My Girl

My baby returned home from church camp last week after being gone 4 days. It was her first time and we weren't sure how any moment of it would go. We weren't sure the emotions we would feel...she would feel. Would we pack all her things and add extra bottled water in every available pocket in her luggage in case there was some sort of chaotic water shortage? Would we arrive at the church to stow away her suitcase and help her get on the bus, only to violently break out of the crowd, snatch her up and declare she is only but an infant with gums, sharpei legs and is in no way capable of navigating this world without me along for the ride?

 Turns out...my girl is more than capable. My girl is growing up.

                           She blows me away.

We did let the bus pull away with our only and spent four days pacing the floor, existing in silence with no FROZEN songs or sounds coming from anywhere. We cooked food we liked and went to bed at 8:30pm. All the while, my baby's heart was being so solidly poured into by leaders of the church camp and leaders of our church. She came home and told of all the fun stuff...the swimming,  the zip line, the friends. She also held her new bible closely and read the verses highlighted by her leader that I know she'll always carry in her heart. She told about the amazing worship and how she's definitely ready to go back next year. I was still reeling from her bus exit. I never wanted to get to my child more. I promised I wouldn't cry but the tears came under my aviators. I let her out of our hug and she looked at me. She had something to tell me. Her voice sang while she told me she had be saved! She had asked Jesus into her heart.

My goodness. Praise Him!! All glory to our father in Heaven!!

Proud is not a word that measures up. My heart exploded. There just weren't words adequate for the moment.

What an incredible honor to have this beautiful girl that emerged 10 years ago from my unsure 19 year old womb, that I fed until her legs grew longer than mine are now, that will be entering the FIFTH grade, that wins my heart everyday with her strength and wit...run up to me and tell me she's chosen Jesus. Her decision to know and follow Jesus is the most important one of her life. It is the one decision that will take her EVERYWHERE.

She turns 10 years old this Sunday. A decade.
A decade of Christmases, birthdays, learning together, failing together.
A decade of ponytails, missing teeth and homework.
A decade of smiles, tears, knock knock jokes and more Barbies than I can ever count.


It all goes to quickly. It's easy. It's so hard. It's joyful. It's tiring. It's laid back. It's hard work.
Being Mama to my girl is hands down the best thing I will ever do. The most worthwhile and only second to being a Godly wife, one of the ways I feel the closest to God in my own life. I am only capable of love in the capacity of my "human suit". God IS LOVE. It is what He is. Sometimes I just soak that in. I know how much I love my daughter. My family. He loves me MORE. How?? It's incredible. It's wonderous. It's true.

Daily I am in awe of what is possible when God is the leader.

Psalm 54:4

Hi ya'll and a list!

So.
First post on this new blog. Feels GREAT. I have literally tossed the idea of writing around for more than a year now. I would start and then decide not to. I would legitimately be very busy or wonder if my thoughts were important or funny enough to 1. say out loud. 2. have to explain to everyone when I see them in person "what I meant". I felt strongly convicted enough that I talked about the idea with my friend and her words of encouragement were the final push and are why these little letters find themselves scrolling across the screen today and hopefully for many more days to come.

So HI!!

I'm so happy that blogging is such a fun and popular medium for writing. I LOVE writing. I love photography among soo many other things and generally have worthwhile opinions and views. I think we'll have a good time here. Come often!

A few salient things about myself would be:

1. I am a christian woman. I'm conservative and mostly hair-brained in this season of life. Its just the way it is. No sense in hiding my light under a basket. (Name that movie!) I find the chaos of this world amusing on a good day and absolutely atrocious on a bad one or maybe......that's just because I'm a female with hormones that change my mind every 4 1/2 minutes.  I believe with all my heart that God created me to spread His Word and tell the good news of His Son Jesus. Everything I do, to Him be the glory! I also know that I am 100% a sinner in a fallen world. I am not perfect. I have nothing together in any way and I know that He still loves me and created me to be exactly the way I am. He must have had a lot of fun creating my brain is all I can say. I like to think that because He loves me so much, the roller coaster in my head must give Him lots of joy and hopefully some laughter!

2. I am a wife. I have been married nearly 12 years and I just turned 30. I'll let you break out your calc and do the math if that's something you wanna do! We were BABIES when we married and like, totally knew life would just be a dream 4evr. Turns out life is ROUGH and I'm so grateful God gave me a husband just as tough enough to not only handle the craziness of life in stride with me but also to balance out this girl. He's a good egg and he's super cute to.

3. I'm a mama. Our one and only is nearly 12 years old! She is an absolute treasure. God's priceless gift to her daddy and I. I'm not sure how I deserve to be her mama but God thinks I'm equipped. When I'm not or don't believe I am, He equips me. My girl is FUN. A little quip I like to toss around is that I know God has a great sense of humor because daddy and I are NOT SERIOUS about ALMOST everything. We are laid back to the "umpth" degree. Everything on Earth is funny, isn't it? It works for us. So...of course, our baby would be absolutely literal and have a dry sense of humor. It's an interesting mix of folks up  in our house.

I plan to share lots of pics, recipes, really deep thoughts and pieces of me and mine here. I hope you'll check in from time to time!

Aye-dee-ohhs!