win-win.

Love to support adoptions? yes. 
Love God's word? yes. 
Want to shepherd your kiddos well? yes. 
Know any kids anywhere? yes. 


This, friends, is what we call a win-win. 

If you don't already know about Truthcards, trust me - YOU WANT TO. 
My friend Jenna, who is a super genuine loving and beautiful mama to three beautiful bebe girls, started a company with her husband making flashcards of scripture for kiddos. 
Truthcards are INVALUABLE in our home and I know they'd be a blessing in yours. 


Not only is Jenna a great mom and business owner, 
but she's also a super precious friend. 
And this week, she's donating the profits of Truthcards to her friends Jessica & Travis as they raise money to adopt a little girl. Here are Jenna's words about their fundraiser. 

Jessica Carpenter is one of the most beautiful people that I know, both inside and out. Over the past several years, I’ve had the privilege of seeing the Lord increase her beauty with His refining fire. Recently, a big part of that process has been the fleshing out of His call for their family to adopt a daughter. I picture Jessica’s mind like an incredibly organized whirlwind. She reads, thinks, talks and types faster than anyone that I know and is a social networking queen. The Lord is using these gifts for His glory. Jessica and her husband Travis have become a voice for the voiceless orphans of this world. Through their call to adopt, they have read books, attended conferences, hosted a conference, joined an Adoption Missional Community and more… Jess has tweeted, blogged, Facebooked and told the world about it along the way, opening many hearts to the idea of caring for orphans (James 1:27) along the way. The Carpenter family has a goal of raising $28,000. For Jessica’s birthday, I wanted to give her the gift of easing the burden of fundraising. So, through Saturday, February 25, all proceeds from Truthcards sales will go directly to the Carpenter Adoption Fund.

And knowing Jessica, I have to agree. She's a serious joy. And a whirlwind o' goodness. 

So here's my encouragement: 

buy truthcards, because they're amazing. 

but also because this week - they go to help bring a baby girl home to a family. 

You can read more & buy Truthcards right here. 

You can read more about the Carpenter family and their adoption here. 

You can also follow Jessica & Jenna on twitter, because they're awesome:). 

a true story about being hidden.

Hi Naptime readers, I'm Annabelle and this is a true story from this week.

I have been reading in Colossians the past little bit and this week 3:1-4 hit home, especially this,

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God" and this, "For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

Hidden.  Hidden?  That stuck out to me.  My life is hidden in Christ.  I work against this every. day.  Every day I want to exist.  I want praise.  I want to be seen outside of Christ.  I get so territorial about my life and my existence.   But the only thing waiting for me outside of Christ, is bondage to those things I so crave praise and adoration from.  Slavery to having it all together;  cooking great meals, encouraging and teaching Oliver, having a great shop, writing great posts, biblically disciplining ...Those things which can be good gifts from the Lord get skewed into being gods and then I'm just "dead in my sins."

Every day, life is to be found in dying to myself.  Every. Day. I must die.

And in dying, I can be "raised with Christ!"  With Christ, who conquered the grave!  Christ who rose to perfect, full, free LIFE!  I am raised with Him!  Isn't that wonderful?!  To know, that every day Christ reigns and in being hidden in Him, sin does not have authority over me.

It's wonderful.  But every day I struggle, stubbornly clinging to my ways and habits that fit, so nicely, in this world, giving in to "what if" fears and holding, no clinging to my dear loves.

And so, I am daily trying die and let Christ live.  And it is a battle.

a genuine story by Jac.

((Hi friends! Jessi here. This week my fam & I are finishing up a big road trip and so I've asked some of my precious friends to share with you. I've told them they can talk about ANYTHING - but I'm specifically praying through the idea of blogging a true story, so here is a true story from them. Enjoy. ))


I’ve started the post about 100 times in my head and on

paper, but none of the beginnings seem right. It’s hard to jump into this in
the middle so I’ll take you back to a year and two days ago. That’s when
Grayson and I got to take our first ambulance ride and the day that the doctors
were sure would be Gray’s birthday.

Since the moment I had been put on bedrest, we had been
wondering when Gray would arrive. Medicine said he should have a March
birthday, but what was really going to happen? 

