Four months ago I took a new job. One month ago I was on the other side of the planet. A few weeks ago my eldest cut his hair and my middle hit a triple. Today my daughter finishes preschool. In two weeks we're getting a poodle.
Right now I'm sitting at Starbucks and the sun is shining. My brain is slightly scattered because I have two hours of quiet before I need to go greet the kids after school. Two hours of unaccounted coffee shop time!! I have so many things I want to do! Write a blog post, take notes for Oliver's 11th birthday poem, revisit my book proposal. Blog wins.
Truthfully, I'm oddly unsentimental about Sintayehu's last day of preschool. She learned to ride a bike without training wheels the other day and I acknowledged it as the First of the Lasts. There is no doubt that my children are growing up. Here I am to witness it. I can't think of anything other than joy and gratitude. I am still sometimes in awe of the fact that I am a mother and a wife, that we have a house and two cars and a cat.
Feeling grateful has been easy lately. My trip to Tanzania was a bold reminder in taking nothing for granted. The pothole in the alley that was bugging me? Our infrastructure exists, and that alone is amazing. The fact that Hy-Vee was out of leeks the day I planned to make potato-leek soup? Really? I get to go to a store and buy food that I'll cook with little time and the modern conveniences of a stove and immersion blender(!).
Upon meeting and interviewing women who have lost their children to crocodiles (gathering water), malaria, and other "mysterious" illnesses (likely due to contaminated water), there is nothing in this modern place where I live that I can't find something to be thankful for. Perspective is everything.
As I've taken all of this in, I've been reminded that gratitude leads to joy. Jake and Papa Frank are coaching Eli's baseball team. Do you have any idea how much fun this is to watch? Sintayehu skips everywhere she goes. Oliver created a Power Point presentation that has a picture of a cat to represent every letter of the alphabet. (Ex. A is for Angry Kitty, C is for Cute Kitty.) How can I not smile?
In Tanzania, I got to see how a little bit of support goes a long way. I met women who were able to send their children to school because they received two goats through the Empower Tanzania goat program and were able to pay for school fees. I watched men and women sing and dance because a well was being dug in their community. I got to hear stories about community health workers going out into their communities to offer dignity and care to the dying. Humbling stuff.
I guess all of this is to say that life is good and God is good and I'm pretty sure that Love endures. I've had some sad weeks over the last few months. The sun has refused to shine and I've felt busy and overwhelmed and I've wondered about the equity of this world and my place in it. But then I open my eyes and look around.
I wonder what you guys think. I'll admit that I'm a bit angst-y by nature, but do you ever take a step back from it all and wonder how you got here? Do you ever wonder why you were born where you were? Do you ever think about your relationships and wonder if you're giving enough to them and receiving from them what you need? Life is so beautiful and so complex, isn't it? Or is it just beautiful? Or is it just complex? Do these things ever stand alone? Can we?
Right now I'm sitting at Starbucks and the sun is shining. My brain is slightly scattered because I have two hours of quiet before I need to go greet the kids after school. Two hours of unaccounted coffee shop time!! I have so many things I want to do! Write a blog post, take notes for Oliver's 11th birthday poem, revisit my book proposal. Blog wins.
Truthfully, I'm oddly unsentimental about Sintayehu's last day of preschool. She learned to ride a bike without training wheels the other day and I acknowledged it as the First of the Lasts. There is no doubt that my children are growing up. Here I am to witness it. I can't think of anything other than joy and gratitude. I am still sometimes in awe of the fact that I am a mother and a wife, that we have a house and two cars and a cat.
Feeling grateful has been easy lately. My trip to Tanzania was a bold reminder in taking nothing for granted. The pothole in the alley that was bugging me? Our infrastructure exists, and that alone is amazing. The fact that Hy-Vee was out of leeks the day I planned to make potato-leek soup? Really? I get to go to a store and buy food that I'll cook with little time and the modern conveniences of a stove and immersion blender(!).
Upon meeting and interviewing women who have lost their children to crocodiles (gathering water), malaria, and other "mysterious" illnesses (likely due to contaminated water), there is nothing in this modern place where I live that I can't find something to be thankful for. Perspective is everything.
As I've taken all of this in, I've been reminded that gratitude leads to joy. Jake and Papa Frank are coaching Eli's baseball team. Do you have any idea how much fun this is to watch? Sintayehu skips everywhere she goes. Oliver created a Power Point presentation that has a picture of a cat to represent every letter of the alphabet. (Ex. A is for Angry Kitty, C is for Cute Kitty.) How can I not smile?
In Tanzania, I got to see how a little bit of support goes a long way. I met women who were able to send their children to school because they received two goats through the Empower Tanzania goat program and were able to pay for school fees. I watched men and women sing and dance because a well was being dug in their community. I got to hear stories about community health workers going out into their communities to offer dignity and care to the dying. Humbling stuff.
I guess all of this is to say that life is good and God is good and I'm pretty sure that Love endures. I've had some sad weeks over the last few months. The sun has refused to shine and I've felt busy and overwhelmed and I've wondered about the equity of this world and my place in it. But then I open my eyes and look around.
I wonder what you guys think. I'll admit that I'm a bit angst-y by nature, but do you ever take a step back from it all and wonder how you got here? Do you ever wonder why you were born where you were? Do you ever think about your relationships and wonder if you're giving enough to them and receiving from them what you need? Life is so beautiful and so complex, isn't it? Or is it just beautiful? Or is it just complex? Do these things ever stand alone? Can we?
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