Love Is In Bloom

                I used to go to Summer camp when I was a kid. I went to Kanakuk K-7, K-West, K-2, and Brookhill through the years. I honestly had great experiences learning about Jesus, but I was VERY READY to see my parents and get back into air conditioning. I will never forget at Kanakuk there is a parent's night before the day we actually would leave and as all the parents were streaming in, I was anxiously awaiting the first glimpse of my mom and dad. A memory that sticks in my mind was when I was younger at K-7. As all of the parents were coming in, I caught a glimpse of the most beautiful mom. My heart beat out of my chest as familiarity flooded my heart and the feeling of calm came over me that only my mom could give. She was and has been my safe place all of my life, the most beautiful mom. I thought in my head about how much I was glad she was my mom and how nice she always was to everyone and couldn't ...

My Two Cents This is not your average "mommy blog", although it will be about mommy blogs.;)  I had a married friend, not yet with children remark how she hated mommy blogs, because so many were whiney and full of complaints about how they didn't even have time to brush their teeth or wear makeup or do anything that sounds remotely fun to an adult woman (but somehow had time to blog, be on facebook, and respond to comments) 😗  I feel like this is a post to simply take the fear out of women who aren't moms yet and all they have to go on are these "blogs", which in reality is one person's two cents, not everyone's reality. You don't have to be afraid you'll never put on real pants again if you're a stay at home mom... YOU choose your clothes, YOU choose how to spend the time, YOU choose to make brushing your teeth a reality!            I have to admit my stomach starts to churn if I read an average mommy blog about a "stay at home...

       Today as I was picking Samuel up from his Bible Study Fellowship class a little early I peeked into the door to see what he was doing. Evelyn was at home with daddy, because she insisted she "needed him" and begged to stay home. He has an unusual schedule, so some mornings he gets to be home and this was one of them. As I was enjoying BSF, I knew that I had a little window to get to the store for "emergency groceries". We were low on Cheerios and goldfish, so this was a code red! I went to go get Samuel from his class early to be able to run to the store before picking up his friend to come play. As I looked in the window, I saw that it was a rest time and he was cuddling his blue blankie he calls "purple" and obeying so well for it not being anywhere near his normal rest time at home. My heart turned to mush as i gushed in my mind about how sweet and cute he was in there and that he was obeying so well. His teachers always say he obeys well in thei...

           When I was in school, by the time I was a junior I felt a leading from the Lord to go to John Brown University for college. I had applied before senior year and had already accepted. I was THAT sure of it. I wanted to go to school for ministry and cover all my bases, so that one day I could be in Women's ministry. (Something I believe is still in my future;) There was just one problem- I did not have any friends there. Sometimes I have the strength to be outgoing, but I really don't like the idea of first impressions and the awkwardness of getting to a close friendship. I was exhausted at the thought of all that it would take to make a close friend when I got there. I had been surrounded by the same best friends since middle school and then spent my summers with my kindred spirit camp counselor friends. How was I going to manage at this school where no one knew anything, but their impressions of me?     ...

         I am sitting in my new room at my new house, tired from the journey it took to get to this place of peace in our living situation, but mainly I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord who was with us every step of the way. His ways truly were higher and greater than I imagined in the times that things seemed to make no sense at all and I felt so in the dark about his plan. I am grateful for his grace to keep me from losing heart and I'm so grateful for the people who carried us in prayer and helped us in countless ways along the way. Last blog post, I wanted to wait and see how the closing of our house played out before writing all the details of the last part of our journey to finally have a house in Little Rock and no longer a house in KC. I pray I remember every detail, because God's fingerprints were all over it and my faith has been built enormously.          This Summer when our KC house w...

     I write to you, humbled, by the grace of my amazing Lord, who in his absolute goodness and loving kindness has allowed me to go through trials this year that have changed me for the better.      I have wanted to write for a while, about the journey Jesus has taken me on, but every time I would try to share, he kept telling me "The story isn't over...wait to share this testimony, because I have an even better ending for it, dear one." Tonight, I am wide awake feeling like He is saying, its time, at least for this portion. :) I pray He gives me the words to describe what He has shown me through this year, because it is too beautiful for what I have vocabulary for.         When we moved to Little Rock, we had a lot of confirmation that we were supposed to come here and all the doors were opened, except for the fact we still had a house in KC. After a few months of it being on the market, we had a couple ask to rent our ho...

              If I tell my testimony of my life with Christ, it is interwoven with a place I went many times and in many seasons of my early life. This place is called Brookhill Ranch Camp.When I speak of my friends, you will hear of a handful that I met at this place. In fact, if you look in my text messages, I am talking to three of my camp friends and in my inbox messages I am in a group inbox with an entire girls staff from long ago and four other separate conversations with friends I met there. This place is interwoven in who I am, but the amazing thing is that it is not the actual place that makes me who I am, but a living Lord that encountered me with his incredible love and transformed me through this place many times.                   It all started when my parents let me go with my childhood best friend to camp and we...