What I've learned so far...

As I sit at my computer, tapping keys in my quiet, dimly lit living room, I find myself in a reflective mood. It may be because the kids are nestled in their beds or that this is the month before my eldest son is to be married, I don't know for sure, but I find myself drifting into deep thought about life.

I keep thinking about the birth of my eldest sons, the first day I saw my 3 youngest sons and the day I met my daughter.  My mind drifts back to that July evening, nearly 22 years ago, when my husband strolled down the isle of the craft booth at the Croswell fair and glanced in my direction. In all of those moments life changed immeasurably when my eyes met with theirs and our lives were meshed together by God Himself.

My husband and children have defined my life in ways I would have never known to wish for.  Those moments were but a heartbeat and yet, so very powerful.


I know that I'm supposed to be some sort of wise mother to the children God has placed in my care.  That thought overwhelms me.  I feel like I'm just beginning to work out the world for myself just as I send one of my gifts out into the world to begin a family of his own.

How can that be?

I've decided to put into words the floating escensce that has been swirling in my head.  What I've learned in life so far may be of use to my children when they read this in the future.  If nothing else, it will remind me of how little I knew in my 40th year of life.  At any rate, the words will be typed as they come to mind.  They are what they are...Me at this point in my journey.

What I've Learned So Far

1. More than anything else, people want to be loved.
2. We all tend to build our house on the hope that we will forever be needed, noticed and appreciated.
3. We often work diligently to find that magical place where everybody loves us and nobody thinks we're too different or too bad or too good. 
4. That place does not exist.
5. Most people keep grasping for that place anyway.
6. We can get so caught up in ourselves that we cannot see our purpose.
7. Our time is short and we waste so much of it fighting for the impossible.
8. In serving our fellow man we will find that we are all the same. 
9. Keeping a list of the important people in our lives helps us keep them most important.
10. If we can be still enough to know ourselves, we will be able to attract people who are meant to be in our life.
11. If we are still enough for long enough, we can reach inside for the purpose we were sent here to accomplish...
12. ...and discover why we were Made in His image.
13. If we can stop thinking he or she is too different or too bad or too good we will notice that they are made in His image also.
14.  A simple smile, a small gesture of love, a gentle conversation are the most precious gift we have to give. 
15. We only realize the power of those gifts when we are in need of them.

That's all I know so far.