who is coming behind you

I'm in an interesting position because I'm in the middle of the road. There are some areas of my life where I'm just starting a long trek - church planting, raising KIDS, writing, speaking, and living an overall healthy life. There are other areas where I've been walking for a few years - blogging, motherhood in general, marriage, and having a relationship with Jesus. I'm rounding the corner to thirty so there's really nothing in my life I'd consider myself an expert in, but there are things I feel more seasoned in than others. 

One thing I've noticed about women in Christian culture is the way we respond when we're a few steps ahead of someone. There are always exceptions to the rule, but I feel like we are very quick to warn, caution, or even straight up frighten the women who are coming behind us. It's the baby shower syndrome, you know? Or even the wedding shower syndrome these days. You know the scene I'm talking about - some sweet gal with a swollen belly or heart full of romantic dreams is sitting in the middle of the room and suddenly the conversation takes a scary turn. 

"oh just you wait - you're in for a wild ride."
"when you have two kids, you'll understand."
"it's fun for a little bit, until the honeymoon is over."
"enjoy these last days of freedom!"
"these are going to be the hardest years of your life - but they'll be rewarding."

I've been that girl. I've been both girls, really. I've been the scared one opening the gifts and I'm ashamed to say I've been the one trying to warn the sweet lady with all the hopes and dreams. Ladies, WHY do we do this? I'm sensitive to it now because here I am, at the beginning of so many different new walks and I'm noticing the words women have for me. Some beautiful women in my life have used my fresh naivety to speak wild hope into me and it has forever changed the way I want to encourage those who are coming behind me. 

The fact is - someone is behind you somewhere and someone is watching you. Whether it's in motherhood, marriage, ministry, work, your walk with the Lord, or even just the way you dress - someone is behind you, following you as you follow Jesus. And they are holding their breaths waiting for you to turn around and tell them, 

"It's going to be ok. It's going to be great."
"You can do this. Jesus in you is strong, even when you feel weak."
"It might feel hard - but He has equipped you and He will work in you."
"I'll be there for you, every step of the way."
"The best is yet to come."

Who is coming behind you and how can you encourage them? I'm starting with me, refusing to be the ominous lady at the shower - scaring the one who is opening the gift and looking to me with hopeful eyes. 

Let's be the ones, at the end of the road, who are saying, 
"I knew you could do it. 
I knew Christ in you was more than enough." 

the thick of it.

In the thick of it. 
The phrase keeps coming back to me over and over again. 
In the morning, I feel the shiny hope of that top picture. I can be the carefree mom, the playful wife, the encouragement speaker, and the devoted daughter of the Most High. 
It's all light and life and glitter at 6am. 

But by ten a.m., I am weighed down and discouraged and wondering 
what about me?
where did the glitter go?
why does it smell like poop in here? 

The beginning is sometimes fancy and when we work real hard at the end, we can see the good and the purpose and the glory. 
But the grace is in the thick of it. 
God's presence is in the thick of it. 
The good stuff is in the thick of it. 
So it's ok to be there today. 

Me? Today? 
I am in the thick of it with mothering and church planting and relationships and in all honesty, a house that desperately needs cleaning. 
What about you? What are you in the thick of today? 

I want to be a wild mom.

It will probably forever and always be the thing I talk about least on this blog. 
It's the most private and tender part of my life. 
It feels like my biggest weakness and strength all rolled up in one ball. 
Mothering. 

When I think through my greatest fears, the idea of missing treasure sticks out. And motherhood is a day in and day out treasure hunt where you have to constantly refresh and repreach and reprimand yourself about what the treasure is. 

The treasure is not a well run home. 
The treasure is not mini-pharisses who look just like Jesus and never know they need Him. 
The treasure is not quiet. The treasure is not even peace. 
The treasure is not just getting through the next few years. 
It's not even break-through where they finally understand you. 

The treasure is always, always, always Christ. 
Even in motherhood. 
And I get Christ, today in my brokenness, and they can have Christ today, in their kidness. 
The treasure can never be the good picture or the fruit of what we product, but it is always the One who chooses to produce fruit in us. 

