There will never be another "right now"...

Just over six months ago, we adopted our daughter, Caroline, from China. Our website, Hope For Caroline, chronicles our story of faith, hope and love over the last five years. Although we will continue to post periodic updates on that website, we will now join the world of bloggers and share the journey upon which our family continues.

Why the name? Well, I wanted something "catchy", something different. My friend Kristi's blog is titled Fireworks and Fireflies and has a sweet, nostalgic meaning. Another of my favorites, Salsa in China, is so unique and flavorful, if you will. My favorite name, which I will abstain from sharing, was already taken. I'm saving it for another project, anyway. I tried and tried to come up with something meaningful, and every idea was already taken. I found it difficult to come up with a name for our blog that really captures the essence of its purpose, not too sappy and yet original. I ended up perusing a list of Steven Curtis Chapman songs. After all, his music has changed my life, but I'll save that story for another post. I love so many of his songs, but when I came across "Next Five Minutes" and read the lyrics, I knew that was it.

So many days of my life I spend doing things that really don't count for much. Although I realize it's impossible to spend every minute doing something meaningful (I don't think even God expects that of us), I do believe that we should live with that purpose in mind. What we have is "right now". It doesn't really matter what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow. We have today to live to its fullest. So my goal is to use this blog to remind myself that there will never be another "right now" and that's how I should be living it!

Now for those of you who know me, you're probably rolling on the floor laughing, because as I age (no, you're not getting that info) and as we add children to our family (four, at last count), I can barely remember what I'm doing for five minutes at a time! Ah, well...such is my life, and I happen to love it and all the chaos that comes with it. Yes, with a houseful of kids, a husband, a dog and two part-time jobs, things change more than once in a five-minute timeframe. And I never know what the next five minutes might bring. But I do know this...there are a lot of things left in this life that I want to do...admittedly, some of those things are on my own agenda. But I'm learning that God's agenda is where the real action is, and He's revealing that agenda, little by little. He's teaching me to be flexible and to be willing to do whatever He asks, even if it means changing my plans in the next five minutes.

Speaking of the next five minutes, I may be face down on the computer if I don't get some sleep. Until the next "right now"...