Moments

Good morning! I have had the hardest time sitting down and blogging lately, for some reason. Maybe it is because there is so much to say that it overwhelms me.

We are doing well here in Japan. I am not sure why Noah's snowboarding picture won't rotate upright but, you get the drift: this kid loves the snow.

We thought that since all 180" we had gotten thus far had melted that spring was on the way.... no such luck! We got aboujt 5-6" last night. The temp has been up and down so much lately that I am sure it will melt but it certainly is beautiful to wake up to the sunlight bouncing off of fresh snow.

I am reading "One Thousand Gifts" right now and if you haven't read it, I highly encourage it. Especially for busy moms who long for night time when you finally have some alone time... Like me. I am learning that God has given us THIS moment - it is to be savored, enjoyed, and we are to enter His courts with THANKSGIVING for all things in that moment of time.

I have started my 1,000 list but haven't gotten far... there is so much for me to be thankful for. Even the mundane can be given thanks - and giving thanks when you don't have a thankful heart is so difficult, but God doesn't care. He doesn't want us to blanket our thanksgivings to Him. He knows our hearts and knows our struggles. So if we can give Him the thanks even in the daily struggles, our blessings will abound. As I said, I am learning an awful lot from this book. And when you are "mom tired" as I am most often, it is vital that we remain thankful and aware of the moment. Moments we will never have again with our babies, our husbands, our daily rituals - for once a moment is gone, it is gone forever. I don't want to look back on my life wishing I had slowed down, for life isn't a race - once run on this earth, it is but a memory. I want my babies to look back on their childhood with me and know that I took time for them, for their dad, for our family, but most importantly, for our God.

Things like my kids singing to each other, the way Elly's hair curls and hangs around her innocent face, the sound of Noah's voice, the soft breathing of my husband as he sleeps beside me, the cat's meows as he talks to us, lying on the couch reading what God is trying to teach me, the mundane of the daily routine, the soft snow outside my window, the phone calls from my mama from so far away, my sister's constant dry sense of humor that never fails to make me laugh, a wave from someone you pass on the street.... my list continues into infinty.

I encourage you to order either the book or the devotional (which is just as awesome) and read it and savor your moments in time with what God has given you. I admit, I struggle to do that most days - I get so caught up in myself, my anxieties, making it one moment to the next. But when I slow down, God blesses me and that moment.

Heading out to start my day as the kids are at pre-school. Enjoy this day and give thanks for it!