Thankful in the Face of Sadness

I realize that there is no way I am going to keep up with posting on here every day, so I am going to have to settle for 'whenever I remember' :). That being said, I will happily post the thankful thoughts I have had over the last few days...

I am thankful for:
*SNOW :) :) :)
*Icy roads that allowed Emily to have NO school on Thursday afternoon and Friday!
*Frigid weather that has caused us to spend many evenings in front of the fire playing games, watching movies and talking together - always fun to Mom!
*Good health overall for everyone (Emily has a sinus infection but is on the mend now)
*Time with Michael while he is still home-he and Nicholas have watched Bond movies!
*Great day in worship - Ravi Zacharias preached for us this morning - a very special blessing.
*Time to get my house completely back in order, purge lots of messy cabinets, drawers and closets and do extra cleaning of those 'often ignored' areas that we all have.
*Precept Bible Study started back on Thursday -we are doing Philippians this semester and so far, it is even better than 1 John :)
*I have all of my funds for my Ecuador mission trip in April! Now to start working on funds for Medical Mission trip to Honduras in June and possible trip to Argentina in Sept/Oct!
*A good nap this afternoon (small things matter too!)
*The privilege to record a CD with my amazing choir this coming weekend.

So why the sadness? Well, as a Mom with two children who live most of the time away from home and too far for easy visits, I can tell you that it doesn't matter how many times they come home and leave - it is STILL hard to say good-bye! Michael leaves in the morning to drive 11 hours back to PHC to start classes on Wednesday. He is a SENIOR now so that is really exciting :)

But we don't know what his plans are (he doesn't even know what they are yet!)He may or may not come home for spring break. His spring break is the same time as our trip to Ecuador, so even if he came home, we'd only see him for 2 days on the front end and maybe not at all on the other end. In the summer, he really needs to do an internship and may find the best option in the VA/DC area which would mean he might only come home for a week on each end of summer. I know this is way more than I need to think of right now, but it's alot easier to say good-bye when you have SOME idea of when you will see your child again.

Our visit has been good overall. Michael is at an age and stage where it seems there are more differences than similarities with his parents, and even with his younger siblings. He thrives on argument and debate, loves to play devils advocate and sees an awful lot more 'grey' than he ever did before, though he is convinced that it's all black and white of course. We have been relatively argument-free over this whole break, but it's not without much effort. I really work to find common ground, show and tell him that I love him, include him in discussions, activities and family times.

He loves time alone in his room, which is fine, but I did much more to encourage him gently to plan time with friends, siblings, taking care of shopping needs, etc. That caused his days to be more interesting and full. I do think this had an effect on his demeanor and his attitude overall.

I love my husband and my children. I feel blessed beyond measure to live in the family I live in. I treasure time with each family member and especially love the holiday time all together. We had a great visit with Ashley and Steve for four days over Christmas too - lots of beautiful music in our house with both piano and saxophone being played daily, often together - amazing!

As I go into a new week, where everyone will be fully back to regular life, school, work, I joyfully and thankfully anticipate a few times of peace and solitude in my house, some productive times with my Bible Study, better meals being made, more exercise and back on track with eating less, exercising more and feeling more energetic! It should be a great week - Lord-willing!