My Worth Is Not Defined By My Marital Status

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My Worth Is Not Defined By My Marital Status

Every season of life is going to have its ups and its downs, its pros and its cons. Whether that be high school, college, grad school, single life, married life, family life, or whatever else. Different seasons. Different experiences. Different stories. I am in a season where I am in my late 20s and find myself single. That is the point of view from which I will be sharing with you. I think it is important to be honest about where we are because people who aren’t in the same place don’t fully understand. So here is a small taste of my single life—small taste of it all.  

I have a screenshot of a text message from one of my close friends. It says, “You are more than enough. Date or no date.” I had just finished telling this friend that I was mad at myself for thinking I needed to bring a date to a holiday party where I’d be the only single person. The friends who were throwing the holiday party never told me I needed to bring someone and have actually never put any kind of pressure on me like that. So why was that my initial reaction?  

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I Lovingly Disagree

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I Lovingly Disagree

I think we can all agree that the last year or so has been an interesting one.  Especially the last few months. I don’t remember a time where I have seen such an “us versus them” mentality, whether it be religion, who to vote for, foreign policy, etc. I’ve been processing and trying to walk through some things, but y’all I am struggling. I’m not writing this to share my personal opinions on specific topics. I’m writing this because these are some of my observations and maybe some of you can relate as well.  

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What an Art Thief Can Teach You About Family Bible Reading

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What an Art Thief Can Teach You About Family Bible Reading

"Make a plan. See it through." That's the best advice I ever got from a TV show (White Collar). Last January I had my set of resolutions I wanted to accomplish, but the difference for 2016 was that I was going to make a plan and see it through. At least, I did that for some of the resolutions, and those were the only ones that I stuck with and accomplished. I had a big vision for the others, but I never laid out simple steps to get there, steps that I actually could accomplish. I never thought through how to incorporate these goals into the regular rhythms of my life. Because of that, I ended up being really inconsistent in my pursuit of them, and they eventually were set aside.

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Set Your Eyes

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Set Your Eyes

Newborn babies are very near-sighted creatures. Sometimes I can’t help but laugh when their sweet little eyes cross when trying to focus on something. Bless it! My little girl is well out of her newborn stage (still can’t believe that), but God caught my attention one day when she was tiny. I was attending to my toddler and having a conversation with her (probably sternly asking her to stop throwing her food all over the floor), and my baby started fussing a little. I kept saying her name from a distance to ease her frustration, but it never seemed to do the trick. I watched her. She started getting more and more nervous because she could not see me. She was moving her head from side to side pretty frantically looking for her mom. Her eyes could only see something that was close to her, and I was not close enough. It made her feel insecure, unsure of her surroundings, and a bit anxious. She had no sense of direction, peace, or stability. 

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Validate Me

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Validate Me

My husband walked in the door after work and told me he was tired. I knew he was; he should be. He works incredibly hard for our family. But in that moment all I wanted to do was rattle off a list of all the things I’d done that day. I wanted to make sure that he knew I was tired too. I wanted him to know how much I had done and accomplished. I wanted him to acknowledge and validate my work. I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to our children. That is my job right now and I do love it. I’m thankful that I’m able to stay home with them. I know many moms who would love to stay home with their children, but who aren’t able to do so. I am thankful; but it is challenging. In fact, many days I feel like I’m doing very few things right. There is no barometer for a stay-at-home mom, only thoughts in her head about how she’s doing in the child raising, teaching, and housekeeping game. My husband is a natural encourager, I know he knows what I do and and he is thankful; he tells me. But even still, these negative thoughts plague me. It’s caused me to look deeper into these thoughts and feelings and at the root is a need and a desire for validation.

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Maximize Your Christmas with a Family Advent Guide

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Maximize Your Christmas with a Family Advent Guide

What would happen if family time & Advent both collided with just a little intentionally this Christmas season?

What is Advent?

Another year is closing out quickly, which means that Christmas is right around the corner. If your family is anything like mine you have trekked up to your attic or storage space recently to grab boxes of decorations. You've also made a trip or several to your local Christmas tree source and local hardware store for some important seasonal necessities. Now your house is filled with new smells, sights, lights, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas with these exciting extras. Both my 3-year-old and 8-month-old have loved the last week of Christmas setup, from the tree to our exterior illumination experiment to a new Christmas village from my grandfather. My wife and I have intentionally planned several family trips in December to a few favorite New Orleans Christmas spots/activities. But as exciting as all the extra parties, activities, lights, and family time is, this season is really at the core about so much more. This season is in fact one of the most important times for us to reflect, renew, and refresh, because this season is ultimately about when the Lord solved the world's problem and provided the One through whom redemption would come.

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Giving Thanks

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Giving Thanks

This week of Thanksgiving has had me thinking about gratitude.

I’m not always good at giving thanks. I’m polite enough to say “thank you” at the appropriate times, but saying “thanks” and giving thanks are two different things. To me, saying “thanks” is an almost automatic reply—something my mom taught me to do from a very early age, as all good Southern ladies know. In simply saying “thanks,” I find that I focus more on the gift than the giver, because the gift is the object of thanks. By giving thanks, I am acknowledging the giver and his or her role in of giving. 

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Take Heart

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Take Heart

When I read these words I think of our pastors. I think of the godly men who lead and serve our church. I think of the staff and volunteers that hold Vintage together; these people, this church, these saints, working so hard and loving so well. They get up early on Sunday and rehearse late on Thursday. They make coffee and hold babies. They run sound and lights and smoke machines (just kidding about the smoke machines). They serve and pour out week after week. And for what? What is the motivation behind the selflessness of these people?

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Can I Help?

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Can I Help?

My daughter is almost three, and she loves being Mommy’s helper around the house. She loves bringing diapers and toys and blankets to her brother. She loves helping load the washing machine. Lately, though, her very favorite thing to do is to help make lunches each morning. I am so thankful for her sweet little heart to serve, but honestly, things would go a lot more smoothly and would happen a lot more quickly if she would just watch me do it. Her little hands don’t work too quickly and she can’t read my mind, so I have to explain each step, wait for her to complete the step, clean up after each step, and help her refocus for the next step. Basically, I have to help her “help” me. I sometimes wonder if it is worth it. It would be easier to make the lunches myself. I would get done quicker. The mess would be smaller.

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Home

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Home

I want our home to be a place of peace and rest, a safe haven for all who enter. I want people to feel comfortable, to walk in without knocking and open the fridge if they need the milk. I want to sit around our table and on the counter tops and eat cookies and talk and laugh. I want people to feel loved and valued in our walls. I want them to feel Jesus when they walk through the door. 

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