I've noticed lately that some of my reflective posts have sounded a lot like I'm ungrateful. I wanted to take this moment to count my blessings because while there are some decisions I've made that feel heavier on the hard days, I'm incredibly fortunate in life.
Living in a place with horrible weather and far from my family has been my biggest challenge in this season of life. As someone who came from a broken family, my loved ones have always meant so much to me. After losing my mom in 2014, it made me want to hold onto the ones that are still an active part in my life. The ones who showed up made me want to show up for them times ten. This isn't easy to do when you're over 1000 miles away. That said, this little town has a lot to offer. For one, it's small. Which was my one hard condition when we were choosing our next home.
It has an incredible school system, and my kids are thriving here...but I am too. If it weren't for the principal of the elementary school where I substitute, I wouldn't even have a job or even be in the program I'm in to get my teaching license. The teachers I've worked with in this school have honestly gone above and beyond, and they'll always be the glue that held this part of my story together.
The house we chose to purchase and live in feels like it's going to fall apart some days. It's old and has a lot of noise that makes sleep hard to come by. But each of my kids have their own room that holds all of their artwork on its walls. We have a separate laundry area and food storage area. I have an office, and the basement is big enough that if we spruced it up a bit, I could see teens hanging out down there making their own childhood memories come alive. The backyard has enough room for relaxing, and the dogs are in heaven.
Life is not terrible. But, like I said, I have big feelings. Some days I get lost in my shows (think York, Lancaster, Tudor era passion) and wonder if the world is bigger than my little, small town with the story book name. I’ve been so focused on what’s missing that some days I forget that while this place is a temporary home, at least for the next seven years, it’s also the place where I’ll lay the foundation of my future. Picture building a home and then moving it to where it’s meant to be. Right now, I’m in the building and redesigning phase. It doesn’t mean that it’s not an important season to live in.
When was the last time you stopped and counted what’s already good in your life?
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