Twirls 'n Curls

Retrieved from: https://busybeingjennifer.com/give-thanks-free-chalkboard-printable/ I'm sitting here on Thanksgiving night, 50 feet from the beach in a beautiful Mexican vacation home, listening to one of the worst windstorms I've heard in at least a decade. As with many rentals, it's obvious ours isn't cut out for this kind of weather. The wind is howling around and through the windows, rattling the glass and creating a noise similar to a tea-kettle whistle, with rain seeping in through the edges. (I'm also, I should add, typing in the dark at the kitchen table, trying to provide support to a scared, tired kiddo who doesn't like the storm any more than I do. Apparently, even paradise has its rainy days.) It's yet another reminder of a powerful lesson I've been learning, or re-learning, recently: Embrace life. All of it. The good, the bad, the funny, the downright ugly. It's all there anyway. We can hate it, and become bitter. We can ign...

The other day, I was scrolling through some pictures on my phone when I thought, That looks like it was so much fun!  After which, I immediately thought, Wait a minute, stupid, YOU were THERE - YOU took the pictures!  That's when I realized, we do a lot - I mean, A LOT of stuff. Work. School. Volleyball. YoungLife. Drama Class. Voice Lessons. Improv. Family Nights. Church. And the list goes on each week. (Don't even get me started on the animal shelter and Rubix Cube Club!) And while I feel I do a good job of being fully present in each activity and event as it happens (that's something I've had to work at), I don't always make the space to pause and reflect on all that's happening. It's like I take the picture and move on. Sometimes, we need to mourn the end of something, before we can really move forward with our lives. Other times, we need to give ourselves a break after completing a difficult task. Or maybe we just need pause to celebrate the good th...

We try hard to get away together a few times each year - it helps us remember why we like each other! It was midnight when I opened our front door and slipped inside. I was coming back from taking my parents to the airport after their holiday visit, and I was both sad and exhausted. Cold, too - even in Phoenix, it's chilly in late December. Just as I was about to crawl into my side of the bed, I realized my husband was all cozied up in my spot, fast asleep. Total honesty here: At first I was a tiny bit annoyed. Tom always stays on his own side - what's the deal? I just want be warm and asleep like he is!   Suddenly, a memory flashed in my mind, from our earliest years of marriage. We were flat broke and working at a church about 80 miles away every weekend. To save money, we kept the central heat off at home and used a small space heater to warm up whichever room we were in. When we came home on Sundays, if we were lucky it would be around 48 degrees inside ou...