Saturday, October 1, 2011

Turning 28....in the Middle East

We kicked off my birthday celebrations with a trip to Qatar (which I will blog about tomorrow) and today is my birthday...and I am not sure how I am feeling about it. I am not freaking out about getting close to 30 or anything but I do feel older this year and also had a lot of thinking over the weekend of where I am and if this was where I thought I would be at 28. Not that it matters because this is where I am in my life and I can only make the best and do the best that I can with what my life looks like now but....

...10 years ago...even 5 years ago....I would have never imagined...having one let alone two kids, not working in a professional career for the past three years, living overseas....all those things I wanted but more later in life. We were on a five year plan to have kids...and in five years we have two! I was going to work for 5 years or so and then stay home...I worked for 2. We would live overseas after we were done having our two or three kids so about 8 years after we were married...not now! As much as my life feels totally chaotic, not what I planned, and I wonder daily what the whole grand plan looks like because I am just not seeing it and feel very lost most of the time.

But I do know that I am thankful.....I very much recognize how fortunate I am and the great things that are in my life at 28....
  • For my husband who loves me and works so hard to provide for me and for some reason thinks (and tells me often) I am amazing.
  • For my two beautiful, sweet, healthy kids that make me want to pull out my hair and scream and then the next minute just sit and cuddle. As difficult as being their mom can be, I am beyond thankful for them and love them to pieces. I am so honored to be their mom.
  • For my family who supports me in every decision I make and loves me unconditionally. They are crazy, competitive, loud and so much fun. I miss them so much and miss not celebrating my birthday with them.
  • For the financial blessings, the job security and all the blessings we have living overseas. As hard as it is, this is where we need to be right now and we are blessed and thankful for the opportunity (I just need to remind myself that a whole bunch)
  • My friends back in League City/Texas and my friends here. I am blessed with a strong community back home that we miss tremendously and yet we are creating a new community here and one that I am so thankful and appreciative of their hospitality and friendship
So....for turning 28 I think I have it pretty good and I feel very overwhelmed with gratitude of the blessings that have been poured on my life. This might not be the life I envisioned or planned for myself at this age but it is much better than I could have ever imagined...which is normally the case when I trust in Him as opposed to myself! Wonder where we will be and what will be going on at 30?!?


This was my attempt to get a birthday picture with my two blessings this weekend...they were not so cooperative...well one was more helpful than the other!

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