TURNING 37

I'm a wee-bit behind on the blog, which is pretty symbolic of everything else in my life.  There are emails in my in-box, shirts that need to be returned, paperwork that needs to be filled out - not to mention the usual piles of laundry and dishes.  (To be fair, those are both sort of under control, because John has been helping and our house was cleaned today. 🙌🏻)

All of that to say, my birthday was over two weeks ago, and I'm just now blogging it. 🤷🏻‍♀️  The other fact of this particular matter is that turning 37 is just not that exciting.  I'm smack dab into my "late" 30s and inching ever closer to the big 4-0.  Life feels like it is both on fast-forward and slow-motion at the same time.  I look up and another day is gone, but certain afternoons can stretch for an eternity. It's just where we're at.



My day started as many Saturdays do, with children piling onto me in bed.  They were so excited about celebrating me, which truly did warm my heart.  The girls had been obsessively making sure they would have time to shop for presents for me and get me stuff I actually wanted.  This included them creating a plan they pitched to John to "trick" me into telling things I would like to receive during dinner.  The thought they put into it all was precious.  We ate a quick lunch at CFA and headed to Loblolly to celebrate with the kids.




In a sad turn of events, we ended up heading to NW Arkansas on my actual birthday, because Papa's memorial was the next day.  The upside of this is that I got to see all of my siblings, mom and step-dad on my birthday, which is unheard of these days.  We went out for an adults only meal where laughing was actually the top thing on our menu.  Having adult siblings that I sincerely adore is one of my favorite surprises life has granted me.


(There were several pictures where my bro was acting like a normal human, but the rest of us all had white eyes, so I picked this one that is probably more true to life anyway. 🤣)

I never get tired of having a spring birthday, because the flowers are usually blooming their hearts out, and we often have some sort of spring break fun up our sleeves.  However, spring often brings some residual sadness for me (which I've written about before but cannot for the life of me find to link 🤦🏻‍♀️), and this year has been worse than others.  There's been a perfect storm of the regular spring gauntlet for me, plus the added stress of where we are at parenting wise.  Let's just say, it's a good thing I'm going to see a counselor regularly.

I've never just excelled at balance, and trying to hold the pain in one hand while holding all the joy and goodness in the other has been a challenge lately.  In all of this, the gifts in my life far outweigh the pain.  That was driven home to me so clearly on our weekend in NWA when I was surrounded by so much love and reminded of just how faithful the Lord has been in my life.

Cheers to 37!