Time Alone

today i had the wonderful opportunity to spend an entire day alone.... something i always dream about and yet it never happens... life is busy, i have a husband and kids to tend to. There are always demands from my shop... even if they are just in my mind! However.. football season is here and that means that Jim and Miller go to alot of the games (and wish that the rest of us could come along!!!) Auburn football is a highlight in our fall activities even though it still feels like summer here in Alabama. Today, as they drove off.... I literally watched the leaves rustling in the wind... hot wind mind you... and I noticed how my Zinnias are finally blooming.... and how the shadows are changing in our yard because the tree that we planted ourselves the year that we built our pool, a River Burch, is now shading the pool tremendously because it has grown so large.. and I began to get really sentimental... Miller is spending the night in Auburn, his first college trip so to speak. Well... he went to Alabama 2 weeks ago while we were in Jackson but I don't really count that if you know what i mean!!! My point being... we are about to be empty nesters... something we have longed for and now all of a sudden its making me real sad!!! Miller was our caboose child... the one we prayed for and couldn't have for 3 or 4 years until miraculously... we re-did a 106 year old farmhouse and got our minds off of what we couldn't have and then all of a sudden... God blessed us with Miller!!! He has been such a joy.... I'm scared that we havent enjoyed him like we should have now that he is almost grown.... all 6ft 3 or 4" of him!! with his sweet, tender heart and beautiful smile!!! He never talks back... always does what he is told... and i'm not making this up... sometimes its begrudgingly mind you, but its never disrespectful. Unlike me... i was not like this! I know Jim was though! So it must come from his side! I don't even know why I'm really feeling the urge to write this except that watching the Auburn game tonight and knowing that he is staying there... as are alot of his friends... watching the players struggle so... getting injured... just seeing how fragile life really is... it really did make me stop and think about all that we have been blessed with! and all that is about to leave us!!! Have we prepared them? Is Miller ready to head off to college in 2 years? Is anyone for that matter???

For that matter.... are Mitch and Britney ready to handle Layton and all of her 3 year old antics and illnesses, etc... Are Holly and Brad ready to be left alone in Jackson, MS? Where they know NO ONE mind you!!!! They are literally in a foreign land if you ask me!!!!

Have we done the job that God left us in charge of??? Raising all of our kids to walk with Him? to seek Him? to love Him above all else???? The things I can think of that immediately pop into my mind that we could've done differently are things like... not getting mad at stupid things... me not nagging Jim about stupid things... on and on... But I also wish I had done a better job at praising them for the things they did right!! I wish I had bragged on Jim in front of our children... not a "for show" kind of bragging... but a bragging on the fact that he works hard to provide for his family and that his family takes priority above all other matters.... that he stops everything to go their activities and events, etc.... Thats always been a pet peave of mine that people never tell you when you did a good job! They seem to focus on the bad! I wish I had praised Jim more in front of my children!! In fact... I wish I had praised Jim every hour of everyday!!! He certainly deserves it even though he would tell you he doesnt!!! Which leads me into the Bon Jovi song... (Laurin!) as the song says, Jim is " My Superman tonight....maybe I'm cynical....painfully

logical....who's gonna save me when the stars fall from your sky and whos gonna pull you in when the tide gets too high??? Who's going to fix you the next time that you break down??? Don't look back... let it go..... I won't lie.... I wish that I was that Superman tonight!" Jim has always been my Superman... and always will be.... I am forever grateful for the love that we share... for the time God has given us and for the friends and family that support us in all areas of life!!!!! Truth be told... we are all blessed beyond measure!!!!