Happy Thanksgiving. I have sorely neglected my blog. But, I need an outlet for writing down my thoughts again. And, so I'm coming back to my old friend to do just that.
First of all, I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving. I'm enjoying a quiet moment right now. My children have disappeared down the hill to Grandma & Grandpa's house to 'help' get things ready for dinner. I'm sitting on the couch resting my knee because I somehow hurt myself yesterday & I'm hobbling around in pain. I need to get started on the food that I'm making soon. But, right now I'm just having a moment or two to myself.
I am definitely feeling blessed. I've been so aware of how fortunate I am to have my family, our health, our home & security. I'm keenly aware of how blessed we are to be living in relative peace & lack of turmoil and in a country where we have our freedom.
I've also been saddened by things going on in the world around me. Close to me there are friends whose loved ones are fighting for their lives against cancer. There are friends & family who are struggling in their marriages or other relationships. There's a family member who desperately wants children of her own someday, but for the sake of her health, may have to make the decision to have a hysterectomy.
And, when I look at the world around me there are wars & rumors of wars, as well as so much conflict & tension within our own country. And this past election seemed to bring out the worst in everyone. There are tragedies that we hear about on the news. This week is was a school bus crash that killed 5 precious children and seriously injured many more.
It's all so heavy sometimes. I feel things deeply. And, it's just a lot. I feel so helpless in the face of so much sadness & suffering. I don't know what difference I can make.
I know that it starts at ground level. It starts with how I interact with people each day - my husband & children, friends, even strangers at the grocery store. And yet, even there I fail often.
It's hard to feel a lack of control over circumstances.
So where am I headed with all this? Well, I guess I've been feeling challenged to take control of & be a good steward of the things that I am able to. I've been challenged to exercise self-control. So, for me this would boil down to two major areas - My home and my health.
Those might not seem like big things in the scope of all that I listed above. But, these are two areas that if they are disjointed or chaotic it seems to spill over into the rest of life & the attitudes and feelings that I have regarding many things.
My home: We are messies. With four boys & a husband who are all outdoorsy, hands-on kinds of guys...who value function over cosmetics....it reflects in the very lived in state of our home. But, I also struggle to keep up with things that need done in our home. I dislike cleaning & it can all seem very overwhelming. So, I just watch the mess grow & grow until I can't stand it & try to do a whirlwind of straightening up.
It's not a good cycle. And, it's one that we can change. I need to better involve my children in the upkeep of our home. And, I need to dig in to the tasks that need done & tackle them one by one.
My health: I had a physical recently. I wanted to talk to the doctor about pain in my knee as well as my weight gain & exhaustion. She ordered some bloodwork and an xray of my knee to check for arthritis. The good news is that all of my blood work came back very good. So, I am healthy & there aren't any contributing factors to my weight gain. The xray showed some bone spurs but nothing overly concerning.
So what does that mean? Pretty much what I already knew. I need to take better care of myself. I have nothing to blame my weight gain on other than my poor eating habits & lack of exercise. But, here's the other thing...if I continue on this path I can't continue to count on having good health. So, it's time to get myself back on track...for real.
Taking control of my home & my health. That's my goal. And, I will be using my blog again to help document my progress. Here we go!
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