Perspective

Last week I felt discouraged.  I was disappointed that my dream wasn't going to become a reality...yet.  After the announcement,  I received positive and encouraging messages from friends and family that helped bring me out of my funk.  As we all know, life doesn't always go the way we think it should.  More times than not, there's a good reason for it.  Something bigger lies ahead, you're not quite on the right path, or the timing just isn't right.  There are countless reasons why we hit a bump in the road on our journey, but I truly believe it's how we handle those bumps that matters.

My time had been stretched thin while creating the preliminary plans for the preschool.  Had it come to fruition, a lot more of my time would have been diverted to that project and perhaps it would have taken away time that I was meant to spend elsewhere.  It didn't take long for me to realize that my time was indeed needed elsewhere.  I had a meeting with the service learning coordinator at a local high school for From Cover to Cover last week.  It has opened doors (and my eyes) to opportunities that I had not thought of before.  From that meeting, many more ideas have evolved and we are excitedly exploring these opportunities to involve older kids in our community in our project and creating a program that will reach far more children than we currently serve.  A blessing in disguise?  I think so!

Today I have had the rare opportunity to be at home with just the baby for a few hours.  With two of the kiddos at school and one at Grandma's this is a little glimpse of how some of my days will be next year.  Though it's almost eerily quiet around here, it is so calm.  I've had time to snuggle and play with the baby without anyone else needing me.  Could I use a year with a calming break now and then?  Will it be good for my soul?  These are questions that I've considered this morning.  Instead of speeding up even more, I may just have the opportunity to pull back the throttle a bit and have some time to focus on activities I enjoy:  writing, reading, exercise, baking...possibilities abound!

As the old saying goes, "When one door closes, another opens."  I am a believer in this statement and I look forward to seeing where this next year will take me.  I'm not giving up on my dream, but I'm also not going to force it to become a reality.  "Good things come to those who wait."  Patience is not always my strength, but I'm going to do my best to be patient, take advantage of the opportunities that are presently available, and enjoy the "extra" time that I've been given.  

A few friends shared this with me last week and it hit the nail right on the head.  Enjoy!