Enjoying My Time

So, I have a bit more time on my hands these days than I am used to having. And though it was a struggle at first...I am finding ways to fill it beautifully. I mean, there's still the regular laundry and dishes and house-stuff like that to do. But yesterday I did something I haven't done in, well, several years.

That is, I sat down and worked on a scrapbook.
*insert applause*

See, when my boys were babies I decided I was going to make a scrapbook for each of them. (Have a different project for Elizabeth.) One scrapbook for their first 18 years - which amounts to 2-3 pages per year. Didn't seem like too much to ask of myself at the time.
But, uh, yesterday? I completed Josh's 13th year.
He'll be 18 in January.
*ahem*
I told you it's been a while since I've worked on them!
Anyway, last week it dawned on me that since Josh will be graduating from high school in June, I really needed to kick it into gear to finish his scrapbook. So I searched for pictures, had them printed, and am eager to get working. So eager, in fact, that I might have done his 14th year as well - if I wasn't so busy looking at pictures and remembering days gone by.
Yes, I will admit: for every minute I spent putting that scrapbook together, I probably spent two or three reading and reminiscing. I think my boys' distract-ability "might" be genetic.

Now, where was I?

Right! Reminiscing.
I know on this blog I have bemoaned the struggles of having teenager, but I must tell you - spending time looking at those old pictures nearly made me forget the hard times. What a joy it is to look back at how my baby has grown up, to realize he is becoming a man, and to have hope for his future because of the gracious God we trust.
We've made it through some pretty rough days. And though there are sure to be more ahead of us, I know God will carry us through. Besides, if I ever get really down and discouraged, all I need to do is pull out pictures like these to fill my happy-tank again. *wink*