Joy in the Journey

  How was your Christmas? Did you get to see family? I did.  Not all my family and not doing the normal family traditions we have in the past but it was really special. I live fairly close to all of my family so the farthest I've ever traveled for Christmas is three hours to my parents house but usually we stay in town and go to see family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year was different. We were going to be home for Christmas and wanted to have people over to share in our Christmas morning. My sister and her family decided to come. They got to stay for three days and with six little children and four adults in one household it was busy and often loud, but it was so special. Look at all that red hair. <3 Seeing the cousin connections. My daughters playing with their six year old cousin and my son with his fellow two-year-old as well as four-year old cousin. And I got to spend time with my sister and her husband. We played games, stayed up late, and laughed a lot....

It was time to goooooo...we were running late. Christmas Eve is a big day of celebration in our family. A day jammed full of fun. And we were behind schedule. We needed to get up to my Oma's house. We were already 30 minutes past when we said we would be there! My daughter was working on her last present for my mom. She had painted her a hummingbird on a blue background. There was a lot of empty space, so I suggested she use a paint pen to put a message or verse on it. She got very excited. She loved the idea.  The problem was that she wanted to write John 3:16 on it. The WHOLE verse. We were running late. She was insistent. I was short with her as I explained there wasn't enough room for that long of a verse. She told me she planned to write small. I told her that she can't write too small with the paint pens or the letters would run together. She told me that she knew that. I sighed and huffed and wrote out the first part of the verse on a white board for her, suggesting ...

It's Christmas Day so I'll try and keep this short. I just want to wish you a Merry Christmas!! What I want to remind you of this Christmas is you are a gift , to your family, to your friends, to the ones you love most. You are specially designed, perfectly you, on purpose, to live a life of beauty and purpose. You are no accident. On Christmas, with all the gifts, cleaning up wrapping paper, spending time with family, I just want you to remember you've done good. You've worked hard. You made it! Take a deep breath. Give yourself a break and drink in these moments watching your kids delight on Christmas morning. Photo Credit: thesun.co.uk Last but not least, I can't help but say to remember Jesus today. It started with Jesus those 2020 years ago (give or take) and it's why we are here today. Though the holiday is far from that first Christmas (imagine having a baby in a dirty stable with animals?!), let's remember and be grateful that the greatest gift of lo...

Well, I've hit the point of being in over my head this Christmas season. Did I just wait too long to do everything? Did I take on too many things? Probably both. It's the week before Christmas (you'll be reading this two days before Christmas) and I'm starting to loose it. Photo Credit: freepik.com I threw a bag full of sweet potatoes on the floor in anger and panic last night when a full bottle of water got turned over on the counter and was getting everything wet. *Panic* *Freak Out*. I barely could pry myself out of bed for the second day in a row. I was... okay, am irritable with the kids and I feel completely overwhelmed! I could sit here and tell you the whole list of why  I'm loosing it but you probably know. There's A LOT going on right now in our world, which effects our jobs and homes, which effects all of us. Top it off with normal stressors from the holiday rush and you got it made, or not. I've been fighting the stress with productivity. I'v...

No, I didn't spell that wrong. Christmas is just a few days away and I want you to stop...and listen. I'm sure you have heard the story of Mary and Martha.  L uke 10:38-42 ( New International Version) As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.   She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.   But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”   “Martha, Martha,”  the Lord answered,  “you are worried and upset about many things,   but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” I think Martha was a neat lady. She obviously saw that Jesus was special and invited Him into her home. She wanted to really p...

Recently, I had a Saturday where my husband wasn't home and instead of just staying home I  decided to take the kids to the mountains instead.  The plan was that we could gather cedar and pine branches to make Christmas swags. It took us about an hour to get ourselves out of the house, on the road, and up the hill. I got to drive my husband's truck, which I love! My girls sat in the back of the truck bed once we hit the gravel road and had a blast, while my toddler sat up front with me.  I felt instant happiness and joy as I headed into the woods which is one of my favorite places. I also felt a little panic when I realized I had zero cell reception if anything went wrong, it was just me and the kids. Bumping along the muddy roads, I saw a smoking pile of logging debris that had previously been burning. I hadn't brought anything to make a fire so I decided to scoop up the hot coals and put them on wet bark in the bed to start a fire once we reached the top (moving my...

I've shared a few blogs on postpartum body image and body changes lately. Tonight, I had another, somewhat funny, realization about my postpartum body. I was sitting on my couch in the middle of my crowded living room. There was my toddler in front of me on the couch, crawling all over my lap and playing with Duplo blocks while I tried to concentrate on what I was actually sitting there for, to help my daughter finish up her school for the week. I half ignored my son while he shoved blocks down my shirt between my loose fitting red shirt and my snug undershirt, talking over the clanking noise of the blocks to my daughter about her language arts.  All of a sudden, my son had a "brilliant" idea. He wanted to be inside my shirt as well. He pulled it wide and climbed in along with all the blocks. I had to laugh! It was cute and sweet because he was all snuggled up to me but it was also just plain funny. At first, he snuggle up to me then pretty soon that got old and he start...