Celebrate!

I love to celebrate!  Holidays, birthdays, milestones, accomplishments, and everyday things are all reasons for celebration.  I come from a long line of celebrators.  My Grandma Lois could turn anything into a party.  Every Thanksgiving, she would sit the grand kids at the table and put us to work polishing her spoon collection.  She made it so much fun, that we looked forward to the annual tradition!  I learned the celebratory attitude well.  As a senior in high school, my friend Sharon and I would have "Monday parties", "Tuesday parties", etc.  I can celebrate anything!

My absolutely favorite celebrations are birthdays.  It's the one day in a year that is dedicated to celebrating the life of a specific person...a day to get away with spoiling someone and showing (and hopefully saying) how important they are!  It's a time to bless a life and reflect on lessons learned. 

So what is the bottom line here?  People who are important to me should be celebrated every day...not just on birthdays!  My own life should be celebrated by me!  And I should be looking for reasons to celebrate every day...and I try to, but sometimes I get overwhelmed by life and the tasks that it requires me to do.  On cold, cloudy, snowy days, it is hard for me to find things to celebrate.  I am going to be more intentional.  I will find things to celebrate each day!  And I will share the celebration if you happen to be around!

Struggle

Struggle...not a typical word I want to live by.  In fact, I have done everything in my power to avoid struggle!  But, I have recently realized the character and the strength that comes from struggling.  Yesterday, I was running uphill against the wind and I thought, this is how life feels.  It's a battle to get to the top of the hill and it seems like forever before I get there.  Why would I do that to myself?  Why would I choose to struggle up the hill?  Because I know that it will make me stronger...my heart, my lungs, my skeletal muscles, my bones...all of me will become stronger as I continue to challenge myself with running. 

Life brings struggles my way...I rarely go looking for them!  Colon cancer made me a survivor, taught me gratitude, and convinced me that God loves me and He does miracles!  The five year struggle after college with depression, letting go of my plans, and trying to find a job taught me that God's ways and His plans are so much better than mine!  The day to day struggles of balancing being a wife, mom, teacher, friend, and Christian sometimes feel like losing battles to me.  I struggle to be better at every role that I fill and I am often frustrated by how human and limited I am, but Jesus uses my every day challenges to make me stronger if I will let Him. 

I am choosing to embrace the struggles and to enjoy the challenge of getting to the top of the mountain!  I will be better...I will be stronger...I will be more like Jesus!  And the view from the top will be breathtaking!