Taking care of oneself

I seem to have been learning the hard way about the importance of taking care of myself. I learned a while back (after many a meltdown) that life was just easier/better if I took care of my emotional needs, and I'm good about taking breaks from the kids whenever I can. I feel like I've found a good balance there. And I know that I can do nothing without the Lord, and that I need to walk in close fellowship with Him for anything good to come from my life (though I still have a long way to go on that one).

But my physical needs have always been at the very bottom of the list...and after this weekend I'm starting to think that needs to change somehow. I've been out of commission from a horrible toothache. Totally bummed out that I couldn't enjoy the extra time at home with the family. And mad that if I'd been taking better care of my teeth I wouldn't have been on the couch all day. I have weight to lose, I don't exercise, my hair gets cut about once a year on average, and on and on.

The problem I'm faced with is this: moving my physical needs up the list = moving something(s) down. So which of the important things I'm doing are less important than taking care of my body? What can/should I give up to avoid another disabling toothache (or worse, following in my grandmother's footsteps and dying of a heart attack at 51)? Or, maybe more important, is it really that big of a deal to schedule a few dentist appointments, or get up 20 min. early to go jogging? Put in those terms it seems so easy...and yet here I am.

Ugh.

Happy Monday!

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE Mondays??? It's the beginning of a new week. Everything returns to "normal" after a busy weekend. I'm rested, I've had some scrapping time recently, and the house is usually in decent shape.

Today is an especially happy Monday because a) it's a gorgeous day here in Bonney Lake, WA, and b) I jogged this morning!! I made the discovery a few weeks back that exercise just isn't going to happen unless I get up at 6, and I've been better about getting to bed early (well, earlier)...exercise is so good for my mood. So is getting up early. I'll have to do it more often.

Anyway, off to make my list for the week! Here's a new one of Mariah...She's almost 3 now. How did I miss that I can add photos to my blog by dragging and dropping? Way easier than the way I'd been doing it.

Parenting = an act of faith

It's been a long time in coming, but I think I'm finally starting to see the role of faith in my parenting:

*I can't save my kids--only God can.
*That means that their becoming the people He wants them to be isn't dependent on my best efforts, but on His work in their life.
*That means that the pressure is off of me to be the perfect mom, and I can love them, teach them, play with them, and RELAX.

Like I said, it's been a long time in coming. And the constant self-doubt and second-guessing is *exhausting*. And a joy-stealer. I am hoping that this realization is a turning point for me in my parenting. And yet, it will not make me a perfect parent. Because that isn't what my kids need. They need to need the Lord.

Deep thoughts for a Wednesday morning, eh? I'll end with a picture. It' s not a perfect picture, but this is the Esther I love: