The other day I found myself in the kitchen prepping lunch after a morning outside doing all the things – feeding the animals, weeding the garden, scouring the garden for any ripe produce (which was limited to a handful of sweet peas), and doing yet more sanding on a table build I have going in my garage.
It was hot outside and a relief to come inside where the house remained a few degrees cooler.
As I stood there in the kitchen, I could hear my three littles in the next room fully engaged in The Land of Make Believe. At some point, my son (age 2) was dictated by his two older sisters to be the puppy, a role he fully engaged in with plenty of barking and crawling on all fours. After a short while, my oldest daughter (age 6) went to the bedroom for a laundry hamper, bringing it into the living room – empty – and set it down on its side before ordering her kid-brother-turned-puppy into his new dog house.
I don’t think I have ever witnessed my 2-year-old follow direction so willingly.
There I stood in the kitchen prepping a simple tuna sandwich lunch for myself and my little crew, dirty dishes left from breakfast still in the sink and odds and ends crowding the counter, yet I couldn’t help but feel so grateful for the wonderful life I am blessed to live.
Life really is good.
Sure, there’s plenty of imperfection. I didn’t say my life is perfect.
My life certainly is not. As I type this article my car is quite literally broke down sitting in my driveway, which is more than just a small inconvenience.
I have dirty dishes in my sink, a mountain of laundry than needs folded and put away (someday I will become a pro at folding everything before adding another load to the pile … someday). My floors need mopped, I have five wood projects stacked up waiting for me to finish in my garage, and my girls remind me every-other-day that I’m supposed to be sewing them a new summer dress.
But all of that, well, it’s just life, really.
There’s always plenty to do, and we all have a to-do-list (or at a want-to-have-done-list) a mile long.
For our family, we have a lengthy long-term to-do list as well as the short-term day to day, week to week. Not least of which is to buy our own place, which is goal we desperately want and are striving hard, daily, toward.
One year ago, my husband and I were living in town, surrounded with neighbors, the sound of people talking as they barbequed in their backyard or the sound of fireworks until 2 a.m. the whole month of July.
We had our two dogs, and a garden in the backyard. And every chance we got we drove out to the desert just to be away from town, just to sit on the back of our flatbed pickup and have a conversion that couldn’t be overheard by neighbors while our kids played in the dirt.
Not that what was said shouldn’t be overheard, but for the sheer privacy of having a conversation without others unintentionally hearing every word. Because sound floats, even in a town where the air is stiff and stale.
I’ve heard some people say that where you live is all based on attitude and perspective. Indicating that anyone could live anywhere, they just need to change their attitude.
Though I think there is a lot of truth in that, I also think where you live can be very defining on who you are. And for me, and certainly my husband, living in town was hard. Really hard. Which I can talk about and get carried away with in a different article.
But today I just want to reflect that waking up to the sound of the breeze through the trees, going out every morning to toss hay to the horses, running through the grass in the backyard as I play with my kids – I don’t think I could feel disappointed with the life I have.
Yes, we someday want to have cows and a larger space for a bigger garden. We want to have chickens and hay fields and own the title to four walls and a roof. We want to drive a newer pickup and get a nicer trailer, and the the list goes on.
But I am telling you, life is so good.
This is the life.
Hearing my kids just play together without falling into an argument – even for just 10 minutes, seeing my kids help in the garden, daily water their own patch of flowers, teaching them the responsibility of caring for animals, and watching them develop pride in their work. All of that is what makes life worth it.
“Much more greater things come when you celebrate the little things in your life.” – John Bassey
I know I have been a slow and inconsistent poster. I would love to do better, and hopefully I can do better. I have over 50 started articles that just need to be posted. And I hope in the coming months that I can get those to the page.
But can I just tell the internet and anyone who might stumble on this article someday in the future how much I am grateful for my life. How grateful I am for my kids and my husband. My husband is the best, and he puts up with my wild ideas and extensive dreams for projects always with a “you go for it, girl” attitude, fully supporting me (at least most of the time) in my many ambitions. Can I tell you how blessed I feel to be a stay-at-home mom and spend every day with my kids. I didn’t always feel like staying at home taking care of my kids 24/7 was a blessing. But oh, how out-of-breath thankful I feel for that opportunity now. How blessed I feel to cook a homemade meal, to have a garden and the opportunity to can our goods. How grateful I am for great neighbors who let me pick fruit off their trees or those who offer me a smile and a “hello”.
The list could go on.
I have so much to be grateful for, and I hope as you read this you are able to look at the things in your life and say, “this is good.”
I hope where ever I am 10 years from now, I can still stand in my kitchen prepping lunch and listening to the sounds of my children, and whatever my outside surroundings might be, I hope I can still stand and say:
This is the life.
