5 Years--Then and Now

I started blogging 5 years ago and life looked a lot different back then.  Ben was about to turn 1 and Will was 3 1/2 years old.  Our life revolved around the baby and toddler.  Those were fun years and the boys were sweet, but raising children that age can be challenging.  I miss the days of the boys being little, but there are many advantages now that they are older and more independent.  It's hard to believe that Ben is almost finished with kindergarten, and he's about to turn 6.  Will has almost completed 2nd grade and is 8 1/2.  The boys' lives are all about school, sports, riding bikes, playing outside, games on the iPad, Wii or Nintendo DS, Legos, and friends.  Will and Ben are best buddies and I'm thankful they love each other.  Currently they share a room, and at night I love hearing them talk and laugh.  God's blessed with us with those two more than I could have ever imagined.

As for Mark and me, life is still really good. Back in 2010, we'd been married almost 8 years.  Today we still feel as happy now as we did then.  We've always had a great marriage, but I think it gets easier the longer we've been married.  Mark and I have been married long enough to feel comfortable, but instead of that being a bad thing I find it comforting.  There's an assurance knowing that we'll always be together and we want the same things in life.  Not a lot has changed in most areas of our life.  We still live and work where we did 5 years ago.  We still attend the same church.  We still have the same friends. We still love to travel and spend time with our family.

Not everything is the same though.  The family photo above is a clue.  There are some big changes in the near future.  We will be moving soon because we are in the process of building our new home.  The new home will be in the field behind us where we took this photo.  Many like to call what we are building a "forever home", which is how we think of it.  It's truly our dream home that will be a new old farmhouse out in the country on some land Mark bought before we got married.  Did I ever mention that's where he proposed?  It is!  Thirteen years ago he asked and I said yes.  So it's a special place to us for many reasons. 

There have been challenges in our lives the last five years.  Some of them I've shared, and other things I've chosen to keep to myself.  I'm an open book, but some things needed to stay private.  I've always tried to navigate the fine line between being encouraging by sharing our struggles, but also remembering that it's important to handle difficult situations with dignity.  Sometimes the most dignified way to do that is being reserved and sharing less.  Overall I can't complain.  Even when we've gone through trials, the Lord has seen us through.  We've grown from the struggles we've faced and we press on to the goal.

Looking back at the last 5 years reminds me to think ahead to the future.  It's hard to believe in 5 more years that Will will be 13--a teenager--oh my goodness!  Ben will be 10--almost 11, which blows my mind. 

I love that this blog has been a place to keep our special family memories.  It's also been an outlet to share important thoughts.  The biggest surprise from blogging is that it's even provided me friendship.  What an unexpected blessing!  The memories and encouragement are just a few of the reasons I'm grateful for this little blog and the blogging community.  Lord willing I'll be around for many more years to come. 

If you're reading this, thanks for spending time with me and being a part of our Imperfectly Wonderful World. We're living proof that life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

And just for the fun of it, here's the link to my very first blog post ever on May 5,  2010.