Well - this year I started out selling homes like a mad woman and it is ending with extreme baby fever! Who would have ever thought that would happen to me.
Mid April I had a falling out with a group of friends. As my husband says sometimes it is time to move on - remember the time you had with them - the fun times, the laughter, the memories but.... just because you have history with people does not mean you have anything in common with them and definitely does not mean that they are healthy for you to be around.
This is actually the third "set" of friends that I have lost in the past 4-5 years.
It was a sad time but little did I know God had other plans for me, my life, and making new friends. Wow did he ever!!
So skip ahead to July 4th - the day that I discovered adoption - in the most indirect way - my life had changed. For the better - forever!!
Even though we have pushed the pause button on the adoption - my life is forever changed.
I have always been self-centered - being that for so many years it was just me and a dog and cat. Then I met Brad and we became couple centered. Spending our time with each other enjoying our lives together. Not really thinking of life outside of our world.
Once God put adoption on our hearts such a huge change has taken place over the last 6 months.
I started the RCIA program at St. Henry's Church. I knew that I would become Catholic at some point but I did not know it would be this year. What an awesome experience it has been for me. Meeting such loving kind helpful God loving people of all ages and all races! It has just been incredible. I look forward to Tuesdays every single week. I love learning about Jesus and the faith of Catholic people.
I have started volunteering at the Hope Clinic. It is a teen counseling center. I have always felt such a connection to teenage girls. It is a wonderful spiritual place!
My mother and I helped a Nashville single mother with 3 daughters with Christmas. We went a bit over board shopping for them...imagine that being that we both love to shop:). It was so much fun. I would much rather buy someone else a gift than receive a gift. Again a HUGE change in my life.
Brad and I delivered food last week for Thanksgiving fro Meals on Wheels. It was also a great experience. The sweet little ladies were so grateful and thankful. Little did they know we were the thankful ones.
After watching the Advent Christmas video - I have tried hard to give gifts that give back. I would say half of the presents that I have purchased so far give back to some type of charity. Now that warms my heart.
I have also started to recycle and reuse. I never really thought about it before. Again VERY self-centered. I now recycle all shopping bags - plastic and paper. I have always given to Goodwill but this year I have done so even more. I have 2 hugs bags downstairs right now ready to go. I give all of my magazines to friends instead of throwing them away. I reuse boxes and gift bags. I try to use as little water as possible. Take shorter showers. Turn the ac up and the heat down. I am trying to do my part. Small changes make a big difference.
I have also tried to be a better listener. I can learn so much more if I close my mouth and open my ears. This one can be hard for me being that I am a BIG talker!!
I read 2 amazing books this year - the outstanding "There is No Me Without You" and the inspirational "Eat Pray Love". Both were excellent!!! If you have not read them - go to your local library and get them both!
I love the changes that have taken place this year. I love my life. I love my new supportive, uplifting positive influential friends. I love the thought of being an adoptive parent.
Onto meeting new friends....April and I have become closer than ever, so have Zan and I, Beth, Susan N., and Nicole. I have met some wonderful new people in RCIA as I mentioned before. Holli A. and Christy B (the sisters that I adore) have been wonderful friends to me....always asking about the adoption. All of my blog friends that have commented on my blog, answered my questions, and helped me along the way. So positive and encouraging.
God has opened doors and helped to make me a better person. I look forward to see what the future holds!
Baby Elijah - gorgeous!!
One of my bff's Zan at her wedding!
