But as we watched videos of Baby Jujubee, four-year old Lyd was in many of the videos, too.  Jujubee is four years old now, and to be reminded of how Lyd was at that age was pretty striking.  Jujubee speaks now much the same way that Lyd spoke at four years old.  It’s neat to see the similarities.

After school today, Lyd and I were sitting on the couch as she shared with me some story from her day.  As she talked, I suddenly caught a glimpse in her face of the four year old girl she used to be.  She’s lost the baby look entirely, but she hasn’t lost her four year old look.  It was neat to see how much she’s grown and changed, if just for a moment.

Lyd is growing up so much, though.  She’s ridiculously tall and slim – and hungry!  She’s got a very healthy appetite, and she enjoys eating.  Jujubee likes to eat, too, but not quite to the same degree that Lyd does.  I’m sure that day will come.

It’s awe-inspiring and a bit sobering to watch these girls grow up.

One reason I’ve been quiet is that I’ve discovered Downton Abbey!  If you don’t know, it’s a British miniseries that’s currently playing in the USA on PBS on Sunday nights.  I had vaguely heard good things about it in fall of last year, and then my brother gave me the complete first season on DVD for Christmas.  Not too long after, I learned that Downton Abbey had won the Emmy award for Best Miniseries, and last Sunday night it won the Golden Globe award for Best Miniseries.  It’s apparently one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows ever.  Wow.

So, I finally started watching it.  The very first episode didn’t hook me in emotionally, and I wondered if it would be rather boring after all, but from the second episode on, I was completely hooked.  It’s such great storytelling with awesome costumes and simply amazing scenery.  Portions of the show are being filmed in an actual castle in England filled with multi-million dollar artifacts and paintings.  I watched a behind-the-scenes thing on the show, and one of the producers said that to build a set like that would cost their entire budget.  However, the fact that Downton Abbey films in Highclere Castle gives Highclere a desperately-needed source of income.  So, that’s very cool.

Downton Abbey is about an aristocratic family in England in 1914.  The Lord of the estate had only three daughter, no sons, and now his estate will someday be inherited by a distant third cousin that they’ve never heard of.  The interweaving of stories between the family upstairs and the household staff downstairs makes for quite intriguing storylines.  If you want to read more about all the characters, you can check out this online guide here.

Over a year ago, for my birthday at the end of 2010, my husband bought me an under-the-counter TV/radio/CD/DVD player.  Just before my birthday this year, he finally installed it.  So, it’s been lovely to be able to put on episodes of Downton Abbey in the kitchen while I’m cooking.  I’m rewatching all the episodes, catching the things I missed the first time I watched them.  It’s been a very enjoyable.

The other neat aspect of Downton Abbey is that while it’s a period drama, it is unlike a Austen or Dickens novel in that we don’t know what the ending will be.  One really does have to tune in next week to see how it all works out!  And the writing is just excellent!  It’s such a fun show.

If you haven’t watched Downton Abbey and are intrigued, I believe you can download season one episodes from Netflix or Amazon, and you probably don’t have to work to hard to find it on the internet, too.  Season two is currently airing in the USA, and you can watch those shows online here.

It’s nice to have a new “kick” to be on.  Some readers might recall that I was on a big “Thorn Birds” kick last fall, but that eventually faded away, as most kicks do.  However, this Downton Abbey kick will be different in that it’s ongoing.  There are more episodes to come, and I don’t know how they will end.  Plus, Downton Abbey has been picked up for a third season, and apparently they are going to start filming that next month.  Those episodes probably won’t be seen here in the states until a year from now, but I will have them to look forward to.  What fun! 

To a certain extent, I have no choice but to accept certain things the way they are.  If my car is broken, I have to accept that and fix it.  If I’m hungry, I need to find/make food.  There is elemental acceptance of my life.

But the deeper things in my life, that’s what I have a difficult time accepting.

Is it universal, this desire to do whatever we can to twist and change various elements of our lives to shape them more as we would have them be shaped?  I suspect it is.  I certainly feel that way.

Yet, there comes a point, or many points, where one meets a roadblock of sorts.  Whatever it is, you realize that a certain thing is always going to be this way, it’s never going to change, and there’s nothing more you can do about it except to accept it.

That’s difficult for me.  I can’t help seeing how things could be better if a change were made.  It’s like seeing something as perpetually broken when I feel it would be relatively easy (if people did things MY way, of course!) to make it whole again.

Maybe that’s just part of living in a broken, sinful world.  Whether I am right or wrong about the impact that certain changes would make, the fact is that in this world, life will always be broken.  We will always see the effects of sin.  Very few things will ever be perfect, and if they ARE perfect for a fleeting moment, soon that moment is gone and the perfection is only a memory.

“In this world you will have trouble,” says Jesus as recorded in John 16:33.  Jesus goes on to say, “But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  That’s a good reminder.  Jesus is bigger than the world.  He’s bigger than our troubles.  And it’s also good to remember that ”now I know in part, then shall I know fully” (1 Cor 13:12)  Someday the imperfections in my life will all make perfect sense.  That very likely may not happen until heaven, and that’s okay.

I suppose that’s where true acceptance lies.  It’s the idea that God knows the plan, even if I don’t, and I won’t understand his plan fully until I’m in heaven.  Until then, I’ve got to continue to strive to keep my eyes fixed on him and what he has done for me, rather than focus on the problems in my life and my failures towards God.  I have God’s promise that somehow, in the end, it’s all going to work out.  It’s ALREADY working out according to God’s plan.

Even thought it doesn’t always feel “right” to me, my life truly is the way it’s supposed to be.  What a comfort!