Choosing Joy Over Comparison

  This is us.  From the outside looking in, one would think we have it all together, but I am here to tell you that we don't.  We have been hurt, betrayed, consumed by the sins of this fallen world, and more. But God has RESTORED our marriage. He is continuing to mend our broken hearts together again over time. Together  we are beautifully broken! At this time 8 years ago I was saying "I Do" to the man I vowed to stay with till death do us part...little did I know that hardship, challenges, and servanthood that would come out of this sweet holy moment. Marriage is a covenant that will not be broken with God in the center of it when two people vow to stay together because they have taken all other options off the table.  This is us. I still remember asking Kyle a few days before the wedding, "Are you ABSOLUTELY sure I am the one you want to spend the REST of your life with? ME? REALLY?" These 8 years have been... A joy... together ! A challenge... together ! A r...

I find joy and comfort in knowing that God doesn’t “waste” a storm that we go through! Two years have passed since I was sitting in this hospital room with my 4-year-old little boy. I have blocked this time out of my head and heart for many reasons. Recently I have felt the nudges from the Holy Spirit saying, “ It's time to peel back the layers of this event, to bring healing and give God the true glory he deserves.” So here I am being obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading. How do I write a backstory Of three amazing crazy seasons in my life? How do I crunch them into a few paragraphs? Holy Spirit help me! I was that person who always disliked going to the hospital. I’m not sure where it stems from? It’s kind of funny now that I look back. All of my children came into this world just at the right time. God had a plan and a purpose for each one of them. My oldest was born at 26 weeks and spent almost 3 months in the NICU in San Diego. He made his grand entrance on the last day of ou...

The Laundry! I remember feeling so overwhelmed with all the laundry as a new parent. The baby goes through multiple outfits a day! Ha, you go through multiple outfits a day! I tried many different hacks to help with the mountain of laundry. My mindset stayed the same. My mother, bless that woman, made mothering look easy! I don’t remember her complaining about laundry or housework or dishes, but that is a whole other topic for a different day.  What I do remember is doing things together as a family. That is something that I wanted to pass down to our children, an attitude of teamwork. I wanted to share with you how we do laundry in the season of life we are currently in. Three littles under 6. They are at the stage they want to wear multiple outfits during the day. HA! Not in my house. LOL! On the right, you will see my tribe. Each one of the children has a tote of clothes, and one tote is for all the kid’s PJs, which comes out to 4 toes total. Our children share a room for slee...

"The Joy of the Lord is my strength.  In the mountains, I’ll dance in the valleys I’ll sing, the joy of the Lord is my strength." this phrase is one of the many songs I sing daily. It never gets old and has a very special meaning to me. God, I am here l earning and using the gifts you have placed inside of me. Willing to step out and rise up to be the person you have called me to be! Do you know the gifts that God has placed inside of you?  Do you actively walk them out in your daily life?       As mothers, we set aside our passions and desires as we step into motherhood we stuff it in the back of the closet behind the winter clothes. In reality, we are stepping into a greater calling that God has for our life!  But this doesn't mean we are unable to walk in the gifting He has placed inside of us. Holy Spirit I ask right now would you start to reveal the many gifts you have placed in each one of my friends reading this! Humor me...    ...

                                                                     When you look at the fruit of the spirit what is it that you see?  Do you see a checklist of actions flowing out of you? Do you look at the fruit of the spirit and think of the song you learned in children's church? I could sing you the song that I learned when I was 5 years old. But the song that I learned didn’t tell me how to put into practice living out the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I never really knew (Holy Spirit will you open our ears to hear and our heart to understand!) Last year I went through a class at Lifegate Church called, Who is the holy spirit. It changed my perspective in many ways, life-changing! Many big takeaways and nuggets that I would love to share with you(Call me up for a coffee date)  but...

     Why is it so difficult to ask for help? As a mother, in life I find it easier to do everything myself because I know it will get done. I know the outcome is the way I want it to be. There is something very humbling about asking for help when you are in need.      I have learned a few hard lessons on asking for help. I have learned that I need to slow down, and give myself breathing room. Coming out on the other side of these hard lessons, I feel there is still more to be learned about asking for help, like an onion, yet another layer. Let me try my best to unpack this with you. Here we go!      It brings me great joy to help a friend out. I am always looking for opportunities to help my community. I attended a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting last year. In this meeting, we were tackling a few hard topics including postpartum, depression, and anxiety. The speaker said something that has stuck with me. She said, “When we don't ask fo...