Month: December 2023

Words fall short to express what an amazing little getaway Josh and I got to have to end the year. Travelers Rest, SC is a hidden gem! This past summer, in the thick of a stressful time, I decided we needed a getaway, and I made this reservation almost on a whim. I perused Airbnb and happened to find this new spot—a cool treehouse tucked away in the woods. So private and serene, but minutes away from the cutest little town filled with shops and an amazing trail, the Swamp Rabbit Trail. At the time I clicked on “reserve these dates,” I had no idea how much we would need to get out of town. It has been such a sweet few days. The Lord provided, and we are grateful.

We have rested. We have read. We have talked. We have shopped for our home. We have walked so many miles on the trail. We visited Greenville. We have eaten some great food. (Josh learned I’m not a fan of crepes.) We have dreamed together. We’ve planned. We’ve prayed. We have connected and unplugged from distractions. We journaled. We laughed. We sat on the porch in silence and listened to nature. We star gazed right from the little home. Sweet memories were made.

Thank You, Lord, for providing just what we needed. You always do. These two travelers feel rested and refreshed for all You have for us.

Well, I just finished up my sixth year of showing up consistently at my gym. Six years. 72 months. 313 weeks.

There were hard days. Very hard days. There are still hard days, if I’m honest. But I can’t fully express how deeply grateful I am for my health. The past six years have been filled with a lot of ups and downs and so many challenges in my personal life, in family life, in raising three teenagers, in sending kids off to college, and more. I won’t even mention perimenopause and the rollercoaster it has been.

Here’s the thing though—all the challenges would still have been present. The six years, the 72 months, the 313 weeks all would have passed whether I was working out or not. So I’m extremely happy that I made the hard decision to keep showing up. It’s actually not hard to show up anymore. It might even be the easiest part of my week. Showing up is, by far, what has kept me going. I have a time and place and plan when I get there. Tim has been so helpful in challenging me at appropriate levels that kept me going and didn’t let me settle.

But I think the biggest mental shift and help has been coming to grasps with the fact that there is no finish line. Too often we think “when I lose 20 pounds, then I can be happy.” Or maybe we think once we get strong then we can just coast. But that’s not helpful—because moving my body doesn’t have a finish a line. Benefiting from strength will last my whole life!

So here’s to six years and many, many more—Lord-willing!!

Josh and I have the privilege to lead a small group at our church. There are about fifteen or so young married couples, many of which have kids or one on the way. In the group text among the ladies of our group, we were exchanging some photos from the holiday season—photos with Santa among them. I couldn’t help but share a couple of my favorites from years gone by. I’m thankful they let me indulge in this way and add, “I miss these days! Enjoy the craziness!!”

I share that comment at risk of sounding like the older ladies who would tell me how quickly time passes as they watched me wrangle my three. For quite a while this sentiment bothered me. Here I was trying my best to be their mom, be present and care for their every need. I didn’t find their melancholy words—“don’t blink” —very comforting.

But now as a 46 year old mom of three, ages 19, 18, and 16, I understand their hearts. They meant only well. They meant to relay to me how very precious these little faces I was wiping actually were. They didn’t want me to miss a single minute of it because they would give anything for a single minute to hold their newborn baby again or kiss their toddler’s chubby cheeks or hear their tiny voices. I share this photo because it takes me back to this fun day in 2008 at the Christmas Tree Farm. A forever memory etched on my heart. We were present with one another. I’m sure someone cried. I’m sure they fought at some point. But what a sweet day I treasure fifteen years later. In the moment I didn’t know how special this outing was. But now I know.

And my message to my young mom friends is not so much to not blink. Not even to remind you how fast they grow up. But instead what I’m saying is BE PRESENT. Ask the Lord to help you soak in the faces of those you love. Ask the Lord to slow your racing mind of to-do lists and put your phone down and live hands free this Christmas season. It’s impossible to not blink. It’s impossible to freeze time. But we can all be present. It will be the greatest gift we give and receive. Merry Christmas!

It’s no secret this is a busy season. There are Christmas parties to attend, gifts to purchase and wrap, grocery lists to make, cookies to bake, family to host and so much more. It’s nearly impossible to rest. It’s more challenging than I’d like to admit to keep Jesus at the center.

