Last little blast from the past for the anniversary week <3
First some randoms for the blog:
97,245 – words in a document that I started in June of 2020 where I would write the post first and then copy it to the website.
2,908 – approved comments over the years – ones I had permission to share and answered
95 – subscribers on the email list
2,144 – posts since I started the blog in October 2013
1,715,200 – if I average 800 words a post, that’s how many words are contained in the blog entries in nine years
4,098 – photos stored in the media library that have been used and reused
1 in a gazillion – chances I could have done this, stuck with it, thought of things to say if God hadn’t poured every single typed image through my heart to my head to my fingers.
Thanks for sharing the journey – thank you for the kind words in notes and on social media. It was a fun week <3
Here is another favorite memory post to end our week because tomorrow, I will be back to sharing the last notes from the At the Movies series at our church <3
Original post August 6, 2021
This past week we have enjoyed some beach time with Rachel and Zach and their crew.
It has been a deep joy in recent years to be able to do this with them and it is quite different to have no one in swim diapers or needing a pack and play. We can even squeak by without naps for what we still fondly call the “little two”.
Though truth be told, we could all use one by now as long days in sun and surf have taken their toll.
The kids are all fish and love the water, and only Caroline still needs a life jacket in the pool. But the ocean is another story.
Most days this week there have been strong warnings about the waves and undercurrent and so depending on age and skill, freedoms are varied and it has not been well received.
Joel struggled today as his older brothers were allowed to venture out a bit farther sans jacket and so he chucked his and opted to build a castle on the shore.
“When you are older…” is a carrot on a stick around here and will be for a number years.
When you are older, you will, among other things…
Be able to ride your bike to a friend’s house several streets away
Drive a car
Go to the movies with friends
Get a part time job and make your own spending money
Go to college
Start a career
Travel
Make your own decisions about how you want your room to look and what you eat and your clothes and hair…
It’s all a wonderful world of freedom and opportunity and yet last week as I went for my morning walk I found myself thinking …
Now that I am getting older, it seems my my aches and pains multiply as quickly as my waist thickens and my metabolism slows.
Now that I am getting older, I look at photos of myself and marvel at how much I am beginning to resemble my mother.
Now that I am getting older, I think carefully before I do certain things because I know I can’t afford another tear in a shoulder or twist in the knee.
Now that I am getting older, I spend time thinking if there is anything I have left undone or unspoken that should have been taken care of.
It would seem life begins with a rush to get older and then at some point we pass that place where it seemed all would come together and we are on the back side of it wondering how on earth time passed so quickly.
I want to call to these sweet ones and urge them to slow down. Enjoy being a child and a youth and a teen and a young parent. Don’t wish it away.
But perhaps the pushing forward is all part of the plan,
And I want to call out to myself to steady the course.
Yes there are parts of getting older now that are not so pleasant, but these times are rich with blessings.
Wherever you are on the journey, God bless you with contentment and peace and an abundance of joy <3