On January 8^th, I went into labour - hard labour.
I was rushed to the best hospital in Canada for preemie babies, they threw
every doctor at us that we may encounter if Gray were to arrive and they were
sure that he would. They didn’t try and stop my labour. They believed that if
my body was fighting that much there must be a reason so they helped me rest
and hoped that my body would calm down and Gray would stay put. 

A year ago today, the doctor who admitted us returned from
his day off walked into our room and exclaimed “You’re still pregnant?!?!” in
complete disbelief. Medicine had no idea how I could still be pregnant after
everything that I had been through. I spent close to 48 hours on a morphine
drip with some strong tranquilizers mixed in to see if that would relax my body
enough to keep G where he was. They administered every medication they could to
make sure he was strong and healthy, as strong and healthy as a baby can be at
29 weeks. But in the end they had no idea how I could still be pregnant and how
we weren’t standing in the NICU watching our preemie fight to survive. 

What medicine struggles to understand is that God has
perfect timing. Brian and I have always stood on the belief that God’s perfect
timing will prevail in our lives. We may have plans, but God is the one who has
full control over every aspect of our life.

From the moment we found out we were pregnant we knew it was
God’s timing and not ours. As we started our journey through bedrest we stood
on that; we knew that however uncertain things were, God brought us this far in
our pregnancy and he would deliver Gray to us at the perfect time. 

For the 48+ hours we spend in the L&D ICU, we knew God
had set angels around us. If it had been Grayson’s time to be born we knew he
would be strong and healthy and whole, but if not then we would make it
through. 

Grayson held on for another 3 weeks. After a week in the
hospital, they let me go home to bed, strict bedrest, not getting up for
anything but the washroom. When I went into labour for a second time 2 weeks
after getting home, we headed to the hospital again. 48 hours later they
thought they had my labour stopped again, but then my water broke and there was
no going back. God had perfect timing and although we had a few hiccups in the
NICU, Grayson was one of the healthiest babies the doctors and nurses had ever
seen for being born 8 weeks early. 

There were days on our journey that I wondered; that I let
the darkness get to me. But in those 48 hours I let it all go, and just put my
trust in the Great Physician.

I challenge you to think today; are you trusting in God’s
perfect timing, or are you trying to dictate your own? If it’s the latter, I
hope that you’ll seek him and let go of the human desire for control. He will
bring you all that you need and more in his perfect timing. 

Grayson the day he arrived.

introducing Annabelle

Happy Saturday before Christmas friends!

I hope your day is filled with lots of fun and family and joy about Jesus. 

I am also so honored to introduce you to Annabelle. 

She has one of my favorite shops on Etsy and a blog that you can't help but love. 

Enjoy her! 

..........

Hi fellow readers of Jessi's blog, I'm Annabelle and write over at hohumdiddly.  Like many of us, I think, it started as a place to show grandparents and friends our little man, his rolls and dimples and various baby to now toddler-boy antics.  But sometime last year, it became a place for me to think out and write out what God has been doing in my life and the life of my family.  There is still a lot of my sweet boy's face shining about the blog, and I do think he is the best.  But the focus has shifted.  It has been a little scary giving voice to some years full of groaning and heart-work still going on;  but I know that the Lord has pressed on me to share, mostly so I will sit down and do the work of looking at Him and not just busying myself with sweeping the lessons He has for me under that ever-famous rug. (and I like commas and semi-colons, apparently) 

Anyway, there are a few things that get mentioned here and there throughout the blog.  One of those, is my husband's health.  Really, our journey with Epilepsy and Crohn's disease is too convoluted and bogged down with medical jargon to sum up in a blog post, but suffice it to say, God is in control and He is good and gracious to love us in our sadness and anger, confusion and joy. 

And so, right now, this very day, I am learning to live.  I am learning to be a human alive in Christ; which right now, means I am acutely aware of my sin but empowered to move in Christ.  And one of those ways I am able to move is by reading His word.  It is something that I neglected and even resented at times, but the Lord has given me a fresh, spring-like love for Him and His word.  Yesterday, I was reading Psalm 84 and verse1-2 shot into me and lodged.  "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." 

