• Their dad had given them each some roses and they were so excited! As I was editing these images, the Lord revealed this to me and I was like 😱😭🙌🏼: • What if the roses in these images represented the gifts He gives us and, rather than minimizing or rejecting them or not appreciating their beauty, we simply accepted them with joy, excitement, and admiration? What if we were excited to show each other our gifts... excited to accept the blessings of *those around us* sharing *their* gifts with us? • May we learn to find joy, contentment, value, beauty, and grateful hearts in the gifts the Lord gives us, and reject thoughts/feelings of comparison or discontent with others’ gifts. May we learn to appreciate and lean into them so we can share them excitedly with those around us. May we refuse to let the enemy rob us, God’s kids, of our identities or of the joy meant for us with the realization of what our gifts are & what the gifts of our fellow Christians are. • It hurts my heart to see so many people feel like they have no gifts, because it’s so far from the truth. I pray the eyes of your heart get opened to be able to see how truly gifted you are & the value you bring to the table. You were created for such a time as this & you have so much to offer - I don’t ever want you (or me!) to fall for the lies that tell you otherwise.
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    Their dad had given them each some roses and they were so excited! As I was editing these images, the Lord revealed this to me and I was like 😱😭🙌🏼: • What if the roses in these images represented the gifts He gives us and, rather than minimizing or rejecting them or not appreciating their beauty, we simply accepted them with joy, excitement, and admiration? What if we were excited to show each other our gifts... excited to accept the blessings of *those around us* sharing *their* gifts with us? • May we learn to find joy, contentment, value, beauty, and grateful hearts in the gifts the Lord gives us, and reject thoughts/feelings of comparison or discontent with others’ gifts. May we learn to appreciate and lean into them so we can share them excitedly with those around us. May we refuse to let the enemy rob us, God’s kids, of our identities or of the joy meant for us with the realization of what our gifts are & what the gifts of our fellow Christians are. • It hurts my heart to see so many people feel like they have no gifts, because it’s so far from the truth. I pray the eyes of your heart get opened to be able to see how truly gifted you are & the value you bring to the table. You were created for such a time as this & you have so much to offer - I don’t ever want you (or me!) to fall for the lies that tell you otherwise.
  • 4.1.2020// I made a coloring page & our art project for today was to color a bunch & leave them for our neighbors in the hopes it would bring smiles to faces in the middle of the crazy. “Brighter days ahead!” Yes & amen. You can grab the free coloring page at the link in my bio! Edited to add: this is NOT some cruel April Fools’ Day joke 🙈 I didn’t even realize the date until I made this post 🤣🤪 woops. There really ARE brighter days ahead! 🎉😂🎉🙌🏼 . . . . . #brighterdaysahead #quaranteam #quarantineart #dosomethingnice #homeschool #homeschooliscool #homeschoolart
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    4.1.2020// I made a coloring page & our art project for today was to color a bunch & leave them for our neighbors in the hopes it would bring smiles to faces in the middle of the crazy. “Brighter days ahead!” Yes & amen. You can grab the free coloring page at the link in my bio! Edited to add: this is NOT some cruel April Fools’ Day joke 🙈 I didn’t even realize the date until I made this post 🤣🤪 woops. There really ARE brighter days ahead! 🎉😂🎉🙌🏼 . . . . . #brighterdaysahead #quaranteam #quarantineart #dosomethingnice #homeschool #homeschooliscool #homeschoolart
  • Honestly, this whole thing has been an extra reminder for me of the importance of just slowing down and taking care of my body & those of my kids (even more than we already do). Nourish them with real, whole foods. Detox. Get rest. Cultivate connection, togetherness, peacefulness at home. Practice gratitude for the good things. Even in the crappiest, most inconvenient times, there’s a silver lining. Maybe instead of feeling exacerbated by it, lean in and savor the moments.
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    Honestly, this whole thing has been an extra reminder for me of the importance of just slowing down and taking care of my body & those of my kids (even more than we already do). Nourish them with real, whole foods. Detox. Get rest. Cultivate connection, togetherness, peacefulness at home. Practice gratitude for the good things. Even in the crappiest, most inconvenient times, there’s a silver lining. Maybe instead of feeling exacerbated by it, lean in and savor the moments.
  • We have a homeschool room, yet we still end up just spreading out and sitting on the floor of the sunroom most days. 🤷🏼‍♀️ It’s the beauty of homeschool, I guess. You get to be & learn wherever you want.
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    We have a homeschool room, yet we still end up just spreading out and sitting on the floor of the sunroom most days. 🤷🏼‍♀️ It’s the beauty of homeschool, I guess. You get to be & learn wherever you want.