And so today after I chased them and cleaned up after them and lost my cool and yelled across the park and washed their uniforms and asked them to be quiet and chased my own messed up treasure, I was putting them to bed. Maybe you know what happened, if you're a mom. I had that wild moment, just before I was walking out of their room, and I saw them for who they really are.

My six year old was looking straight into my eyes, reaching through the rails on his bunk bed, and he said, "maybe we should pray together?". Grace swept over me and all my false-treasure-hunting and I weaved my arms back through his bed rails to grab his face. And the wild freedom was there. This. This. This. Is motherhood. Seeing the fullness of who Christ made them to be, even just for a split second and knowing I will absolutely never be able to steward it right and yet there is grace. 

To me wild motherhood is right where I'm at. 
Going to bed tonight knowing that tomorrow I MUST cluck them around the house in the morning getting them dressed and I must make dinner and I must change diapers, but that none of that is the treasure of motherhood. The treasure, for me, is the split second glimpses where I see them as amazing and hope-filled image bearers of Christ that are absolutely going to be used by Him for His glory. 
And I get to watch. 
And tuck them in at night. 

it's ALMOST...

And your mama/sister/self/best-friend/grandmother called. 
She wants a naptime diaries print. 
Ok, ok. Maybe not. 
But maybe she'd be blessed by one. 


Just in case, I've made a few new ones that I thought she might like. 
Mom/sister/best friends of mine - don't peek: 
this might be what I'm giving you. 

exodus fourteen fourteen

proverbs 31:28

come thou fount

And here's my promise to you. 
If you order any of these prints TODAY - I will get them to you by the day before Mother's Day! I can't promise you that for custom prints or orders - but any of the normal old prints in the shop - 
we'll get it done! 


And to sweeten the deal, what if we do this? 

Enjoy, friends! 
Have a blessed Friday! 

the notebook

Like most people, when I first started blogging, “document our life” was very high on my list of purposes. And still, one of my favorite things is to look back a year ago or two years ago and see what we were doing, what the kids were up to.  And sometimes now that my purposes have changes I feel bad. My kids, this family, is my actual whole world. And yet it’s a pretty small fraction of this ol’ blog.

And I have good reasons ya’ll, so I probably won’t start blogging about them every day. My main reason is this: the last thing I want this corner of the internet to be is a trophy case where I show off my accomplishments. And at some point as a mama, you start loving your kids so hard that you can’t talk about them without shaking your head and saying, “man, he/she is so cute”.

But I still want to study them and know them. And document them.  So last week I went and bought three little fake moleskins. One for a Naptime Diaries to-do list since it was taking over my real life to-do list. The second was for a life to-do list. Somewhere to write “take off busted nail polish” and “PUT UP LAUNDRY, no for real – PUT IT UP”. The third I labeled “thoughts” and decided I’d just record my thoughts on the kids and our family. My prayers for them, my observations, desires, and silly memories that I don’t want to forget.

So here are some things that have gone in there since Thursday night

-  I love literally the way every word comes out of Benja’s mouth at this age. I want to laugh at all his phrases and words. Sometimes when other people are around, I’ll start laughing and making him repeat the most mundane things. Because they’re so cute.

- Even though it was months ago, I want to etch the memory of Glory waking up from her seizures in my brain.  This week, for whatever reason, I’ve been overwhelmed with the picture. When they told us she wouldn’t wake up for days and we had no clue what she’d be like when she woke up. And I was sitting beside her, stroking her hair and reading Isaiah 61 to her. And Kristin was sitting with us and she confirmed that I wasn’t crazy, Glory was responding. And she popped her eyes open and said “mama”. That memory brings me to my knees in praise.

-       Elias is really the only one in the family who appreciates my modern, interpretive dance in our family dance hour. Whether it’s Katie Perry or Florence or Coldplay,

 he likes my creepy moves.

- One thing I want to work on and get great at is having great beds for the kids. When they look back on their childhood, I want them to remember climbing into a clean, warm, comfy bed - positively exhausted by all our living and loving.

-  Lately I’m overwhelmed by how precious my children are to the Lord, and thus to me. Layla really spurred me in this when I heard her talk about her kids. Now, even if I have to look for the precious under the tantrums and bruised shins, I search for it.

