present

It's the eve of my birthday and all week I have had this blog post swirling around in my head. I am not entirely sure where this will go but hey sometimes It's much more fun this way.

This new phase in my life has been brewing for some time. It's actually WAY overdue.

Last year was supposed to be the year of me... I turned 30 on the 30th and felt like it meant so much. Although we had plenty of great things happen this last year it was NOT the year of me. I felt so far from myself most days. It was a dry year for me.. of course we are thankful for Jett and for the blessing of our dream house but inside I have been dry.

I feel more settled.. I feel more complete.. I feel so ready to thrive as a woman, as a mother, as a wife.

It's like this year is a gift.. a break that allows me to focus on me and my family. I want to quit surviving and I want to thrive.

For the last couple years I chose a word of the year.. that one little word. 08 was Simplify. 09 was Choose and I didn't even pick one this year.. I remember thinking of it but it just never came to be. Well I'm starting a new trend so today on the eve of my 31st birthday my one little word for this year will be Present. To be present. It's time. Time to focus. To be present in my own life, in my own story, in the lives of my children and my husband. To be present for my friends. My year to be free, joyful, confident and happy. Time to shine. I am so thankful for a chance to be present in my every day life.

We have started to make moves to enrich our lives. I joined a Mom's program that is going through a book about Parenting called "Have a new kid by Friday" SO good!! The principles are really resonating with me. I am looking forward to seeing us learn how to parent better. We need that over here most days. My aha moment so far has been when the author describes him main motivation for following this in his own house. It's my goal to raise givers not takers. I love that.

I also was invited by a friend to join a women's bible study and we are doing Beth Moore's Breaking Free. I can't begin to tell you how this speaks to me already and we only had one meeting. It feels like water to my dry dry soul.

Its' the year of being present and my first present to myself is to BE FREE.