Post-Thanksgiving Post

Good Saturday afternoon!

Here are the pics from Thanksgiving #2!


Two year-old Lauren. Ain't she sweet?


Jared, Amber and Mackenzie. It was Mackenzie's first Thanksgiving, and she definitely dressed the part.


Melia, Austin and Roxie. Color-coordinated without me having to say a word!


Roxie and Matthew. (I put some mustaches in Matthew's Great-Aunt Belinda Brown Bag, so he wore a different "stache" every few minutes. I thought it made him look dashing!)


Two cousins who will one day be fast friends.


A little wrestling. (I'm not sure, but I think Lauren and Matthew pinned Roxie.)


Matthew... clean shaven.


Roxie and me... also clean shaven.


Josh, Roxie and Matthew... post-turkey stupor.


Josh, Roxie and Austin.

You know, from the pictures I post and some of the stories I tell, I lead a pretty awesome life.

Everyone is always smiling, hugging on each other and enjoying some family event or celebration.

Life can look really, really perfect on a blog... or on Facebook... or on Instagram.

I just want to take a minute to remind you that nothing in this world or life is perfect.

I have frequent panic attacks... and some of them can be crippling for a time.

Josh has OCD... and next week will mark eight years he has openly been battling this illness.

My Mom has cancer... and will finish her third set of chemo treatments in less than three years in January.

And those are just some of the "big" things.

Roxie and I are grumpy and ill with each other several times during the week. (Mainly because she is a 17 year-old Chick and I am a 52 year-old Mama Hen.)

I never get caught up on laundry and housework.

For every new recipe I try from Pinterest, two more recipes come out of the oven inedible.

It is getting harder and harder and harder to "make things happen" as a family, and while that is VERY normal, it is difficult to admit sometimes.

Sparkle has been at the vet with a herniated disc since Wednesday.

My house is NOT decorated for Christmas and it is Saturday, November 30. (YIKES!)

Nope.

My life isn't perfect.

God never promises us because we become Christians we're going to escape the problems of life... big or little.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:8, "We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."

When we, like Paul, begin to put into perspective our "here and now" as compared with eternity, we are able to see the problems and troubles in this life as temporary and oh, so small.

If it is okay with y'all, I'm going to continue to write my little blog and post my little pictures of happy moments I experience during this temporary and problem-filled life, because that is one of the ways I am able to maintain perspective.

And I am convinced the longer I live, the more important "keeping things in perspective" is going to become.

Take care, and I'll talk to you Monday!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda