"Into each life some rain must fall"

This has been a challenging week.

I knew January would be my especially busy month, as I have lots of demands due from me at the gym. Yesterday, I found out I have to undergo jaw surgery. TMJ, or in other words, jaw clicking or jaw popping. I've had this condition for a while now, but it's progressively worstened over the years. Now is the time to get it sorted. It involves general anaesthetic and some sort of invasive measure to lengthen the shortened spastic jaw muscles. Sounds fun, hey? Motherhood has been particularly tough this week. That's life. We experience the winters of life, but we all know, the summer always eventually follows.

We have discovered as a family that life is a game of inches and that these inches are all around us. Sometimes we move forward inch by inch, sometimes, in great leaps. But whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, there is always an inch to move forward. 2010 is our opportunity of a lifetime. 365 gifts from the Lord where we can return with honour, be happy and live our dreams. We gather around the kitchen table each morning at 6:30am and write down 3 or 4 "inches" (or goals) that we want to achieve just for that day. We have our big goals for 2010 beautifully displayed in a frame, easily visible, to remind us of our new year's resolutions.

I've subsequently found, that no matter how hard the day is, whether or not the "rain" has fallen by the bucket load or the children have been challenging, I know, that it can be a success with 3 achievable "inches". When added together these inches turn into yards and then into miles, making the difference between excellence and mediocrity. Some days, my goals will look like this: fold the laundry, tell ..... (insert name) that she breathes well (because that is all that I can think of at the time that is remotely positive about their behaviour). And other days are far more productive! I'm grateful for a husband who leads us and loves us. This small investment of 10 minutes each morning has had a profound effect on my day. Each day is a gift.