And those 2 verses have so much in them!  I can't possible unpack it all, but obviously the second verse feels like it was written just for me.  Because the past years have been full of yearning and just getting through, but this week has felt like that too.  This week, 3 year oldness has been grating on me, our recycling pile has sprouted hair and started talking back to me and the floor is covered in a beautiful array of crunched up goldfish and whatever we have been eating for dinner.  And it has been driving me to the point of feeling a little more than just edgy.  But I read those words, those life-giving words and at one point I am ashamed and in the next instant, or really in the same one, my heart is full to bursting with praise and thankfulness.  Thankful that God, the Lord Almighty, Emmanuel, God with us knows me and understands.  And thankful that He is so much bigger and stronger than busyness.  Thankful that he gives me eyes to see Him, but also the practical knowledge of simply what to do next.  And so, this morning as I sat on the couch and almost got overcome with our day and weekend plans, I remembered.  Him.  I cry out for the living God and He is here.  In our apartment, on the couch, living in me!  Halleluiah! Emmanuel!

top five

I'll cut to the chase. 
The short story is - we used to live in Washington State. It was some of the best and hardest years of our lives. I made friends with a group of women so quickly and so wonderful that it felt miraculous and it turns out, it was. 
I've missed them terribly for a year and a half. 
I went back for a five day trip. 
It was a huge blessing. 
Now here are my top five things about that trip. 
(in random order)

the yellow leaves on the black pavement took my breath away. So did running up this hill. 

this is our old house in Bellevue. When I ran by the words "you've made all my desserts into gardens. you've made all my ashes into beauty" were in my ears. Yes, Lord. You have. 

1. Running in Bellevue. 
Before I even left for Washington, I was super excited about running around in the place I used to live. I love running when I'm out of town, I feel like it gives me such a different feel for a place. Running somewhere you don't currently live, and never ran in is like a double wonderful. I ran by a house we used to live in, down streets I used to push my kids on walks, and over the freeway that we drove up and down all the time. It was beautiful and redemptive and one of the best worship sessions I've had in years. Plus, Bellevue in December is one of the prettiest sites in the world in my opinion. 

these babes & just a few of their babes. between all of us, we have thirteen blessed kiddos. 

2. BABIES!
I had a few really new babies to meet. Babies of mamas who are like sisters to me. And plenty of babies who are now big kids to play with. I loved holding those babies and snuggling them. Bribing toddler girls to like me with lipstick. Playing cars with the boys and just watching their mamas love the mess out of them. And it was a blessing to my heart to talk to my ladies about our baby, Arrow, that we lost this summer. To talk about how pregnant I'd be or how sweet it was to send them all letters to tell them we were pregnant. They cried with me and smiled with me at our memories of him. 

special thanks to Embassy Suites & the Holy Spirit for this night. 

3. Mini Women's Retreat
One night of my trip, some of my closest friends and I all shared a hotel room and had a wonderful girl's night. The original plan was to have a night on the town, come back to the hotel and paint our nails and be girly. But wouldn't you know, we ordered thai food take-out, wore sweats, and opened our hearts to one another. And that felt just right. I highly suggest grabbing three or four ladies or eight and hitting up your nearest Embassy Suites for a night full of the gospel and veggie pad thai. And, well - tears. Of course our eyes were all basically swollen shut the next day. 

4. Mars Hill. 
I love that church something fierce & am so thankful for how God worked in our lives there.

praying for my family and I look out my plane window to see this. Our God is so big. 

5. To rest up for my fight. 
Through some talks and some prayer and some straight up Holy Spirit messing in my heart, my eyes were opened to some ways I've stopped fighting. Stopped fighting for righteousness, stopped fighting in prayer for my kids. I've grown tired and restless and when things in our life have seemed a little too hard, I've let myself get easily distracted. So this trip felt like the perfect span of time for the Lord to convict me, correct me, and give me the rest needed for the fight. 
And I'm ready. 
And excited. 

Thanks for letting me share my trip faves. 

and thank you Lord for such a wonderful trip. 

BLESS YOUR LIFE.

Real quick. 
I want to let these ladies bless your life today. 
First - so many of your ordered advent calendars yesterday and I'm so excited to celebrate "with" you! If you didn't get it quick girl, I want to ship it in time! 
Now, on to letting these ladies bless your life. 


