thoughts on marriage and motherhood

 Daddy's home!!

Praise the Lord! It was a long 12 days. Things just aren't the same without my Clint. He makes everything better. He helps me in so many ways. He is my safe place. My best friend. My confidant. My comic relief. I love him so much. And the old saying is definitely true - 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

This morning, when I went to take the trash can out to the curb, I discovered our gardenia bush full of blooms. I picked one and put it in my hair. I love gardenias. They remind me of my wedding day, because they were in my bouquet.  I knew the Lord has made those gardenias bloom today just for me.  My heart was full this morning anyway, and this was just icing on the cake.  I showed Clint the gardenia before he took the kids to school. He knelt down and smelled the beautiful fragrance and gave me that cute closed-mouth smile that he's so famous for. That smile that still makes me melt, all these years later.

I am so thankful for my husband. And for the five children we have together. 

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So often, I get wrapped up in things that just don't matter. And I waste so much time worrying about things I cannot change. (Instead of praying first and just letting go and letting God!)

But having Clint gone and realizing (yet again) what he means to me,
I am reminded again what really matters.

Loving God.
Loving my husband. 
Loving my children. 

Being faithful to dedicate my life to this high calling of being a wife and a mother. 

And somehow in this world, we've come to be embarrassed or something to say that out loud.
Like it is "less than" a life.
That we should be doing something more.

But, I know what God's called me to do.
I know what I am good at.
Being a loving wife.
Being a loving mother.

And that's what I'm gonna do! :)