“But He said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corin. 12:9

Yesterday was my birthday and if I can just be honest, life has been straight up exhausting lately.  I’ve been overwhelmed and tired and it’s been written all over my face twenty-four hours a day.  Isn’t it incredible how God knows exactly what we need, exactly when we need it?

Monday was my last day keeping the twins.  We will miss those sweet girls, but God’s timing couldn’t have been better.  I woke up Tuesday morning and felt like a weight had been lifted from me.  I loved keeping the girls; they were wonderful and well behaved, but there’s just something about keeping someone else’s children in your home forty hours a week that takes a toll on you.  My housework wasn’t getting done, there were days when we didn’t get all of our school work done, meals weren’t always on the table at dinner time, and I was constantly exhausted.  I still wake up at the same time in the morning, but I feel like I’ve gotten an extra two or three hours of sleep.  It’s amazing!  I feel like my joy has been restored; I feel like ME again.  It is precious to spend my days with my boys, just the four of us.

My birthday was wonderful and relaxing.  I slept in until 8:00am, the boys and I got some school work done and then got ready to go downtown and eat lunch with Josh.  After lunch, the boys swam in the little pool in the backyard and I surprised them with a movie at the dollar theater in the early afternoon.  Last night was our last Wednesday night church for the summer.  The kids had a pizza party and an inflatable water slide and the adults ate dinner together and reflected on the past year.  I had the opportunity to give an update on Zoe and our adoption process, as well as mention our adoption yard sale coming up in about two and a half weeks.  I was given a few cards from friends and we headed home.  When I got home, there was a birthday gift on my front porch from my friend Tara (THANKS friend, you know I love it!), and Josh had set up the dining room table with my gifts from him.  He gave me a big, beautiful orchid in a fabulous pink container and this:

 

This necklace is a glass pendant with the shape of Africa made out of words like, “Zoe, Ethiopia, love, joy, peace, and Emaye (the Amharic word for ‘mother’)…in my favorite color.  I love it!!

Then I realized I hadn’t opened the cards given to me at church.  I squealed like a little kid when Starbucks gift cards fell out of two of them!  Oh, the simple things in life…like a good, over-priced cup of coffee that I didn’t have to make…or pay for.

I’m thankful for another year of life.  I am blessed beyond description with friends and family that love me and add to my life in immeasurable ways.

I will leave you with this:

~audrey

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 26th, 2011 at 12:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.