For This I Went to College?

If you would have told me when I was in college (which sadly, is over 10 years ago) that I would be getting a degree in Middle Grades Education and never use it professionally, I would have said you were crazy.  If you would have told me I would be married to a pastor (especially the one I'm married to) and a stay-at-home mom with 2 kids, I would have thought you were even crazier.  I probably would have said you were crazy even before Nathan was born and I finally realized how fun being a mom could be.

At any rate, here I am.  Learning every day that life is about the people in it and it's a process that has more twists and turns than any of us could imagine.

At church, I'm leading a Bible Study on Elizabeth George's A Woman After God's Own Heart.  Originally I helped pick the study, but someone else was supposed to be leading it.  I love Elizabeth George, but I'm guilty of often reading her books imagining that one day I can be the wife and mother described and then getting distracted by the things of the day rather than focusing on the woman I want to be for my family.

So today, I made some efforts that quite frankly are unlike me -- at least to all be done in one day.  I helped Nathan make cookies for his PaPa so he could deliver them at lunch time.  As requested by David, I added things to our family calendar so he could sync the computer and his iPod.  I made sure Nathan had picked up his toys and had the TV off when his daddy came home and dinner was ready to be served when David walked in the door.  Also when David walked in, the kids were both quiet -- which is saying quite a bit as much as Nathan talks and as Carleigh has taken to high pitched squealing often for no apparent reason.  The kids were even both asleep by 9 so David and I could watch TV together.  David couldn't have been happier about all of it, though he did admit that he hardly knew what to think.

Funny how your priorities and your definition of a successful day change.  Don't get my wrong, I wouldn't trade my college experience for anything.  But this isn't exactly what I had pictured when I was stressing over English Lit.  

Sometimes I think about what I'm missing out on as I see what my college friends are doing now -- doctors, Bank VPs, etc.  But I have to admit.  I wouldn't miss out on David and the kids for anything in the world.  I may not be changing the whole world, but I hope I'm making it a better place for the three of them every day.