to two hours in the afternoon, and we would spend countless hours playing and laughing together, while I taught them valuable life lessons. Oh, and we would travel…the amazing places we would go! Being new to the state of Texas, I thought it would be cool for us to explore this gigantic state together. Well, some valuable lessons were taught--but I was the student. Here are just a few lessons I learned …
You can’t win them all ~ Take note of the paragraph above, yeah, that didn’t happen! We had some fantastic days when we would wake up at the crack of dawn and go to a museum in a nearby town. We also had some exhausting days when we didn’t make it out of our pajamas until noon and fought about what color the sky is. Some days would be filled with fun and laughter, others we would just try to hold it together until bedtime. I learned that not all of the days would propel me closer to the prize for Mom of the Year, but each day we spent together--good or bad--gave me an opportunity to show my children unconditional love and help us all form a bond that will last a lifetime.
I’m a mess and that’s okay ~ I have spent so many years being busy! There have always been other priorities in my life that have kept me busy enough to not focus on me. This summer, I had the opportunity to be me and learn what that really looks like. And well, it’s messy. Some days I wake up and I am as strong as the smell of a men’s locker room. Other days I need a little extra nudge. One thing I found to be true is that if I spend my first twenty minutes with God and in the Word, I can tackle anything. Instead of scrolling through newsfeeds stirring up envy, anxiety, and frustration, I chose to open a devotional and Bible and focus on grace, truth, and love. When I missed this step, my days and mood were markedly different. If this is not something you already do, I challenge you to try it.
It’s all in how you spin it ~ With my newfound freedom as a SAHM I imagined my husband and I would travel, spend our days exploring with the kids, and our evenings alone with a glass of wine while gazing into each other’s eyes. Instead, my husband traveled for work, and I spent many evenings in a bed full of kids watching Disney movies. I could easily focus on the latter, or I could spin it like this…I spent my evenings awaiting the arrival of the man of my dreams, who was returning home from the hard work he does to afford me the opportunity to stay home and spend my days with the children exploring our new town. Both are true, but one sounds much more alluring.
Now the kids are back in school, and I long to hear the familiar sounds of them fighting over the remote and asking for another snack. I want a few more mornings snuggled on the couch watching cartoons in our pajamas. Instead, I spend my mornings and afternoons in carpool and my evenings buried in homework and dirty dishes, but I know there are lessons awaiting me. So, I’ll kick back and wait for my prince charming to come through the door and sweep me off my feet before we sit down to dinner and gaze into each other’s eyes over a glass of wine. ;)
What lessons did life teach you this summer? Tell us all about it!