Taking Care of Myself

One of the hardest things for me about having 3 little kids is finding time to take care of the things that I need. I know it's important to take care of me, but somehow taking care of things for myself always gets put off. Sometimes it's hard for me to know what to do. But, God reminded me several times this weekend that he will take care of me and help me find ways to do the things I need to do =)

At times, I've tried to go to stores to shop for certain things and it just doesn't go well =( So, anyways, there's a few things that I've needed and God has provided for me and I am so humbled. Last week, I bought some clothes at a garage sale for $6 so they're new to me and most of them fit. I saved a sleep set for my mom and gave a pair of jeans to some neighbor girls, but the rest fit =) 2 pairs of jeans, a skirt, and 2 pairs of pants. The clothes were a blessing to me. With every child I've had, my jeans seem to fit a little different even though I get back to the same size, so I've needed to get rid of some clothes and find a few new ones each time.

This summer when we went to Dutch Wonderland, I had to take my old swimsuit from 10 years ago. I haven't bought a new one since I've been married and since I've had 3 kids! It looked horrible and I felt so horrible in it. I've been trying to find a swimuit I've liked for a few years.

This story jumps around a little, sorry...So, last night, Chris and I went on a date with Eli. I wore some jeans I found at a garage sale a month ago, shoes I found while with my mom in June, a shirt I already had, and a jacket I bought at a garage sale 2 months ago. It felt good to feel nice in what I was wearing. We went to the Bonefish Grill and it was wonderful--I had a coupon that made it more affordable. Eli was great and it was refreshing to get to enjoy such a nice meal with my husband! Afterwards, we went into Sears. There were some Land's End swimsuit pieces on a rack. There was only 1 bottom in my size and 2 top pieces. I've really wanted a tankini. I tried them on and they fit! A little snug in my chest area, but it'll fit better next summer. They were $12 for each piece so we bought all three. It made me smile because I have felt yucky about the swimsuit thing and I actually even got rid of it so I didn't have one at all. And it is just so hard to try things on with the girls! But, yay, I have a swimsuit now that was 75% off!

The other thing God blessed me with yesterday was with my flu shot. I needed to get it from the County Health Department, because they are the only ones in the area that will give it to adults without the Thimerosol. The rest of my family had already gotten theirs, but I wasn't sure when I would be able to. But, the kids and I went to a festival with my friend. The Health Dept was there and there was no line! I got it done lickety split!

So, at the end of the day, I am amazed and humbled by how God has been so kind to me in my struggles of wanting to feel selfish and feeling yucky by not having clothes and things that I needed. But, he provided even more than I imagined--he blessed me with a wonderful date with my husband, a wonderful meal which we enjoyed together, a new swimsuit that fits, and clothes that fit, too! And I didn't have to drag the kids to a store =) to do it =)

As a little added note that's in the same vein, I did go garage saling yesterday--the end of the season. I only found a few things, but at one I found two fancy dresses. A 4 and a 5. The 5 is actually more like a size 3. Autumn and Sami were going to have to wear dresses they already had for their birthday costume party in 2 weeks. I felt a little bad for that, but didn't want to spend $40-60 on costumes this year. I picked up these dresses and didn't think they were that pretty, but offered the lady $1 for each and she said that would be fine. I brought them home and put them on the girls. They were beautiful!! Such fancy, princess dresses! Autumn's is purple and Sami's has a light blue skirt and black top. It made me smile to realize that God knew how much they would like those dresses--not only does he love me so well, He loves my girls so very much!