Pure White

We are so excited to announce to the world that our family is expanding!

Now before you all jump out of your chairs, this may not be such a big deal for you.  We are not pregnant (collective sigh of disappointment!) but we do have a new car!!!

This is a HUGE deal for us!!  We have been battling and struggling through car issue after car issue on car after car for about the last twelve months.  Many issues have just come out of the blue or been pretty much unfixable through no fault of our own and the stress on our pockets has been pretty, well, stressful.

Since my brother unsuccessfully test floated the last unboat (and by that I mean car) that I had been using, we desperately needed a second car.  I (Sara) am driving frequently to and around Toowoomba for midwifery related stuff and Tim really needs to be able to get the boys to things.

So here we are!  The proud owners of a beautiful 2003 Toyota Camry Altise.  It’s done just over 100,000 kms and has only been driven by a pensioner.  I’m pretty sure we will rack up another 100,000 in no time at all.  It fits three car seats along the back seat (once again, don’t go getting any ideas… we’re just future proofing) and our double swag in the boot for camping trips!

We are so incredibly grateful for all the support carwise we have had over the last twelve months.  To everyone who lent us cars, Shannon, Andrew & Krystelle, Mum & Dad… we truly appreciate it and we could not have gotten by without you.  To Tim B for selling us your baby – a mazda 323 that is as old as I am – at a fraction of what she was truly worth.  She is a magnificant beast.  Her name is Shelby by the way.

We thank Tim’s parents for lending us the remaining money that we needed to finalise the payment on this car.  It’s the first time we’ve been in debt in a while, and as horrible a feeling as it is, we do appreciate it.

Nathan already loves “Mummy’s Car.”  I cleverly introduced it to him as such and it has stuck, although it will be the kids car so it comes with the job.  Tim is doing more kid stuff this semester, so he’ll get it most of the time.  🙁  This car issue is just one area and way that God has been proving He is ever faithful to us.

So Mummy & Daddy are a little more happy about this car then the kids… but everyone looked at the camera first time!

Nathan and his grampy have the most beautiful relationship. Because dad has been coming over every day to work on the place, Nathan gets up and waits for him in the morning.
He asks his Grampy to play ball with him, and dad always takes the time to go outside and kick the football. Or move the ladder for Nathan to get up onto the trampoline. He takes him down to feed the cow, or to sand a room.

I just find it so special the way that dad will stop anything if Nathan asks and give him his time. Having not had a really strong relationship with my grandparents, it’s even a bit unusual for me, but incredible at the same time.

The other night we got the boys all ready for bed, and then just as Nathan was climbing into his bed we announced that we were going out for the night.

We bundled the boys into the car and grabbed some Chinese food and went to the local production of Narnia.  Uncle Riley was in the show, as well as a lot of the kids that Nathan does cooking classes with, and they did a great job.  One of the girls in our youth group was centre stage, and they just pulled off an incredible evening.  So much effort goes into those productions.  By the end of the evening, we were all exhausted, but it was great fun. I’m hoping it will be our inaugural PJ Adventure, with many more to follow. Creating memories is so important.

In high school I was successful. I knew it because at our Annual Awards night, I came home with armfuls of medallions, trophies, certificates and cheques. It’s been five years since the last of those nights, and I’ve taken the time to reflect on the way my life has gone.

When I left high school, my perspective of success was stock standard, pulled from the pages of a textbook. A university degree followed by a full time job. Maybe eventually get married and have a few children. And that was my plan, because obviously I wanted to be successful.

That plan failed.

In the time since leaving school, I haven’t completed a degree, or even gotten a tafe certificate. I have never worked a full time job. I dropped out of not one but two tertiary courses. It took me three years to even get my license. Things have not gone the way I expected them too.

That doesn’t mean the path I’ve walked is the wrong one, or that it’s not the perfect path for me.

Or that I’m not successful.

Maybe my whole idea was wrong in the first place.

Maybe being a successful person isn’t about what you do, but who you are.

My path over the last five years has taken me places I never thought it would go. I spent time overseas, spending time with the broken and the hurting. It grew my heart. I got married to my first love. Marriage challenges your thinking on just about everything and rubs off the rough edges of your character. I have two wonderful children, and mothering them has made me aware of, and subsequently begun to erode, the selfishness in me. I encountered failures. Often my plans were derailed, but that only taught me to trust, to pick myself up and to try again.

As I walk through each situation, I am learning so much. I learn from every challenge, every struggle, every failure, every stressful day and every frustrated moment. I’m growing, changing and developing. My character is being strengthened, and I am proud of that.

I am a success story. I am compassionate. I love. I persevere. I work hard. I am proud of myself.

Life hasn’t gone how I planned it to. It has a tendency to throw curve balls. Things take time, sometimes longer than they should.
In my youth I have this expectation that things should happen instantaneously, or at least in a short time frame. They don’t. As humans, we NEED that time for our own personal development. It takes three or four years to get a degree, but just knowledge is useless if character is lacking. Before you can be trusted, you need to be trustworthy.

I am refusing to accept the idea of success that society has offered. I am a twenty one year old mother of two boys. I am struggling my way through university. Society hasn’t congratulated me on any great achievements lately. I have yet to right the wrongs in the world.

Yet I’m beginning to see the truth and believe it.

My life is a success story.