Leap

Happy Leap Day!

Leap Day. It comes around only once every 4 years. This year it gave me the opportunity to fit one more post into the month of February. Thanks Leap Day! We celebrated this special day in my classroom, every fun day is a cause to celebrate in 1st Grade, there are no such things as small holidays. We made awesome frog hats (Get it? Leap!), dressed in all green clothes, had a fun Math lesson measuring and graphing how far we could frog hop (Trivia: I can frog hop a distance of 80 inches!), and we wrote about what we thought we would be doing in 4 years, the time the next Leap Day rolls around in 2016. How did you spend your extra day? Was it memorable? Was it ordinary? All of the planning for the day's activities got me thinking, how far have we come since the last Leap Day and what might the next 4 years hold for us?

Flash back to February 29, 2008. We had only been living in the house for about 3 months so everything was still fresh and new, and of course there were boxes everywhere as we were still getting settled in. Jackson was only 5 months old! Braeden was only a year and a half old! That means Amy and I were getting very little sleep! Needless to say with two small boys in diapers we were tired and busy most of the time. I was still working at Memorial and the opportunity to move to Trinity wouldn't come for another year. Amy wasn't the Director yet and wouldn't begin the process for about another month. We were only a one-dog family with Lucy and no Rex. Adoption wasn't even something that was remotely on our radar. There was no blog to document the goings-on in Drosche Land. These are just a handful of the things that were happening the last time we all leaped through a February 29th.

My how far we've come! Looking back I cannot believe how much has happened in just 4 short years. The boys growing up. Job changes. A new dog. The adoption process. The loss of family members, Granny. The gaining of new friends. It really makes you stop and think about how much goes on every day in our lives. Maybe we relish each and every moment, maybe we take them for granted. Think of all of the things that have happened that we've forgotten. The things that once seemed so important, but now are nonexistent.

Of course you can't look back without looking ahead. 4 years. It's such a short time when looking back, but when planning for the future the years stretch out in front of you and you can scarcely see the end. I guess it's good that way though. What does God have in store for the Drosches over the next 4 years? 2016. Braeden will be in 4th Grade, Jackson in 2nd! Stella, not having even graced us with her presence, will be 3 1/2! I've barely gotten used to being in my 30's, but in 4 years the decade will be half over! Will we still be in this house? Will we still drive the same cars? Hopefully we will have made great strides in knocking out our debt snowball, getting closer to financial freedom. By then, Amy and I will have long since celebrated our 10-year anniversary! How will we celebrate? We've always wanted to go back to Las Vegas. Maybe? What role will adoption play in our lives? My list of questions and musings is endless as I'm sure yours, dear readers, are as well. It's fun to think about honestly because the next 4 years is a blank canvas. True, the unknown can be daunting and scary, but it's also exciting and mysterious. My prayers for these upcoming years are simple: happiness, good health, family, friends, strengthened faith, enjoying life. Maybe it's because I'm getting older (gasp!),maybe it's having kids and seeing the world through their eyes, maybe it's my loving wife who keeps me grounded and sane. Whatever the reason, I'm choosing to approach the next 4 years with peace of mind and an open heart. HE has a plan for us and HE knows best. I'm sure I'll fall short of this lofty goal many times in the coming years, but my hope is to remain open and willing to HIS plans and will rather than mine. It's going to be a great 4 years! Can't wait to share it here! I hope you've enjoyed your Leap Day, I can't believe March begins tomorrow!

All is well, leaping about, in Drosche Land.