Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Priorities?


One of the exercises in CBS (community bible study) was to identify your priorities by looking at your checkbook and your calendar.  This one, was eye opening.  We spend an inordinate amount of time at soccer, playing it or coaching it.  It is interesting to see where we give of most of our time and money.  Are these areas really our priority?

That being said, fall is underway.  Both boys play on two teams.  Andrew's high school team is doing well.  More importantly he has stayed healthy.  We are only half way through the season, so prayers would be greatly appreciated.   He had a serious concussion spring of '07 and an avulsion hip fracture fall '09.  I take nothing for granted.  I pray during the games - for all of the boys.  Zach is also doing well.  That boy can not get enough of soccer.  Eliza is doing crew and riding (her passion).  Jason is coaching two teams and playing soccer, as well.  Soccer, soccer,  and more soccer.  (The only thing I can say in defense of how much time we spend with soccer is that we do it as a family.)

Andrew is driving.  In MA you get your learner's permit at 16 and 6 months later your license.  I hate it.  The first night he was driving home from school (highway driving) I thought that I would be sick to my stomach.  It has gotten easier (a bit), but I miss when I had to strap him into the stroller.

As for me, I am loving my classes.  CBS has been great.  I love history.  I love the Ethiopian connection.  I love the lessons.  I am excited to learn more about the book that is central to my beliefs.  Anatomy and Physiology, too, has been great.  the professor is very nice but not a great teacher.  I love the material, though, so I don't mind reading the text.  The only downside to all the learning is sometimes, I am exhausted at the end of the day.  I am trying to be mindful of that, to save some energy for Jason. Last night, we played backgammon while we talked, and the older kids finished homework.  We use to play backgammon all the time in college.

On the adoption front, I fed-exed our notarized home study to CIS and to KSB, yesterday.  That should complete our 1600a (we completed our fingerprints this summer).  I will wait for the 171. While we are waiting for the paperwork phase to be closed out, I went to a workshop on  Building your family through Birth and Adoption.  Great food for thought.  How do you building a cohesive unit and celebrating differences?  Today, I am participating in a workshop/webinar on how/when to share the difficult story with the adopted child (Ethiopia specific).  While waiting on the paperwork, I love the classes as a way to stay connected to the process.  

My goal is to get our calendar in balance with our true priorities.  

8 comments:

Adoption Cubed said...

I can imagine how eye-opening it would be for all of us to take a closer look at our priorities. I think I may need to do that....

I am in awe that you are enjoying your Anatomy and Physiology class! You go, girl!

It is sooooo exciting to read how close you are to being on the waitlist! Yay!!!
Rebecca

emily said...

This one is always so convicting for me! I will say that traveling to Ethiopia changed me and the way that I look at how our family spends its time. Our "soccer" is baseball and I'm still wrestling with how we will figure it all out this spring. Right now I'm in denial. :)

Healthy? Probably not. :)

Kristi J said...

wow, I never knew soccer could be so dangerous..yikes!!! I definitly could prioritize my calendar...thanks for the reminder, Kristi

Anonymous said...

What a great point. Wow. Our kids are just getting into it all- but it's a great heads up.

I don't like hearing about how you'd rather be pushing your teenager in a stroller! I know I'm going to be that way too. And since I'm in the thick of it, THANK YOU for the reminder to cherish the time right now.

Lori S said...

I'm with you--I love the time we spend as a family going to the different games (right now it's football). I say that as I'm sitting here in a hotel room--a stop on our way to an out of town game. It's like a mini vacation.
What I don't like is when we have to go different directions, or, as you said, John and I don't have time for each other. That definitely has to be a priority!

As for the driving--I've learned to appreciate the extra drivers in our house. I have to admit, I still worry. I'm thankful for cell phones!

So glad the paperwork is coming along. That in itself is very time consuming!

Kristi J said...

My hubby helps out a lot and supports my "entertaining" efforts. Since we don't have a house cleaner (besides me (: ...he's always willing to help out and clean a toliet or two the night before company arrives....I also stay up very late every night...that's my secret to survival...and, even with my best effort..you can always find crumbs, dust and toys anywhere in my house...I just don't ever strive for perfection...just what ever I can get done..hope you like the squash casserole...kj

Kristi J said...

You did make me smile..I love the music that comes along with blogging...it is so much fun to look for songs I like...can't wait for the recipes, Kristi

Thankfulmom said...

Jen,
Thank you for your comment on my blog. I have been reading some of yours and I love this post. I plan to do the exercise you mentioned about looking at our finances and our calendar.
I rarely get time to read blogs since bringing home our newest daughter, but I'll try to stop by. You have a beautiful heart.
Blessings,

Lisa