Fifth Grade Fun...and Bittersweet Moments

Fifth grade ended today. Finished are the elementary school years for Tianna and her friend Doaa, above. I went to the celebration yesterday, complete with cake sharing all too aware that another milestone has been marked.

So I spent some time in reflection about God's call on my life, priorities, relationships and all the emotional stuff that significant life stage events bring out.

I have to admit I am feeling a little bit down. I think our kids growing up and the realization of how fast the time here on earth goes has the ability to do that. And the realization that as parents we only have a snippet of time to help them build character before they go on to become the next generation of parents. At the moment, I am not feeling all that confident in the job I am doing, and if it has the effect of helping me to focus and build stronger relationships than it is a good thing. If it becomes a guilt ridden pity party it is not a good thing.

So there are several things that have occupied my mind that I hope to develop into habits over the course of the summer ahead.

• Grab or better yet, create moments of joy.
• Listen. Really listen.
• Becoming less of a slave and more of a servant to my girls.
• Getting up early in the morning to do the mundane but necessary chores of running a household so that they don't have to listen to a distracted, unfocused mom say, "Uhhh, just a minute" for several hours each day.
• Delegate or drop as much of the extraneous stuff as I can.

I want my girls to look back at their time with me as fun and special; not a naggy drag, which I suspect might be closer to their current assessment.

I want to honor God with the job I do as a mom to these two lovely girls He has given me; they are both miracles. One adopted from half way around the world, the other conceived after years of infertility.

May the summer be one of nurturing relationships for us all.