Changes: 2006-2010

I went to get my driver's license renewed at lunch today.

The downtown Columbus BMV is ammunition enough for an entirely separate post about myriad human atrocities, but I'll save that rant for another time.

My old driver's license was issued in December of 2006. So, as I sat waiting for my number to be called, I thought about how much my life has changed since I was last here in this BMV waiting room.

On the eve of 2007, Rich and I had been in our home in Blacklick for a year. We were both working hard, most of all Rich, who was finishing up his last year of college while working at Nationwide full time. We were in love and enjoying our life together. As far as money went, it wasn't hard to make ends meet and we had room to be moderately frivolous. I was involved in church and small groups. Things were going well for us. We had no plans to change the course of our lives.

Rich has always filled me. He's a beautiful soul and an amazing man, strong and funny and smart. Even if our lives hadn't changed so drastically from 2006 to now, there isn't a doubt in my mind that Rich would still be making me happier than I deserve to be today.

But our lives have changed dramatically since 2006.

Little did I know as I sat to have my picture taken at the BMV four years ago that God had such plans for me...

That he would be sending me the greatest surprise of my life, Samuel, just a few short months later.

That he would send me my sweet little angel, Lena, a short time after that.

That I would only be working part time.

That Rich would graduate college with honors and be moving up the Nationwide ladder quickly.

That I would be defined as a mother instead of all the other definitions I used to try so hard to fit myself into.

That it would be so hard sometimes to make ends meet.

That as long as our bills are paid, I don't much care about having the hottest shoes anymore.

That Rich and my marriage is stronger and more fulfilling than ever.

That this beautiful world could get even more magnificent with the arrival of my babies, who both make this planet and every person they meet better.

I wonder what the next four years will bring…