Breathe In and Breathe Out

My precious little girl is 4 years old and tonight I rocked her to sleep. As I sat there I kept thinking about how my thoughts mirrored ever so closely to those I had the evening I wrote my very first blog post. I didn't know 3 years ago that our life would be the same in so many ways yet so vastly different in others.

As I was tucking Zoe in I asked her if she wanted to rock for a little while. I knew the answer would be yes. She has long passed the days of needing to be rocked to sleep and she hadn't had a rough day or anything like that. The truth is I wanted it as much as she did. 

I wanted her to know that she is loved. She is more important to me than the kitchen that needs to be cleaned or the rest of the house that still needs to be put to right before I can call it a night. She is more important than catching up on emails in my inbox or the book on my nightstand that I have read the same 3 pages of several times now because I keep falling asleep. I wanted just for a moment to rock back and forth and breathe in and breathe out.

It can be overwhelming to look at this new year and all the ups and downs that I know it will hold. I can choose though to take the moments that are right in front of me and make the most of them. I can choose what I allow to be my priorities and what I allow to consume my time. My prayer tonight is that I will make wise choices. That I will choose love and not selfishness, and that I will slow down and use every opportunity that God brings my way.