Friday, March 17, 2006

Just feeling blessed...


You know, sometimes you just take things for granted. Things that are in your life daily that you just don't appreciate like you should. Today, I am so thankful for my SON. Of course I love him like you wouldn't believe each day and thank the Lord daily that I am his Mommy. But today....I'm feeling extremely blessed.

He had a friend over to spend the night last night and they are still playing together today. I love listening to and watching them interact. I sometimes forget what a sweet demeanor Noah has. They were looking at our Resurrection Eggs and Noah's friend was opening each one. Noah sat there and told him the Easter story using those eggs. I was so proud of him. And a 5-year old's interpretation of each item is just so precious...and funny. :) It inspired me to do a layout about it. I want Noah to tell me the story of Easter using the eggs and objects and I am going to write down his words. The message of Jesus is true and right no matter what age..and to hear it from the mouth of my son makes it even more precious. (Note: the Resurrection Eggs are wonderful! A really fun way to share the true meaning of Easter with your kids. Click on the link above to see more info on them)

Noah is being so patient with his friend. He's sharing, taking turns, and setting such a good example. Noah is our only child and I sometimes forget just what a good KID he is! Of course he has plenty of moments. PLENTY! :) So I'm not saying he's perfect, but just seeing him with other kids really reminds me of how special he is and how much I love all of the little details that make him Noah. We are BLESSED.

We want another child. We would love to have another child and we pray for one every day. So does Noah. But you know, if Noah is the only child we ever have...we feel COMPLETE. It's ok. He's a gift from the Lord and is so much more than we could have EVER hoped for. And if Noah is God's plan for *children* in our life, then that's wonderful. It makes me sad for children whose parents want another child and that child feels that they aren't enough. I know that most parents don't even realize they are doing this, but I just wish sometimes parents could put themselves in the child's position. Am I not enough? Why are Mommy and Daddy sad when they already have me? So I will always remember to be thankful for all that we already have in Noah...and remember how thankful I felt the moment I found out I was pregnant. I felt overwhelmed and happy...and yes, complete. And if God wants to add to that...then wonderful. And if not.....wonderful. I am full. :)

Oddly enough, this can also apply to the scrapbooking world. It's sad that it's so hard to just enjoy your CURRENT blessings of being able to create pages that you love. Instead of "Lord, why can't I get published in THIS magazine?"..."Lord, why can't I get published at all?"... "Why didn't I win this contest?" I want to say "Thank you, Lord that I have hands and imagination and creativity to do this for myself and my family! I love my pages!" And that's all that matters. Creating Keepsakes magazine just called the 25 winners of the Hall of Fame contest. They are anonymous until Monday, March 20th. 960 people entered this contest. 960! That is mind-blowing! Does that mean that 935 people's entries stunk? No. It just means that the subjective opinions of the people who judged the contest chose these 25 people. How WONDERFUL and exciting for the winners! But I've seen some of the layouts of the 935 people who weren't chosen. Beautiful, artistic, full of love and creativity. And who knows....different judges, different season, oh heck...different weather to affect moods, the outcome may have been changed. Contests, publications....it's all subjective. But that won't ever change my opinion of my OWN work, nor the opinion of my family and friends. No one but them and me have seen the tears I've shed working on a page about my Dad, or have seen me scream and smile when my first layout appeared in a magazine. You can't SEE the emotion attached to the artwork...and I think that's why scrapbooking is so personal. It's not just colors and embellishments and paper. It's your heart and soul displayed on a page...for all of the world to see and judge. And when it becomes impersonal and sometimes hurtful, I'm so thankful I can take a step back and say I still love it. I do have a heart for this industry. God has something in it for me. I just need to enjoy the creativity aspect, keep putting my heart into my work, and He will show me the plan. But whether I'm a *name* or not, the most important part of it all is for me to be happy with my own work, be happy DOING it, and create something that will show my family how much God blessed us.

I need to take these kids to Burger King, so that's all for now :) Happy St. Patrick's Day!
- Jennifer

"I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly God was speaking: "My name is I am." I waited and God continued: "When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I was. When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I will be. When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here. My name is I AM." "- Helen Mellincost

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are one of a kind Jennifer! Seriously...you are awesome. Noah definitely sounds like a very special kid. Aren't children a blessing? I can't even explain how grateful I am for MY special little ones. Your entry today was so heartfelt and honest. I love that. I love how you compared it to the industry as well...I agree with you 100%! You are awesome!

Anonymous said...

Yes, Jen, yes!!! You are so right. I think & struggle about this all of the time. It's so easy to be unsatisfied with the gifts God has given...to want to achieve scrapbooking "success" in the eyes of the industry, instead of enjoying what He *has* given, and being faithful with the talents *He* has given. Bless you my friend! :)

Deanna- yep Dee-na said...

your post makes me smile today! : )
i love the resurrection eggs!
we are soo blessed to just be able to live, and create, and be free.
I agree. God is good.

Anonymous said...

I just love your attitude, Jennifer. :) Have fun at Burger King!

misty2day said...

I, too, have a son. He is 7 years old and he is an only child. He is our greatest joy! It took us a long time to have him and we feel so completely blessed. I would be happy to have another child, but that doesn't mean that I am not happy now. I can clearly remember when I didn't have Nicholas, I so badly wanted a child. And now, well I am truly, truly blessed and truly, truly happy.

On the scrap thing, awhile ago I was feeling so mixed about this hobby. I was surrounded with very competitive women . . . who were merely focused on being published and creating projects for classes. I had to step away, remove myself from situations where women had forgotten the importance of this hobby. Once I did that I felt so overwhelmingly happy, I felt free to create without judgment. I was happy about the pages I was doing and it didn't matter what anyone else thought. There are so many days when I sit and think how lucky I am to have this hobby, to have eyes to see the amazingly talented scrappers, to have hands, and an imagination to create and journal memories for my family. Being published would be awesome and so would teaching classes that everyone raved about. But for me that's not the important thing, for me it's the process that means the most to me.

Love reading your blog, especially this post. Have a blessed, blessed day.

misty2day said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I love this post, Jen...I love it when you write open and personally. It brings me more into your life. :) You are so right about how blessed we are. We often take things for granted and we all have to work on that.

You are also right about how we perceive our scrapbooking pages. It IS the emotions we feel as we sit down to make a page that REALLY make a page for us. Outsiders do not understand what that emotion is because they are looking at it like looking through a window. Scrapbooking is personal and can be a very therapeutic. Thanks for sharing that today. :)

Anonymous said...

Your words of wisdom continue to bless me every day that I come here to read!

Thanks for the Resurrection Eggs link. I think it might be time to use them this year with Emma!

Anonymous said...

Jennifer, how sweet your words are and how much I enjoy your sharing your heart with us.