Wednesday, December 10, 2014

A Holly Jolly Year (after all)

It is hard to believe that it has been six months since I became a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) to my then one year old. Scared out of my mind and completely unsure of the future I did the only thing I knew to do… embrace the unknown.

Through moments of sheer weakness, anxiety, sadness and hurt, my thought process at the time was kinda like this: What the heck am I supposed to teach my daughter to help her excel in school? I’m home now so I need to cook…what? When did groceries get this expensive? Hello coupons! What do SAHMs do all day – surely there is a support group or a SAHM to do list. Ugh, I have to organize this house…why was I storing “this” there?

And so I got down to business. I reorganized our house. I started watching my now favorite TV show, “The Chew”, and I started a garden. I figured out quickly that Monday mornings were the WORST days to go to the grocery store because the shelves are empty!!!!!!!!! (SO AGGRAVATING!) I figured out that I actually liked to cook different things (like leeks, sprouts, and fennel…oh I love me some fennel) and learned how to braise meat, brine meat, roast meat, and season meat. Momma is doing it now, y’all!

I also learned that I can teach my daughter anything I wanted and I could go as fast as she was willing to absorb. I decided that ‘structure’ is a four-letter word… this was a huge learning curve for me, but one I’ve learned to deal with. Not to mention the fact that if I push my daughter’s naptime to “quickly” run ONE last errand then I can’t be mad if she’s cranky, “dis-o-b-e-nt” (as she says), or unruly… not that she ever is! (wink wink) Structure… is in fact my friend.

I rise really early for "me time" and devote the entire morning to my husband and daughter. And when my TV show comes on and my daughter is down for a nap, I recharge… because the rest of the day is again reserved for others. But I LOVE it!

Here is what I learned the most. To love… hard. To give… freely (not begrudgingly and NOT because it puts me on the who’s who list – yes, I was that girl. To be free… all the time. To be here… now. And to be me… as I continue to discover just exactly who me is.

This year has been the best year of my life. I am beside myself with the blessings that have poured into my family’s life. When we weren’t looking they arrived with beautiful bows. When we were praying for favor, it was granted. Our life, today, is the life we are thankful to God for. Losing sight of our walk proved to be treacherous but finding it again has been pure perfection.

This holiday season, the season we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, finds me in a lovely place. A peaceful place. A happy place. Happy, in fact, has been the word for our family for a few months now. I can only imagine what 2015 has to offer us. All I know is that I will continue to embrace this magnificent life.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
#mynewnormal




New blog site coming soon……

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Seems like the last six months have been the best Christmas present of all. Looking forward to many posts in 2015.