Joy in the Journey

I'm going to be taking a break. It's been nearly two years since this blog began. It came from humble beginnings and it is still small and humble, just Lee and I trying to share encouragements to our fellow moms. I started this blog during my  mom-life crisis . My baby was little and my life was so limited to just meeting his needs and getting through each day. I felt like I'd never do anything special again. I felt like all my dreams were over. I felt trapped... And I didn't want others to feel alone like I was feeling. So, I started this blog, which was one of my dreams. I Googled "How to start a blog", created an account, and wrote the very first blog (see that HERE ) and so it began. That first blog started with ZERO views.... Then1 view because I texted the link to someone. It was an uphill battle every step of the way to get each blog out, to reach people. Lee joined me just about a week later and the teamwork kept me going through the ups and downs of l

Girls, I am kind of embarrassed as I am writing this post. Because this post is about how the past few weeks have gone for me. I've been kind of lazy.  "Kind of" is an understatement. Especially for me. I'm usually a very active lady. The hardest part of my health struggles has not been the pain, but the fact that it has kept me from doing things. But my pain has not been very bad at all since the first week of January (thank the Lord!) and yet I still haven't been very productive. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've been letting my house crumble around me. I'm still doing dishes three times a day, making meals, sweeping floors, sorting laundry, changing diapers...but not much else. We've been doing school here and there. I've been doing yoga to try to get these muscles stronger. I did a little work in the greenhouse, did a little fishing, and mushroom picked with family and friends. I guess as I type it all out, it doesn't sound ver

Guest post by: Kara Hooten “How do I instill contentment and gratitude in my children?” I asked myself. I was appalled at the discontentment, entitlement, and greed I was observing in my three young children. Only God can truly change anyone’s heart, but maybe there was something I could do to encourage my Little Ones towards greater gratitude. That was where the “Thankfulness Day” was born. I decided to create a day with less, with the intention of showing my children just how much they really had. The next morning I was excited to tell my six, four, and two year old that it was going to be a silly day because we were going to play a game where we pretended to be poor. All the kids’ books and toys were put out of reach or hidden in a closet. One children’s bible was left out and one big ball. We talked about how some people might only have one book or toy. We talked about how thankful we were for how many books and toys we usually have. For breakfast we pretended that the mom and da

When I first became a mom, I was pretty insecure. I tried to be perfect. I tried to fit the role. I tried to present myself the same as other moms I saw around me (even limiting my style and how silly I was in public). I was insecure. People's comments really bothered me and it took some time to get over any insensitive or careless comment. But as time went on, I grew. I grew as a mom. I knew my kids and what was good for them and I stopped trying to please so much. With time and experience it became more natural, more secure, and more full of life. Now I have a baby and I get comments again. Unsolicited advice, comments on letting my child's desires matter to me, comparisons between parenting styles. And it's gets to me! I feel judged. I feel I have to explain or stand up for how I choose to take care of my baby. I got comments on how long I breastfed, comments for holding my baby "too much" when he cried, comments on letting him make decision (positive parenting

The subject of our last MOPS meeting was gratitude. What a great subject to end a pretty crazy year, and start another year that may be just as crazy. I have been focusing my thoughts on all the things I am thankful for and there are so many! But one person is especially standing out in my mind this week. That is my 18 month old, Asher. 18 months is a fun age! Every day, he is discovering new things, saying new words, and expanding his understanding. And kids are just so darn cute at this age! Not that 18 months isn't also a hard age. Teething is still a reality, tantrums and tears happen because they are living in the immediate and have to learn the concept of waiting, and then there are sleeping routines that have shifted as they go from two naps to one... But I'm so thankful to be experiencing the ups and downs of having a toddler! I feel like I especially appreciate it because at one point in my life I wasn't sure if I would ever have a toddler again.  I wonder what peo

  What's that verse "Don't grow weary of doing good"? Well, Moms, I'm weary. I'm discouraged. I'm tired and I don't know what to do.  Recently, I've seen positive results of my years of parenting show up. All the training I've put into my children, all the repetition and effort, and I've seen the results. My kids are respectful, responsible, caring, hardworking individuals that I'm so proud of but this morning... This morning I saw something else rise up in one of my children. The long fought, long worked on, still not seeing full results from, fight for honesty. Honestly. Why is it so hard to be honest? Because we are afraid. One of my kids saw my disapproval and instantly changed her story to throw someone else under the bus, to put the responsibility elsewhere even for an incident that probably would have nothing more than a correction, no consequence, to it.  I trudged through the lie, trying to find the truth. I unfortunately could

