A Direct Hit Right Between the Eyes to Start the New Year

Vacation is over and the New Year (and a new decade) has begun.  It is time to get back into a rhythm and flow, find my focus, and set some goals, but first I wanted to share this quote I read yesterday with you.  It smacked me right between the eyes.  I hope it impacts you, too.  Get ready for a power-packed punch...

"Patience to wait does not come from suffering long in what we lack, but from sitting long in what we have."

-Beth Moore, inspirational author and speaker

How did that hit you?  Still reeling from the blow?  Seeing stars?  I don't know about you, but I'm still feeling the effects.

I don't know what you are waiting on or how long and how much you've suffered, but I'm willing to guess that the wait and the suffering of it all has been your focus --- just like it has been for me.  I'm also guessing that Beth Moore didn't make that quote the theme of her entry for January 3rd in her book, Praying God's Word Day by Day, just for Beth Schlarmann but for a slew of "waiters" around the world.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

So, if you will let me indulge myself (hey, it is my blog!), I'll let you know what I "have" to sit long in:

I have been so blessed to be married for 17 years (yes, I was just a youngin!) to my best friend, confidant, lover, father of my children, and hero, Steve.  God knew what He was doing when He brought Steve and I together.  My husband has been the provider, the strength, the smarts, and the difference maker in our family.  He has carried me on his back throughout my illness and encouraged me to stay optimistic and strong. 

Then there is "Peat", my oldest son.  He was blessed with self-confidence the likes of which I never have had.  He is a leader and a listener with great big hopes and dreams for his future...a future I have no doubt he will succeed in.  And my "Peat" has the greatest belly laugh you've ever heard that comes with a clever sense of humor.  He, too, has blessed my life. 

And who could forget my "Repeat", my youngest son.  He is the most empathetic person I've ever met.  He truly has a gift of understanding and "feeling" other's emotions and moods.  Does it stop there?  Oh, no.  My "Repeat" is able to just be still in your company and bring you peace.  Talk about being gifted.  Not to mention the child is the best hugger out there.  I am blessed by this son of mine.

Then, of course, comes my family.  All of you by biology, adoption, or marriage came to me through love.  I can't wait to see who else God chooses to call my family.  We are blessed to have each other.

I have been given an enormous gift called friendship.  There are so many of you that I call friend.  You have enriched my life in so many ways.  Some of you I don't know well (or even don't know), but I hope that my circle of friendship grows to include each of you.  There are some people that I'm blessed to call both family and friend, and others of you who have taught me that friends are family.  I am sitting long in you.

I have been blessed by opportunities.  There are many that come my way through friendship, through business, through adoption, through blogging, and through faith.  I can only hope that this year, 2010, I will seize those opportunites and find many others.

Then there are the "things" in life.  I'm blessed by a roof over my head, cars to drive (that are even paid for), food to eat, and all those tangibles.  There are so many people in this world (147 million children orphaned or abandoned worldwide) who don't have those things we take for granted. 

I am also blessed by hope.  Hope for our daughter-to-be and any future children we may be blessed with, hope for a cure for RSD, hope for a long and fruitful life, and  hope for a future without poverty, war, or pain.

Most of all I am blessed by faith and love in and through our Lord above.

Hmm, I don't know about you, but today I'm going to be sitting long in all I have.