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Monday, August 11, 2014

A letter to Rowan

To my precious Rowan,

These last 11 weeks with you have been the most exhilarating weeks of my life. I was naively unprepared for what life would look like with a newborn, however God was so kind when He gave us you. Despite how tired your dad and I have felt each day, you have remained the joy in our lives. We take such pride in taking care of you. We love brushing your hair when you get out of the bath, wrapping you in blankets, listening to your baby sneezes, playing music to calm you down, and reading books to you each night. We sneak into your room time after time each night just to look at you. We can't believe that you're ours.

Watching you start to smile in the middle of the night when we'd get up with you was one of my favorite moments. And those middle-of-the-night smiles turned into every morning smiles, and now they've become a constant part of your day. They are radiant and pure, and we feel like we get glimpses of heaven every time we see them.

We've loved getting to show you the world. Taking you to the beach and mountains, out to dinner, through long walks in the park, and all sorts of gatherings. We love telling you about the people you'll meet and the experiences you're going to have. Introducing you to our amazing friends who have also prayed for you has been so special. It has taken a village to get us to this point, and we'll continue to need that village for the years to come. You are loved dearly by so many.

Every day I am faced with the fact that I am building your foundation, and shaping the way you see the world.  I want to not take that for granted. I want to invest in you in as many ways as I can, especially when you're little and I have the opportunity. Gradually you'll start to embark on your own grand adventure in the world, and my prayer is that you will always feel rooted in love. We loved you long before we met you, and that love only grows with each passing minute.

At this age, you are awake and alert for most of the day. Your eyes watch everything in the room, and you love listening to music. Sitting outside or taking a bath can calm the most violent of your tears. You grin constantly, and love to raise one eyebrow at a time. You hate having a wet diaper, and we're banking on that making potty training super easy. You have started sleeping through the night, and taking really great naps (although you tend to flail your arms and legs so much that it takes you awhile to actually fall asleep). But you sleep soundly and we're so thankful for that.

We love you to pieces and are so excited to see who you become.

Thanks for being part of our family.









Monday, August 4, 2014

Keep the Faith :: Anthony Skinner


theres another cloudy day
maybe we should go outside anyway
you never know what you could find
what's the chance my hand you'll take
maybe we should go and walk in the rain
and let your troubles just fall away
you gotta trust me darling when i say

you've made it once before
you've made it thru that storm
so come on baby keep the faith
everything'll be okay
it aint over til its done
I swear we're gonna see the sun
whats wrong with getting caught in the rain
tomorrow is another day
so come on baby keep the faith

and everybody's life's rains fall
looking for the door but all you can find are walls
people can be hard when you hit the ground
don't let the heavy people bring you down down down

'cause I've made it once before
I've made it thru that storm
so come on baby keep the faith
everything'll be okay
it aint over til its done
I swear we're gonna see the sun
whats wrong with getting caught in the rain
tomorrow is another day
so come on baby keep the faith

when the walls are closing in
troubled water is the world you swim in
when theres nothing left to lose
baby theres one thing you can choose

let me take you by the hand
baby give me your hand
together we'll find a way
I know we're gonna find a way
ain't over til its done
keep walking til you see the sun
until the race is run
until the Kingdom comes
until we hear 'well done'

come on come on come on
we gotta keep the faith
come on come on come on
til we feel it rain
come on come on come on
we gotta keep the faith
come on come on come on
til we feel it rain

we made it once before
we made it thru that storm
so come on baby keep the faith
everything will be ok
it aint over til its done
I swear were gonna see the sun

whats wrong with getting caught in the rain?

Friday, August 1, 2014

Perhaps This is the Moment


What if today was meant to be the most significant day of your life? What if you're meant to contribute something more powerful to the world today, than you were yesterday? What if you are more significant and influential than you ever realized?

What would you change? How would you invest in today? 

My current stage of life is hard. It is beautiful and messy and precious, but at the end of the day, it is still hard. And my biggest challenge to myself to get through the hard days is to invest in myself in some small way each day. Anne Lamott would call this 'radical self-care.' This means that I will intentionally take care of myself in a way that makes me feel human. Makes me feel significant. And some days that just means that I take an extra long walk, or spend 15 more minutes with the book I've been admiring on my bedside table. But other days 'radical self-care' means Starbucks, dinner out with a group of friends, or a weekend away. 

And I'm convinced that if I don't care for myself in the small ways each day, I'll get wrapped up in the hard. And I'll miss the beautiful and the significant. 

I might even miss that one moment that would change the course of my life story, or even yours. 

I want to be ready for life's sacred moments. Not wishing that it was still yesterday or wishing that it was tomorrow. I want to soak in today's moments, and not only be present for them, but come at them with a full heart and an eagerness to play a part in their significance. 

So let's all take care of ourselves so that we don't miss an opportunity to impact the world.