There are so many ways my life is great. 
- We have a wood burning stove and have enjoyed building, feeling the warmth of, and watching the beauty of, fires at home this week.
Thank you Binny and Bill Pearce for the wood and the fire place tools plus wood tote bag!
- Our washer washes really big loads.
Very helpful for my laundry once a week rhythm!
- The circle of our first floor.
When we lived in our first house, I always loved going to houses that had “a circle” for my kids to run in between rooms. Now we have a circle of our very own and my fears that my older kids would be too big, are totally moot. Eli, Andi and Oaks regularly run, alone or all three, around and around and around. My heart is so happy hearing that pitter-patter of feet.
- Andi plays with Oaks.
I had always wondered if the four-and-a-half-year gap between Andi and Oaks, and the six-years-and-2-month gap between Eli and O
aks, would leave Oakley in lonely sibling land. No way. Once again, why did I fear? Andi, especially, has always paid good attention to Oakley. She has always tre
ated him as a real friend, a capable playmate, and an equal in any imaginary world. They share an eye and mind for puzzles and can enjoy quiet, alone, imaginative play- manipulating a character out of any plastic creature- with a voice, a struggle, a family, and often, an injury that needs an Andi created cast. Their times together are precious and I’m lucky to have a view from the kitchen as they play in their own world right over there.
- I only work part-time.
As much as I sometimes struggle to find part-time child care for days I need to work, or for the times when I cannot focus on work because I’m home with kids and trying to work, I really, really treasure the flexibility, time with my kids, and the wardrobe.
- Words that right me when I’m crooked:
Philippians 4:6-7 (Message) “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
Life is full. I am blessed. I will give out of the fullness of all I have received.
