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the story of our lives

telling the story god is writing for my family

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Chapters of My Life

book report (16)
contentment (85)
gardening (10)
goals (99)
growth (101)
holidays (13)
hospitality (17)
learning at home (86)
marriage (54)
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I am so thrilled to have an article featured in Volume III of @legacymag Pre-orders are available now! #lifeoflegacy #legacymagazine

Day 10 of #10thingstotellyou and the final prompt is, “In three months will you ask me about...” these 18 goals for 2018? I’ve been plugging away still, albeit with less steam than the first half of the year. As with any goal, some progress is better than none and I’m happy to say I’ve completed or definitely made progress in all 18 areas. That said, I would like to finish out the year strong! I’ll be doing a third quarter update in Stories sometime before the end of September 🗓📊

Day 9 of #10thingstotellyou and my “magical reset button” lately has been The Examen! I discovered this back in the spring after reading Chris Heuertz’s The Sacred Enneagram and realizing that folks like me in the head triad find their way home by practicing stillness. This powerful prayer tool utilizes a method introduced by St. Ignatius of Loyola. It “awakens consciousness to God’s ever present nearness,” which is like a lifeline to me! The books pictured (including my Bible) have proven helpful in my understanding and practice of praying using the Examen. I also have been loving the Reimagining The Examen app that offers some great entry points for praying this way and guiding and directing your thoughts toward God and his presence in your day! See my Stories for some screen shots from the app. And FTR, I’m basically identifying now as a Cathol-Costal: loving the truths and tangible, centering, contemplative practices of our catholic friends and church fathers AND the rediscovered-freedom-full-Spirit-filled-personal-overwhelming-heart-rending-dance-and-raise-my-hands-if-I-wanna-of my evangelical roots. R E S E T!

Day 8 of #10thingstotellyou and right now I’m struggling with seeing the beauty in where we live. I’ve felt a lot of frustration about being far from extended family, the smallness of our duplex, and the lack of commerce and shopping options in our tiny, rural town. I try to hunt the good stuff and see the silver linings, but I’m human and at times I get down about it. Over the weekend, I wanted to just go buy my girls a cute shirt for picture day and my bad attitude got the best of me. We went to a dumpy resale shop, Walmart, and eventually the PX. I spent the day mad that Target, Marshall’s, or Old Navy were all so far away. I was mad that we didn’t have much to choose from for a fun lunch out, save for the handful of places we have already worn out in the past nine months. I pray constantly for God to grant me perspective to find the joy and contentment in every place, assignment, and city. I pray for the grace and gratitude to see all of the blessings around me. 🌧

Day 7 (late) of #10thingstotellyou is a recent discovery I have made. Well—over the weekend we started our free trial of Hulu and after years of hearing all of the rave reviews, Ryan and I started Brooklynn 99. It marries our love of ensemble NY Cop shows (NYPD Blue and Blue Bloods) with our love of Michael Schur (The Office). We needed a 22 minute-per-episode light hearted show to watch after the kids are in bed. I can’t even pick a favorite character because they are each perfect in their own right. 👮‍♀️ 👮 🚔

Picture Day and I’m just happy to see them out of those uniforms being their unique, individual selves.

Day 6 of #10thingstotellyou and as cliche as it may sound, “a defining moment in my life,” was each time I gave birth and brought forth new life into the world. Having children really is a love like you’ve never known and as much as you think your heart couldn’t grow any bigger, with each child it seems to continue expanding to new limits. Thomas (2003), Mae (2005), and Kate (2007) each added a new and unique perspective of how I viewed the world. 👦🏽👧🏼🧒🏼Love love love my little Gingy, Mae-Mae, and Belle.

#10thingstotellyou Day 5: I have mixed feelings about time...especially as it relates to our children. Have I made the most of it? Have I been intentional with it? Did I do right by them? And yet, every moment I am thinking about future oriented time... what I’m doing today and how it may impact them weeks, months, years down the road. Time is this weird thing. Each day it feels like it’s moving slowly and yet, you blink and years of your life have passed. I stay both excited for the future—a season of seeing the fruit of our harvest, and yet not wanting to wish the moments away. ⌛️⌛️⌛️⌛️⌛️

#10thingstotellyou Day 4: Something I am strangely good at is keeping all areas of our home organized. I live for systems, order, and tidiness. Minimizing our belongings has been an ongoing pursuit for me for a while and that’s nowhere more true than in my closet. 👗 👚 👖 👠 👜

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