Why I Do What I Do

There are days when I wonder why I keep up with this blog. I mean, in reality, how many people even noticed that I was gone last week?

I was chatting with a friend today who reminded me that I blog for me. Sure, it's nice to be recognized and read. It's super fab to get comments from friends and strangers alike. But the reason that I blog is because my memory is sketchy at best and I want to remember everything, not just the big things like building the house 5 years ago that still has us slightly traumatized. (It's true what they say - if your marriage can survive building a house together, it can withstand anything.) (Maybe you've never heard that before. That would probably be because you've never built a house.)

I want to remember, ten years from now, that there was a time that Micah put his thumb in his mouth and droned around it. That thumb was calloused for years, and twice the size of his other thumb. The droning was so annoying that we prayed for it to stop. It did. Right about the time he started griding his teeth. We realized that the droning wasn't the worst sound in the world, and prayed for mercy. God granted it. We now no longer even realize that he's gritting, and are slightly shocked when people mention that he is. The dentist yesterday just cringed visibly, and I had to ask what the matter was. I hadn't even realized what Micah was doing.

I want to remember that this summer has been the busiest and craziest ever, and yet one of the best. The kids each grew in ways that amaze me, and I'm not talking just physically. The spiritual leaps and bounds they've taken make my heart sing. God has blessed us with some incredibly wonderful kids.

I want to remember that Micah tossed dogs into the pond, and even in the dryer. I want to remember that he let them out of their kennels and we had to round them up from the far reaches of the 'hood. I want to remember that he plays fetch with their rawhide bones just to get their goats. Because someday he may outgrow this stage and I'll be able to appreciate the boy he's become without missing the toddler stage too much.

I want to remember that Luke has been nothing but a saint over the entire year of his braces adventure. He's still excited to see the orthodontist monthly, and hasn't once complained about pain or things he can't eat. That kid is so good.

I blog for me. If someone finds my place here on the 'net to be amusing, or interesting, or even heartwarming, I'm touched. I keep it real, because I want to remember my life the way it was. The good, the bad, the things that don't always go the way I planned them in my head. I want this to be an honest rendering of life here. There will be a day when the kids are out of the house and I'm bored and the house is clean, and I'll wonder why on earth I never kept a clean house when the kids were here. I'll read this and know. It was because I was too busy chasing Micah down to put underpants on him. Again.