When was your best? Now? Now? How about Now?

Just the other day, I was thinking about how life is pretty darn good right now.  This may be the best part of life.  Of course there are frustrating days (no sleep, crabby kids, single income) but those are all minor speedbumps on the road of life.  And where we are on that road right now has some lovely scenery: A handsome and generous husband, adorable mostly sweet kids, great friends and family, and literally lovely scenery- we live by the beach in New England!  The end of twenties and beginning of thirties is great, even going to bed at 9pm on a Saturday can't damper the fun.  Ryan once said of the 17 weeks he spent at Officer Candidate School "the days drag but the weeks fly" and I think that applies to the last 4 years of motherhood, the days sometimes suck, but the weeks give us memories to cherish.  I do my best to cherish the moments, even at 5:17am...

Looking back, the mid twenties were also amazing.  Some highlights include travelling the world with friends, running two marathons, getting settled in a career, meeting and marrying the man of my dreams.  Okay, actually I never dreamed of anyone like him- I like to say he's everything I needed instead of being everything I thought I wanted.  Things I thought were important mean nothing and things I never considered have become the basis of an extraordinary love.  God clearly had better plans for me than I had for myself!  I may have not have saved a ton of money while I could have, but I certainly won't ever forget hang gliding off a mountain in Alaska with BCS, serving as a bridesmaid to friends like EAAL and  LVdMF, frequent flier miles to Nashville, weekends in Boston with KP, NI, CFC, and CR, camping in the White mountains with CP,  and Thanksgiving in Amsterdam.  Again, there were bumps along the road back then, but they don't really pop to mind when I think of those roaring twenties! 

Oh, and the memories of those early twenties and college!  I won't even write out the details as half of them are probably illegal and at least immoral and ill-advised, but let's just say I had a lot of fun, and in the midst of heartbreak, betrayal and other life lessons, I have some very special memories of my sorority sisters and 14 days straight at CJs.  Been there, done that, I even literally got the t-shirt.   

So many of my friends say they hated high school, but I loved it.  When you can live with all your needs and most of your wants provided for you, and merely spend time studying and learning and "hanging out" with friends with no real responsibilities, there's really nothing to complain about.  I loved seeing old classmates at my 10 year reunion, and I love that Facebook reunites us with them in a community, even while we are spread around the country and around the world. 

I can honestly say the only part of my life that I hope I skip if/when my life flashes before my eyes is middle school.  Let's just pretend those awkward years just never happened okay?  I think that's allowed. 

But back to the point, so far, every phase has been the best phase, which gives me hope that these grey hairs I've been sprouting recently aren't the beginning of the end.  When I wonder "how can it get any better than this" I just have to look back and see how many times I've wondered that before only for life to get even better.  Long ago in Sunday School, we discussed what Heaven might be like.  The general consensus was that we, as humans, can't even imagine God's glory.  Yet, I prefer the idea that Heaven is simultaneously living in every happy moment, so as I collect all of these cherished memories, and enjoy all the best times of my life, I have an even happier time to look forward to:  Eternity.