Welcome to my weekly post where we take a break from money-related posts and I share about what I'm loving right now and give you a little peek into our life from the past week.
What I'm Reading
Right now, I'm reading: Fragments That Remain, Cleaning House, and Running on Empty (I’m reading this specifically for insight to help one of my kids who is struggling right now.)
This week, I finished reading God’s Whispers in a Mother’s Chaos, The Praying Pond (written by a reader), and Design Your Day.
We also finished reading The Upstairs Room aloud and we really enjoyed it. Note: While we loved this book and found the story fascinating, I think the writing could have been tightened up on it for it to be even better AND it totally caught me off guard that it had language in it that I never would have expected for a kid's book and I've had to edit out a few words here and there.
{See my Reading Goals for 2017. Also, see the 51 books I've read so far in 2017 here.}
What I’m Contemplating
Written earlier this week:
It’s Monday morning. It’s 10:30 am. And I’m sitting here in bed with this boy.
I haven’t showered.
I’m sweaty from this morning’s run.
There are dishes in the sink from last night.
I need to go grocery shopping and run some errands and tackle a lot of blog/business projects and go to an appointment and book hotels for our two-week road trip.
But all of that can be put on hold for 20 minutes to sit and talk this boy about whatever is on his heart.
I was in the middle of my She Reads Truth study and he came in and wanted to join me. Because I want to set an example of how Jesus welcomed the children and because I don’t want him to feel like he is an interruption, I invited him to join me.
I shared what I was learning in Romans and read some of the verses to him. Then, the conversation turned to questions about Jesus and then baseball (of course!) and what he wants to be when he grows up.
I got to share with him some things his daddy had told me recently about how he’s doing so well in his daily baseball drills and how coach-able he’s been (something we’ve been working on). I got to share with him some of my hopes and dreams for him.
It was beautiful and special and so much more valuable than me having the “quiet time” I had planned.
I’ve missed a lot of these moments over the years because I was so busy “doing important things” and rushing through life.
My goal this summer has been to look for opportunities to invest one-on-one time with each child every day. It’s often meant setting aside my plans or rearranging my day to jump on a moment, but it’s been so worth it.
What I’m Learning
My friend, Bekah, texted me the other day: “We want to watch your kids so you can have a date night. What night works?”
You guys, here’s the honest truth: I almost texted back and said, “Oh! You’re so sweet, but why don’t we watch your kids and give you all a date night instead?”
Because I’m not good at letting other people do things for me, for us. As I told you all recently, I don’t ever want to inconvenience anyone.
As I’ve learned more about myself in the past year, I’m recognizing that while this might sound like a noble thing, it’s mostly rooted in pride and insecurity and fear. And it’s a surefire way to keep others at arm’s length.
So, instead, I wrote back: “You are so kind! Will Tuesday work?”
And we had the most amazing date night! We went to two new-to-us restaurants (one for dinner, one for dessert). We took a walk. We talked. We laughed. We shared our hearts. And we just soaked up the quiet — something that there has been very, very little of in our life in recent weeks.
It was SO good for our tired souls. And on the way back to pick up our kids I felt so grateful… grateful to be married to this man, grateful for this special evening, and grateful I said “yes” to this gift from our friends.
I could have missed out on so much if I had let my pride and insecurity and unwillingness to receive from others get in the way.
What I’m Grateful For
I’m so grateful for the privilege of walking with these four people.
I’m grateful that they love me — even on my bad days.
They make me laugh. They make me cry. They bring so much depth and color and LIFE into my world.
They’ve expanded my heart. They’ve unearthed beautifully compassionate and tender parts I didn’t know were there.
They’ve forever changed me as a person.
Most days look far from this serene and idyllic photo, but they are still each a gift. And I want to treasure each kind of the moments and days with my people… the good, the messy, the hard, the amazing, and everything in between!
(photo from Gallery By Laura)
A Note of Encouragement
When life feels a little overwhelming and then you look out your car window and see this.
I literally felt like it was a love note from God to me saying:
“I’ve got this. Just trust Me. Rest.
“Don’t try to figure it all out or control it or micromanage it. Because you can’t.
“I see the big picture and I know the ending to this story… and while it feels all dark and stormy right now, there is a rainbow coming.”
I don’t know what storms of life might be raging in your life right now, but maybe you need to hear this, too?
There is a rainbow coming. And I’m going to cling to that promise and rest in hope!
Our 2-Week East Coast Road Trip!
We left yesterday (Saturday) for our big two-week road trip all along the East Coast. I’ll be blogging our adventures here every day, as well as sharing money-saving tips for how we’re doing this road trip on a budget and honest reviews of the various places we visit/restaurants we eat at. Look for the first post coming tomorrow!
Want to follow along in real-time? Follow my personal Instagram account here where I’ll be sharing a daily recap + videos and photos via Instagram Stories.
In Case You Missed It:
