With a grateful heart.

I love Thanksgiving. It's the perfect time to be with family and reflect on the many many blessings we've been given before the rush of Christmas activities bombard us and take over the month of December.

I've been thinking a lot lately what I'm most thankful for. Besides the obvious things - my Jesus, my husband, our boys, the ability to provide for our family, etc.

This year, and more specifically the past few months, I am realizing that I'm most thankful for the idea that this place is not our home.

We can do our best to make a house a home, to make a community feel like home, and make our surroundings home. But this earth... this place... is not our home. It's not our forever.

These trials, the frustrations of life, the struggles of being a parent, the friends who have cancer and ones who have lost a child, in job loss and financial difficulties, through the mundane and loss of direction in our lives...

This place is not our home.

I feel like I've spent the last year of our lives waiting for something to happen. Waiting for a new job for Tyler so we can move. Waiting for the perfect house to come on the market and our financing to line up so we can buy. Waiting for something exciting to happen, waiting to feel like we're "at home" in Kansas City... and yet, have completely missed the point.

Maybe the reason I don't feel at "home" is because this isn't our home. Once I'm able to give up this idea of finding home on earth, I'm able to see things differently. Trusting that THIS is where we're serving Him, because He's called us to THIS place for THIS time... it changes everything!

Thank you Jesus, that this is not our end game! You're still writing our story, and using us in so many ways, even when we don't see it or feel it.

We have so many reasons to be thankful.

Hope in our forever home - Heaven - is high on my list.

So are these two boys.

What about you - what are you grateful for this year?

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Sunshine, Coffee, Rest.

If I could sit and drink a cup of coffee with you today, I would tell you that

RESTING... and ABIDING in Him...

that's not a shameful thing.

I was spending some time out at my mentor's house yesterday and we were talking about this very thing. How we, in today's world feel guilty, actual GUILT! when we take time off to rest and be lazy and slow down.

It's been a long time since I blogged. Honestly - I just didn't have the motivation, the 'want', or the time.  This season of life I have devoted myself to my boys... this is a new season of life for us, with Jaxon being in school, and I feel MORE THAN EVER that THEY are my mission field right now. But on top of that, I'm a yes girl - I say yes to almost everything that anyone asks me/us to do. I say yes to leading any kind of ministry group or heading up any kind of fundraising event, photographing pretty much any session, and volunteering at the gym and school.  I wear myself THIN and leave room for nothing other than serving, giving, and simply being on the go go go.

And you know what? None of those things are bad. I have passions. I love to lead things and organize events and polish my photography skills. But the dry season of life comes very quickly when you spend your time investing in others without taking the time to water yourself.

You can work at the church, serve the church, volunteer, and think about the church ... all without being with God.  And that's exactly what I needed to hear last week from a close friend of mine when I was talking to her about this exact thing.  All of those things are GREAT! And Christ calls us to serve each other and His church. But we need the time outside of these commitments to put into action what we talk a lot about ... loving our families, serving each other, reaching the lost.  We need the time to actually foster these relationships and put our words into action.

So today, I'm giving myself permission to rest.  I'm taking the time to be WITH God before I try to be FOR God.

Don't believe the lie that the world will fall apart when you take time for yourself.

And by the way - I'm totally preaching to myself today. Feel free to preach this back to me at any moment and time.

:)

S C H O O L Mom

Last week marked another big "milestone" for our family.

I have spent the last few months dreading this day... the one that I would become an official "school Mom" with an older kid, early morning routines, and soooo many anticipated tears (on my end)!

I think the anticipation of this day was so much worse than it actually happening... you know how that happens and your mind plays tricks on you?

I was afraid of the BIG school vs my little boy...
...the unknowns of who his friends would be and who his TEACHER would be!
...the insecurities
...and most of all, just letting go.

Letting go of my boy and trusting Jesus to protect and take care of him. So much easier said than done.

As we were walking to school the first day, out of the blue, Jaxon reached up and grabbed my hand. This isn't uncommon for him as he tends to hold my hand when we walk most places, but this time it felt different. He squeezed me harder than usual, looked up at me, and said "I love you soooo much, Mom."

Insert the tears!

It was complete reassurance for me. All of those years in the thick, in the hard parenting moments, that I spent worrying that I had done it all wrong... all of those fears were gone in that moment.

He's a confident boy. He's ready. And not only do I adore this boy, but he loves M E as well!

What an absolute honor it is to be a Mom.

$200 Gift Card GIVEAWAY!

One of my favorite parts about this season is the gift GIVING… I love love love to store ideas away throughout the year and then surprise friends and family with something I know they've wanted and may have even forgotten about!

What do you have on your Christmas list this year?  Here's our family wish list…

I love how convenient it is to shop online these days… I have done 90% of my Christmas shopping through Amazon this year and loved the convenience of having something shipped right to my door with free shipping!

Today, I have two things that may make finishing your Christmas shopping a little bit easier… :)

First, Coupons.com has put together these really great holiday gift guides to help you shop for some of those more 'difficult' people on your list!  Like my Dad… he is the hardest person each year because all he asks for is family time together and a donkey!  Coupons.com Holiday Sweepstakes also has a lot of great giveaways going on right now, so be sure to check them out!

 gift ideas for dad

 gift ideas for kids

 gift ideas for mom

gift ideas for teens

The second thing that is guaranteed to make your shopping easier, is a $200 gift card to Amazon.com!  If you're anything like my family, we are using Amazon at least once a week… this would be a pretty amazing thing to win!!

You have from now until Christmas Eve to enter, using the Rafflecopter entry form below!!

Good luck :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The most wonderful time of the year, indeed.

This is the boys first Christmas with a REAL tree, we're all in love with it!  We decided to go the real tree route this year for a few reasons…

A- our fake tree is WAY too big for this house/space.
B- I wanted the real tree experience and smell.
C- I hate putting together the fake tree.  Love it when it's done, but hate assembling it.

So one Sunday afternoon we loaded up the boys and went and picked out our tree.  They probably couldn't have cared any less, except they knew that the Christmas tree means their Christmas train is coming out as well.

It was a glorious thing, sticking it in the tree base full of water and decorating it minutes later.  I hope this becomes our new "norm" each year!

 Jaxon's 2013 ornament choice :: a caboose 

 Cohen's 2013 ornament choice :: Batman! 

I love the way a Christmas tree glows at night time… 

When the boys (and the dog) are asleep…

it's so peaceful.

 I love that nothing in this picture is perfect, with the toys all over the floor and couch…

Our life is so far from perfect, yet it's so beautiful to me. 

I feel like I have to document it any time that stinkin' dog is asleep…

We love her, but wish she was 10 years older.  :)

Happy Wednesday!

2 weeks until Christmas… are you ready?!