My Freedom - Day 6

Today's blog prompt reads - "Share an old photo of yourself and a current photo of yourself with your blog readers. Tell them a little something that has changed and a little that had stayed the same."

Michelle - circa 1972 1st birthday

Michelle - circa February 2008 - cruise to Caribbean

OK, believe it or not the pictures were the easy part. Actually the only hard part of the pictures was dating the first one, but one quick call to Mom helped identify the year and location of that one (her words were "first birthday at the house on the hill").

Something that has changed - RESPONSIBILITIES!! Some days my little ones ask, when are we going to be big and get to be the boss and go to work and stuff, little do they know that when they are big and "stuff" they will have times, as do I, when they wish for the days of leisure and minimal responsibilities. Life changes so much between the carefree days of childhood and the responsibilities and balancing of priorities of adulthood. Instead of being the child, I am charged with the responsibility to raise my children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". What as awesome responsibility that is especially in the world today. I know that my kids, as I did as a child, question my direction and rules but most days it seems so much less daunting a task to question those rules than to have the fragile lives of two children to raise with the rules as well as living my life as God would have me to live it.

Something that has stayed the same - NAIVETE'! As all children begin very naive to the ways of the world, in a lot of ways I find myself, as does my husband, to remain a bit naive at times. Sometimes that naivete' is a nice hiding place from the world and other times it makes me feel a bit foolish and stupid. I do feel it is nice at times to remain naive about some of the evils of the world but I also realize the naivete' at my age can lead to hurt, disappointment and danger. How nice it would be to live in a world as pure and simple as a child perceives it but we know so much better.

Till tomorrow and another installment of My Freedom! Enjoy the day and take time to enjoy the simple parts of life and forget responsibilities if only for a few moments!