We've all heard or said "There's not enough hours in a day." Is that really true? We always have more we can do. There's always something left to do... but is 24 hours really not enough time for what we are supposed to be accomplishing in a day? Photo Credit: goodvibeblog.com A wrote a post quite awhile back on evaluating my success in my day differently (read that post HERE ). When I looked at my day from a different perspective, I realized I was doing exactly what I was supposed to. "There's always one more thing to do." I just said that before bed the other night as I was walking off to bed and remembered the cloth diapers were still in the washing machine and couldn't be left wet all night. Always more to do, but did I do enough? I did. Each day, I do enough. I do what I'm intended to. I look after my family, loved on my husband, connected with people. I do so many chores and take on so many challenges. I am strong and I w

 "Don't step on the book." I gently pushed my almost-18-month-old's little tennis shoe off one of our family's favorite books. I had brought it with us to my MOPS meeting to keep him distracted. He had enjoyed looking at it for quite a while, but then decided to stand on it. I felt like he was old enough to learn that we don't stand on books. He looked at me, picked up the book, took it to the middle of the room (out of my reach), dropped it on the floor, and stepped on it. Yep, he was certainly old enough to learn! I got up, scooped him up, and grabbed the book. "Don't step on books." I firmly said as we sat down again. He looked at the book again for a little while, then, when I'm guessing he thought that I had forgotten, he took the book a little ways from me, looked right at my face, and lifted his shoe onto the book. TWAP!  The sound of my hand against his big bulky cloth diaper was enough to make him understand that I really didn't

A very special post by:  Guest Writer: Brooke Glazner Bio: Brooke is a mother of two beautiful daughters who has suffered with debilitating, sometimes life-threatening GI issues. After years of suffering she recovered in 2019, got pregnant, and then lost the baby and her health went downhill shortly after with a new struggle with mild to severe joint pain. At the beginning of each year, I pray for God to give me a word to focus on. The word that God gave me for 2020 was steadfast . I wish I lived up to that ideal. My joint pain started in May. Out of the blue, my body started falling apart again in a whole new way. I’ve become reacquainted with pain and limitation, and I haven’t handled it well. I’ve been angry. I’ve been discouraged. I’ve panicked in terror over what my life might become. I’ve wanted to throw fit like a two-year-old in the corner (still do sometimes). I’ve wrestled. The war in my heart and mind between steadfast faith, and abject despair, has been very real. I’ve pul

The company had left. We all took naps and then we went to the store. My two year old was definately feeling  things. He was either being hyperactive or agitated. He ran around the store like he normally did but then began an unusual game of throwing himself on the floor, doing a superman pose, where only his stomach was still on the floor, yelling and flailing.  At first I thought he was hurt. When I saw he was just playing I tried to get him off the floor by responding to the play with tickling. Nope. He was staying there. I finally went back to the shoes that I had been previously looking at across the isle. He stayed where he was at and continued to make horrible noises and flail. I tried the "This is not how we behave in the store" and then went to ignoring the behavior. People walked by and looked at my toddler on the floor, I gave them a half smile and kept looking at shoes, only acknowledging that yes, that was my kid, and yes, I did know he was over there on the floo

 Girls, it has been a day ...and the day is just barely halfway through. Yikes! Maybe it's the weather change? Maybe it's the post-Christmas-blues? Maybe it's hormones? Maybe it's because the baby is still working on those teeeeeeeeth??? Maybe it's because the house is an absolute disaster? Maybe it's because I've been isolating our family since my daughter complained of a sore throat a few days ago, but nothing has come of it so maybe we are ok and don't need to isolate but who knows in 2020??? It's probably all of that and more. I'm just barely keeping it together. I haven't freaked out and turned into monster mommy, but I've snapped a few times and had to apologize. I've tried resetting the day. I've read my Bible, prayed, listened to a podcast, had a healthy treat...I'm still on the brink of tears. So I put all the kids at the table for a late lunch and went to my room (my house is small enough I can sill hear them, so the

  "New year, new you" "Let's leave this year behind" "It'll be better next year" Well, today is the maker of another year past and another year began. It's been a doozy, hasn't it? I don't know about you but I'm happy as well as apprehensive about turning this page into 2021. I sincerely hope that covid gets under control and we can live with more freedom and less restrictions. I sincerely hope that "2021 will be better". I really want this year to mark a new beginning, but, does it really?  New year, new you. That saying I find funny. I want to head into the new year with goals that I hope will propel me towards my dreams and goals but do I want to be a "new me"? No thank you. Not me. I'm proud of the battles I've faced and overcome. I'm proud of the lessons learned in 2020 and I don't want to be a "new me" in 2021, I want to carry all that forward into this upcoming year and learn and