It’s a crazy world out
there. Amongst the materialism and the temptations of the flesh, these things
have been the more recent fuel that kept alive my passions for God, marriage,
motherhood and philanthropy…
This song (Trust
in You by Lauren Daigle), especially the chorus.
“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward
from him.” Psalm 127:3. A reward.
Kind of changes the way I view diaper changes and stepping on Legos.
Pretty much the entire audiobook of Looking for Lovely while I do dishes. Annie F Downs is a new
favorite of mine. =]
“To give a successful apology, you must learn to speak
the apology language of your spouse.” –The 30 Day Love Language Minute Devotional by Gary Chapman
You guys. For real. I had never even heard of this concept before. My apology language is “I’m sorry” or, if you messed up real bad, “I’m so sorry.” For years I have felt like people these days just don’t apologize. It turns out pretty much everyone apologizes, just not in a way that I recognized. I never thought “I wish I hadn’t ____” or “I should never have ____” were apologies until I read this passage in a daily devotional. I almost didn’t share this for fear I’d look silly but so far everyone I’ve talked to about it has been surprised to hear that apology doesn’t necessarily look the same to all of us. Just interesting.
You guys. For real. I had never even heard of this concept before. My apology language is “I’m sorry” or, if you messed up real bad, “I’m so sorry.” For years I have felt like people these days just don’t apologize. It turns out pretty much everyone apologizes, just not in a way that I recognized. I never thought “I wish I hadn’t ____” or “I should never have ____” were apologies until I read this passage in a daily devotional. I almost didn’t share this for fear I’d look silly but so far everyone I’ve talked to about it has been surprised to hear that apology doesn’t necessarily look the same to all of us. Just interesting.
This blog post
offering a perfect reminder of how motherhood just takes practice
All of the beautiful, unique, brilliantly inspirational
birth stories going into my upcoming book, a collection of birth stories
showing the way God speaks to, inspires, encourages, and holds up women during
birth. I am so, so excited about this project, y’all.
“Love has won infinitely more converts than theology. The
first believers were drawn to Christ’s mercy long before they understood His
divinity.” –Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker
Ryan was for whatever reason explaining to our son that
lots of kids in the world don’t have all the things he has. He really perfectly
explained in a three-year-old’s language that some kids don’t get food even if
their bellies are hungry, some kids don’t have clean clothes that fit them,
some kids don’t have shoes, some kids don’t have mommies or daddies to hug them
and love them.
“I know! Maybe we could hepp them! We could give them food and clothes and hugs!”
I thought for a moment, if only it were that easy. And then I realized it is that easy.
Before I could even say anything Ryan said, “Yes! We can! That’s our job. That’s why God made us.”
“I know! Maybe we could hepp them! We could give them food and clothes and hugs!”
I thought for a moment, if only it were that easy. And then I realized it is that easy.
Before I could even say anything Ryan said, “Yes! We can! That’s our job. That’s why God made us.”
There is no person on the planet I’d rather parent these
babies with. <3
“It takes a full twenty minutes after your stomach is
full for your brain to register satiation. How long does it take your soul to
realize that your life is full? The slower the living, the greater the sense of
fullness and satisfaction.” –OneThousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
So I have this belief that God will not let me fail at
helping others. That’s our job, you know? These people are strangers to us but
they are His babies and I think He would straight up move mountains for me if
that was what I needed to do to help His children.
One of the ways we’re doing that right now is Operation Christmas Child. We do a box or two every year but this year we’re committed to a whopping 15 boxes we simply cannot afford. We’ve had all kinds of random things pop up and within a month we’re already almost done with five. That’s already inspiring enough in itself. We have a cardboard box in the other room we’re filling up with OCC items as they come to us. A few prizes from the summer reading program that are a bit too old for our own kids, a few cloth dolls I thought were cute at the dollar store, travel-sized toothpaste tubes on sale for $.25, a free Chick Fil A kids meal book my mother-in-law sent the kids that we already had, things like that. My son was putting stickers on a freshly colored letter and I asked him if I could have one of the sheets for the box. He smiled and gave me three. Three sheets of his beloved stickers when he could have just said no to the one.
May I always be as generous as my (amazing) boy.One of the ways we’re doing that right now is Operation Christmas Child. We do a box or two every year but this year we’re committed to a whopping 15 boxes we simply cannot afford. We’ve had all kinds of random things pop up and within a month we’re already almost done with five. That’s already inspiring enough in itself. We have a cardboard box in the other room we’re filling up with OCC items as they come to us. A few prizes from the summer reading program that are a bit too old for our own kids, a few cloth dolls I thought were cute at the dollar store, travel-sized toothpaste tubes on sale for $.25, a free Chick Fil A kids meal book my mother-in-law sent the kids that we already had, things like that. My son was putting stickers on a freshly colored letter and I asked him if I could have one of the sheets for the box. He smiled and gave me three. Three sheets of his beloved stickers when he could have just said no to the one.
My friend Steffani sent me a nice little camping post
from a new-to-me blog and I fell in love with their cabin story (though not the
actual cabin… I LOVED the raw wood photos but then they painted it white and it
made me kind of sad!) Any ways, this quote: “There’s something of a jewel found in a small
box, a place where there’s room only for that most treasured and nothing more.”
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Thanks so much for your comments! I always read them, don't always have time to answer quickly. Sorry about that!