1. You know Ellen. Handmade Recess Ellen. Sashes Ellen. One of my best friends Ellen. 
She is reopening her shop today and I CANNOT WAIT. When I sit in her living room, I see the goodies piling up in her studio. You don't want to miss this. Check it out. 
2. Sidney from Recitherapy is my longtime friend and new blogger. 
Her food/lifestyle blog is a daily fave. 
I'm making her cookies today. Hooray!
3. Rachel from 4 Reasons is another long time friend/family-friend and I am so blessed by her new Norwex business. I've just started using Norwex products and I like anything that is green, clean, and GREAT. 
4. Moriah is a gem of an internet friend and I'm so honored to be featured on her site today. Please make Moriah a daily internet visit (if she isn't already). 
5. Audrey from Courage & Curls is a precious friend and COURAGEOUS writer. You will be blessed by reading her words today.
6. Last, but NOT least, April has a cute, cute, cute blog that will make your day. 
In my head, I call her "A" and pretend we're besties.
Is that okay, A? 

Hey friends!

Today I'm so excited to introduce you to a new friend.

Laura sent me one of the most encouraging emails after losing our sweet baby and upon reading it, I promptly read her entire blog. (sidebar: if you sent me an email and I haven't responded yet, I promise I will) Since then, I've been so blessed by her wise words and her awesome shop and I think you will be too! Say hello and check out her blog and shop! 

1. Tell us a little about you & your family. 

Hi there! My name is Laura! I am so excited to be over here with you today. Jessi asked me to tell you a little bit about myself and my family, so I will do the best I can. For some reason I can talk and talk about any and everything but when it comes to talking about myself or defining who I am, I have a hard time. I think that is because I am always changing...my style, my interests, my taste in food....except for cake balls. I will always love cake balls. So there's something about me- I am a sweets addict. I also live off of caffeine. I am always doing something and when I'm not, I'm thinking about what I need to be doing. I am the wife to an incredibly handsome guy named Brandon. He is associate pastor of a church here in San Antonio. Together we serve side by side and we love it. He has a heart for people and it is so inspiring to see. I am also mama to 3 sweet gifts from heaven. Asher is my 5 1/2 year old. He's my mama's boy. He's got me right in the palm of his little hand. He will be starting kindergarten in a month and I may or may not be having a minor emotional break down about it. Bella, is my 3 year old. She is independent, out spoken, bossy, everyone's mama, way too smart, but extra sweet. Mia Glory is my precious 7 month old. She has her daddy and I wrapped around her little finger. She is just plain edible. Like really, I could just eat her up.

2. What is your blog about and why do you blog?

My blog is bits of me and everything I love. Which includes my family, decorating, writing and creating. The heart of my blog is to inspire each person in their own talents, gifts and stories. To tell them, share them, and be confident in them. We each have a story. I blog to share mine. 

3. How did you make the decision to open your shop? 

Honestly, it was a simple "what if" thought that turned into a reality. One step in front of the other and all led through prayer. I have always loved fashion and changing up my looks. Even more so, I love to look like I put a lot of effort into "my look" without putting a lot of effort into it. The pieces I have in my shop are perfect for that. It's as simple as putting them on. A pop of color from a fun necklace, pair of earrings or ring, can make a plain white tee and jeans stand out. I love that kind of simplistic yet bold fashion. I love creating something and then putting it out there for others. The idea that a bit of me is being shared with someone else, makes me happy. It has become an avenue for me to share myself with others that I am so thankful for and blessed by. 

4. What recreates/refreshes/renews you? 

Time with God! I try to set time aside each morning to read and pray and just be in communion with the Lord. Quieting my spirit and being still to hear what He wants from me and has for me. I like to do it first thing in the morning because it sets the tone for the day. It refreshes me and gets me going in the right direction. Taking that time to fill my spirit and my self up so that I can then pour out into my husband and kids. That renews me. 

5. What has surprised you most in this life? 

How strong we humans really are. Not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. I've heard a lot of people use the phrase "I don't know what I would do if" or "I don't think I could handle it, if...." 

I'm sure if someone had told me what I would go through, I would have said the same thing. I would have surely thought I wouldn't be able to handle it. Surely it would be too much to bear.

Until I walked through them. Some of the hardest trials of my life. I have fought the hardest battles of my life and found myself broken in the end. Holding 2 of my sweet, precious baby girls, lifeless in my arms. I have seen tiny caskets, and feet so tiny. I have cried out in desperate need with tears streaming. I have lived through these moments.....I have lived through them. I survived. I came out stronger. Wiser. More full of joy and more aware of the precious gift that life and all that it has to offer brings. And I found out "what I would do if"....I'd turn to Him. The one who can get me through. The one who gives me strength to come out of it, but not just barely...completely, wholly and with a renewed spirit and desire to love, inspire, share, and bring Him glory through it all. 

