Stretching

I'm not only talking about muscle stretching. I do stretch my muscles almost every day because I love it. I feel refreshed and rejuvinated. But Im talking about stretching everything else. My mind, my imagination, my patience, my creativity, my attention span, my faith. UH anything and everything has been and is being stretched this winter. As much as we all don't like being stretched while we are in the midst of it I am kind of glad. A friend of mine calls it character building. There is a freshness afterwards, a lesson learned, or a trait gained. I am learning how to rely on Gods strength to get me through these times instead of "things." I am learning to recognize when I am not handleing myself the way I want to and asking God for help.

You may be wondering what I am referring to. Some examples of how I am being stretched are: not being able to get my to do list done in a day simply because Noni needs my attention, or trying to come up with ways to entertain Noni, or letting her help with a task when I really don't want to, or finding fun inexpensive things to do for my family in the winter, or financial struggles, or our home not selling, dreams seeming impossible, passions of mine that I don't have time to pursue, and probably a lot more things. There is so much I want to do in a day and I just don't get to because of all the practical things that need my attention and I just get too exhausted mentally and physically.

I want to share a quote with you from Boho Girls blog . I have been following her blog for quite some time now and if you haven't you need to check it out. She seems like the sweetest, gentlest, most down to earth mama and I would love to meet her someday. Her words are so real and this quote has truly encouraged me today to simply be a MOTHER to NONAH. Thats my job right now and the other things don't matter.

"When I surrender to motherhood fully and am present to these little ones, it seems like more doors open, more time appears, more creativity flows. My energy level rises. When I struggle with it, which is necessary to do and it part of our work, I am blocked and unhappy and tired."

Another quote from her that is so well put and speaks to me in so many levels right now.
"I have SO many dreams. I am a dreamer. And for five years, I shared in this space another dream. That dream was to be a mother. That is one dream I AM living. So with this one dream of mine to be the mother that Cedar needs, there may be other dreams that will still be in my heart but will patiently wait until I have the time and space to nurture them. It could be in 6 months or 1 year or even 2 years but they will be given wings to fly."
I have dreams of my own for myself, my family and for me and Peter as a couple and sometimes I get so bogged down thinking about the fact that they are so not possible right now. But thats okay. I need to accept that and allow those dreams to wait there turn. I need to accept the dream that I am living right now which is being a mother. and a wife. What an amazing dream fulfilled. I am so blessed.

So thank you Boho Girl for your encouraging words and I thank God for using this amazing blogging world to speak to me and encourage my heart. Be blessed mamas!!

Some snapshots of my Noni-girl, my dream come true!