Kindred Spirit

During my life's journey so far, I have been blessed to have made the acquaintance of a few "kindred spirits" along the way. If you have one yourself, you know the type of person about whom I am referring. These are the people to whom you are connected on a level separate from time and space. My sister is one of these people---which is good, because, being she lives across the Atlantic Ocean, time and space are not on our side! But our connection transcends that. I often know that she will be calling me even before the phone rings. My friend, Amy, in Phoenix, is another one of my kindred spirits. I have been thinking of her a lot lately. Tonight, after I put the kids to bed, I wandered downstairs, feeling alone (Mike left for San Antonio today and won't be back until Thursday night), and wondering for a split second how I might remedy that, when the phone rang. It was Amy. Thanks for the great chat, Amy, and for your friendship. I am glad our connection has transcended time and space! I just added another entry below. I hope it keeps you entertained (perhaps even enlightened?) at work! ;-)

Third Time is a Charm

I recently sat down to read Wendy Mogel's book The Blessing of a Skinned Knee for the third time. The first time I read it was about 3.5 years ago, when I was still the mother of one. I remember being overwhelmed, thinking, "Boy, I have a lot of work to do!" The second time I read it was this past year in a parenting class at the temple. I was so excited to hear that they were going to be discussing this book, because I had always wanted to get feedback from other parents on the topics covered. We had a great group of parents and an awesome leader, and I gained some new insights. The other day, I picked it up again, just to refresh myself and sort of evaluate how I have been doing RE: implementation. While there are still many things I can improve upon, of course, I am happy to report that I am feeling pretty good about where I am at on this parenting journey. And it's not because things are necessarily "better" than before--every day presents its own challenges (some new, some of the same ones, over and over and over again!)-- but that I have come to the point of acceptance---that parenting is TOUGH, but I am giving it all I have got, and that is good enough. The rest is in the hands of a Power greater than myself.