-  Yesterday I was heading out the door to go to a little girl’s breakfast reunion an hour and a half away and at the last minute Glory asked me with her big beautiful eyes if she could go with me. It would turn my blissfully quiet three hours in the car into a mommy-daughter whirlwind, but the face she made when I said, “ok! Get dressed real quick!” was priceless. She actually hyperventilated a little.

-  The kids have GREATLY improved at cleaning up lately. Thank you Lord.

That’s all I've got for now.

I love them. They’re awfully amazing. Thank you, Lord. 

meet the tiny twig.

I like everything about The Tiny Twig. 
I like emailings with her and reading about her life, and praying for her too. 
If I'd know she was going to write about running, and this beautifully, I would've begged her to write a guest post months ago. Forgive me. 


Enjoy ya'll, Jess



Running.  It is the last thing in the world I thought would make me feel like a woman, like a woman alive.  However, that is exactly where I find myself.
I had my third son a couple months ago.  You see, I am the lone lady in a house full of the boyest of boys.  I don't even have a girl fish.  Along with that boy tribe comes noise, dirt, sword fights, wrestling, and all sort of bad guy/good guy play.  No hair-braiding and Anne of Green Gables reading in this house.
During his 20 week ultrasound, the technician flippantly announced, "It's a boy!" within a minute of beginning the sonogram.  She quickly followed this by, "Is he your first?".  I was so stunned by her haste that I just sputtered out, "No...he's our third...boy."  Then, I sat in silence for the rest of the exam.  My poor husband asked me every 30 seconds if I was excited by this awesome set of events.  Three boys!  Could you believe our luck?
We walked out to the car and I told him that I was stunned, that I would be very excited once it sunk in, and that he needed to paint my office pink that weekend.  For some reason, a pink office where I could hide my breakables until we were empty nesters seemed like the best laid plan.  My husband, he's a sweet man...my office was a beautiful shade of blush within days.
However, that office rarely gets used.  See, I can't hole myself up in a pink coccoon until my boys turn 18.  I need to be there to witness the races, and judge the jumps, and break up the fights.  These sweet young men count on me to show them the gentler side of life.  I have such a short window to influence their lives.  I have realized that I must join their adventures if I wish to have any sort of impact.
So, for the remainder of my pregnancy I looked forward to starting the Couch to 5K program.  All of the sudden, I realized...I needed to be strong in mind and body for these boys.  I need vitality.  I need strength.  I want to be able to keep up with them well into my golden years, and that dream takes planning now.  So, away I went.
And now...this workout is the most feminine part of my day.  I am alone in the world, alone with my thoughts and my God.  I am away from the noise, and the wrestling, and the needy little men that love me and need me.  I am nourishing myself.  I am making sure I am strong and able, so that I can be strong and able to give.
This is a new adventure, one that will morph and change over time.  If I've learned one thing about going out on a limb, it is that it never looks as you've imagined.  However, it is so worth it.  It is worth finding new joys, and learning new things about yourself and the world.


.........
thanks lady. I'm going to go run (femininistically) and think of you. 

my favorite gifts.

Kiddos. I don't even know what to say.
(well, obviously I do because this is quite a long post)

I told your dad the other night, there is literally no mother's day gift in this whole world that would be greater than being a mother to the three of you. It's been a crazy few years, ya'll. We went from 0 to 60,000 in the area of family in just five short years. Five years ago this month, I saw two pink lines and now - look at us! The five of us. God has been so good to us and I hope your Daddy and I overcommunicate that to you every day from now until eternity. If we never have another penny extra, a second car, a home of our own, super nice clothes, vacations, abundant sleep, or a calm, uneventful year - we are some of the most blessed people ever. Because the Lord has entrusted us with you guys for however long He sees fit.


