March 2012
1 post
2 tags
Training Our Boys to Be Men →
January 2012
1 post
1 tag
“When you realize that what you have, you will lose — you win real eyes. You win...”
– Ann Voskamp
December 2011
1 post
2 tags
I wont always be the only girl he sings his songs... →
November 2011
2 posts
3 tags
“Let us this Advent season throw off everything that encumbers. Let us, like...”
– Cameron Conant of ThreadsMedia.com
2 tags
Motherhood = Spiritual? Great article! →
September 2011
3 posts
1 tag
“One good example is worth more than a thousand good books, curriculum’s or...”
– Kat from Inspired to Action. via Passionate Homemaking
1 tag
I Am Beautiful, Rich & Famous →
“I am a Mother. I am paid in cuddles and kisses by a child who will settle for no one else. I already am beautiful, rich, and famous.”
2 tags
“The only reason for freedom to exist, is for love to exist”
– Erwin McManus
July 2011
3 posts
2 tags
One Year
As an unexpected celebration of his first birthday, B got to play in the giant fountain downtown. There are few things that he has enjoyed more than splashing around in that gushing water.
Happy Birthday to my playful, adventurous, spirited, joyful, rambunctious, energetic, passionate, perfect little boy.
1 tag
“Patience is a surrendering to suffering — a willingness to wait — a carrying of...”
– Ann Voskamp
1 tag
The Time Warp of Motherhood →
Short and sweet. Made me cry.
June 2011
1 post
3 tags
Summer
Awwww summer….you have finally arrived. And you’ve brought your barbeques and swim parties and sunburns and Thursday night markets and walks to the creek and fruit salads and cold showers and 100 degree highs and 80 degree lows with you.
Although the heat can be uncomfortable at times, summers in Chico are certainly one-of-a-kind.
May 2011
6 posts
2 tags
Mmmmm....blueberries
“There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and...”
– G.K. Chesterton
1 tag
“I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone...”
– Shauna Niequist from Cold Tangerines
2 tags
1 tag
Word of the Day
And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” - Mark 1:40-41 (emphasis mine)
The man with leprosy had no doubt in Jesus’ ability to heal him, but his...
1 tag
Unemployed
April 2011
3 posts
1 tag
“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or...”
– William Arthur Ward
2 tags
“True beauty radiates from a woman who gracefully walks the path designed...”
– Ginger Plowman in Heaven at Home
2 tags
Love & Time
“They could not remember a time, until now, that forever didn’t seem long enough”
You hear it all the time…. Time goes by so fast…. Remember these moments because they grow up so fast…. Just wait until you’re my age, then time will reeeeally go by fast…
But I don’t want it to go by fast. I’m in no hurry to see my little boy grow...
March 2011
1 post
2 tags
Make Me New
All this pain I wonder if I’ll ever find my way I wonder if my life could really change at all All this earth Could all that is lost ever be found Could a garden come up from this ground at all You make beautiful things You make beautiful things out of the dust You make beautiful things You make beautiful things out of us All around Hope is springing up from this old ground Out of chaos life is...
February 2011
1 post
1 tag
“Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one...”
– Romans 12:9-12
January 2011
2 posts
1 tag
Hope & Tears
Heart-wrenching but wonderfully inspiring: The Real Miracle from LOTH Blogs
I’m not entirely sure why I enjoy reading stories like this. Is it so I’ll cherish what I have and be thankful for the health of my own son; of my own loved ones? Is it because it inspires me to fully trust the Lord with all things; good or bad, joyful or painful? Is it because it gives me hope that, if faced...
3 tags
Wholesome Talk
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only that which is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” - Ephesians 4:29
Words have the ability to bring life or death; love or hate; peace or war. When I read Ephesians 4:29, I think about my words; my life, and how different they would be if I truly lived out...
December 2010
5 posts
1 tag
“The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by...”
– N. D Wilson in Notes From the Tilt-a-Whirl
1 tag
Word of the Day
“For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace” - 1 Cor 14:33
God our Father in Heaven is not a God of confusion and turmoil, but of peace. He is the calm after the storm; the light at the end of the tunnel. He isn’t the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but the gentle whisper (1 Kings 19). He is the still small voice.
He is never anxious and he never worries. His hands...
3 tags
“A peacemaker is someone who experiences the peace of God (Philippians 4:7)...”
– Dustin S. from the Desiring God Blog
1 tag
Word of the Day
“Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:8-9
My relationship with the Lord needs to be what motivates me to do what is right. If I become more focused...
1 tag
Waiting For Christmas →
Christmas cannot be bought. Christmas cannot be created. Christmas cannot be made by hand. Christmas can only be found.
In the creche, in the cradling trough, in the mire and the stench and the unexpected and unlikely and only in the person of Christ.
