-The Ross Family-Benjamin, Lenae, Gabriel, Eli, Noah & Quinn

For awhile when I was a kid, my mom had a brutal commute to and from work (a couple hours each way.) I really don't know how the woman did it: We always had a home-cooked meal for dinner, our house was amazingly clean, and she was -and remains- rock solid. During the summers, I'd occasionally accompany her during her long drive, sometimes to visit my grandparents, other times to do some extra work around her office for some shopping money. When we weren't talking, I'd glance over at her as she drove and notice how busy she looked just sitting behind the steering wheel. You could tell she was thinking about things... her day, maybe, the schedule for the week, perhaps my dad...

Now that I am grown with a family of my own, I understand that constant cycle of thinking thinking thinking. Some people can switch it off and just relax, but I have never been one of those. Since becoming a mother, it's only gotten more crowded in my brain. I contemplate recipes while I'm snatching up toys in the hallway, go over news headlines when I'm changing diapers, think about relationships during the boys' bathtime. As a new believer, I naively motivated myself with the thought that this life thing is really quite simple- there's what you can and can't do, what you should and shouldn't be striving towards, etc. Black and white, easy peasy, right? Of course, though, each year that passes seems to add to the complication. There's a myriad of choices to make and just as many possible reactions from the individuals affected by whichever way you go.

I have a hard time resting in God and finding peace and comfort in His many promises in the Bible. I pray, though, as the years do indeed continue to fly by, that I will learn to slow down and intentionally savor the moment.