The Good Life

This picture is from after my little "tea party" with the two gals I used to work with. They both came in as I was leaving, and now they single-handedly run the place, and that's not an exaggeration. They are neat women, and it was a good chance to catch up. However, why didn't I take the picture before they came--my table looked so cute with berries and white dishes and croissants on the table.
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I wasn't superstitious until I had a kid... then it seemed to just creep in. "Hey, it sounds like she's asleep!" The next minute: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" You know how it goes. =)

So it makes me nervous to say that I am at such a good place right now. Lucy has matured in a lot of key areas, and not only is she easier, but I'm really enjoying her. I feel like my parenting skills in the area of managing her expectations, discipline and disappointments have grown. I've been able to enjoy so many more of my own things while still interacting with her--my sewing machine has been out in the middle of the day, I can crochet while having a tea party with her, and I'm able to work on my scripture memory while she is playing with me. Today we looked up Ethiopia, as we just learned that a friend is looking to adopt from Ethiopia. We enjoyed learning that there is a particular type of Baboon only found in Ethiopia, and that their flag has 3 horizontal stripes with a star pattern in the middle. What fun to share those things together.

I've been thinking that this is a great time for me to take advantage of. I'm able to re-engage my mind a bit more. I'm settling into a good scripture reading routine, and I'm doing some thinking about some issues that have started to become important to me, such as how Christians address environmental issues. I'm at a great place of separating unhealthy guilt from healthy conviction about things like scripture memory, engaging my mind, etc.

Anyway, just taking a moment to pause and thank God for this time.