There's Hope

"How are you?," I asked a woman at church on Sunday morning.

"Great, I'm really great, how about you?," she smiled when she spoke.

"Wow, you're really great?," I asked.  

"Yes," she replied.  "Really."

"Usually everyone just says 'busy,'" I said.  "I mean everyone is so busy you know? You rarely hear people are great."

We laughed and agreed we were both busy, but she was great.  I loved that.  She told me about her son who I remembered hearing about in a mother's group we were in together years ago.  He was a teenager then, now he's an adult with a real job and a real life.  "It was great watching him grow up and change," she said.  

"Really?," I asked again skeptically   I mean because I hear a lot about teenagers and it isn't all very good.  I am a week away from having an actual legitimate teenager in my house and I'm fearing it like I feared the god awful, dreaded, god don't let it happen "terrible two's" a million years ago.  

The kind woman assured me that she was being truthful and that there were indeed stressful times, but overall she enjoyed her son's teenage years and is now enjoying knowing him, and parenting him, as an adult.  

Huh. What a gift it was running into that kind woman, an old friend, at church and hearing what I needed to hear a week before I have an actual legitimate teenager in my house.  

Here's the thing...I don't know what a household with parents and teenagers looks like that is full of love and understanding and happiness.  I have no basis, no road map, no history to go from.  My home was not that place growing up.  I have a few ideas from shows I watched on TV (i.e. The Cosby Show, Eight Is Enough), but I don't really know.  And honestly, I'm a little nervous.

This past weekend was a busy weekend, like all of our weekends, like our whole life right now.  I am glad that I wasn't too busy to hear my old friend's positivity and encouragement and small message of hope.  

That's the thing about this busy, beautiful, messy life...the messages are there, the moments are there. Messages and moments of hope and positivity and encouragement.  We just can't be too busy with life to notice, to listen, to hold onto.  

It is all going so fast and it is so busy it's easy to get swept up and miss the messages, the moments and the hope and the fun of it all.  My god, I hope I never get too swept up to miss the fun of it all.  

Another message of hope? One of my favorite TV shows, Parenthood. We got caught up on Saturday night and saw a great episode from last Thursday. Here's some great life advice that brought me to tears.  It SO FITS what I'm feeling right now!

It is the last season of Parenthood, but if you aren't watching it you totally should.  The show is good, but the music is even better.  And each week they put out a music list like this on Tumblr that is totally rad and I love.  Click here to follow Parenthood on Tumblr.

Here is my FAVORITE song from the last episode, Vampire Weekend's "Worship You."  It sounds like what is going on in my head right now...

(Click here to watch/listen to the video.)