Thursday, July 30, 2015

Just Keeping You on Your Toes...

Oh, hello, reader...bet you didn't expect me to pop up on your Google reader or Facebook newsfeed. But, here I am.

I mean, come on, it was only a 9 month writing break.

And I'm over it. I know, that was quick.

This hardly seems like the ideal time to start writing again. But we Steeds don't tend to wait for those dreamy 'ideal times.' We usually just sorta go for it. Holy Spirit style.

In the next 2 weeks we will be packing, doing VBS for a week, packing, saying goodbye to local friends (but hey, we're Catholic, it's more like 'see you later!'), packing, renting a moving truck, packing that, cleaning, moving our family of 6 to our new home 2.5 hours away (let's call it closer to 3.5 with slow moving truck speeds and a sweet nursing baby in tow), unpacking the truck, assembling the beds, and collapsing into them. Well, I guess it would behoove us to unpack the other stuff, too, but it all just seems so secondary to those glorious beds.

Can you tell I haven't been sleeping well lately? Anyway...

Oh, and my husband will officially be a Doctor of Psychology in these next two weeks as he wraps up internship. It will look something like this: Drake Steed, Psy.D.

That's a post in and of itself, so I'll leave that for now.

And that move? It happens to fall on my dear husband's 30th birthday. Because nothing says, 'Happy 30th, honey!' like a big ol' U-Haul in the driveway. But, let's face it. We're all gonna need some booze by the time the evening of the 15th rolls around. And being that it's the Feast of the Assumption, I'm confident Our Lady will have our backs that day in particular.

But a small part of why I'm trying to get back to writing is because a) it's what I feel like doing, GOSH! (Napoleon Dynamite, anyone?), b) I need more mental and emotional outlets in my life, and c) I kinda like it.

I've been reflecting a lot lately on this past year. I think anticipating a new start somewhat naturally conjures up those feelings, and I've been giving a lot of thought to what I've done well (very few things) and what I've done poorly (too many to count). This past year, I did a decent job, by the grace of God, at getting things on the calendar for our kids. Drake and I did a decent job of having our weekly date night in. We had a fairly successful first homeschool year, despite my incessant worrying about it and fumbling around trying to figure it out. Drake is completing his degree (with 2 more training years on the horizon, but that's grad school for you...the gift that keeps. on. giving.). The Lord blessed us with another family member in the midst of all this and gave us more opportunity to grow in radical trust as we experienced another cancer scare (all is well, praise be to God). We still managed to see family during their visits here and our visits there. We had a fair amount of play dates, homeschool activities, field trips, swim lessons, soccer nights, and family road trips on the docket.

But you know what was missing this year? My own taking time to nourish my soul. I'll admit, I let myself get lost in the ever-changing shuffle. This sassy piece really hit me between the eyes this morning.

So that's a goal I have as dear Drake and I try to navigate this large Catholic family deal that we've come to love. We don't love it because it's easy. Or comfortable. Or efficient. Or any of the other things the world teaches us to value. We love it because it's helping us grow in the ways that matter: virtue, self-sacrifice, and holiness, to name a few.

Thanks for sticking with me, dear reader! No promises as to when I'll post again...juuuust to keep you guessing :)

3 comments:

  1. How does anyone write so well at 3:00 in the morning? Great blog post. Do take time for yourself. It is very important. You are an amazing mom.

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    1. Thanks, Mom. Your visit was rejuvenating for me. I can't wait to see you soon!

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