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He’s Here!
Meet our Warren Joseph. A son. So different from the responsibility and privilege of raising a daughter, and yet so distinctly precious. Savannah was the first of a new generation for our family. She made us parents and taught us the Father’s love like we’d never experienced it before. She showed us the necessity of shaping identity early in a child’s life and how everything we do in this life is driven by the understanding of our own. She was an everyday example of the joy we are created to live with, the kind that comes from knowing just who we are. Charlie was the first for our family after…
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Every Home A Foundation: 5 Take-Aways
There’s something about these slow days of late third trimester that I just love… like time is not real. You make it to 39 weeks (or maybe it’s 38 for some, or 37 for others) and all of a sudden, your baby could come any day or not for another 2 weeks. You don’t want to sit around and watch the days on the calendar pass by, but you’re also not motivated to take on any big projects that may end up unfinished, so you end up wandering through your dream-like days while the rest of the world carries on as normal. You read a new book or pick up…
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How I’m Preparing For Birth As a Third Time (Pregnancy After Loss Informed) Mom
It feels surreal to type the words “third time mom” into that heading above. Can that be real? Am I really old enough- mature enough- to have now had three children? That’s more children than my own mother. Am I qualified to talk about birth experiences or make any kind of recommendations about what could or should go into postpartum preparation? I don’t feel like the other third time mothers do- or at least what I imagine they would. Mostly because I’ve never had the privilege to raise my multiple children in my home, all at once. That, and my birth experiences have all looked so different. Do I deserve…
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The Miners League Master Binder: A Guide to Streamlining Your Home’s Systems
I really thought it was the isolation of a global shut down brought on by a pandemic… or the heaviness of bringing an infant home with six different heart diagnoses and her name written on a heart transplant waiting list… or the pressure of so many different symptoms to monitor, medications to give, milestones to catch up with… but when I experienced the same anxiety as I left my career all over again and brought home a healthy newborn five years later, I knew there was something I was missing. Yes, twice now I’ve had the opportunity to leave full time work in order to enter into seasons of stay…
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Every Home A Foundation: 5 Take-Aways
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Peace, Presence, Power: The Impact of Gratitude.
My eyes swelled with tears as I read her text: “I just can’t believe this is my life, Nicole.” How many times before had I sobbed with those same words before the Lord, written them in years’ worth of prayer journals, and painfully whispered them to my husband as he’d held me close and assured me we were together, and that would be enough. I wanted to list them out for her, to show her I understood the depth of her ache, and yet, I didn’t want to make the moment about myself either. So, as I sat there and prayed about the right response at a moment like this,…
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Keeping My Restaurants Real: A Newsletter of Sorts.
I came through the door to find Justin camped out on the couch watching the “Becoming Gordon Ramsay” series on Netflix. He patted the cushion beside him, inviting me to sit, and said, “If you can just get past the language, I think you’d really like this.” He began to explain to me that, beneath Gordon Ramsay’s tough exterior and push for excellence, is a man of integrity and depth. His work ethic has allowed him a platform to serve others and offer opportunities in ways that would not have been possible otherwise. Justin went on to tell me about Gordon Ramsay’s marriage of more than 25 years, the relationship…
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Letting Go To Lean In.
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Letting Go To Lean In.
Each new year, our church is intentional to set aside 21 days of Prayer and Fasting to help its members refresh their faith. It’s an opportunity to strip away the excess that has crept in throughout the previous year, sit still with the Lord, and seek the priorities He will speak for the year to come. Typically fasting refers to denying the flesh certain indulgent foods for a period of time in order to practice surrender and strengthen self control. It grows the ability to choose promptings of the spirit over desires of the flesh. However, fasting doesn’t have to be from food alone. I have used the excuse that…
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FirstFruits.
“Wait! Don’t forget your blueberries and green beans!” She rushed back in the house to grab the two little plastic bags, filled with the first fruits of her Spring garden and tied off with twist ties. I waited outside, gathering the paper scraps of seed packets we’d just planted together and Charlie’s play yard stretched across the lawn nearby. Florida’s first April breeze lifted my hair off the back of my neck and, as I watched it blow through the surrounding trees, I breathed in deep that old, familiar comfort of my Aunt Debbie’s home. I’ve always loved it at my aunt’s house. It’s slower there. Simpler. Filled with a…
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Strangling Survivor.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 I was working on my kitchen just yesterday when I spotted it. I have lived in a townhome that looks out onto a Florida wildlife preserve for almost 4 years now. In that time, I have seen wild turkeys gathering at my bird feeder, otters playing in the small pond just paces from my front door, and a soft shell turtle making…
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Peace, Presence, Power: The Impact of Gratitude.
The Miners League.
Made for Love.
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TWOdles.
So “Minnie” Reasons To Celebrate! [ September 25, 2021 ] Savannah Jane,Today you are two years old. Two feels so much more emotional to me than one did. At one, you were my sweet and strong baby whose personality was really just beginning to shine. Now, at two, I know you so much more. This year your Dad and I nicknamed you SJ- Stuntin’ Joy. It’s the number one thing family, friends, and even strangers stop and notice about you. You wear a smile from the very moment I scoop you out of your bed each morning. When something makes you laugh, you scrunch your nose up and throw your…
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UnFOURgettable.
