Blessed

Nine years ago today was a pretty fantastic day. I gave birth to the sweetest girl on earth, Miss Peyton Grace. She didn't come easy or willingly {or without complications}, but all 10 lbs. 4 oz. of her was finally here after waiting 42+ very looooong weeks. She was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I spent my first Mother's Day in the hospital snuggled up with the best gift ever, a precious new baby girl. Knowing what I know now, I think back to how young and naive I was. I had NO idea what God had in store for us. And boy, have these last nine years been a ride. But I'm blessed to say that even though the past nine years have had their ups and downs, God has been right there along side us the WHOLE time.

This morning as I walked Miss Peyton in to school with her birthday treats, our most favorite SPED teacher had just pulled in to the parking lot. I heard someone hollering, "Wait up - I wanna walk in with my two favorite girls!". As she reached us and I watched her interact with my sweet girl, my heart swelled, and I was reminded once again just how incredibly blessed we are. This teacher has become so dear to our family, and it absolutely blows my mind to look back and see all of the wonderful people God has placed in our lives to come alongside and support us. As we walked down the hallway, this teacher turned and asked me how work was going...then she asked me something else, "Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all that you're juggling?" I had hoped it wasn't that obvious, but I briefly told her with a smile, "Um, YEAH, all the time...!". Then she said in the calmest voice with a lovely smile on her face, "But aren't we blessed to know the Lord's right there with us and has the ability to help us focus and keep calm in those moments?". Talk about a reminder slapping you upside the face. YES. We are so very blessed to have Him with us even in those moments where we feel like we're going to crash and burn. He's there. And He's got everything under control...even if we feel completely out of control.

I can't even tell you how many times over the course of the past nine years I've felt as though I just wanted to crawl into a hole and give up. There have been many...too many to count. I often look at my week and go, "Okay...Special Olympics practice on Monday, occupational therapy on Tuesday, horse therapy and speech therapy on Wednesday, music therapy on Thursday...then Carson has baseball Tuesday & Thursday, and football camp on Saturday...then I've gotta grocery shop, and do our family finances, and catch up on laundry & house chores, and Peyton's got a specialist appointment, and Carson has a dentist appointment and an eye appointment, and three of my Libby Design clients are heading to trade shows next week and need everything ASAP, along with several package designs, posters, logo designs, sales flyers and magazine ads for some other clients, and church t-shirt designs for VBS, and I've got a bunch of Red Letter Ink orders to fill, and I need to figure out Mother's Day gifts, and...I know I'm forgetting something...". But as my dear teacher friend reminded me this morning, HE has everything under control.

So, today I'm going to take a deep breath, I'm going to meet fabulous Special Olympics moms for coffee {a.k.a. therapy for mama}, I'm going to rest in the fact that HE has got my back, and I'm going to celebrate my sweet girl and all that she's brought to our family. Love you, sweet Peyton Grace! We are blessed.

"All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose." ~ Romans 8:28