Blue Skies

There was a guest Pastor again at Church; I liked him -- his whole message revolved around Philippians 1:3. He analyzed those 9 words from every angle, and I ate it up.....right down to the notion that appreciating each other can die away when we become merely accustomed to the routine of what we do in caring for one another. He used examples from his own Church, specifically the women who light the candles and arrange the flowers, or step in quietly at the last minute to help with music. :-) He said he finds that he forgets to be grateful.

In our family's miniature therapy sessions (usually in the car to or from school....) we've been talking, coincidentally, about THIS VERY IDEA. The three are re-visiting "I miss Chesapeake" -- especially Ian, lately. I try to resist playing the "ace" card ;-) of telling them that it hasn't been all that much fun for me at certain times, either. Like these impromptu moments of motivational-pep-talks-while-juggling-raw-eggs-so-as-to-not-upset-the-finely-balanced-web-of-emotional-stability....

The impromptu therapy sessions are never scheduled -- they come out of the blue, which adds an exciting element to balancing everyone back into positive. :-)

Ian seems to be the one most burdened by the (now, nearly mythical) memories of Chesapeake. My new strategy is to just make a LIST with him of all the pros and cons between his life here and his life there. He has some startling advantages to living here (his own bathroom, his own FLOOR, better Scouts situation, more bike riding, more independence.....)

With the other two, I've started to massage the idea that our time here is not forever...and that they will be saying all these things about Stuttgart once we've moved on. In the meantime, we need to be grateful for each day and each experience. In the same way we sometimes ache with appreciation for the people we left at home in the States, we should also be appreciating right now the people we have around us here.

Juggle, juggle, juggle.... :-)

Which leads me to write very specifically about the 160 e-mails I am not answering -- thank you thank you for the encouragement, as well as gracious LACK of irritation ;-) at not getting prompt answers from me. I am always hopeful that I'll improve -- every day is New Year's Day for me this year.

:-) It's time to take Ian to cello lessons, (another thing to be grateful for having....I was going to ask if he would be open to a video posting here), and I think I've shared enough of our Sturm und Drang (ha ha!) for this week. It feels pretty much on track. But, before I hit "publish post" I'd like to say that......I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Phil 1:3

xoxoxoxo