Blessings Flow

      The time of year has come to pause and give thanks. Recently, I accepted the challenge to think of ten blessings in my life that didn’t involve anything material. The speaker giving the challenge noted that it would be harder than it seemed. He referred to his own attempt at the exercise as one riddled with his wants, more than his blessings. Trying to clear his mind of material desires made that list grow ever longer.

      So over the past week I took the time to reflect on my blessings. There are so many this year that I could think of: my husband’s job, our warm and comfortable home, our mission trip this summer to Guatemala. Yet all of these are a result of material blessings. I’m not saying they’re not worth being thankful for. But they’re not what I’m after.

      I did some more thinking, additional pondering and a few prayers for perspective. Today I sat down and started jotting them down. And wouldn’t you know they flowed like blessings can. From my grateful heart to the page:

1)   My Father in heaven and his Son, Jesus Christ who saves my wretched soul daily from the mess I make of life.

2)   My loving, hard-working, devoted husband.

3)   My two beautiful daughters, precious creations I am privileged to be raising.

4)   Family that loves, supports and encourages me.

5)   Friends and neighbors who expand that family ever larger.

6)   My church. Not the building itself but the family therein.

7)   The health and safety that is undeservedly bestowed upon myself and my loved ones daily.

8)   The gifts God has given me to help spread His love.

9)   My brief stint on Earth, as a woman living in the 21^st century in a free and modern society.

10) The faith, hope and love that, through God's grace, swells from my soul.

      Was that so hard? No, it was embarrassingly easy. Taken from a book AP likes to read called Grateful, by John Bucchino, I am “truly blessed, and duly grateful.”

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Hindsight

      I am now an aunt. To be fair, I have 5 nieces and nephews on my husband’s side and I love them all. But recently my sister had her first child, a son. This event gave me the opportunity to travel across the country to be with them. I went to offer my help, my encouragement, and (hard to believe) my wisdom. As a mother of two young children, I have some real world experience on the subject of babies.

      So I headed out there, and got down to it. I played several roles while there, including but not limited to: chef, nanny, maid, butler, personal assistant and court jester. True, I was there to meet my nephew, but I was also there to help my sister navigate her new life. Or at least to survive its beginning.

      What I realized through it all is that I could do all the above jobs and still have time to watch old reruns with my sister while she nursed. I could nap, read, and go for a run. I could do all of that in my sleep and still have time to spare. Meanwhile, my sister needed nothing but sleep. We were in two very different places.

      Nearly five years after I started this journey of parenthood, I realize how much I’ve adjusted to. I now see my sister’s place as a parent of one small baby as a breeze. Her son can’t talk back, he can’t throw a tantrum, and he stays in one place. When I was there, his cry sounded more like a whimper. My house these days sounds like a three-ring circus. I am surrounded by squeals, giggles and sibling squabbles. Every time I turn around, I’m wiping up a spill, taking someone to the potty, or convincing someone to take “just one more bite.” For me, the visit to help my sister was like a mini vacation. Even with the chores.

      However, my sister didn’t see it that way. She is living the seemingly insurmountable life of a new mother: that sleep-deprived place where you are aware of the harsh reality that life will never be the same. Yes, having a child is a blessed event. It’s beautiful and amazing. It’s also ugly, scary, and confining. She needed someone there who remembers that, someone with hindsight to hold her hand through the first few weeks.

     I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be in that position. It once again shows me how God uses our experiences to work in the lives of others. Not to mention our own. At the time, my sister was in that place where she wasn’t sure she’d make it through. The thing is, she will. And what’s more, she’ll probably do it again. That’s what we do. We willingly throw ourselves into the great adventure called parenthood again and again.

     You know that cliché all older people say to parents with young children? It’s a variation of “enjoy these moments, it goes by so quickly.”  Sometimes I see these people and think, okay, take them. Take my snotty, whining, bratty kids. But this is what’s funny. I watched my sister nursing her newborn son, and found myself saying just that. I can’t get back those sweet moments with newborn AP or MP. They are gone. All I can do is move forward, enjoying the new, amazing things my children do each day. And in the meantime, I sure can take time to hold my new nephew while my sister catches a nap.