The tennis courts are frozen. Thank goodness for indoor courts. I had a great lesson today. Actually, I had three great lessons today. My tennis coach is still trying to teach me to loosen up and move forward to the ball. I keep trying to over power my swing and I lean back. But when I move forward and just let go, everything is alright. I think there’s a metaphor in there. When I thought too hard about it, I’d tighten my grip and the ball would not consistently land in the court. But when I went with the flow and loosened up a bit, my consistency was amazing. I think I can learn something from that. Now if I can only repeat what I’ve practiced and learned!! I swear this helps me to be a more patient mom, knowing how challenging it is to actually apply what you learn.

My second and third lessons came from reading passionate and authentic blogs from two women whom I regularly follow. I love these women and don’t even know them. One woman is living life in the moment, a moment that brings tremendous struggle, yet she is real and authentic and represents the meaning of love and life. She gets it and I learn so much from her. Her name is Suzanne Rico. She is from California and you you can find her blog here: Walking Papers. Today I cried while reading about her dress rehearsal for dying and only hope I have as much grace as she does when this event comes my way. She has a beautiful soul.

The other woman is Kirsty Rice from Australia. She is an expat with 4 kids living in Doha. She also has an authentic voice and shares what it is like to live abroad and to raise children away from home. I started following and learning from her before we decided to become expats and I look forward to her regular updates. You can find her here: 4 kids, 20 suitcases & a beagle Today she asked where her “lurkers” were from and reading all the comments and seeing connections was pretty cool. She has touched so many lives with her gift of writing and sharing. I like that and she inspires me.

And I’ll leave you with one last picture. This man was standing in the freezing weather waiting for a bus. There is a windmill in the distance and the typically green field is covered in snow. I took this from my warm minivan, thankful as ever that she’s with me and that we weren’t standing outside tonight.