BLESSED BEYOND EXHAUSTION
My flower beds are a disaster. Weeds have overtaken them and it’s quite embarrassing. When we first moved into this house, I had a colicky baby and a two year old in the throes of autism. I also had an eight year old needing lots of attention. So you can imagine I had exactly zero time to do anything with the flower beds. I would occasionally go out to weed…
Here are the winner of the giveaways from last week: The winner of the Priscilla Shirer “Armor of God” Bible study is Sheli C. And the winner of the beach tote is Laura K. Congratulations, girls, and thank you all for participating! Now let’s talk about summer. Summer can be a hard time for parents. Am I right? When I think of summer, I envision lazy days of sitting around in my…
I thought it would be fun to do a quick post at the end of each month containing 3 or 4 different things that I’m loving. So here are the things I’m loving for May. The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey: I have recently become addicted to podcasts. I listen to them while I’m cooking, while I’m driving around town (if I don’t have kids with me), and when I’m…
Aaah, the end of school. My favorite, yet most dreaded time of year. Can you relate? Usually the teachers are so D-O-N-E by the end of the year, right? State testing is complete so school is O-V-E-R. But this year, I feel like Brienne’s teachers just got ramped up good in May. I mean, she didn’t have homework the entire year but suddenly, during the last two weeks of school,…
If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that I have been praying through the Bible for Brienne for (ahem) about three years. Reading through Scripture in a prayerful manner has opened my eyes to new truths as I apply God’s word to her life. I am currently reading through Lamentations and came across a verse which I have read and studied before. But this…
Being a mom has been the most difficult yet the most beautiful and fulfilling job I have ever had, and I am beyond grateful for all three of my children. But as I was lying in bed last night, I began to think about Jonah and the sacrifices made by his birthmother. This letter is to birthmothers everywhere, but particularly to the one who gave us our precious son. To…
My little kids have been obsessed with heaven lately. I honestly don’t remember Brienne asking all these difficult and never-ending questions. I’m sure she did. Maybe I’ve lost a few brain cells since then. Or perhaps the intensity of the questions are just exaggerated now because I have two kids asking questions at the same time. Whatever the reasoning behind my feelings of inundation, I am finding myself greatly ill-equipped…
Ok. So this topic isn’t something that I’ve spoken about very often although I feel like it is a subject that many people can relate to. Today, I’m talking about depression, particularly, postpartum depression. When I got pregnant with my first baby, I started hearing a lot about postpartum depression but it was one of those topics where I had no personal experience. For the two weeks following Brienne’s birth, I had the…
One afternoon, I was driving around town with Jonah and Vivienne when I overheard this conversation happening in the back seat: Jonah: Jesus wants us to be happy. Jesus loves you, Vivi. Vivienne: No! He doesn’t love me! Jonah: Yes he does! Vivienne: No he doesn’t because I love Mommy and Daddy. Jonah: Well, I guess Vivi won’t be happy. This conversation with my favorite little people was interesting on…
If this deployment has taught me anything, it’s this: I am much more of an introvert than I ever thought. I mean, I’ve always known that I have introvert tendencies. I can only handle crowds for so long before my eyes start glossing over, I start getting antsy, I shut down, and I begin searching for the nearest exit. But this deployment has greatly exaggerated those tendencies. This is Peter’s…