Elias Connolly, I loved you so much my heart ached when you were born and it's only grown. I can't believe what an absolute prince you are. I can't believe that you still like to cuddle with me and that you want to be so much like Jesus. It blows my mind that you acknowledge that Glory is your disciple and you want to lead her well. I love how tall you are, your big-going-to-be-six-feet-tall-man-knees, how you run circles around our house, and how you say, "Mom, I like you" about five times a day. I sure like you too, son. An afternoon cuddle, a few minutes spent reading with you, a casual holding of your hand in the car, your FIVE goodnight kisses. All of these gifts are just too much for me. Thank you for being you. Thank you Lord for Elias Powell.

Gloriana Eloise. Glor. Oh Glor. It's been a year so far, sweet girl! You're always on my mind, always in my prayers. Your value to me is beyond measure and you know what, the Lord values you more than I could even fathom. You are worth so much in this Kingdom. You are so incredibly special. I haven't met one person who doesn't express how special you are. The actual spark in your eye, your intense other-worldly energy, your loving care for others, your spice:). You're something special. To us and to Jesus. Thank you for loving us so well and for being who you are. Father, thank you so much for Gloriana Eloise.

Benja, Benja, Benja. Baby ninja of love.
Are you seriously almost two? That's not even funny. If only I could videotape you twenty four seven and share the delight that is  you with the rest of the world. You are so hilarious, so funny, SO hilariously grumpy, so awesome. I cannot believe you are almost two and I cannot believe I made it through this life for twenty four years without you. You really do make your sister and brother so incredibly happy and I love that they both KNOW what a blessing you are. Being pregnant for three years was a little out of control. It's taken your mama some time to come back from that doozy. But to be on the other side, and have a two year old YOU. Oh man, that is worth any amount of contractions, postpartum depression, or stretch marks in this whole world. It's crazy to me to think how the Lord is going to use you. I mean, eventually we're (I'm) going to have to stop treating you like such a baby, but when I do - Jesus is going to use your mightily for this world. You are one precious treasure, son. 

I really love my kids. 
This blog isn't really focused on them and I sure don't write about them a ton, mostly because I think I love them too much to write about them. It would always be this and I'd always be ugly crying in my bed the morning before mother's day. 


It's taken me a few days to write this and today, our pastor preached a really humbling and charging sermon on psalm 127. All parts of it were so encouraging and life giving. We don't build these houses, the Lord does. We must labor, but He is sovereign over all of it. Even rest and comfort, we can't work enough for those - which is something I'm often guilty of. Setting daily goals for myself with the promise that afterward, I'll know I deserve some sort of peaceful night sleep. Which a) isn't true and b) rarely comes:). But the part that has struck me over and over again was his emphasis on this part, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate". 


Of course being a youngish, or former youngish, mom who had babies close together, early in my marriage - this was a verse I often claimed and rubbed all over my heart. Praying the Lord would open my eyes and help me to see my children as a tool that would help us in the battle of life, rather than putting us so far behind. Because, sister, if you'd known me a few years ago, shoot - maybe you know me now and think it, it's hard to not see us as behind. Our whole life is backwards from what the culture and often the Christian culture, even, tells us needs to be like. We get little sleep, we have little money, datenights are rare, rest is almost nonexistent, and we're not always a pretty, buttoned-up sight to behold. 


But oh goodness, this Mother's Day I'm seeing it. These treasures; Elias, Gloriana, and Benjamin - are not just blessings, they are an asset and an advantage in the Kingdom of God. Not just for Him, but for me. They have sped my sanctification into hyperdrive, their existence has driven me to the throne of God for grace after grace after grace. They've helped the light of the world to fall strangely dim while I pray with them, shepherd them, and giggle with them. And the five of us, banded together, running hard after Him can gain some serious ground for the Father, by the blood of Jesus, as His spirit works in us. They're not just sweet gifts, they're truly assets and advantages. You might even say because of them, we're winning. 


I don't know why you made me a mom, Lord. I'm the most unfit, unworthy, undeserving woman I've ever met. And you went and lavished the grace and goodness and gave me the three most beautiful creations you've ever made. 
My heart is bursting with humility and gratefulness. 
Thank you Lord. I'm going to try and do my best. 
In Christ Alone. 

letter for those longing to be mothers

Hey guys.

I asked my sweet friend Kara to write a guest post about/for women longing to be mothers. With Mother's Day looming, my heart hurts thinking of all my friends, who are praying for children, or those who have lost babies, or have anything in their testimony that makes this day really painful.

