My Loves
Top Left: 2015 || Top Right: 2017 || Bottom Left: 2018 || Bottom Right: 2019
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Husband & WifeJake & CoralEstablished January 28, 2006.
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Eldest SonSawyerEstablished May 11, 2007.
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Youngest SonDempseyEstablished August 17, 2011.
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Love & Faith
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What is love to me?
Love is a choice. To me, love is waking up every morning and choosing to put someone else as a priority over myself. Choosing to be present for the yucky parts of life instead of bolting. Choosing to actively and consistently learn about my husband and children so that I can communicate effectively with them and help them be the best they can be. Choosing to confront issues in my marriage, when they happen, with grace and love and not allow them to fester and bear the sour fruits of bitterness and resentment. Choosing to lean into who my family members ARE instead of who I WANT them to be. Choosing to evaluate myself in each new season of life so that I can be intentional with my self-care... because that helps me be better for... well, everyone. Choosing to work on my short-comings before insisting that my family work on theirs. Choosing to do that which needs to get done, even if I hate doing it, because I'm part of a team- not an island. Choosing to embrace the many facets of people in my life and work to understand their life story. Choosing to give grace instead of demands. Choosing to put work into my relationships, to give them meaning and purpose, instead of taking the gimmie-gimmie stance. Choosing to just be present without trying to fill up space that just needs silence. Love is... so many daily choices. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 |
What is faith to me?
This is a hard question to answer because it is so personal. My faith, my belief in God, is the background to my entire existence. Without my faith, my life would be so very sad. My hope would be gone and I would question my value as a human. My Christian faith and relationship with Jesus Christ is my response when people say "I don't know how you do what you do." I'm flattered that people think I'm strong, when I'm not. I am proud that people think I'm doing a good job, when I think I'm screwing up every decision I make. My faith covers all my human short-comings with grace that I cannot earn. Grace that comes from a love so profound and mysterious that many people choose to let it pass them by because it doesn't make sense according to the values of society. Grace that comes from a love so pure and a purpose so grand that it descended to earth, dwelt among us, loved us and taught us, died as was foretold, and eluded the grasp of the grave, only to restore the perfect picture that was broken by sin. Faith? Faith is hard. It's hard to trust the Plan, laid out in Scripture, when you're walking through deep, dark valleys in life. Faith is beautiful. When you've trudged so long through the desert of the unknown... finally, you reach your destination (your goal) and begin to pull on the threads of God's provision along the way, only to have the tapestry of your true purpose revealed and/ or validated. Divine. Faith is a journey. I don't believe you ever become fully faithed (yes, I know that's not a real word). It's a muscle that needs flexing. A bit of use it or lose it applies here. Hebrews 11 [emphasis 1-3] |