So, she's kind of the greatest, right? 

ALSO. Thank you Lord for the sweetest timing ever. 

I just got home from my Saturday run and what do I find in my mailbox? My new splendor earrings. 

So ignore the hot sweaty mess, feast your eyes on my new goodies!

Go show Laura some love and have a great weekend friends!

oh man oh man. VLOG TIME. STYLE VLOG TIME.

So, this may be one of my favorite posts ever. 

A. Look! It's my real life friends! I love them. 

B. Introducing Kristin! The style fairy godmother. 

C. Are my friends the cutest or what? 

D. I know I have an over talking problem. 

my friends put up with & i'm working on it. 

Ask your style questions for Kristin. She knows it ALL. No question too big or too small. 

For example: last weekend before my cousin's beautiful wedding, I texted her asking her what if she had anything I could possibly borrow to feel new & fresh. I left her house an hour later with an outfit perfectly styled WITH SHOES AND JEWELRY for each occasion. Who does that?

And heres the thing: I know everyone doesn't have a friend like her, who knows so much and gives so much - so that's why I'm sharing her with you. Ask her your questions AND I'll say it again, if you're anywhere in driving distance of Columbia, SC - call and make an appointment with her. 

And, I told you Anna Kate was super talented. 

AND let's hear those questions! 

spoiled

No time to talk. I'm in the midst of being intensely spoiled. 


When my best friends from Seattle heard about Glory two weeks ago, the immediately rallied and asked me what was the best way for them to help. The ultimate decision was to send an advocate, one of my sweet bff's - Marilee. I haven't seen Mare (or any of my girls from WA) since July and all I can say is, my heart was aching for them in ways I sure didn't know. 


I can't describe it (I'll still try later), but it's a really interesting thing to have one friend come visit and have it feel like FIVE OR SIX friends have come to visit. I feel like all the girls are here, loving me just as crazy well as they did when I lived in Washington. ALSO, something I'd like to try and describe later is this: I love the way that my Seattle friends, my Columbia friends, my Charlotte friends, my Charleston friends, etc... etc... etc... calls me to love other wells. After being so taken care of physically and spiritually in the last few weeks, we've got a pretty intense calling. 


However, maybe one of my fave things about Mare is that she doesn't really care too much about the internet. I literally just taught her what "all those numbers" (facebook notifications) were on her facebook page. So that means I'm semi-unplugged until she leaves. And I like it. She doesn't care who twittered what or how many emails either of us have to respond to. Whoosh, that's a relief. So - more to come, once Mare leaves and I remember how to use the computer again:). 


For now, some quick pics: 

lots of praying outside

there may be some tiny sparkly nose rings buried in that pic

matching hats while vintage shopping, yes please. 

cuddling & talking, lots of it. 

and! first Naptime Diaries prints going out! 

And, oh yeah! 
One thing I really wanted Mare's help with was getting my first Naptime Diaries orders out and making sure they're perfect! If you haven't already, check out the new Etsy shop or last week's post about it. 


love ya'll.
happy monday! 

good community hospitality hangover

Last Tuesday, our hundred and something boxes arrived from Seattle. 

Last night, we had a church meeting at our house. 

I really work best with a deadline, don't most people? Want to get those boxes unpacked? The best way is to have fifteen or twenty new friends over to your house. 

The meeting went great. The massive, big community project we're taking on feels less big and overwhelming and the burden for the hearts behind it feels biggest. And sweetly, my little hospitality/community loving heart was overjoyed to have people in my home and eating my food and staying past my normal bedtime. Talking about Jesus and family and giving all your stuff away and protein powder. MMMM, I love community. 

But after a few nights of seeing midnight and unpacking boxes/painting/organizing/decorating - I plan to do nothing but cuddle with kids, drink coffee, play outside, and read library books all day long. And I'll just forget about those fifteen or so boxes packed around my bed, that I have to crawl over to get to sleep. 

Another day. 

Plus, I need to rest up for 

ONE PERCENT CHANGES tomorrow!

If you're into it, stop by, grab a button and blog along if you like!

See here for more info! 

love you guys. 

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