Our Greatest Blessings!!!!

These last two weeks have been very stressful with many tears shed. Days that I have felt like I just can't do it any more. Trying to balance family life, work, all the day to day activities, and trying to sell our home. There have been many days that I have felt like throwing in the towel and giving up.

Raising teenagers is a huge job that is harder than I ever imagined. Not that my kids are (bad) kids but they do challenge us on a daily basis. The fighting that goes on everyday (yes most of it is silly little things) that just gets under your skin. The house that looks like a tornado has come through and I just feel like I can't keep up with it anymore. The job that is stressful and makes me feel guilty for not being here with my kids all the time. Granted I don't have to work but we as a couple feel like we need to do this right now and we hope that our kids will one day look back and understand the meaning behind our madness.

While I was sitting here having a pity party for myself this morning I came across this on a friends blog and it was exactly what I needed to hear. I needed to post this so I could go back on a weekly basis and remind myself of the miracles that I have been given and to remember "TO FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY". I find myself wishing my greatest blessings away and one day I will look back and wish I could have it all back.

How do you think of your children? On any given day, would you say your children are a blessing or a burden? Here is a challenge to you…How are you?”…“How is the baby?”…“How are your kids?”… We all hear these questions every day. Do you know a mom who always answers something like this: “Well, I haven’t killed my 2-year-old yet, so I guess that’s good.” Or, “I’m just exhausted,” or, “Things are absolutely crazy – I am so stressed out!”
Maybe that frazzled, haggard, bewildered mommy is someone you know. Maybe it’s you. I know I’ve been there. Here is my question to you today… are we bearing our blessings as burdens? Those babies that we dreamt of and prayed for, that we had so much fun choosing names for, that we counted the days to meet… are they burdens to us now? Those homes that we were ecstatic to move into… are they burdens now? That husband that we couldn’t live without, that we picked out the wedding dress for, that we cried and ached and waited by the phone for… is he a burden now? That job you needed, you wanted and prayed for, that provides food and clothing for your family… is it a burden now?Sometimes it seems to me like a mantle we as moms must carry. We must be tired, we must be stressed out; we must be harried and frazzled, we must be lucky just to make it through the day. Are we bearing our blessings as burdens? Are we tired? Absolutely.
As moms, we know about the 2 a.m. feedings, the nightmares, the wet beds, the midnight curfews. Do things get a little stressful between PTA meetings, dance class, the T-ball game, and dinner on the table at 6? Sure they do. Are husbands always a joy when they get home from work? No way. Is scrubbing the potty, doing the laundry, and cleaning the high chair tray the greatest thrill we’ve ever known? Of course not.
So how do we look past the burdens and see the blessings of our families and our homes? Do you know any women who would give anything to have a baby to nurse at 2 a.m.? Anyone who would love to have those clothes we are sick of washing, or that house we just can’t keep clean. Do you know any women whose husbands aren’t coming home?
I challenge you to joy, to smile, to persevere. I challenge you to bear your burdens as blessings and watch as they multiply. And the next time someone asks you how you are, throw off that identity of stressed out, frazzled mommy, find your smile and answer, “I am blessed!”

I LOVE my husband and children more than anything. I am so thankful that I have a husband who is worried about me and can sense when I am reaching the end of the rope. He is one who will grab the other end of the rope and start pulling me back up to safety. I'm thankful for all the wonderful, silly, stressful blessings that I have been given. They are what makes life worth while. Every one of these things helps make me who I am and for that I am truly grateful. I have a great life and I would not trade it for the world!

"I AM BLESSED"