So I have this jar I bought.<\/strong><\/em> Nothing fancy…just a jar with a lid. It’s clear glass and rather large. Glass lid. Has a little label on it that you can use chalk to write on – whatever you want to label the jar with. Simple. Plain.<\/p>\n

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I bought it with the intent to label it “2017 Blessings”<\/em> – then “2018 Blessings,”<\/em> “2019 Blessings,”<\/em> and so on. My plan was that on Thanksgiving, we would open the jar, pull out our blessings one by one and read them over dinner – so many reasons to be thankful that year. Nice, right?<\/p>\n

Well, it’s June 11 and the jar is empty. Yes, that’s right. Empty<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I am embarrassed. I am disappointed – mostly in myself.<\/p>\n

There have been so many blessings thus far in 2017 that I cannot believe I haven’t written them down and put them in the jar.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with the fact that my Dad made it through Christmas 2016 after a really terrible scare through the holiday season. Then the visit I had with him the first weekend in January – the one during which we had some precious time to just<\/p>\n

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sit and talk – about a lot of things. I wouldn’t trade that time for anything in the universe. I left there not knowing if that was goodbye – what a life changing series of moments. Thankfully he’s hangin’ in there and another visit is coming!<\/p>\n

And then there is the new chapter in my career – my new role with Olympus. True testament that God provides. HE must have known I needed a change, and HE provided it – and I have never been so happy to share what I have learned and share my gifts with an organization and the people who truly appreciate it. Yet another life-changing blessing for the jar in 2017.<\/p>\n

Steve and I celebrated 20 years of marriage in 2017, and took the time and opportunity to share it with our precious Littles through a beach vow renewal on the stunning island of Maui. Makena Cove was the spot, and special it was!<\/a><\/p>\n

From the Christian\/Hawaiian tradition, the blowing of the conch shell, the ukulele serenade to the sweet reaffirmation of our love for each other while our Littles snuggled at our sides. I just know that they will remember it for a lifetime – and pray that they remember it when they are in their own marriages, so they understand what commitment truly means. What an incredible blessing – again – the jar…<\/p>\n

Now we are in summer, and another blessing fell in our lap. Trump, the yellow lab puppy, introduced to us through Facebook of all places – is now a member of the family. He is so sweet, and bad, and sometimes we call him “dum-dum” for the silly stupid things he does (and eats). But he couldn’t have come at a more perfect time…the Littles are a perfect age to learn what it means to love something living that counts on them for their well-being. It’s been fun (and tiring). But mostly fun.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Again…still haven’t added that to the jar.<\/p>\n

It may be the end of the year before I remember to actually get some cute paper and start adding stuff to the jar. But that doesn’t mean the jar is empty. I guess it just means we are living the blessings – not just putting them into a jar to remember…<\/p>\n

Maybe that’s actually the best way.<\/p>\n

Maybe the jar needs to be filled with puppy food instead.<\/p>\n

Here’s to looking forward to filling the jar of life – metaphorically speaking!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So I have this jar I bought. Nothing fancy…just a jar with a lid. It’s clear glass and rather large. Glass lid. Has a little label on it that you can use chalk to write on – whatever you want to label the jar with. Simple. Plain. I bought it with the intent to label it “2017 Blessings” – then… Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-mommy-nostalgia","post_format-post-format-gallery","xfolkentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4JTq8-76","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingthelittles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}