I was bemoaning this reality just this morning as I talked with the Lord. I was asking for help to be able to clear out the distractions and constant noises of this season. In an attempt to clear my head, I wrote out prayers for those on my heart. I was asking God to help them in specific ways, but the crux of the matter was that they each need God to be with them. And the Good News of Jesus is that He is Immanuel, God with us!! Thank You, God, for Jesus.

Maybe you feel the tension of this season. The desire to rest in the Lord and focus on the gift of Jesus, yet your to do list grows by the minute…your heart may be heavy for someone you love…your heart may be grieving and you feel there is little room for the comfort Jesus brings. I pray you can cast all your cares on the Lord, knowing that He cares for you. Knowing that He is with you and He is with the ones you love. It may take quite a bit of effort and lots of prayer to intentionally keep Jesus at the forefront of your mind and heart, but it will be worth it. There is no other thought so comforting, so encouraging, so needed as GOD WITH US. For if He is with us, nothing is too much. Nothing is too hard. Nothing is too frustrating. Nothing is too complicated.

https://youtu.be/HyU5Jg5mGak?si=mTnBVwwOgdbbUqgr

I haven’t blogged much lately. But we have been living a very full life over here. Some things have been fun and exciting. Most things have been mundane and just normal. Like stacking this wood that Josh ordered. He said to leave it and he’d stack it when he got home, but seeing how I was not currently doing laundry or cooking, I went ahead and stacked the wood and was quite proud of myself.

Mack has been enjoying a little reprieve from football practice and games every weekend. He seems to be doing well in school and spends lots of time with friends. He is on a basketball team with some friends, and they won their first game Friday evening.

We didn’t go watch him play because we were at Josh’s company’s Christmas tree lighting and then took Molly and three friends from college to Tacos 4 Life. But he came in with the team to eat so I snapped a pic. The friends rode with Molly so that she could crown the next Homecoming Queen at Carmel. They only spent one night, but I loved having them here.

Molly is finishing up her first semester at Liberty. It has been a whirlwind for her. She jumped in with two feet and has made so many friends and learned so much in just a few months. The amazing experiences at Liberty never cease to amaze me. She changed her major to Worship Leadership; she is very much looking forward to starting that track next semester.

Ruby has had a wonderful sophomore year at Liberty. She stormed the field last night when Liberty’s football team won their conference!

Ruby also already has a job lined up to work at a camp in Georgia this summer. 12 weeks!!! That’s crazy. She will be a camp photographer. I’m excited to see how it goes for her and see how she grows and matures through this. I’m sure she will do a great job and make lots of friends too.

Josh is just working, working, working. And enjoying being done with the Pastor Search he was a part of! We just watched Georgia get beat by Alabama, which is never a great way to end a season, but whatever. He and I have enjoyed extra time together lately. It seems like we find ourselves together and kidless quite often. We love our kids, but we’re not complaining about this new season.

Mack had a Homecoming Dance to go to this evening. He left here to get his date so I didn’t get photos of them together. Here he is looking so grown though:

And while I’m at it, we had a nice Thanksgiving with my dad and Sheila. The food was amazing. Josh smoked a prime rib. Delicious!!!!

We enjoyed having all the kids under one roof. But the week flew by and the girls took off after we got the house decorated for Christmas!

Josh and I also got a chance to go to Georgia last Thursday to see Brooklynn get adopted by Jason and Merrilee!! It was a very sweet day.

Thankful she is with her forever family now!

And now I’ll wrap this random blog up with a few pics of my dog. Rolo has been a trooper lately. It’s usually too cold to walk outside or I’ve just been too busy. She sits at the door looking at me as drive out of the driveway. Her pitiful face stares back at me and I feel like a terrible dog mom!! But she forgives me after a few treats.

Oh and I started Pilates last week. It has been a good challenge for me. I wanted something to add to my strength training that was also restorative. And I think I’ve found a great option for that! It’s so funny how the motive for movement shifts as you get older. Getting myself up from a sitting position is a main goal. Not falling and breaking an arm or a hip if I can help it is another!

I’m almost done Christmas shopping which is super fun for me!!! I have never been this far ahead, but I hope it helps me enjoy this time of year even more. And who knows, maybe I’ll have more time to blog. And maybe something more in depth than photos and updates on life. 😊