grateful

things i am loving (and so grateful for) about my life:

living so close to a temple (and not just any temple)

my backyard - ahhhh

watching noah's face as he gets on the school bus, and gets off again when arriving home - happiness!

alone time with gracie while noah is at school - so fun to sit and play with her! she is a sweet & tender mommy to her baby dollies.

hanging out with the rodenbergs, and driving along the mississippi and through cornfields to get to their home.

early morning seminary - i wasn't looking forward to this, just the opposite. but, (so far) it seems to be helping my girls to be more centered, and i love that they are more motivated to settle down and go to bed on time, rather than staying up and playing on facebook, etc.

my family - in the last week three airplane crashes have injured and claimed the lives of people i know or know of - one crash in guatemala and  two in the western u.s. a new father who died had just blessed his newborn daughter. another couple died, leaving three teenagers without parents, and  yet another couple with four tiny children survived, but are severely burned. and another family i know, who has faced many struggles, has lost their father to cancer. many mre died & were burned in these three crashes, whose stories i don't know, but i'm sure are just as compelling. i am feeling blessed & grateful to have my family with me, and to be here with them - we never know when that may change.

this blog post by kelly reminds me of more reasons to be grateful for my children - infertility and the miracle of adoption and long awaited pregnancy. this was my reply to that post:

"you know i can't resist commenting on your infertility postings. i relate to all of it so intensely. and everything you said is beautifully true..."the best food ever tastes is after a fast. the best water ever feels going down your throat is when you are parched. and i know someday when i am holding a newborn in my arms the feelings of joy will be magnified for all the waiting and struggling. it will be just another blessing of infertility."
when we finally got mia, i was so grateful for my infertility, because it made the wonder & magic of that miracle so much more intensely perfect.
and about enjoying cate.... i remember well watching 5 year old natasha run on the play ground while we waited for lexi to get out of school one afternoon, during my infertility years, and being overcome with the wonder and miracle that she was in my life, and being grateful.
one more thought, which is just a thought.... brock was ready for adoption before i was. it is so true that "adoption has to be an intensely spiritually motivated thing, i think. to accept a baby as your own completely, well, you'd truly have to feel that they were "growing in your heart" and have a peaceful and compelling desire to find your child." so true. i have seen someone take a baby that they didn't feel that way about, and it didn't go well for them or the baby, and it broke my heart, because we would have been so happy to have that baby....
it took me longer to get to that point (and have a peaceful and compelling desire to find my child) than brock. i'm not trying to say that you will definitely get there, nor am i recommending that you eventually adopt. it's just a thought....it may be right for you someday, or it may not."

thank you kelly for reminding us of another reason that our families are to be cherished now and at every opportunity.

i could also make a list of the things i would change about my life right now, but those things are all overshadowed by my grateful list. and really, i should be most grateful for the things i would change, because they offer me the greatest opportunities for growth.

Comments

[Jeni Owen]

This is interesting to me... I actually read this same post by Kelly a few days ago, due to a different friend who had linked to her. I looked at her blog and realized she's friends with another friend of mine, and now I read yours and realize you know her too! The web helps us connect the dots to all of our friendships to become a complete sisterhood! Amazing! Because I have three friends who know her, I think I better get to know her myself! A web marriage. What is your connection?

[julie]

kelly is gloria's sister.... small blog world!