Joy in the Journey

 Who are you? That is a big question... I want you to think about these two questions carefully: What image comes to your mind when you think about yourself? What words are formed in your brain when you think about yourself? Stop and think about your answers, don't read on yet. For me, there are some not-so-pretty answers. Ok, they are often downright ugly. Did thinking about it bring up hurtful words that were spoken about you in your past? Criticisms that have been made about your character or actions? Do you automatically think about the things that you don't like about yourself? When my husband was a child, his grandfather (who was the only related male that was present in his life, so carried a large amount of influence) used to call him a "20-pound-weakling".  For years, that is what my husband thought of himself, he didn't believe he had any strength. The comment had been made about his physique, but it cut much deeper than that. It challenged the idea that...

 Confession time: I’ve been acting like a big baby. You probably already know that though, you’ve been reading my blogs. Don't get me wrong, I have been going through a legit hard time, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with confessing that and talking about it. Quite the contrary, if I was stuffing my feelings and pretending everything was fine and hiding my struggles, I would have even bigger problems. Let me explain what I mean by saying that I've been a big baby: I've had tunnel vision. I currently have a 4-month-old, a 2.5-year-old, and a 13-year-old, and they all having something in common: they aren't seeing the big picture. If I set my 4-month-old down so I can grab the nursing cover so I can feed him, he thinks that by putting him down I am never going to feed him. His brain hasn't developed enough to understand that I'm his mama and of course I'm going to take care of him, I'm actually working towards that goal by putting him down. He only...

    My baby is now four months old… And I am so thankful! If you know me well, you know that I do not keep on having children because I love the newborn stage… I actually really, really, have a hard time with the newborn stage! Don’t get me wrong, I love the cuddling…to an extent. I love to nurture my babies through breastfeeding. I think they are so cute when they are tiny…But man, are they needy! And my babies tend to be “Mama only” babies, which means they just want me. All. The. Time. My current baby has been one of my most needy. He has spent the past four months ONLY sleeping when in my arms or laying next to me. Whenever I would try to lay him down or roll away from beside him or pass him off to another family member, he would wake. Every time! It is really hard when someone wants to be connected to you 24/7. Needless to say, I’ve felt extremely overstimulated and overwhelmed and exhausted.  But I think we are finally baby stepping past this. It started around 2 mo...

 Hi friends! Just popping on here to share another post from the past. Though I am not currently in as much pain now as I was in the past, I'm going through a different desert and in case you are, too, I wanted to share this.  Much Love, Lee https://www.joyhereinthejourney.com/2019/04/tears-in-desert.html

Do you ever feel like you aren’t worth looking at? Do you ever feel like no one is listening (and you might as well be talking to the wall!)? Do you ever feel like no one understands what you are going through?  If you are a mom (or just a human being) I’m sure the answer is, "Yes!". At least more than once you have felt this way. Most of you know that I have been going through a very rough postpartum time and I have been feeling like this lately...A LOT. Riding the waves of my own hormones and emotions (and those of my teenage daughter) (and those of my toddler) and feeling completely touched out and tied down by this needy baby...it's been hard! We are studying Exodus in the weekly Bible study I attend and we read this verse in our homework this week: This verse is so impactful. Read it again. To me this verse says: You are seen. You are heard. You are known. The people of Israel probably felt pretty forgotten as the Egyptians forced them into slavery and tried to kill ...