{"id":815,"date":"2009-09-07T06:34:10","date_gmt":"2009-09-07T10:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/?p=815"},"modified":"2009-10-11T12:19:56","modified_gmt":"2009-10-11T16:19:56","slug":"chapter-10-having-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/chapter-10-having-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 10 Having it all……"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Lost in this moment with you I am completely consumed.\u00a0 Watching all my dreams come true.\u00a0 Lost in this moment with you.”<\/em><\/p>\n

-Keith Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Anna's

Anna's Drawing of Having it all<\/p><\/div>\n

Hey God, It’s me Lori,<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for my life and my children. <\/em><\/p>\n

You have given me everything I have ever dreamed of and so much more.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

For all my<\/em> blessings I thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having it all…<\/strong><\/p>\n

I use to think I have it so good, when is the Mack Truck going to slam in to me and take it all away.\u00a0 To most people in this world they look at me walking home from school with my four children and 3 others I baby-sit and think she is\u00a0a crazy person.\u00a0 I know they think what’s wrong with that woman?\u00a0\u00a0But you know what I am thinking as I am walking home past the cars leaving school?\u00a0 They must be so jealous because I have everything I have ever wanted.\u00a0 I know pride go before the fall.\u00a0 However, the pride that I feel is not cocky. It is appreciation and love for what God has graced my life with. That is my family and the opportunities to see that life is not about things, material possessions, grand houses, new cars, money or the latest and greatest gadgets.\u00a0 If you come to my house you will see a print as soon as you open the door.\u00a0 It is about 20×24 and it is of a little girl with a sunset behind her and it says “Priorities – A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove… but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”\u00a0 When people enter my house I want them to read it first so they know this is what I am all about, it is my touchstone.\u00a0 You will not find trinkets and things that adorn my house.\u00a0 You will find that my walls are decorated by large prints of my children and family.\u00a0 In the kitchen there is a print of a farm with the setting sun coloring the skies that pink orange you see at sunset.\u00a0 I have it because I love sunsets.<\/p>\n

Many people do not understand this satisfaction I find with my life.\u00a0 After all my husband does not\u00a0make $100,000\/annually.\u00a0 We have the daunting future of putting 4 children through Catholic High School which in today’s cost would be a total of $160,000 in a small window of 8 years time.\u00a0 Yes, I sometimes concern myself with that idea of how will we do it but I know God will guide me to a good job once my littlest is in Kindergarten.\u00a0 A job from 9am – 1:30 pm so I can take my children to school and pick them up from school each day.<\/p>\n

This morning I walked my four children to school.\u00a0 It was a brisk fall morning about 60 degrees.\u00a0 The moon was still full and bright although the sun was rising. We dropped my 6, 8 & 10 year old off and Jake and I were walking home together his little hand in mine and I just took it all in and thought of that country song Lost in this Moment with you.\u00a0 I put him on my back to give him a piggyback ride home.\u00a0 He asked for me to run and as I was running I could hear his little laugh and I wanted to cry with unbelievable bliss that I was able to experience that moment in time.\u00a0 I pray that those moments make up his memory of childhood, so he will look back and remember he was so loved.\u00a0 It will help to form him into a secure and loving adult that does not fear loving but gives it\u00a0away every second of every day.\u00a0 “I was completely consumed, watching all my dreams come true.”\u00a0 Sometimes I just get overwhelmed by all the love and people God has placed in my life.\u00a0 My friend told me after a meeting that I have such a positive attitude.\u00a0 To which I responded “My friend how could I not ? Do you see\u00a0my life, it is wonderful?”\u00a0 Now I am not saying\u00a0that I do not get upset and frustrated, Oh my gosh, do I ever with life’s little trials.\u00a0 But as my Dad is so fond of saying you have to stand back from the mural that is your life on the wall and you will see the big picture.\u00a0 Sometimes frustration and lack of patience\u00a0confines your sight to only one small color in the painting.\u00a0 You have to walk away, take a breather and then look again and always appreciate what\u00a0God has given to you.<\/p>\n

Attitude is everything.\u00a0 I don’t know how many times I have read this.\u00a0 What you think becomes how you act and then you are that attitude.\u00a0 I urge you now to reflect on your own life for a few minutes.\u00a0 Get out\u00a0a notebook\u00a0and write down 10 of the most meaningful blessings in your life.\u00a0 If you can think of more keep writing.\u00a0 The blessings can be people you love, a church community, a school community, a workplace of people who support you, your faith, your education etc..\u00a0 The list can go on and on.\u00a0 Be specific when you write it down.\u00a0 Do not write anything negative or anything you want in the future.\u00a0 Only what you are surrounded by at this moment in your life.<\/p>\n

Now that you have done that keep that notebook accessible to you so that you can see it daily.\u00a0 As you start your day look at that list and thank God for those blessings.\u00a0 If you do this you will start your day in prayer even if only a prayer of thanksgiving that takes only moments to say.\u00a0 This will jump start your day to a positive attitude.\u00a0 Before you step foot out the door you will be appreciative and your day will go in a more positive direction.\u00a0 Eventually you will not need the notebook.\u00a0 Each morning, if you turn this into a real routine, you can say your prayer to God without looking.<\/p>\n

I honestly believe everyone has at the very least 10 blessings in their lives that they can name.\u00a0 The media and advertisers are constantly bombarding our heads and lives with the “you need this syndrome”.\u00a0 The “Our world is going to hell” attitude which we eventually internalize.\u00a0 We do have needs we need to meet.\u00a0 Those needs do not have to be met with such over the top expensive solutions.\u00a0 We need to eat yes, but we do not have to dine at expensive restaurants to eat.\u00a0 We need shelter but it doesn’t have to cost $350,000.\u00a0 We need transportation but anyone cake take a bus or even a bike.\u00a0\u00a0 We need clothing but we don’t need designer clothing that is the hottest trend.\u00a0 We need love and trying to buy it will never fill your heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

My father in law told my husband “You got your wants and then you got your needs.”\u00a0 I tell my husband and my children this all of the time.\u00a0 I tend to hear ” But, But we really need this and that.”\u00a0 To which I reply, “”No you want this and that, we don’t need it.\u00a0 Would it bring us pleasure?\u00a0 Maybe, but does it move us closer to God?”\u00a0 That is a great question to ask yourself before you purchase something beyond necessity “Will this move you closer to God?”<\/p>\n

I have it all, a husband I am crazy in love with, four precious children, a supportive and loving family, especially my Dad, an incredible faith community and my faith in God constantly maturing that is my all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remember your 10 blessings that you wrote down and really reflect on them.\u00a0 What is your ALL?\u00a0 Do you have it all?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Lost in this moment with you I am completely consumed.\u00a0 Watching all my dreams come true.\u00a0 Lost in this moment with you.” -Keith Anderson \u00a0 Hey God, It’s me Lori, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for my life and my children. You have given me everything I have ever dreamed of and so much more.\u00a0 For all my blessings I thank you. \u00a0 Having it all… I use to think I have it so good, when is the Mack Truck going to slam in to me and take it all away.\u00a0 To most people in this world they look <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[61],"tags":[24,200,59,53,199],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}