  • Did you know we have chickens? We got them as pets, at first, and added a few egg-layers to the flock last year. It’s been such a blessing to 1) use it as part of our homeschooling experience to teach homesteading/sustainability, and 2) to know exactly what’s going in to the food that we eat, the eggs in our case (we don’t eat the chickens because they’re in the bantams class, so way too small). • This little guy is one of our Silkies that we got as a 2-day old chick. We bought 3 straight-run, meaning the sex is unknown, chicks that day AND we named them. Of the 3 chickens (names are Mikki the Chicky, Bowie, and Princess Lay-A), we ended up with 2 hens and a rooster. Can you guess which name we had given this guy? 🤣 When we realized she was a HE we just laughed. Sorry, friend 😬😂
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    Did you know we have chickens? We got them as pets, at first, and added a few egg-layers to the flock last year. It’s been such a blessing to 1) use it as part of our homeschooling experience to teach homesteading/sustainability, and 2) to know exactly what’s going in to the food that we eat, the eggs in our case (we don’t eat the chickens because they’re in the bantams class, so way too small). • This little guy is one of our Silkies that we got as a 2-day old chick. We bought 3 straight-run, meaning the sex is unknown, chicks that day AND we named them. Of the 3 chickens (names are Mikki the Chicky, Bowie, and Princess Lay-A), we ended up with 2 hens and a rooster. Can you guess which name we had given this guy? 🤣 When we realized she was a HE we just laughed. Sorry, friend 😬😂
  • Maybe you’ve been labeled by something from your past... maybe you’ve labeled yourself with doubt or limiting beliefs. Either way, something is holding you back from living the kind of life you desire so innately. It’s holding you back from getting out of the rut you’re in and/or making the impact on others you crave so badly. • For me, I’ve let fears of rejection and being labeled & judged by others hold me back from God’s blessings & stepping into who God created me to be. • Something that resonated with me at @summitparkchurch this past Sunday as the speaker, Zack, talked about Jabez, whose name *literally* meant “he who causes pain” was this: By praying big, audacious, bold prayers to God for that name not to define his life, God broke those chains and blessed him. Zack said, “You can be NAMED something by the enemy/the world, but you can be KNOWN by something completely different by God, the creator.” • So, all that to say, WHAT IF you spent 2020 less focus trying to improve your weaknesses and becoming someone you wish you were or holding back out of fear and more on stepping into your God-given strengths, getting in closer relationship with your Creator, and seeking to know yourself like Jesus does? • Your past and your weaknesses don’t need to define you. They only will if you let them. God knows you as someone He made on purpose and for purpose, for such a time as this. • I’d rather pursue deeply knowing & loving myself like Jesus does, which is beyond anything I could even imagine or ask for, than spend another minute of my life striving for some version of myself that my human, finite brain can come up with or that others project on to me. • I think when we can love ourselves in a way that honors & praises God for his workmanship, we’re more able to be a faucet and not a drain for letting the love of Christ flow through us onto others. I think it starts with knowing who you truly are.
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    Maybe you’ve been labeled by something from your past... maybe you’ve labeled yourself with doubt or limiting beliefs. Either way, something is holding you back from living the kind of life you desire so innately. It’s holding you back from getting out of the rut you’re in and/or making the impact on others you crave so badly. • For me, I’ve let fears of rejection and being labeled & judged by others hold me back from God’s blessings & stepping into who God created me to be. • Something that resonated with me at @summitparkchurch this past Sunday as the speaker, Zack, talked about Jabez, whose name *literally* meant “he who causes pain” was this: By praying big, audacious, bold prayers to God for that name not to define his life, God broke those chains and blessed him. Zack said, “You can be NAMED something by the enemy/the world, but you can be KNOWN by something completely different by God, the creator.” • So, all that to say, WHAT IF you spent 2020 less focus trying to improve your weaknesses and becoming someone you wish you were or holding back out of fear and more on stepping into your God-given strengths, getting in closer relationship with your Creator, and seeking to know yourself like Jesus does? • Your past and your weaknesses don’t need to define you. They only will if you let them. God knows you as someone He made on purpose and for purpose, for such a time as this. • I’d rather pursue deeply knowing & loving myself like Jesus does, which is beyond anything I could even imagine or ask for, than spend another minute of my life striving for some version of myself that my human, finite brain can come up with or that others project on to me. • I think when we can love ourselves in a way that honors & praises God for his workmanship, we’re more able to be a faucet and not a drain for letting the love of Christ flow through us onto others. I think it starts with knowing who you truly are.
