Another Day! Yay!: A Choice

So, it's 6:45 am and I'm up...ready to start another school year! Don't worry, I know there won't be any students there today, but teachers start getting everything ready a few weeks before the big day. There's so much to do: unpack everything, set up your classroom, attend PDs, start planning lessons for a new year. It's a lot of work.

My first day back always means that summer has (almost) ended. Sure, it still stays light longer, we'll still have cookouts, and play in the pool, but...

I go to bed earlier, wake up earlier, and take on a new, heavy load of responsibility. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining one bit. It's just the facts of a teacher's life. We know all too well when summer's coming to a close.

At the beginning of the summer, I posted an entry about my eagerness to find out what God had planned for my summer. At that time, I did not know that Rick would be leaving his job to come back home. I had no idea that the biggest surprise in God's plan was that my little family would be together for 6 weeks.

There's no way I could possibly find the words to convey what having this time with my family has meant to me. It's the biscuits-for-breakfast together. It's the backyard games in the middle of the day. It's the lazy, no-rush nights. I would say I'm lucky to have this time with my family, but that would insinuate it happened by chance and...

it didn't.

Our time together is a choice.

You see, I am a firm believer that there's not a person living that has it "all." We all accomplish, possess, and sacrifice things according to our values. If we examine ourselves closely, I think it's easy to see our priorities, what things are most important to us. I'm sure you can look at the "so and so" family and see what's most important to them, just as you can look at the "this and that" family and see what they value. With that said...

There are things Rick and I sacrifice (things I won't bore you with the details of because the last thing we need is a pity party) so that we can be here with Gabriella together. There are things we sacrifice so that we all eat dinner together every single night. There are things we sacrifice so that when one of us accomplishes something, we're all here to celebrate it. There are things we sacrifice so that we have so much time together. I know there are people who think (and say...yes, I hear) that we spend too much time together. If only they knew that at the end of this life, I'm sure I will be wishing it was even more! hahaha To spend this summer together was a sacrifice, but it was important to us. It's funny because Rick stayed at home with Gabriella her first year, but it took this summer for me to truly realize that any sacrifice that results in time together will always be worth it. Hey, I like that line!

Any sacrifice that results in time together will always be worth it.

So, put down the remote, turn off your IPhone or IPad or whatever you constantly check fb with, clear your busy schedule, put away your golf clubs, put down the laundry and spend some time...

together

I snapped a photo of Rick and Gabriella at the park the other day, albeit not a very good one, but I love the look of Gabriella's hair blowing in the breeze, her mouth wide open with laughter. I know I said I couldn't find the words to convey how great this summer's been, but the look on Gabriella's face comes pretty close!

I hope that no matter who you are, no matter where you are, that you can relate to this same sense of excitement. I hope that when you see your family, your spouse, your children...

it feels like that, it looks like that.

Yes, Rick and I make a choice to be there for moments like this. Maybe we should be investing more in other things, our savings, our house, our retirement...

but, if we have to make a choice

(and we do)

we're making the choice to invest in us.

Something tells me that when it's all said and done, neither one of us will regret our choice.