A simple truth

I've been thinking.

(Which leads me to say, "A dangerous prospect."  I know.)

Last night I was in something of a depression.  I had again the realization that I am not the best at anything, I am not the top in any of my fields.  In the past the way I have dealt with this is to remind myself that no one has my particular mix of talents, but this wasn't helping last night because I went on to thinking that there are a lot of people out there who are better than me at a lot of things and if I can't be great at something what does it matter if I am mediocre at a lot of things??

Like I said, I was in something of a depression.

But I stumbled across a truth that I have neglected to remember for quite some time: it doesn't matter.  Recognition of people, no matter how good it feels, is not important.

What is important is how God sees me.  His opinion is the only one that matters.  And if I can remember that it makes my life so much more simple.

Sure, I want that recognition from people, I want people to tell me I'm doing a good job at (insert word here).  But I am reminded that it isn't important.

I'm not the best at (insert word here) - but so what?  Does God care?  No.  God wants me to Love.  He wants me to love Him and to love other people.

And here's the kicker: the Creator of the universe Loves ME.

And that's what needs to color my world.

Blogs, bears and diapers

The other day some friends and I were talking about blogs.  Some blog owners seem to be perfect: every post is about some wonderful activity they did with their child, the perfect dinner they cooked for their family, or the beautiful sunset that made their day.  Other bloggers talk about the good stuff and the bad stuff, which can be more encouraging to those of us who have a mix of good stuff and bad stuff going on in our lives (read: everybody).  Sometimes it is nice to read ideas and recipes and wonderfulness.  Other times it can be nice to know that we aren't alone in our "What do I do with this child now?" or "He's running naked through the house because he doesn't want a clean diaper," and "Oh look, he's playing in the toilet again," times.

Yesterday I had a mix of good and bad.  I could not figure out how to wear my boy out for his nap - everything I could think of was messy and I had just gotten him in clean clothes and I just wanted to sit him down and let him watch Sesame Street.  Then he had a poopy diaper and I had a good moment (yeah, those two things would not normally go together).  See, lately J has been back and forth on diaper changes - sometimes he'll lie there just fine and sometimes (more often lately) he freaks out and squirms and generally attempts escape (remember the earlier comment about running naked through the house? Yeah, that).  Well, he especially dislikes getting a poopy diaper changed.  So yesterday, right before changing him, we "changed" his bear's diaper (read: we wiped his bear down and put a diaper on him).  IT WORKED SO WELL.  I cannot express how exciting it was to then change J's diaper while he lay there calmly and wiped Pooh Bear down again.  So I tried it this morning when he was throwing his usually morning diaper fit and IT WORKED AGAIN.

I might not be the mom who can always find a cool, learning activity for my child, but darn it, I can change my child's diaper!

And sometimes, that's all the success I need for one day.

Home again, home again

 Yes, we wore coordinating red and black the Sunday before Christmas :)

Mommy and J dancing Christmas Eve morning (which is when we celebrated just the 3 of us).

My Little Geek is an ABC book - for both of my boys to enjoy!

 Little thief likes to steal Mommy's water.

We celebrated Christmas multiple times with multiple family members. Saw The Hubby's dad and his wife Sat, spent Christmas Eve with my wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Christmas Eve we went to the service at church which was very low key and wonderful. The Hubby and I sang, my sister read a Christmas story she had written a while back and my brother gave a sermonette (are you sensing a pattern here?). We sang lots and lots of carols and it was peaceful and happy and I loved it. Then Christmas Day we headed over to my folks' and spent the day there (and got to see MIL and SIL again when they gave for dinner!).

Then last weekend we headed up to see The Hubby's grandparents, and back here in time for New Year's Eve. Family is fantastic. Holidays are heavenly. I cherish the celebration of Christ's birth. And now I'm very happy to be home and settled back in.

Oh yeah, and we'll be moving at the end of the month. Guess there's not a whole lot of relaxing that's going to happen after all!