Vacation over?

I am really struggling with getting the last few entries of my vacation onto my blog because I think that once it is all written out as memories then it will truly be over in my brain.  I am just not quite ready for that.  I still want to be on Nova Scotia time, and still talk to or e-mail Alice like 4 times a day, and just stay in that mind space.  I did so well in the NS mind space.  But, back to reality I am not sure how I am going to do.  Life is life here, and as busy as I am, I wish I had more of a close friend base.  I only have a very small amount of friends that I am REALLY super close with, and one of them is 2 hours away, one is 18 hours away (driving) one is busy, a lot, one has checked out of life, and my newest one is very far away.  I do have some close friends that I can get together with and gab, but it is just not the same.  Life with children, or life with a job, or just life in general usually get in the way of a solid foundation to build on, to get THAT kind of relationship.  Not that I am not happy here, and I know that once winter sets in there will be a lot more play dates and a lot more coffee/tea times because going to the park and chillin are just not an option anymore.  It seems that once winter hits life can just slow down a little and those friends that you want to have that closeness with have the time to visit, and frankly...so do I!

Winter is also my time to do more baking.  If the oven is on in the summer it usually bakes my house too, and makes it slightly unbearable.  In the winter, to have the oven on is such a blessing because then your house gets just that much warmer, and smells that much yummier, and you get something out of it that is more than just a stupidly high bill at the end of the month.  I do really desperately want to take better care of my house.  I have this huge living space that is really useful, but I feel like I don't know what to do with it because I have so much junk.  I think my today project will be to de-clutter.  I may even take pictures.  Oooh...Ahhh...That gives me an idea!  ...

So, it is now September and it is the time of small group and ladies Bible studies.  I usually go to a bible study at the church that I attend, and I am still doing that, but it is VERY academic.  So, today I tried another Ladies Group called MAPS.  It is at another church, and almost everyone there is a young mom.  It is so cool to see that many young mothers in one room.  There were at least 10 kids in the room with the moms, and then another 15-20 in the toddler room, and then there was another room upstairs for all the kids that were older than 3.  It was intense!  There were so many kids, and never have I been in a group that big where we are ALL in the same basic head space.  Moms with infants, moms with toddlers, moms with older kids, moms with twins, moms with more than just 2 kids...it was AWESOME!!!!  I definitely want to go back.  I have been invited over and over again to this group since I have had Jenni, but I never actually got my butt out the door to have that time of fellowship.  I even met some more moms that I have never really met or spent time with.  So, maybe my search for more close friends in three hills is being successful!  Let's hope so...I really want more close friends.

So, in all these Bible studies and such, I should be learning something, yes?  Yes!  So, today at MAPS we are going through the book "The Five Love Languages of Children".  I really loved the book for adults, and so this is going to be great insight for me as Jenni gets older and to really be able to show her that I love her without her having to beg me for attention...especially when we have another baby.  Also, in the Bethel ladies group I was really brought to a place where I realized that none of us have to be perfect.  We are "cracked pots" and God can use each one of us cracked pots to fulfill His purpose!  How cool is that?  I suck at life because I am a human and I sin, and it doesn't really matter, because I will allow God to use me, and He will...for good...regardless of how misshapen I am, or broken.  I am a vessel for God and His purpose no matter what!  That is encouraging, and it also helps me as a mom because it should help me teach Jenni that.  I have never done well with a "do what I say, not what I do" mentality, and I never wanted to teach that way with my kids...so if I want to teach something to my daughter, I need to put it into practice first.  Each day is a learning curve, some steeper than others, and I just have to put my best foot forward and rely of the fact that God has solid ground there for me to step on.  What a revelation, eh?

So, that being said, I should start on my project for the day, and I will keep you posted on the lessons that I learn day by day!

 

Just to leave you with a thought...when I got home from NS I was majorly bummed out about Alberta.  I wanted to go back to NS and never return, and the second morning at home this was the gorgeous "painting" by God that I woke up to.  God is good and He knows my heart, my desires, and also, what is best for me!