Finding Joy in the Journey, Now!

President Monson's talk "Finding Joy in the Journey" (lds.org/conference/talk)has touched me in a profound way...He truly spoke to me and addressed the feelings I am experiencing as a mother,so eloquently. Here are some of the quotes that stood out to me:

~ "most of the changes take place subtly and slowly."

~ "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."

~ "If you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have.
Of course, there is no going back, but only forward.
Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today,
of the here and now,
doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future."

~ "If you are still in the process of raising children,
be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon
and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."

I want to post some pictures of the last child in our home getting ready and leaving for school, which has been a stressful situation at times and yet will be greatly missed when those days are past!

After making breakfast, preparing lunches, signing papers last minute, looking at the scriptures(sometimes remembering to even read them), silverware holder on the counter - drawer broke, looks like a mess and that is how I have seen it...the messes get cleaned up but the time passes so quickly. I am learning to enjoy the messes more than ever!









Making her bed, when we remember and there is enough time:

Before:









After:









Putting on her shoes, so many times there have been only one shoe and the bus is coming up the road and it becomes so stressful...but today, both shoes were in the closet.










Doing her hair. When my older daughters were younger their hair had to be done "just right". Now, if it gets done, I feel we have accomplished something. I have learned not to sweat the small stuff.










Putting things into her backpack. OMG,this has been a huge stress maker. There have been mornings that the backpack has just disappeared. The kids have had to go and try to explain to the teacher that we have a stranger living in the attack that comes down when we are sleeping and moves things. Actually, if we look outside by the trampoline we find a lot of missing items.











Going out the door. Have we said prayer, read any scripture, said anything positive to them before going out to deal with the world?




Walking to the bus stop, So many of my little ones...have grown and left for school in the same way Kathryn is going in this picture. I now have 7 children that have graduated from HS. It really proves how quickly 12 1/2 years pass by. When we got to WV we had 9 children, the oldest was 18! Ghee...time flies when you are having fun!






At the bus stop.









Getting on the bus. James has been our elementary/middle school bus driver since we have lived here...Everyone loves James!










And, Home again...










"Day by day, minute by minute, second by second....Time never stands still; it must steadily march on, and with the marching come the changes." {pretty soon, there won't be as much laundry to do, or stressful mornings or days spent driving kids to lessons, band events, sports events, etc. I am taking the advise of my prophet and trying to do my best to "Find Joy in the Journey, NOW!"

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.~Elizabeth Stone: