Fifteen

Fifteen is a weird age. I remember being 15. I started counting down the days to SIXteen the day after my 15th birthday. The novelty of high school is worn off, but it's too early to really think much about college. Fifteen is almost a "limbo" year (well, "purgatory" for some, "limbo" for others.) There aren't any significant milestones in sight; every thing just moves forward at a snail's pace. So, what does one do at fifteen in 2008?

Well, if my middle daughter is any indication, one learns to ENJOY every moment of fifteen. She's no longer a freshman, excited about learning to drive, and having fun with friends as often as possible. Not such a bad life for limbo.

Eighteen

In the span of a lifetime, eighteen years isn't so many. However, the FIRST eighteen years encompass a lifetime of change and growth. To watch a child grow from an infant to a young adult truly is a fearful and wonderful thing.

As parents, Brian and I enjoyed, taught, prayed for, and agonized over our first born in precocious toddlerhood and early childhood, through devastating depression and eating disorder, and finally toward a future of health and hope and happiness. To reach this mile-marker of her eighteenth birthday is both a joy and a relief. There were days wherein we wondered whether any of us would survive the turmoil of those adolescent years, but God was faithful and brought us all through.


Now we look at this lovely young lady with gratitude for who she has become. She is a passionate philosopher with little use for superficiality. She is unique and proud to be so. She uses her talents in music and art to express herself. She isn't afraid to be silly or opinionated or adventurous. She is ready to take on the world.

Life as a mom with a really full plate

About this time every year my life goes a little bit crazy. Both Carrie and Corinne have May birthdays, and all the end-of-school concerts and banquets and activities make the schedule even more complicated than usual. Of course, I have my own employments at the scrapbook store, the school, and with Caroline--all of which I love to do. And then I add more to my plate because there are other things I want to do--like more artwork and going to book club and playing/watching neighborhood tennis and getting in better physical condition and missions and and and...I wouldn't change a thing. Really.

I love my life---even when it's so crazy that I hardly have time to think or breathe or sleep.

I love what I'm learning about art--mixed media, digital, photographic, acrylic....all of it.

I love being with my girls as they grow up and develop unique personalities and opinions.

I have fun working at the scrapbook store, showing people how to memorialize their own lives.

I get excited thinking about being back in the classroom teaching teenagers how to think deeper than they ever thought they could (and make writing easier for them along the way.)

I get energized by my Thursdays with Caroline, even though as an active toddler she keeps me hopping all day long.

Tennis matches keep me integrated into the neighborhood, book club keeps my intellect challenged, and mission trip preparation reminds me just how wonderfully God provides for all my needs.

So, for the next few weeks, I'll jump from one activity to the next, create as often as possible, and blog as life permits. I wouldn't have it any other way.