Joshua's Photography of my Incredible life!

Josh has been learning to take pictures in the past months and here are some of my favorites! On the cruise ship, getting ready for dinner...

Some flowers that Josh picked for me at church and in our yard, and the 'vase' he put them in...

Mom cooking dinner from Josh's point of view...

As I have been catching up on the last 6 months, I have been granted a unique opportunity to see my 'life' at a distance and an accelerated pace, and I am humbled and grateful at how blessed I am. Often when I read or see pictures of a glimpse of other peoples life and family, I will think, 'wow, they seem so perfect, what a great life they have'. (this of course is a skewed view, since we all have 'warts' in our life and imperfections, as well as those quiet burdens we carry). As I have been watching my life, I have those same thoughts, 'Wow, what a cute family', 'What sweet kids', 'What a great husband', 'What a good mom', 'What a perfect life'! Then it occurs to me, 'This is MY life'! And then I think to myself, despite all of our quiet trials that no one sees, I AM SO BLESSED. I don't have a perfect life, I get lonely because I don't see my husband very often, but he is a great provider, so hard working, and a wonderful father, so kind and gentle. I have a very smart 4 year old, but because of his speech challenges, it has been unimaginably difficult to learn his language so I can understand his sense of humor and sharp mind. It has taken years to be able to have a conversation with him where all of the words were understood. But what a joy he is to me. Everyone has a similar story that is their own, and I could go on. But the glimpse that I got today was from the same perspective that our Heavenly Father must have. Serving a mission results in many experiences, many trials, lessons, memories, and blessings. Yet when the dust has settled years later, the memories of hardships fade and the ones that remain are the lessons, the joy, and the blessings. This is a similar experience and I am thankful that I am so BLESSED!