Year 10-Phase 5.

In 2005, Jared and I welcomed our precious Katelyn Rose into the world. She was 10 weeks early and only 3 lb 14 oz when she arrived. I like to think that those final 10 weeks would have allowed us to get our ducks in a row, but sometimes life doesn't work out that way. Our wild at heart, Titus came into the world in 2008. Jared and I made a commitment before our kids were born, that one of us would be at home to care for the kids. We wanted to be the primary person caring for our kids and didn't want the responsibility to fall on someone else. This has created a real challenge and struggle for this phase of our life. Jared and I are productive people and want to see tangible results to show for our success and hard work. Some tangible results would be to be financially stable, to have nice home, nice cars, go on vacations, etc. Somehow it has been embedded in us, that without these tangible results, we are being unproductive, lazy and we have less value. This phase of our life has presented some challenges in keeping to our commitments. It seems like there is less and less time in the day and the cost of living continues to rise. One thing I have learned is that God provides ALL of your NEEDS, but finding out what your true needs are takes some real thought. During this phase of our life, we have found that self control with expenses, time, and many other things is a true art that needs to be worked on and refined. During this time, we have been able to be fully engaged as parents and it has been such a blessing. A 5 minute walk takes 45 minutes. What would take 15 minutes to get ready in the morning, takes 2 hours. And this is our life and we love it. On my next post, I will share a reflection from Year 10 (the evolution of our relationship).