Officially Official

Today makes it truly official. I am a stay-at-home mom. The wonderful teachers of Hall county got up today and went to school. For the first time in five years, I was not one of them. This is the first time in seven years, that I have not started the school year as a teacher, and the first time in 25 years that I have not started school at all. This feels a little strange.

I feel incredibly blessed to have this time to stay home with my girls. I want to appreciate every moment, even the ones where I want to pull my hair or run screaming for the hills. This job will be hard also. Abigail is much more demanding than any principal I have ever had. But she also makes me smile and laugh more too. She gives better hugs too. For two years, I was a working mom. Yes, I know every mom is a working mom, but working away from home and away from my girl was hard and it is totally different work. It hurt to drop her off even though I knew she was very happy and well taken care of with her Nana. So to the working moms out there, my hat is off to you. It's hard. You have my prayers and respect.

I want to use this time well. I have a huge responsibility to raise my children well and teach them. I want them to learn colors, letters, and animal noises, but most importantly, I want them to learn about the love of God. I want to use this time to teach them about a God who loves them even more than I do. During this season, I want to teach them to be servants and help others. Right now things are still a little unpredictable with a newborn, but I want to help others. I want to find ways to serve that our family can do together. God has blessed me with this opportunity, and I believe that comes with responsibilty to use the opportunity well.

My life has changed. Instead of meetings and bulletin boards today, it was Barney and blocks. I wouldn't change it for all the money in the world.