A story

Once upon a time, there was a little girl.

And she loved beauty.

And she loved to color.

And she had a mother who absolutely, completely, unashamedly ADORED her.

The end.

4

December 13, 2007.

It wasn’t a good night.

You can read about it here.

I was alone, and I was tired, and I was ready for it all to just be over.  There were a lot of emotions running through this momma-to-be’s heart.  Anxiety.  Love.  Uncertainty. Fear.  Hope.  Fatigue.  Questions.  Confidence.

But all the pain Seth caused me on the eve of his birth was worth it.  In fact, it most likely saved his life – the pain he caused and what I had to endure to resolve the issue at hand.  So, of course, it was worth it.

December 13, 2011.

It wasn’t a good night.

I was alone, and I was tired, and I was ready for it all to be over.  there were a lot of emotions running through this momma’s heart.  Anxiety.  Love.  Uncertainty. Fear.  Hope.  Fatigue.  Questions.  Confidence.

Seth caused me some serious heart-pain on the eve of his fourth birthday.  He is acting out, and while I know it’s in response to Jim being gone, to the the move, to the chaos that we are living daily, to the lack of attention he’s getting from me.  However, his behavior this night was out of control, and he needed to be punished accordingly.

And it got me thinking about the verse in Proverbs 13: “He who spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him correcteth him betimes” (or, in the more familiar vernacular: “spare the rod, spoil the child.”

I did what I know was right to do in punishing Seth, and I have to believe that it was worth it – that the pain he caused and what I had to do to resolve it may in fact, in the long run, save his life.  Building his character now, even on the eve of turning 4, will serve him his whole lifetime.

On that note, I pray tomorrow is as joyous a day as December 14, 2007.  Granted, at 6:06 pm, I’ll be in choir rehearsal, rather than hearing the sweet cries of my firstborn, and those two hardly compare, but, even still…

Seth, you’re worth it.  You always will be.  I love you so very, very much.

Chaos. Beautiful chaos.

I've been living in chaos -- out of boxes, amid packing tape, among slowly dwindling furniture -- since the first week of November.  It's not fun, but the end is in sight.

Monday night, I made lasagna (more in an attempt to use pantry and freezer staples than a desire to have Italian), but realized as I pulled it from the oven that it is the last meal I'll cook in this home.  Tuesday is mac n' cheese, Wednesday is a birthday dinner out, Thursday is a send-off girls' night out, and Friday more than likely will be pizza.  So......lasagna.  Who would've thought?

There is hardly anything left in the house -- 2 TVs that need a new home here in TN; a crib; 2 beds; 2 chairs; and the kitchen table.  Erin's mirror; several boxes of toys; my desk.  Suitcases ready to head south for the holidays.

It's surreal -- this season of decking the halls -- to be in an empty house completely unadorned for the holidays.  It makes me all the more exciting to decorate my new home next year....a new house, with a new child rolling about under the tree.  Again, who would have thought?

When we came to Tennessee just over 3 years ago, I truly thought that this little country town and this beautiful house would be our forever home.  I couldn't have imagined the life Jim and I would experience during this chapter, or that it would be so full but so brief...

Tis the season...

For changes, that is.

As of this morning, Jim's ZIP code went 500 miles north (and the rest of ours will follow suit in a couple weeks).  New job, new house, new opportunities, all wrapped up in the security and familiarity of our original hometown, with much of our family nearby,

Equally news-worthy and life changing...

Our Christmas cards were signed,

Love, Jim, Monica, Seth, and Erin ..... and our final addition, due May 2012.

=)

More on both bits of news in the weeks to come...things have been crazy around here for a solid month, and, obviously, the blog has taken to the back burner.