Joy

Today I am jealous of Diane. I just looked at her facebook and I felt an overwhelming jealousy. Her beautiful children are home and my house is empty.
It is the first day that everyone is gone. Part of me has enjoyed this day so much. I've cleaned campers to return, washed sheets, made stacks of things to return, written a few thank you's, mostly organized. My fridges are now clean and organized. It feels so good to be catching up. I wonder if I ever caught up when I had kids at home, especially when they were little. And, having Terra's family here for a month I wonder how young parents ever accomplish anything but just keeping up with the kids. It reminded me of when Matt was a baby and nursed for a half hour every 2 hours. I called Mom to complain that I wasn't getting anything done. Her response was, "What do you have to do that is more important than feeding Matt?" I couldn't think of a thing. And, today, when I'm missing all my grandkids so much I think she was definitely right. I've loved the last 4 weeks. Each day had it's difficulties and it certainly wasn't easy. But if any of my kids said, today, "We need to spend a month in your home." I would definitely jump for joy. I could spend this whole blog writing all the things I enjoyed. So many hugs every day, laughter, creativity, reading with them, jumping on the tramp, swinging, listening, mostly listening - yes, that's the favorite. It feeds my soul. Thank you God for creating families and for letting me have part of mine near for a bit. A treasured gift.