2015...Go!

Here it is 2015 and I am going to make an attempt to be better about blogging.  I was about to say that I don't know what happened in 2014 to keep me from it but I would assume it was nothing more than my laziness and the fact that life moves at the speed of light, which exactly why I need to be better about it.

2015 will be a year of change (then again what year hasn't been?) for our family.  

In July we will be blessed with our very first 2-legged grandchild!  God has already blessed us with Sheldon, Drae, Roxy and Walter and now a grand baby is in our future.  At this point in time we don't know if we will be buying basketballs or barbie dolls and honestly, I really don't care.  Either way is fine with me.  Jacob insists that we will be buying basketballs regardless.  I frequently remind Jake, that this baby is 1/2 Tiede and that there are no athletic genes in the family.  I will never forget the first time I made that comment to him and he smiled that Jake Brown "Smirk" and said...You know Karen, if I wanted a D-2 child, I never would have married your daughter!  Still today, that cracks me up.  I guess he really did know what he was getting into when he married the princess!  

As I look forward to becoming a grandma, I often find myself worrying about the world.  Yes, that's right.  I am honestly concerned about the world that my grandchildren will be growing up in.  Last night laying in bed I was thinking and praying and talking out loud to God when I realized that I was looking at things all wrong.  I said, "you know Lord, the world is a harsh place. People can be so mean and things do not always work the way we think they are going to."  "Karen" God said, "the world is full of so many negative things, scary things, in fact, but if you just take a minute, slow down and look around you will find that there are so many more beautiful things!"  I laid there and thought wow, how did I miss that?    It's the little things that make life beautiful.  So I decided that I need to slow down. Instead of seeing the car that cut me off, I need to see that the sky is blue, I need to see the bird sitting in the tree with his feathers not ruffled because the sunshine is warm enough.   This morning I stopped for my ritual diet pepsi, on the way to work ...As usual, I was running behind, that seems to happen to me during the winter!  I pulled in and waited as a mom and daughter came out of the store.  Daughter must have been 3 maybe 4 years old.  I could tell that mom was in a rush but the little girl had a pile of snow that just needed to be stomped on!  Mom let her stomp away and then walked over to her.  I fully expected to watch mom take her by the hand and hurry her along and I was a bit sad that the romp was coming to an end.  Then the most wonderful thing happened.  Mom began stomping the snow along with her!  It truly was the best moment.  One, who doesn't dislike snow enough to want to smash it and two it was a perfect mother daughter bonding moment.  I smiled at them both as I got out of my car and admitted to them that I thought about joining in!  Instead, I headed in to get my day started but stopped long enough to let God know that I heard him.  Loud and clear.  It is truly time to slow down and focus on the things that really matter in life.  I hope that I will continue to seek the little moments out, focus on what seems insignificant and thank the Lord every day for the opportunity to notice them!