Purposeful life.

This past weekend our Becker family had the privileged of watching our pastor's daughter get married.  It was a beautiful wedding and we were so glad to be a part of it!  It was strange too though, not the wedding, but what was going on in our little family before during and at the reception.  It was as though time fast forwarded and Ila was the one getting married!  Let me explain.

When we sat down for the wedding, we sat behind another family from church and they have a 3 year old son, Brogan.  Apparently Brogan and Ila have become friends and they were quite excited to see each other, and wanted to sit near each other.  As we waited for the wedding to begin, I snuck a look at my daughter and there she was, holding hands with Brogan!  They had been talking and sharing pine cones and then all of a sudden they were holding hands.  It was super sweet, but then I looked at Trent and asked, "do you ever think about our girls getting married?"  He responded yes, and my heart flipped a bit.  There our two year old girl was, holding hands with a handsome little guy and my mind fast forwarded 18 or so years and it was Ila's wedding we were all of a sudden at!

Fast forward to the reception and Ila was dancing with not one boy but TWO boys (I have to mention that she danced with the older girls too, and learned some new sweet moves!).  She was chasing and being chased all around the reception hall by one of the boys.  She was having a blast!  I looked at Trent and said "She's either going to be a heart breaker or a big flirt!"  To which he responded "or both."  It was so sweet watching Ila dance and have a good time, but it made me do some serious thinking about parenting.

I was reminded that we only have so much time to teach our kids how to be responsible, how to communicate through the good and bad, and how to treat and love others.  I want Ila to be a great wife and mom when the time comes, and that starts with ME being a great wife and mom.  Ila is getting to the age where we are creating memories and where the foundation is being laid for respect, responsibility and love.  What a great thing to be aware of!  I'm going to be much more purposeful in my life, so that my children will benefit!

Here are some things I see on the path of purposefulness (by no means is this the only/all of things, of course!):
1. The Lord.  Abiding in Him, and His word and teaching my kids that it's the most important relationship in our lives.
2. Focusing on my children!  Stopping housework, or computer things to read a book, play a game or build something.
3. Getting and staying healthy.  We eat well here, and I've been swimming laps in the mornings, but I could eat better and work harder!  I want to have little workouts with Ila when she wakes up from her nap.
4. Let my yes be yes and my no be no.  I'm not talking about in discipline (but it's super important there too!) but more in following through with what I say.  So often I'm in the middle of something (like cooking) and Ila asks me to read a book.  I usually say "when I'm done cooking, I will."  By then though, Ila has moved on to something else, so I just go ahead and move on to something else too.  I want to follow through though, and get her, and read her that book!
5. Serve Trent better.  Make him lunches without him asking, keep up on the laundry (because I know he hates digging through the clean pile to find his work clothes!) maybe even do some yard work (although that may put him into shock.....)!  The key to service though is the ATTITUDE behind it.  So I'll have to do this with a good attitude.
6. Fun.  Kids need to have fun in their individual play time and with their parents!
7. Education.  Not just learning letters, numbers and all that good stuff, but life lessons, healthy communication and relational education.
8. Manners, manners, manners. Everyone should have them.  We are always reminding Ila about manners and it's not time to stop!
9. Respect.  I need to remember that the amount of respect I show to someone is the most amount of respect that my kids will show them.  This includes self respect.
9. It all boils down to this really: LOVE.

What about you?  What would you add to the list?