Fifty Two Weeks of Joy

Tis the season y'all!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year. My family has been blessed beyond measure and I am just so incredibly thankful for this season of goodness.  I love Christmas and I love Christmas traditions. The lights, the decorations, the food, the family, the presents, the pure joy you see on a child's face Christmas morning. My family is known for having some interesting (to say the least) traditions. Growing up we didn’t have lots of money. So, on Christmas my parents used to buy us our own name brand cereal as a Christmas gift. It was a gift we look forward to every year, because you didn’t have to share your cereal with anyone unless you wanted to share. Plus, it was the name brand so we felt rich! Ha! The joys of childhood.  Another unique tradition we had was giving a fake snake to a different family member each year. This all started because my wonderful father is a very mean man! I’m half kidding, of course. Dad spent several mo...

I'd like to kind of geek out on y'all, if that's okay? A Stanford psychologist  Carol Dweck , author of  Mindset: The New Psychology of Success  has spent about two decades providing the formula (if I may) to success. She believes each individual establishes one of two types of mindsets. You either live your life under the contents of a "fixed mindset" or a "growth mindset" and there seems to be a correlation between an individual's success and their mindset. Here's how it works. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS820US820&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=pykIXODuO_O-0PEPsZOZ8Ao&q=fixed+mindset+vs+growth+mindset&oq=fixed+mindset+vs+growth+mindset&gs_l=img.3..35i39j0l4.53296.53296..54094...0.0..0.94.94.1....1..1....1..gws-wiz-img.MVDX9MT7c-0#imgrc=Y11pAAWH5ODqOM : This fascinates me! I love learning these types of things. Learning to improve one's self is always a good thing and this growth mindset philosop...

I have a bad habit of being hard on myself. I constantly make jokes about not being good enough. It wasn't until recently when a good friend of mine told me I don't give myself enough credit. She's absolutely right, and I guarantee I'm not alone in this. I know some of you reading this do the same thing. You belittle yourself, or you try and justify you quarks. For example you might make a similar comment, "I'm socially awkward, but the people who love me look past this…" Or "I'm not really sure why people read my blog, I'm not a writer." I could list example after example of not measuring up to the "world's standards", but you know what I've learned? Those standards don't matter; they really don't, because my worth comes from a higher authority. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualifications come from God. – 2 Corinthians 3:5 Here's the deal when God looks ...

Guys it's here finally here, the most wonderful time of the year.   Halloween has passed Thanksgiving is coming and Christmas will be here before we know it! However, is it really the most wonderful time of the year, for some probably not? I remember as a child how magical holidays were, all of the festivities, the relatives, and the food. Oh my goodness the food. Nothing beats my grandma's lemon ice box pie. I love a good tradition and my family has some great traditions that embraced the real reasons for the season. Every Thanksgiving we had members from the church attend our family Thanksgiving dinner. The doors to our home were always open to outsiders. Mom and dad welcomed anyone into our home and made sure they left with a full belly and a to-go box. My parents were thankful for the blessing given to them and wanted to share those blessings with others. At Christmas before we opened gifts we read the "real" Christmas story. The birth of our Lord an...

Week 11:  This is the first time I've been late getting flowers to a person and a blog posted. This week I'm combining Weeks 11 and 12. Judge if you want but I have bronchitis so all should be forgiven. HA!  Yesterday I had the privilege to honor two very special women in my life. Both new additions to my life, but I'm hoping to have them stick around for a long time.  Recently our family built a home and moved into a new neighborhood and I'm so thankful we did! God has always blessed our family with wonderful neighbors but this group has gone above and beyond. They have welcomed us into their homes and have done a wonderful job of blessing our boys.   Last week's flowers are for Brittany, and girl I am so sorry I didn't get them to you on time, but I think the timing is better anyway. God tends to do that! This girl is so much more than she knows. She is going back to school, working full time, AND doing clinical hours.  She has such a...

Its official, I've decided I can solo parent, I don't want to, but I can! I've been dreading these past few weeks for several months now. Oscar had to be gone on a longer than normal business trip and I just didn't want the responsibility of single parenting. (To all you single parents, and military parents, kudos you deserve all the rewards, All. Of. Them.)   Oscar established my standards! When I first moved to Arkansas and we were dating he lived about 40 minutes away from me. In the winter he would wake up early and drive to my apartment to scrape of the ice on my windshield and warm up my car before I left for work. He created the dependent monster I've become! Ha! Proof, he only has himself to blame.  Seriously though, I was terrified to parent without Oscar. I was worried I would forget things, the boys wouldn't eat as well (I don't cook well), the house would be a mess, and I would miss HIM. Oscar is truly my best friend; we've known e...

Sometimes God places us in seasons we don't feel equipped to handle. When Eli was born and the nurse told us we could take him home I'll never forget the look on our faces when we asked the nurse, "So what now?" Her reply, "you take him home." Us, "Don't you want to do a drug screen or something?" The nurse, "nope, as long as you have a car seat he's free to go home with you." Us, "that's it... really because we got denied on an application to adopt a dog." She laughs, "Yes that's it. Good luck! Parenthood will do that to you. You are called to this incredible responsibility and have no real manual to use. You don't feel ready or worthy to be responsible for such a giant task!  For example, our first night home Oscar's parents met us at home to welcome us and Eli into this new chapter. After getting settled his parents left. About 20 minutes after they left we called his mom to come back bec...

