Joy in the Journey

 Hey mamas! Sorry for not getting a blog to you yesterday. A lot has been going on, and I hope to write something new soon, but for now we are going to throw back to last year. So click the link below to see something that may help you today. Bless you, mamas!  https://www.joyhereinthejourney.com/2021/09/just-what-i-needed-to-hear.html

 Hey Mamas, happy Fourth! Well, you may have been too busy on Independence Day to read this when it was published, but whether you are reading this on July 4th or not, I want to talk about freedom today. It may not be the kind of freedom you are thinking of, though. Today I want to talk about having freedom from yourself.  Well, not yourself so much as the negative thoughts that you think about yourself. You know you do. I look terrible in this swimsuit. I’m an awful mother, my kids will never forget that blow up. Why can’t I throw a party as nice as she does? I have terrible self control. I’m not good enough. I’m so stupid!… Ugh! STOP IT, MAMA!!!! You know what would make you a better mama? Being kind to yourself. Because we all know that kindness is contagious. If you have good thoughts bouncing around in your head, that is what will overflow from your mouth. So here are a few true things to think about yourself.  Mama, YOU ARE … God’s daughter. (1 John 3:1) Chosen...

 “Breast-fed babies are such a blessing.” I posted on my Facebook Wednesday afternoon, “Because it takes longer than bottle feeding, they make you take the time to stop and rest and drink your water and focus on them. I know bottle-fed babies are a blessing, too, all babies are a blessing! But today I am especially thankful, because I am a workaholic and would probably have someone else feed the baby while I worked in the yard and miss out on this sweet time if I wasn’t breastfeeding. ❤️” And I posted this picture: My heart was so full and thankful. As I’ve shared before, my breastfeeding journeys have always had struggles, but I have always toughed them out and the result was well worth it.  I have been working hard this week uncovering my poor, neglected flower beds. They have spent the last nine years of my chronic pain when taking care of babies and basic housework was all my body could handle most of the time fighting their battles with the weeds. It has been thrilling to...

 When I was 21 years old, I was walking down the road in the little community I grew up in, which is where I’ve always lived, and someone hollered out their window as he was driving by, “Go to college!”. I knew who it was. I had went to school with him since kindergarten. Apparently he didn’t think I should still be in this small town. Apparently he thought I should be pursuing a career. It’s not the first time I had heard that, and certainly not the last. He didn’t know that I was newly married and living the life I was called to. Out to breakfast a few years back, I ran into a former school teacher. He looked at me and my four kids and said, “You know, I always thought you’d be teaching other children.” As if to indicate that I was wasting my teaching ability by just homeschooling my kids. Someone at my church once told me, “You are an incredibly intelligent woman. Don’t waste that.” I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that one. I think I said that I wouldn’t. He came back late...

 Hey mamas! Can you believe it is June already? I am writing this on the 7th, and I'm having a hard time believing that we are already a week in. I know that summer doesn’t officially begin until June 21st, but we are starting our summer routine anyway. We have been working in the yard a lot and have been doing more informal schooling. And this weekend we are going camping! Photo from two summers ago. I can’t believe this baby will be turning three next month!  Summertime is always a fun time of the year, but I am especially excited about this year because this is the first summer in my mama career that I am not either working and/or in heavy chronic pain. Mamas, this is so huge! You have no idea what a difference it is. Last week I was weeding my asparagus/strawberry patch and started tearing up. Over the years I have not been able to keep on top of the weeds and my asparagus has suffered and I've lost some, but that wasn't why I was crying. I was crying because if things ...

 It’s been almost a month since I posted about my friend passing . It was been a whirlwind of a time for me: we had a trip out of town, we got sick, my dad had a really scary week of bad health, we got a lot of yard work done, and we completely flipped around the front rooms of our house. Lots of ups and downs, very busy and exhausting. And then I went to my friend’s memorial service today… I’m honestly surprised that I am feeling just as sad now about her passing as the day I found out. I just miss her so much! The family and friends that made it to her service completely filled the room. I"m sure there were more who wanted to come who could not make it. It was very touching to hear all the stories from people during the sharing time. There was a resounding theme to all of them: she knew how to love well. One story took place when she was in high school. The man who shared the story was having a really rough time and my sweet friend found him where he was hiding behind the school...

 Hello again, ladies. So last week I told you about a pretty stressful Sunday. I kept my cool fairly well externally that day, but I really felt like I didn’t internally handle it all that great. I get a passing grade because I did remember to be thankful for the things that did go right and I also didn’t yell at anyone. However, let me tell you about last Sunday. Sunday #2: We got home from an overnight trip around 10:30 the night before and the baby is working on his big front teeth, so another night with little sleep, but I was so happy to be going to church that I was singing worship music as I made breakfast. Two of my boys told me they were having tummy trouble in the bathroom, so I decided we would distance ourselves during worship and head home right afterwards just in case we were sick. I told myself that their tummies were probably just not happy because of the junk food we had on the trip.  The toddler inconveniently had to poop again, just before going out the door...