Introspect

We had such a fun time over the weekend with our family in town. Baby James is even cuter and sweeter than I imagined. We can't wait to see him again in two months when we head out to Virginia.

So this week is about settling back into life, now that we have no out of town visitors on the horizon (unless anyone wants to change that?).

I've been putting a lot of thought lately into what "normal life" is for us. Our pastor has been teaching us all to dream. Dream about what we want for our lives. Remember our old dreams that we may have put aside or forgotten. Find out what God's dreams are for us, and fulfill them.
I am finding that my dreams all have to do with my family - how I want to parent my kids, what kind of wife/mom/sister/friend I want to be, etc. I get frustrated a lot when I find myself being "reactive" with the kids, or with our day, rather than "proactive". I want to proactively decide what we're going to do each day or week, how we're going to spend our time, etc. I want to pour into my kids. Nurture them. Not push them aside or put them in front of a movie so I can get my chores done.

I'm also spending a lot of time thinking about this September, as Emma will be ready to start kindergarten. Do I want to send her to a public school? Creative arts charter school? Homeschool? All three of those are on the table for discussion right now.

My friend Brianna wrote about how every family has their own "culture". I really relate to that and am trying to figure out what our family's culture is. We like to spend time together and lean more on the homebody side than the always-on-the-go side. Although we do love family outings, both planned or spontaneous. We (I) like structure, but also enjoy free-play time. We love having friends over, but never seem to have enough time. We love having our kids in sports, but have learned we much prefer school sports over club sports.

Ultimately, I just want to lead the life God has called me (and my family) to.