Today is going to get a little real, but I'm a sucker for authenticity. It took many parents many years to teach me tact. Truthfully, I'm still learning! I tend to be extreme. I love big but I also hurt big. To most I'm dramatic, but I prefer the word passionate.  For a long time in our marriage Oscar and I were just trying to survive. It was one crisis after another. My mom died our first year, we become parents our second year, years three and four were spent in and out of hospitals because Eli (our firstborn) was "sick" . Five and six seemed good, but truthfully we were living in routine. Not really investing in ourselves or our marriage.  Seven, brought a lot of truths, which shed some light on areas in my life I hadn't dealt with and because of that I was consumed with bitterness. I didn't have my mom to help me mother. I didn't have the career I wanted. I believed I didn't deserve the husband I was given. People always tell us how lucky ...

Have you ever tested God? Have you ever felt him tell you to do something and instead of being obedient you say, "God I need a sign, if you really want me to do this you'll send me a sign." I mean he spoke to Moses through a burning bush, so surly he can send me a sign, right? Pretty sure if God spoke to me through a burning bush I would still question if it was really him and would still argue why he's got the wrong person. I don't doubt God. I know God is capable of so much more than we could ever even imagine. For me it's personal doubt. When God calls me to step out in faith I'm flooded with negative thoughts.  - God they will see my imperfections.  - God I'm not qualified for that job.  - God I'm not smart enough.  - God there must be someone else, someone better.  Obviously, these thoughts are planted by the enemy because he knows what God is capable of doing through me and you. That's why we doubt ourselves. That's w...

You know what makes people great? Their ability to Love.  Unfortunately, not all people choose to love, but those who do are the change this world needs. Differences no longer matter, skin color is irrelevant, and past mistakes are forgiven.  One of my favorite attributes in a person is their choice to love, because through that they are accepting of different perspectives. I'm not talking about extremist here, who only see one side and can't even communicate with someone who has a different view. I'm talking about genuine respect for a person who is different from you and in spite of those differences you make the choice to love them for who they are and love them through their current season.  I believe love is a choice. I want love to be a choice, because as a wife and mother I've learned sometimes it's hard to love. Sometimes I make it hard for my husband to love his imperfect wife; and sometimes I make it hard for my children to love their imperfect mother...

Fun fact about me, I love kids. Honestly, I do. Truthfully, I love all people but especially little humans. Granted HR has jaded my love for adults, I've come to learn adults whine A LOT! If you think a toddler whines spend 15 minutes with an adult, we complain about everything… The weather, work… The nice weather outside, I can't enjoy because of work; or the reality that I have to walk in the rain from my car (in the parking lot) to the inside of my office. Honestly, I don't know how any of us adults survive this, it's tragic really! HA! I prefer the innocence of a child, because when a kid complains or has a tantrum you can (some of the time) excuse it because of their age. When a 45 year old adult has a tantrum you just shake your head and wonder if you are being recorded for a prank show… When I was a little girl I used to dream of becoming a teacher, because of my love for people and because I love talking. I'd come home from school and play with my imag...

"If you focus on the hurt, you will continue to suffer.  If you focus on the lesson, you will continue to grow." A good friend of mine shared this quote on Facebook yesterday and y'all it couldn't be truer. I've often found myself in a place of hurt. Life didn't go as planned. Someone hurt me and it's not fair. Sometimes I've even felt as though God has hurt me. My prayer wasn't answered the way I had hoped or wanted. Basically, I'm selfish, I didn't get my way, or my expectations weren't met so now I'm hurt.  Have any of you been there? In this place of why me? What did I do to deserve this? Am I really supposed to do this and if so, why is it so hard? Listen, that's a whole lot of "woe is me?" However, I think even in the darkest hour there is still hope. I believe in order to see the hope we have to shift our focus. I believe in the suffering we have to ask the Lord to give us the strength to persever...

One of my favorite quotes my mom used to say was, " the relationships you feed are the ones that grow ." I think this quote always spoke to me because I'll take any excuse to invest in relationships. I thrive on human interaction. I don't do well in isolation and I'm WAY too dependent on other people, it's probably borderline unhealthy.  However, I think my mom was really onto something here because God wants us to have healthy relationships that do more than grow; he wants our relationships to thrive.  He wants us to be vulnerable, honest, and real with one another. " Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed." –James 5:16   He wants us to walk through life together. "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." -  Romans 12:15  He wants us to invest goodness in one another, " Therefore encourage one another and build up one another." – 1 Thes...

"Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude."  – Anne Frank While debating whether or not I was going to do this flower journey I ran across this quote. It hit hard! Wow, how many people have I failed? How many opportunities have I missed to tell someone, "hey, you are valued and I see you?" This quote, confirmed I needed to do this, because I want the people in my life to know they are loved while they are living. Instead of their loved ones knowing they were loved after they are gone.  My junior year of high school my Uncle James lost his battle to cancer. He had three kids and a fourth on the way. After his funeral mom created a tradition in our home, Christmas letters. Each year every member of our family had a piece of paper with their name at the top and everyone in the family had to write a kind note, mom wanted all of us to know and have a reminder that we are loved and valued. You see, at my un...

Hello!  Take two: This is the second time I've started this post… I have so much to say but I'm not sure how to say it, which is shocking because I have a gift for always having something to say. I have this nagging voice in my head telling me to STOP, to stop writing, to stop blessing, to stop trying, to just stop. This voice wants me to give up. Good news is I don't want to and I'm not gonna!  My original post this week was deleted because it was VERY negative, and honestly really whiny. That's an easy place to set up camp in. I've noticed recently in my life an attitude of "woe is me", which is unfortunate, because I'm not really a, "woe is me" person. I'm at my best when I'm fighting to prove people wrong, I like being the underdog and I love a challenge, mostly because I'm awesome and more people need to know this. This side of me is only this way because of the fire God put inside me. I also love when God gives ...