  • Sliding into the new year like 🎉. For real, though. The 1st of January quite literally was my new beginning... it was when I became a mom for the first time. Adalyn turned 8 (EIGHT!) this year and I’ve just been over here like 😭😭😭😍😭...😍🥰😘😭😭😭. ALL.THE.FEELS. . She has brought me so much joy and completely convinced me that God truly knows what you need. He is the giver of the very best gifts. . Adalyn Amber, it is THE most beautiful gift to get to be your mama. You’re spunky, tender-hearted, artistically inspiring and creative, Jesus-loving, full of wonder & imagination, the best big sister, and the list could go on and on. You are a light in a world that so needs exactly who you are. I love you. 💕
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    Sliding into the new year like 🎉. For real, though. The 1st of January quite literally was my new beginning... it was when I became a mom for the first time. Adalyn turned 8 (EIGHT!) this year and I’ve just been over here like 😭😭😭😍😭...😍🥰😘😭😭😭. ALL.THE.FEELS. . She has brought me so much joy and completely convinced me that God truly knows what you need. He is the giver of the very best gifts. . Adalyn Amber, it is THE most beautiful gift to get to be your mama. You’re spunky, tender-hearted, artistically inspiring and creative, Jesus-loving, full of wonder & imagination, the best big sister, and the list could go on and on. You are a light in a world that so needs exactly who you are. I love you. 💕
  • Random Thursday thoughts: Life is a journey, not a marathon. Slow down. Simplify. Pray to see through Jesus’ lens/point of view. Keep your eyes and heart focused on Jesus, but expect and find peace in the footsteps (leading places you can’t always predict)...in the ebb & flow, the ups & downs, the rough terrain & the smooth sailing, the good & bad, the challenging & the fun... all of the things that make a journey what it is. • Let yourself rest (physically, mentally, spiritually, whatever) when needed, but remember to get back up & keep practicing forward motion... baby steps are still motion. If you stumble back, keep trying & strengthening those metaphoric muscles. • Find growth & allow healing. To grow, you need to allow yourself to be filled up with goodness. You need to allow cultivation. • Be willing to learn. Don’t stand in one place and remain the same for too long & don’t try so hard to control the outcome. Get out of your own way. • Let faith in the One who created you drive, trusting that the plans for your life are good & purpose-filled. Know that you are chosen & called & held in God’s hands. No matter the circumstance, whether joy-filled or a painful reality, know that you’re never left alone nor forsaken. • Remember that there are seasons, some more stormy than others, and some overwhelmingly breathtaking, but always drenched in grace. • Keep putting one foot in front of the other & focus less on the finish line & more on the process of growing there.
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    Random Thursday thoughts: Life is a journey, not a marathon. Slow down. Simplify. Pray to see through Jesus’ lens/point of view. Keep your eyes and heart focused on Jesus, but expect and find peace in the footsteps (leading places you can’t always predict)...in the ebb & flow, the ups & downs, the rough terrain & the smooth sailing, the good & bad, the challenging & the fun... all of the things that make a journey what it is. • Let yourself rest (physically, mentally, spiritually, whatever) when needed, but remember to get back up & keep practicing forward motion... baby steps are still motion. If you stumble back, keep trying & strengthening those metaphoric muscles. • Find growth & allow healing. To grow, you need to allow yourself to be filled up with goodness. You need to allow cultivation. • Be willing to learn. Don’t stand in one place and remain the same for too long & don’t try so hard to control the outcome. Get out of your own way. • Let faith in the One who created you drive, trusting that the plans for your life are good & purpose-filled. Know that you are chosen & called & held in God’s hands. No matter the circumstance, whether joy-filled or a painful reality, know that you’re never left alone nor forsaken. • Remember that there are seasons, some more stormy than others, and some overwhelmingly breathtaking, but always drenched in grace. • Keep putting one foot in front of the other & focus less on the finish line & more on the process of growing there.
  • “How do you & your kids stay so well throughout the Winter?!” I’ll tell ya: basically we just eat real food (especially ones with lots of vitamin D since we aren’t getting it from the sun being indoors so much), move our bodies, make & take elderberry syrup (daily), drink herbal tea, use essential oils for #allthethings (especially diffused to help clean the air), avoid medical interventions that mess with our immune systems, clean everywhere in our home with Thieves Household Cleaner, de-stress, and wash our hands a lot. It’s really quite simple. If we DO start to come down with anything, we increase the frequency of the above & sometimes supplement with a homeopathic medicine like Genexa’s “Cold Crush” or Boiron’s “ThroatCalm” or “Oscillococcinum”, depending on what we’re dealing with. • We made these Elderberry gummies a while back for a fun change to just drinking it off a spoon. I swear by this stuff, friends. It’s amazing, but I definitely suggest making it yourself rather than buying the preserved stuff that likely has a bunch of added sugars. Besides, it’s SUPER easy (and cheaper) to make & homemade stuff just tastes better. I put the link to the recipe I use in my bio. • Have you ever tried homemade Elderberry Syrup?
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    “How do you & your kids stay so well throughout the Winter?!” I’ll tell ya: basically we just eat real food (especially ones with lots of vitamin D since we aren’t getting it from the sun being indoors so much), move our bodies, make & take elderberry syrup (daily), drink herbal tea, use essential oils for #allthethings (especially diffused to help clean the air), avoid medical interventions that mess with our immune systems, clean everywhere in our home with Thieves Household Cleaner, de-stress, and wash our hands a lot. It’s really quite simple. If we DO start to come down with anything, we increase the frequency of the above & sometimes supplement with a homeopathic medicine like Genexa’s “Cold Crush” or Boiron’s “ThroatCalm” or “Oscillococcinum”, depending on what we’re dealing with. • We made these Elderberry gummies a while back for a fun change to just drinking it off a spoon. I swear by this stuff, friends. It’s amazing, but I definitely suggest making it yourself rather than buying the preserved stuff that likely has a bunch of added sugars. Besides, it’s SUPER easy (and cheaper) to make & homemade stuff just tastes better. I put the link to the recipe I use in my bio. • Have you ever tried homemade Elderberry Syrup?