Amazing? Absolutely!

It' been a toss up for me this morning deciding what should take priority as I begin another day, yet when I remind myself of the reality that I haven't posted in nearly a week, I decided that I should take a moment to share what has been going on around here.

Somewhere along the way, this precious baby turned into this beautiful young woman...

Because of that blessing, the past few weeks have been consumed with preparations for her high school, homeschool graduation. It's one thing when it's just a reception you are trying to plan but when you are the one to plan the reception AND the graduation (having no idea what you are doing), without abundant peace from the Lord, an emotionally unmoved husband, girls who willingly help do anything & a calm friend who graciously listens to your meanderings, the reality of it all can get quite overwhelming. When I start to feel insanity knocking on my door, I remind myself that in no way shape or form do I want the stress of it all to overshadow the joy of the occasion. That is NOT what it is all about & the last thing I want MaKayla to remember is that the celebration wasn't worth the work & tension that it caused her mom. So...when those moments come, I simply take a deep breath, set my face like flint on the Lord & receive the peace that only He can give. He has a humbling way of putting things in perspective for me. :)

This week has been full of window-washing, chicken cooking, collage creating, grocery buying & spending time with the two girls I love the most! Our days have been extremely busy yet our days have been full of love, laughter & team work! ♥ When we started planning graduation, I asked MaKayla what she would like to serve as far as food. She gave me a list of some of her most favorite things, so that is what we are going with. On that list was my homemade chicken salad therefore on Tuesday MaKayla, Mal & I cooked & deboned nine chickens. Yes, I said nine! :) I roasted some & boiled some & believe me, we enjoyed EVERY morsel of that beautiful golden brown, crispy skin! Yum-oh! Talk about Thanksgiving in June! :) And since MaKayla requested to have the reception here, in between the chicken cooking & deboning, we as well washed curtains & windows. Three rooms down & a few rooms to go! Wednesday MaKayla was spending part of the day with Bri so Mal & I made a trip to town to get a few little gifts for MaKayla & all of the non-perishable food items that we were going to need. One of my very closest friends had text me that same morning and as a special treat she met Mal & I for lunch! Just the calm & renewal I needed. ♥ Yesterday our day was spent collaging (not a word according to the dictionary)... I LOVE pictures so this was no small feat! MaKayla & I had gone through & chosen some of our faves from over the past several months, sent them to Wal-Mart.com, had Kyle pick them up & for the entire day yesterday, we created. (Apart from MaKayla taking time out to do some toes...) Several sheets of scrapbook paper, memorable photos, double-stick tape (don't buy Dollar General brand...it DOES NOT WORK), hundreds of scrapbook glue tabs & many amazingly cute stickers/embellishments later, the collage is nearly complete. I took a break to help Kyle mow a bit on the yard & then after supper was eaten & cleaned up, I worked at it again until 10:30 before I finally decided to be done for the night. Today we will put last touches on our creation, wash a few more windows, cook up some more bone broth, catch up on laundry for the weekend, mail a book I sold on Amazon, revise grocery lists for next week, run a few errands & just be together.

It has been a busy few weeks, I won't deny it. And yes, the stress at times has been great BUT when I reflect on what we are celebrating, why we are celebrating & who we are celebrating, the stress dissipates & my heart is simply in awe of God's goodness. The closer it gets to "the day", the more excited I am for this beautiful one who has "arrived" at a place in life that we thought nearly impossible some thirteen years ago. Not impossible because of her, yet impossible because I couldn't see the "how"...

Busy? Yes!
Amazing? Absolutely!
Worth it? Without a doubt!