The school year has begun!

Welcome to Fall! OK, so it is not technically fall yet. However, our school year began on August 22 this year, so in that regard, our summer has come to an end. This year I have a high school freshman and a high school SENIOR! Wow! I'm not sure how that is even possible, but I'm holding on, because ready or not, here we go.

Here are a couple of things I have been learning and realizing lately:

1. There are quite a few hats I've been trying to wear lately. In the span of this current week, I have or will be wearing the hats of pet sitter, diet counselor, buyer, face painter and balloon twister. That does not include my volunteer roles. The more I am adding to my life and schedule, the more worn I am feeling. Everything feels as if I am giving it some energy, but not my best.

2. My oldest son is in the home stretch of high school! If he has about 12 weeks off during the summer, that means his school year is about 40 weeks long. We are almost finished with week 3. One of my goals is to chronicle his last year in my writing. I want him to be able to look back and see what life was like for him when he was a senior in high school. I want to write some of the stories that he may forget at some point. Also, I want to squeeze every bit of intentionality and purpose that we can out of this year.

3. Since having children, I have been putting myself aside and trying to survive. Someone needs fed so I feed them. Someone needs to go to an appointment or has an activity and needs to get there so I take them. There are needs in ministry at church so I step in. They may or may not be where I am most gifted (or at all gifted :) These are kind of basic and necessary tasks in life that I have been stepping into. I am so deeply and amazingly thankful for the years I have had raising my kids thus far. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to partner with Dave, my husband, in ministering to kids at church. In doing, doing, doing, somewhere along the way I began losing the awareness of what I like to do, was created to do, feel God is calling me to do and therefore want to do. I forget to act on having a choice in life. I forget to quiet myself and get before God and ask what He wants me to do. So I am currently attempting to find my voice again. One of the ways God allows me to process life is through writing. I've been downplaying the importance of writing in my life. I'm becoming more and more aware, however, that life has deeper meaning for me when I write about it. I view the purpose in it, I hear the lessons God may be wanting me to hear, I squeeze the treasure out of each day when I process it this way. I'm planning to add another hat to the list above...that of a writer. This hat I am choosing. I'm excited to see where it will lead. I hope to bring glory to God and to bring some smiles to my kids' faces, either now or in the future.

Let's Do This!