I do not deserve my life. Plain and simple, this life of mine is beyond what I ever dreamt of living. If you had shown me my current life as a 56 year-old back when I was 23, I would have said "Wow! Where do I sign up?" I had a bunch of years in between that held both good and bad moments, but I have to say, these are the BEST years of my life. And I sure don't know why I am so fortunate.
A couple things make my life so good. I am sober, have been for over 8 years. I have a remarkable partner, husband, best-friend, and playmate, Tom. We have been married for 4.5 years.
To me, he's the handsomest man on earth.
Between the two of us, we have 5 children: from ages 20-27. The 20 year old has Down Syndrome, which supplies us with just the right amount of eternal youth a person could want. Imagine having a child who still waits for Santa to come on Christmas!
I make a good salary managing a team of people who work on the regulatory aspect of pharmaceutical clinical trials. They are good, hard-working people. I repect them. I hope they respect me. My boss is terrific. He values my work, and gives me an atta-girl on a regular basis.
My commute to work includes 20 miles through beautiful green forests, across 2 reservoirs, and through the middle of a small, charming village.
Tom and I travel once or twice a year. We enjoy going on cruises, and have covered almost the entire Caribbean in our travels. Our favorite place thus far was the Nature Island, Dominica.
We have played on beaches where there was no one in site, and drunk right from the mountain streams of this beautiful island.
We have an active life in our church community, All Saints Church, of Dale City, VA. A small group of us meet at our house every Tuesday and share scripture and prayer together. We have 3 persons in our group who have served as missionaries. Tom and I are about to join that number, as well. More on that later.
I came from a large family, and three of us girls have formed a business called "Three Artsy Gulls". Though my sisters are more artsy than I, I plan to get back to painting very soon. Perhaps my first show will actually be on-line. Because I am the oldest, I am the first artsy gull.
Sometimes I wonder why I have this great life. I have come to the conclusion that I did nothing to deserve it, but God chose to bless me just the same. We have everything we need, and more.
Our big dilemma is discerning how God wants us to use it and share it with others.
Future posts will most likely be my thoughts on things as they come up. Stay tuned.
