Grateful – On This Five Minute Friday
Today is Friday, and so we dive into Five Minute Friday with the prompt word of: Grateful
Ready?
Set?
GO!
As I sit beside the pool with my daughter splashing and playing, I pause for a moment to consider all of the incredible blessings in my life. I am blessed beyond measure, beyond what I ever dreamed possible in this life.
For some reason, God has smiled upon my life, my heart, my soul … and He has given me my heart’s desire.
I’m not speaking of anything material at all. It isn’t about the house, the car, the pool … none of that matters.
It’s the PEOPLE that surround me in this life.
The people. The precious people that love with their whole hearts. They love without placing conditions or boundaries, they love … with such a greatness within them that I am undeserving of, and yet, they love me even still.
They love me despite my faults and shortcomings.
They love … me.
And I … am more grateful than any words could possibly describe whether they are spoken words or words on a screen. They can not ever come close to a hint of how I feel about each and every person that surrounds me in this life. They will never know how truly grateful my heart, my soul, my entire being … is …
For them!
And their unfailing, unconditional love!
You Will Never Be More Loved Than You Are Right Now
Mother’s Day is quickly approaching! Today, I wanted to take a moment to recognize the hard work of mothers every where! You truly do so much for your family and for your children, often times without any words of appreciation in return for the down and dirty duties of motherhood. But then, you don’t do it for recognition. You do it for love.
No matter the amount of diaper changes, potty training, or single handed food fights from your little one, you clean, you scrub, you change, you change again, and you change some more …
And then …
Moments come along that truly melt your heart completely. These are the moments that you have your most precious jewels hanging around your neck, and I’m not talking gold or pearls … no, it’s something far more precious …
It’s the arms of your children!
Do you know that you will never be more loved than you are right this very minute? Your children love you … all of you. They don’t care if you have bed head or bad breath. They don’t care if you have had a shower today or if you have on the perfect makeup and lipstick. They don’t care if you’re mismatched with stains on your shirt.
They only care about YOU!
You’re there … loving them, taking care of them, being with them, teaching them new things yet learning from them as well.
You get to experience all of the new adventures with them. You are traveling on this path right alongside them, and you open their eyes to a brand new world time and time again. They stand in awe of the beauty that surrounds them.
The beauty inside of you, dear mothers.
Treasure these moments as they turn into moments with your pre-teen … then teen … and ultimately, your adult children who are your very best friends in the whole world.
These are the moments … right here, right now …
You will never be more loved than you are right now … unconditional love from your Heavenly Father above … and your precious children … who are miracles walking amongst us.
Thank you, God. Oh, how I thank you for my two miracle babies.
The Growing Pains of Life
I am fond of saying I “lived life backwards” simply because I had my son at age 25, then went to college at age 28 and after rearing my son to adulthood (and with two children of his own!), I married the kindest, sweetest man I know at the age of 52. It truly does not matter the order in which your life runs, it only matters that one stay present and willing to grow along their own personal journey. I write today with hope that someone may read these words and find themselves willing to open up for perhaps the first time. The time for hiding is over.
What I failed to mention in the first installment is there is an inherent sadness that comes from seeing the glass half-empty; of living life from a negative place constantly worrying when the next “thing” will come along that throws everything out of whack…again. I am sorry to say I lived with just that attitude. Thankfully, I have discovered along my life’s journey that our vision can always be adjusted and we can change and become the people we were meant to be – optimistic, satisfied, fulfilled – and the shine on the glass becomes more apparent and the beginnings of a glass half-full view of life becomes clearer and clearer.
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