Mom's morning out

Last week, Jonathan offered me an amazing gift, that he would take care of Jackson from when he woke up in the morning until noon! Wow.  As I lay in bed listening to the sound of them playing downstairs, I was thankful for God's many blessings in my life. A considerate husband, a healthy baby, a super crazy dog and our new life as a family of three + Link.  After feeding Jackson, I headed out to read at starbucks for almost three hours. Curled up in a comfy brown chair, I did some of my Bible study and some pleasure reading while enjoying a cup of their dark roast of the day. Perfect.

Despite all the signs I was giving to the contrary, the nice stranger next to me must have imagined a sign on my shirt that said, "Please talk to me", so when his conversation began to interrupt my peaceful morning, I headed over to the home of a new friend with a two month old baby to bring her dinner. We enjoyed some get-to-know you time on the couch and talked about doing dinner together with our husbands. I was so thankful for the blessing of caring for her, uninterrupted, hands-free. As much of a blessing Jackson is, it is also difficult to have purposeful time with friends to really give them my undivided attention and truly listen.

I have realized that amidst all the craziness of raising a baby, being married, working, etc, I still need to maintain a little time for just me, to relax, connect with myself and to stay healthy so I can better fulfill all the roles to which I have been called.  I am looking forward to many more dates with myself and a cup of the latest dark roast.