-Ann Voskamp
November 2010
4 posts
2 tags
“This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness;
not...”
– Martin Luther
2 tags
Three
So, most of the people reading this know that this post is a little late, and that our third wedding anniversary was on the 4th. BUT, we didn’t really get to celebrate until last weekend. We spent our first night away from B up in Chester and it was awesome! It was so beautiful and peaceful and it was such a gift to be able to spend some good time together. Although I missed my boy like...
3 tags
Mission Statement Complete
After several weeks of praying, thinking, writing and revising, I’ve landed on the final version of my mission statement.
My mission as a Christ follower, a wife, a mother and a homemaker is:
To live a life that points to Jesus by boldly speaking the truth and loving people well. To serve my husband with a joyful heart and to ensure that he always feels loved and honored. To encourage and...
“We’ve spent the last several hundred years sterilizing our relationship with...”
– Cole NeSmith
October 2010
8 posts
Watch“We are moving to a deeper level of contentment and happiness that is not tied to the accumulation of stuff”
“How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not...”
– Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
1 tag
Word of the Day
David also said to Solomon his son, ‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.’” - 1 Chronicles 28:20
This verse kicked me in the butt. “Be strong and courageous, and do the work....
“Black-and-white, either-or thinking polarizes people and stunts progressive...”
– Donald Miller
2 tags
Generosity
To My Dad,
You may not realize it and you may not believe it, but you have been the answer to our prayers. We have been asking the Lord, if it be His will, that he would bless us with a larger car that would better accommodate our growing family. And He has answered.
It would have been generous enough for you to loan us the car interest free. It would have been generous enough for you to let...
“A photographer had once told me, ‘You’ll find you will capture some of...”
– Ann Voskamp from A Holy Experience
1 tag
Missional Homemake Outside the Home
One of the points that Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking makes about Missional Homemaking is that it doesn’t end when we walk outside the walls of our house. Exercising hospitality and spreading the love of Christ needs to happen within the “arena” that we consider to be our home: namely, our neighborhood and our city.
Putting it into practice: To show love to our neighborhood...
3 tags
Missional Homemaking
“How can it be a large career to tell other people about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute” - G.K Chesterton
This term, “Missional...
September 2010
3 posts
2 tags
TrueFaced
Have you ever felt stalked by a book? It’s kind of a strange question, but what I mean is, have you ever had a book title keep coming up in conversations or keep catching your eye in the bookstore or on a bookshelf? This has happened to me on a few occasions, and once I finally got around to reading the sneaky book I was always greatly impacted. Whether by challenging me, convicting me,...
Oh, to pain the Creator →
2 tags
The Calm
“Easy” is certainly not the word I’d use to describe the first few weeks with a little one. There have been tears — lots of them. Baby tears and Mama tears. There have been doubts. There has been stress and frustration, misread cues and unmet needs. During the first few weeks of parenthood, we dealt with our fair share of rain and thunder. But I’m happy to say that...
August 2010
3 posts
1 tag
Moments
A few nights ago, Kyle, B and I were sitting on the couch together. Kyle sat on my left with his arm around me and B was asleep on my left shoulder. Every thirty seconds or so I would kiss his precious little head and breathe in the most wonderful smell in the world. Then I would look up at Kyle and we would both smile. I know we were thinking the same thing.
He’s amazing.
At some point,...
3 tags
Fear
Is he eating enough? Is he eating too much? Is that cough normal? Is he still breathing? Is he growing the way that he should? Is he going to give his life to Jesus? Is he going to run into the street and not see the car that’s flying around the corner? Is public school the right choice? Is it safe to let him walk to school by himself? Will other kids tease him or bully him? Will he fall off...
2 tags
Courageous?
While I was pregnant with little B, on two separate occasions the word “courageous” was used to describe me and/or the mother that I was soon to become.
Courageous. Courageous?
I couldn’t see it. In the past I’ve been seen as a “strong” person. But that usually just meant that I was too stubborn to ask for help when I really needed it. But courageous…?...
July 2010
1 post
1 tag
Then & Now
I think I take for granted the fact that I’ve been friends with some of the coolest people for YEEEARS! I mean, many many years! For instance, I have been friends with my bff Lindsay Lange (then Lindsay Lauten) for 15 years! And so many of my other friends I met in high school and somehow they still haven’t gotten sick of me!
So this post is dedicated to them. To the girls who stuck...
April 2010
1 post
An Incredible Journey
7 and half years we’ve been together. Since senior year of high school, I have been unable to imagine my life without this man.
What an incredible journey it has been! And soon begins a brand new adventure together: parenthood. I often think about the challenges and the changes that will arise when raising a child, but I don’t worry. Although neither of us have done anything like...