Bob and Beth...

I've been thinking a lot about these two people lately.  About how amazing they must have been.  They raised 4 wonderful people that I am so privileged to have in my life.  They instilled in their children:  determination, generosity, integrity, and a sense of humor.  They modeled for their children what a successful, happy marriage looks like.

They are my mother-in-law and father-in-law.  I think about them often.  I wonder what they would have thought when Kevin brought me home for the first time.  I wonder what they would have said to me on our wedding day.  I wonder what they would think of how we are raising their grandchildren.  I wonder if I am making them proud...being the kind of wife they would have wanted for their son (their baby)...the kind of mother they would have wanted for their grand kids.

I imagine Bob and my dad hitting it off.  From the stories I've heard, they'd have some stories to share.  I picture Beth and my mom being great friends...cut from the same cloth.  I wonder.  I imagine.  I pray.

I know that by knowing and loving their children, I am knowing at least a little bit of them.  The unending kindness, understanding, and strength of their oldest daughter...the devotion, generosity, and dependability of their oldest son...the determination, resiliency, and gentle spirit of their youngest daughter...the integrity, commitment, and ingenuity (not to mention, rugged good looks) of their youngest son.

These wonderful traits had to come from somewhere, right? 

So here's to Bob and Beth Prickett.  I thank you, I think of you, and I pray for you often.

Looking Ahead...

 

This is going to be a fairly short blog post, but I just couldn't let a New Year's go by without posting something.  And as this new year begins, I find myself looking forward.  You know how when you go to a movie, you look forward to the previews almost as much as you do the actual movie?  Well, think of 2013 as the "movie", and this post a "preview".  2013 is looking to be a big year in several ways:

~ Babies

• I will get regular baby-time with my bestie's new baby, Quinn. 
• My little brother and his wife are expecting their first child in June.
• My sister and her husband are expecting their third child in August.

             **SO EXCITED!!!!

~ Birthdays

• My sweet Hannah is turning 10...a whole decade old! 
• Several friends of ours are turning 30.

                   
~ Anniversaries

• My parents' 40th wedding anniversary is in December. (amazing, right?)
• August 28 will be the 7th anniversary of my leukemia diagnosis. (I know 7 years seems like a weird landmark, but I'll explain in a blog later.)
• August will also begin my 10th year of teaching.

~ Faith

• Mason will have his First Communion in May.
• My new nieces/nephews will be getting baptised. 

I'm sure many there are other landmark events that I am overlooking, but we'll get to them in good time.  I mean, how good would a preview be if it gave away all of the best parts?!

All that being said, you will notice that none of those things have anything to do with resolutions.  As I've blogged about before, I'm not big on making resolutions, because there's nothing about a new year that makes my goals any different than they are the rest of the year.  And...I'm no fool:

"He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool."   – F.M. Knowles,