Christmas Times a' Comin'!!!

To say that I have fallen off the blogging wagon would be an understatement. I think I fell off and got run over by it. There has been much water under the bridge since my last post on Mother's Day. Life has been busy, but honestly, I haven't been in a writing mood for quite awhile. It just sortof hits me in spurts and if I'm not where I can do it when it hits me, I just don't do it! I can hardly believe that another year is almost gone. This has been an eventful year for us. We watched our son in law graduate from seminary after some very hard years of preparation and study. We have watched our baby girl buckle down and do what it takes to bring her to her last semester of nursing school. I have completed my first year in my role as the clinic supervisor at the Greene County Health Department. I lost a good friend and co worker very unexpectantly to cancer this summer. I've aged this year, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. I find that it takes me longer to do things. I am no longer able to multitask. I just don't bounce back from things like I once did. And while all these things bother me, there are some unexpected advantages to the aging process that I didn't know about. Things like learning to chill out and enjoy life more. Things like realizing I would rather take a nap than do laundry and being ok with that. I think I'm learning to be kinder to myself as well. I have always been my worse critic. I find that even though I still make my share of mistakes and blunders.....I don't get nearly as bent out of shape as I used to. I'm getting better at speaking my mind too.....when it counts!! I have spent many years of my life in a "tizzy"!! Worrying about things that I can't change and trying to change them anyway. This is very freeing!! I wish I had known this years ago. It sure would have saved many a hurtful word and alot less headaches. I guess that is just the natural order of things...as an old great aunt who had alzhiemer's would say, "Live and learn....die and forget it all!" Although, I hate the part of the aging process that affects my ability to see without getting my multifocal lens lined up just right, or I finally give up and just kneel on the floor at Walmart to see what's on the bottom shelf...I won't even mention what I must have looked like getting up off the floor ......and the fact that I think my body's metabolism has systematically shut down so that it holds every calorie I consume like it's the last one it will ever see.....and how two hours in Tuscaloosa shopping makes me feel like I have just completed a cross country marathon.....or how a forty five minute drive seems to have shortened all the muscles and tendons in my back, hips, and legs so that I have to do the Tim Conway shuffle to get from the car to the house.....I said all that to say this......I like this time of my life!! I feel more contented than I have ever been......I worry less and enjoy more. I have realized that there is no one that I need or want to impress. I'm happy with me!! Could I be thinner??? oh yeah!! Could my boobs sag anymore??? oh yeah, and they most certainly will!! Could I have more money....oh yeah! But none of that matters.....what matters is who you love and who loves you. First and foremost, I'm the daughter of the King ( hmmmm, I guess that makes me a princess!!) Being in that position makes everything else secondary!! Being the daughter of the Most High has certain privileges!! He loves me just like I am and He has blessed me beyond anything I could ask or think!! As I ponder what Christmas represents..........I am in awe!! That God would love us so much to send His Son on that Christmas Day so many years ago just warrants all my praise and thanksgiving!! Happy Birthday Jesus!! I love you so!! Thank you for my gifts of family and friends and every other thing you have blessed me with!! "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7. Merry Christmas!!