My sweet baby girl, The Southern Belle, came for a visit this weekend. She is running in the Houston Marathon. This will be her third marathon in a year.
Here she is in Boston this year. She was already headed back to her room when the devastation occurred. We are thankful. blessed.
I have a lot to learn from that very smart young lady. She is already working on, and succeeding at, something that I have always had hard time with and does a waaay better job than I do. She has found ways to balance what is important in her life. She got married this summer to a great guy. We love Big Cat and attribute some of the fun factor in her life to his influence.
In addition to being married, she holds a very demanding job and all the obligations that it entails, has an active membership in a service organization, is still active in her local chapter of her college sorority, and has set aside time for her passion, which is running. She is also the first one to mail a birthday card or post card from her travels, she calls her parents and grandparents regularly, keeps up with her college buddies,
keeps a clean house, and still has time to socialize with her friends.
She is not afraid to tell someone who calls that now is not a good time ( even her mom!), but she will call them back. I feel guilty doing this. She is willing to be the first one up on holidays so that she can go to the gym or for a run before the day gets started, she looks for things to do that are fun but still fulfill her responsibilities or include friends. (We passed out pink ribbons at the Carolina Panthers football game before the game got started on one visit and went to a KIPP academy event on another trip . She planned a Pinterest party on one visit and we ate out at potential wedding rehearsal sites on a pre wedding visit.) As I thought about all she has going on and how she is able to manage it I thought about the rock analogy. You have probably heard this story told before but like me, you may not have seen it. You may also be like me and just need a reminder.
My word this year is focus. I need to focus on what makes my heart sing, and put those the big rocks first then let the rest settle in around what is important to me. I need to stop relinquishing control of my agenda to others who may not have the same priorities I do, and I need to focus on my spiritual, physical and emotional health.
This Weekend Country Girl is going to put marriage, family, faith, and health in her jar first. Oh, and laughter. I need a lot more of that. Doesn’t this picture of my four kids just make you smile? It sure does make my heart sing.
