seasons

There are some days I really miss UKRAINE....
I could write a whole post about that
but not today........

Today I am LIVING IN THE MOMENT........





It is so great
to be HOME..........











I am loving spending time with my children again.







Karrissa and I got to go to "Time Out for Women" a few weeks ago.







It was so nice to have some time to just "hang out" together.







We had a nice relaxing drive to Pleasanton, and then got to just be spiritually fed. We listened to some great talks and then were treated to some awesome music by Jenny Oaks Baker, and Hillary Weeks. I am hooked on Hillary Weeks, I am sure my husband must be so sick of listening to the latest album but I love it. It relaxes me. I love to crank it up and sing along.







The scriptures teach us that there is a season for everything. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” (Eccl. 3:1.)





I love this season of my life.



This morning we woke up to the sounds and smells of fall. The air was crisp, the roosters were crowing, there was a gentle breeze blowing through our bedroom windows. There was nothing calling me out of bed but the warm sunshine on my back deck. No little voices calling "mommy I'm hungry." there weren't loads of laundry waiting to be started, or school projects to complete.



My time is my own now. Or maybe I should say "our time". This is really the season for Bruce and I as a couple to reconnect. I have loved that. That was the real gift of the mission. Reconnecting with my wonderful husband.

I digress, back to this morning.
As I began to stir and think about how I wanted to spend my morning as Bruce relaxed in bed. I thought that I might take a moment to reconnect with my dear loved ones in Ukraine, or maybe go outside with a good book and sit on the deck and read, or I could just sit in the warm sunshine and meditate.



There were so many seasons of my life that flew right by. It seems I was always anxious for what the next adventure would be. When the children were little I was always anticipating what the next big milestone would be. Dreaming about when they would walk, and then when we could have conversations. I wondered what we would talk about.

When I was in Nursing School I could hardly wait to finally be on my own. I met someone a few days ago who had just started the RN program and had just completed day 3 of his clinical rotation. I remember how exciting that was to finally be in my scrubs and walk through the hospital feeling like I belonged there. Like I was where I had always dreamed about being.
BUT, I also remember always waiting for the "next great thing" to come along, thinking "oh next week we get to do this or that". Oh how I wish I could go back and just "enjoy" it. I'd like to go back and sit in that hospital room with my very first patient that I was asked to interview and really listen to the answers she was giving me about her life, her illness, and her concerns. My mind was so preoccupied with "getting the assignment right" that I missed the experience, the magical moment of really connecting with someone.

I wish I could go back and just

savor it.



How many times have I just been waiting for what is coming next?



Life is filled with so many precious moments that just pass us by as we gaze off into the future waiting for our lives to begin.



When life is really found in each precious moment.



Yesterday I had one of those moments as I walked into the kitchen and found little baby Cash standing in the dishwasher. He was so proud of himself (he is just learning to stand and walk) somehow he figured out how to open the dishwasher, climb in and then stand on the door.



Nana's get to enjoy these little treasures. My life is no longer rushed. I got to stop and go get the camera take a quick picture and then just love on him for a moment. When we go for walks with the grands we get to stop and look at bugs, or look in holes in the ground, or just stop and sit whenever we feel like it.



I love that about being in this season of my life.



and I get to enjoy my grown kids.



I love that about my life too.



I don't have to try to fix their problems, I don't have to know everything that is going on with them. I am here if they need me to just be a sounding board, or to help them work through things so that they can find their own solutions.



The best part is we are here to enjoy this amazing season of their lives with them. What a blessing it is for us to be a part of our children's everyday lives.