Life's Lessons

An unexpected, but delightful surprise that happens on rare occasions: Taj falling asleep on his own.
Taj making his fishy lips at the camera. He still doesn't like to have his picture taken, but he was willing to give me the fishy lips. Usually, when I point the camera at him he tells me "No! Don't!" and then grabs on to my pant leg to brace himself while he tries to kick me in the shin. When I say kick, I really mean more like tap. I know I shouldn't, but I always laugh because I think it's so funny that he has to hold on to me to kick me so he doesn't fall over:) I love this boy so much...he really is my world and he doesn't even know it.
This pic is pre-haircut for the month. He gets bird hair. It just sticks straight up when it grow out...it NEVER lays down, so that's why we have to keep it short.

Back when I was in high school, I thought I knew everything I needed to know for the rest of my life. I was pretty sure that I'd been through the refiner's fire and that I was a finely polished stone upon graduation. I couldn't imagine what new things life would have for me to learn since in my teenage mind, I'd pretty much lived life. Then I went to college and I got married and I figured out that I really didn't know anything. A slow and frightening realization began to occur to me, that life had A LOT of things left for me to learn...that just when I thought I had life figured out, something else new would happen and an entirely new, never before thought of experience would change my life yet again. That's when the "milk before meat" concept came to mind. How naive could I have been to think that one would learn all they need to about life at the ripe old age of 18?! I realized that the experiences you have in each phase of your life teach you something new and that I am sure to have countless more unforeseen experiences that will test every part of my being until I really am a polished stone. I've decided that one is never done being polished or refined while here on earth, which is good, which allows us perpetual growth. I figure that is how it's going to be after this life as well...amazing isn't it? That we have the potential to just keep getting better and better? It's kind of hard to imagine since most people imagine perfection as a destination and not as a continual process.

Parenthood and marriage are definitely much needed stations in life for me right now. I don't know how else I would have been able to learn the things I have learned and am still learning not only about myself, but about life in general. You know, nothing's ever come easy for me in life, but I would rather it be that way. Otherwise life would be boring. I crave adventure, spontaneity. The spice of life, one may call it and amazingly, it can be found right in the walls of our own homes. My family is my adventure now and I'm going to try to be grateful every day for it and not question why or why not something is or isn't happening for me. I'm learning to put my FULL trust in the Lord and to enjoy life knowing that if I do my best, He will take care of the rest...and there's nothing else to worry about.