Adjusting to transitions

Our last posts were in 2009 and here we are in September 2010! When I look back over the past year, I am amazed at all the changes we have weathered! A wonderful granddaughter entering the family, a new son in law and launching that little family including their wedding!,our youngest son graduating from high school and our oldest son graduating with his degree in accounting (there really wasn't any work on our parts for this last one - just joy!) and my opportunity to start working day shifts in April with one catch! I needed to go ahead and activate to full time! I was also determined to finish out my commitment to a volunteer public service position I was in - which ended up extending to July.

As I reflect on all of this, I am so grateful! These were all happy events! Even happy events can bring along their share of emotional and sometimes physical stress though and acknowledging that is always wise (in my opinion).

Watching our first grandchild come into the world will always be a treasured memory for Mark and I! Watching Shelley go through all of that was hard though. As her mom, it was difficult for me since all I know from being a nurse was in my head too.

Much hard work for Lindley and Michael's wedding along with worry for Lindley since she was so sick starting in the middle of the night before. It turned out beautifully though! We are so grateful for family and friends who gave of themselves to help us!

I am happy to have finished the mother hen part of homeschooling. Now we can look forward to just sharing things we've learned with each other and enjoying that! I am so happy when I realize that all our children love to read! That was a major goal for us.

Working dayshift is much better for my body! It's very busy (but fulfilling) work for 12 hours, but being able to sleep at night is a privilege I do not take for granted! We are still juggling responsibilites on the homefront, but Mark has always been great in this area. I hope our two sons will be that good to their wives!

Our family has been very blessed during this time of transitioning. I believe in a God who answers our prayers, even though they might not be answered in the way we wished. We not only have had prayers answered, we have also learned some lessons and made progress in some areas. Life is to be treasured and not taken for granted. I am reminded of this every day when I go to work. We can not reverse time; we can only go forward. I encourage everyone to make the most of it!