Missing Out, or Not

This past weekend started out as a pity party for one. The college/young adults group at my church was taking their annual girls retreat this weekend. I wanted to go so badly. Now, I am not in this group nor have I been for the past few years, but basically all of the girls that I am closest to including my two sister were going. Just the thought of a peaceful weekend in the woods was putting a smile on my face. I have learned over the last four years that when you have kids sometimes you just don't get to do the things you want to do. That still didn't stop my inner desire for selfishness and a weekend getaway with the girls. Well, needless to say, I didn't go. Alan was out of town until Friday night (on a "work" trip to Angel Fire with a friend.) He did have a little bit of work to do on a customer's house up there but he also managed to squeeze in a day of snowboarding. This no doubt added to my self-pity. As I woke up today though I started thinking about what a great weekend it has been. If I had gone on the girls trip, here are some of the things I would have missed out on.
1. A trip to the "spa" with Taylor. Ok, Fancy Nails doesn't really fall into the spa category but Taylor got her nails painted, complete with jeweled flowers on her thumbs and I got a desperately needed eyebrow wax. Taylor was such a huge help to me while Alan was gone so I wanted to treat her to something special and that's what she wanted to do!
2. A trip to Mardels resulting in the purchase of three new books. I am not much of a reader. I went to Mardel's looking for a gift for my mother-in-law and I ran across three books that I really wanted. I am already almost done with "Multiple Blessings." It is about the Gosselins (Jon and Kate Plus 8). It's my new favorite show to watch and so I picked up the book because the bright yellow 50% off sticker was screaming at me. (I am a bargain girl!) I am so enjoying this book. I like their show, but in the book you get a greater sense of their love and total dependency on the Lord. It excited me to think that maybe someone would pick up the book because they love the show and perhaps find Jesus in the middle of it. They are so unashamed about their love for God and they are so quick to acknowledge His hand in every part of their lives. It's a good, easy read. My kind of book! I also picked up another book by Donald Miller. His book Blue Like Jazz was a really thinker for me, and I liked that. So, I'm going to try out another one of his. Sorry, I can't remember the name of it right now and don't want to get up to go look at it. The last book was a total impulse buy at the register. It was a $4.99 special about organizing your home. God has really been working on me in this area lately and I felt like maybe this book we give me the extra umph to get to it! We'll see.
3. Worshipping at church. This was my weekend off at church. After I had Molly Kate I just felt so incredibly overwhelmed and knew that if I didn't hand off a little responsibility at work I would probably just crack and quit it all. Having two weekends a month off has been so great for our whole family. We have never been able to all come to church together and just sit and worship together. I didn't realize how much I was missing out on. Ava loves to come in for worship. She would rather sing first and go to class after, which is saying a lot because she LOVES her class, especially Ms. Louise! So, Saturday night we went to church as a family and I held Ava during praise and worship. On the third song I opened my eyes and saw her little hand raised. I smiled at her and she asked me why me and daddy raise our hands up. I told her that it was one way to praise Jesus and show Him how much we love Him. She really liked the idea of that, so she had her hand raised pretty much the rest of the time. If someone would clap she would join in the clapping. She said "Mom, does that praise Jesus when I clap?" And I told her yes, so she clapped and smiled and raised her hands. It was a really sweet time for me to get to teach my daughter a little bit about worship.
4. Great time spent with my husband. Alan and I watched a few movies together this weekend once the girls were in bed. Doesn't like great bonding time, but for us just to sit next each other and spend some alone time at home doesn't happen that often. We watched Fireproof. Despite the less than stellar acting it was a really good movie. The story was really good and made me appreciate the relationship that Alan and I have. There have been a few times in our marriage where I felt like we went through some similar things as the movie, but God's grace is always sufficient and we are now in a really great place. This weekend was great and we both really enjoyed spending time with each other.
5. Molly Kate's laugh. MK is the greatest baby! She is so joyful and I love seeing her little personality beginning to emerge. She is very chilled out baby. Unless she has gas, she's happy! Her little laugh is so precious. I can get her cackling and then she just laughs in anticipation of the tickling that is to come. I love it! I told Alan that sometimes I feel so unproductive because I spend lots of hours every day just sitting in a chair holding Molly Kate. She's either eating or we're just snuggling. He told me to just enjoy those moments because before too long she will be running through the house like a hurricane destroying everything in her path! (Oh wait, Ava's doing that now!) I do cherish the times that I get to just sit and rock her. I love the way that she looks at me with such total dependence and love. Isn't it amazing how much a baby just trusts her mother?
So, even though I missed out on a road trip and a weekend away with some awesome girls, I got to enjoy my family this weekend and that makes it all worth it!