The Truth of the Matter

I do my best to keep this blog light and informative. But lately, since we've moved, I haven't often felt light and informative. I've felt quiet, and busy, and alone. Just in case you are already rolling your eyes, or saying to yourself, "Here goes another pity party," I want you to know, I feel no pity for myself. I feel like I'm growing. I feel like I'm stretching. I feel like I'm finally coming into myself.

My house is slowly getting curtains, pictures, shelves put up... and in the process, I feel like God is doing a spruce up in me. Cleaning out corners and cobwebs. Dusting off old desires. Sweeping out the layers of life that have come and gone and revealing the never changing purposes He has planned for me.

A couple of things I'm learning in the quiet season. The phone doesn't have to ring. I do not have to have a full social calendar. My kids are fine not having as many play dates. We are all learning to lean on one another. To appreciate what we have. To hug each other more, to laugh with each other more, to watch a movie together and sit down and eat together.

Slowing down was hard for me and I resisted it at first. But it's like I was moving forward so fast, that when I stood still everything around me was in slow motion and crystal clear. My baby girl won't be that baby much longer. My little boys are quickly becoming independent of Momma.... unless they want a meal or need some article of clothing washed! My husband is thriving in his job and happy to have us with him. I'm doing my best to grab hold of my family... and live in the here and now and not in the I-can't-wait-until mentality.

Making friends is interesting for me. It's kind of a self examination time. What about me makes a good friend? What about me needs to be adjusted? What about me needs to go away?

It's been a quiet friend season. I think everyone believes I'm so busy. And let's face it, everyone is busier in the summer since kids are home from school... but my phone rings less. If I'm being completely honest, I've had to admit to myself that I was hurt and even mad at my friends for doing something that is inevitable... getting on with their lives without me! How crazy is that?

But there is One who is with me always. There is One who knows the plans for my life, because He made those plans. There is One who has laid out each step for me and my family. He knows the church we will be a part of. He knows the teachers my boys will get. He knows the next step for Hank at work... and He knows and cares about all the little details in between, like making friends and finding the stinking post office (yes, I might have gotten lost again yesterday). He hears me when I am singing praises and he hears me when I am crying.

I fully believe that we are smack dab in the middle of God's plan. He has us where He wants us.