I am blessed

I have been struggling for the last couple of weeks, maybe even a month now with the way my life is going. It just seems like I have no control over anything. Maybe it is because this is the first time in my life that I do not have a job and I have been thrown into this stay at home mom role. Maybe it is because there are too many people living at our house. A friend of our lost is home and had no where to go so he is living here along with his son. His son is here every Tues, Thurs, and every other weekend. My father in law lives on our property, in a seperate dwelling, my mother in law and her husband live here right now in their RV for the summer. Maybe it is because our 'income property' that we bought (when I had a job) is taking a toll on all of us. It is draining our bank account and Doug's time away from us to get it finished and on the market to sell. Maybe it is because I feel this desire, and need to have everything be a little more simpler. Kind of like a Little House on the Prairie life.

I had mentioned to Doug the other day that I am drained from doing all the dishes and housework and taking care of the kids and cooking and everything that comes along with it. I said " I am NOT cut out for this home-maker job." He said something to me that honestly kind of surprised me. He told me that I should take pride in my job now, more than I did when I was actually working. I thought fooey on you!! Take pride in this. Be proud that my dishes are done, be proud that I cooked a meal. This is something that I HAVE to do EVERYDAY!!

So anyway, yesterday I talked with a girlfriend of mine for about an hour and she helped me figure somethings out. I need to sit back, take a look at everything around me. Find out what I can change and what I can't. I can't change the fact that the house needs to be cleaned so we just do it, we need to eat, we need clean clothes and so on, I can't change the fact that bills need to be paid so we just keep chugging along. I CAN change the way I look at everything around me. So last night as I was laying in bed I thought about my day yesterday and everything that I have been feeling lately and this is what I came up with.

I realized that I am very lucky and I mean VERY to have a home to take care of. Alot of people in our area are losing their houses. We are very fortunate to actually own 3 houses (1 is a rental, the other is our project house, and the house we live in). I am blessed to have all the in laws here because it gives my children the opportunity to see their grandparents everyday and I have to admit it is VERY nice when my mother in law comes over and helps me out when I need it. I am blessed to be able to be home with my children and to take care of my nieces because I get the opportunity to watch them grow. I am blessed that I have a husband that wants to work and wants to work hard to provide for us. I am blessed to have some great girlfriends that I can call when I need a reality check. I am blessed to have a fantastic sister that takes my children when I need a break. So from this day forward I am going to count my blessings and really really try to look at things with a different attitude and keep an open mind about things and try to find the good in every situation. Maybe this will bring me closer to the calm I am looking for, the peaceful, less stressed, simpler, Little House on the Prairie life that I am craving. Count your blessings!