Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

Ahh, Spring is truly in the air in Southern California! Hello Friends, Happy April. We have been enjoying the most gorgeous, warm, but not too hot days. Our mornings have been sunny with a small crisp in the air and our afternoons are long with beautiful sunsets. We simply had a lovely Easter, (which I will post all about tomorrow). Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about April Fool's Day.

April Fool's Day is know as a day to play tricks on people and tell foolish tales. Well, April Fool's Day also happens to be... my birthday! No foolin'! ;)

I turned 33 years old yesterday! Wow, I can't believe it!! I can hardly look back in my rearview mirror at high school and yet... it seems like it was just yesterday, (when in reality... I graduated high school almost sixteen years ago!). Since then I have finished college, taught children, married, traveled  the country as a Marine wife, had three little boys and gained a few pounds and gray hairs to boot!

Do you know what? I wouldn't change a single thing! I love my boys, my husband, my family and my few gray hairs and extra pounds! All of these things make up thirty three years of ... ME!!

All day on my birthday, I couldn't help but think about thirty three as being the age that Jesus was when he died! oh my goodness... thirty three seems so young to die and yet, look at all that Jesus accomplished in his short life! As we were driving around on my birthday, running errands and riding in the car. I began to realize that Jesus' accomplishments weren't actually the miracles themselves, but had more to do with how His life impacted others. Jesus' accomplishments had more to do with His relationships with those around him. All of this led me to ask myself this question... "How have I impacted others in my thirty three years?" Whew!! What a BIG question! I feel completely satisfied in knowing that what little I have accomplished in my small little life has absolutely NOTHING to do with prestige, higher education, wealth, fame, or beauty, No, all of those thing are nice to have, for a little while... I'm sure. No, in my thirty three years  I hope that how I have impacted others is through Jesus.  I truly value my relationships with others far more than the material things of the world. How as a society have we gotten so far away from what truly matters? So, as I sit here and type this, an old woman of thirty three years of age. I am most thankful for, blessed by and truly honored by the following;  I have a family, I have a husband who loves me and works so hard for me and for my boys. I am a mother. I have three beautiful little boys who look at me like I am the greatest person in the entire world, ( no matter how I look or feel, they love me). I wake-up every day and although it is often hard and exhausting, I am able to stay home with my children and homeschool them and watch them grow... these beautiful little people. I am a friend and a daughter. I am a daughter in-law, a sister-in-law and a sister in Christ, but most of all... I am a daughter of my King... In all honesty, that's it right there, "I am a daughter of my King" , that is all that truly matters! So in my thirty three years, or forty three years or even if I live to be one hundred and thirty three, nothing else I ever say or do will ever matter more than those seven little words... I AM A DAUGHTER OF MY KING!

So all of this got mr thinking about a children's book. My sweet friend, Aimee gave my little boys this wonderful book! Thank you Aimee, for passing this onto our family, this book has instantly become a family favorite and a classic in The Christensen Home!