I know the Lord will not waste your pain because 

He has not ever wasted an ounce of any of His children's pain -

but He will use it for His glory, in His time, in His way. However, I know that doesn't always ease it and I didn't want you to think that the rest of us go blindly through this Sunday, not aching and praying for you. My heart is for you.

here's Kara. She's beautiful and wise. 

............................

Over the last four years, my husband Matt and I have dealt with the diagnosis of unexplained infertility and all the heartache that comes with it. The journey to parenthood has been a roller coaster of hope and despair, faith and doubt. Although we are in the process of adopting a baby domestically, I still have my days of questioning, of “what if’s”, of unprompted bitterness and anger at the circumstances I am in.
And because I long to be a mother, Mother’s Day can be incredibly difficult emotionally – I am surrounded by the reminder that I am not a mommy through advertisements, the flowers, the packed restaurants at lunch, even at our church. Every year as my pastor asks all the mothers to stand and be celebrated, and the applause thunders around me, my heart feels like it’s going to burst from my chest.
I know I am not alone. For every mother, there is another woman longing to be one. There are many like me who sit as the pastor asks for mothers to stand, hot tears pouring down their faces. Maybe they are struggling biologically. Maybe they are waiting for the call from an adoption agency. Maybe they lost a child through miscarriage or some other tragic way.

My heart desperately breaks for those women, and for myself. My heart also honors the sacrifice and work that those mothers have poured out in exchange for a life. Should mothers be celebrated every year in a public way? Absolutely. But that celebration for the childless can be a painful reminder of exclusion and heartache.

I wish that my dream of motherhood had been fulfilled to date, but until then, days like Mother’s Day will have to be endured. God’s desire for me, and for every woman who has this dream, is that we would endure them with faith and hope, with His strength that He provides so willingly to us.

If you long to be a mother and for some unforeseen circumstances are not, my encouragement to you, and to myself, is to focus on this: God loves you so very much. 
I think we forget that our God loves us with a love that cannot be described. It is larger than any of us can fathom. It is more encompassing than our dreams, than our hopes. It is greater than us or anything we could imagine for ourselves. And at the center of that big love is the truth that we have to cling to - God is goodness. His intentions for us are good, pure and true. He does not intend heartache or suffering - He mourns with us and for us.

I do not have any answers as to why some are blessed with the gift of motherhood, and others of us are still waiting in the wings. I believe that our Heavenly Father intends His very best for us, and that His will and timing cannot always be explained. But we are not called to understand His will or timing; we are called to become more like Him. We are called to be salt and light, to be a manifestation of His love in this world and the next, and to be transformed into His image.

 I say this again, God loves you. Cling to your faith, cling to His faithful love, cling to hope which does not disappoint.  I’m believing His goodness for myself and for you.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  - 2 Corinthians  4:16-18

 “But blessed is the woman who trusts in the LORD whose confidence is in him. She will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." - Jeremiah 17:7-8

 ...............................................

Thank you, Kara. I have loved watching your wisdom, honest, grace, and trust (even if only through the internet) over the last few years. Thanks for letting the Lord get glory from your story, even the harder parts. Ya'll check out her blog here. 

Love ya'll. 

MOTHERLOAD GIVEAWAY.

Here it is, friends. 

The day I've been waiting for, for quite some time. 

Let the massive Mother's Day motherload giveaway begin! 

Here are the details: 

- You don't have to be a mom to enter. I know a lot of you are praying to be mothers, a lot of you aren't mothers yet, and you all have a mama. If you win something, I only hope it blesses you whatever season of life you're in.
- I will pick a winner for each item. Some items differ in prices, but if you win, you win, hooray! And if you don't win, I'm sorry. I will commiserate with you because I want to win all these items too. For some reason, I'm disqualified. 
- Giveaway starts at 6am on Monday 5/2 and runs until 5pm on Thursday 5/5. Winner announced on Friday 5/6. (ahhhh I'm so excited!)

How to enter: (here's how you get entries)

#1: be a follower of this blog & comment telling us about a mother or 

mother-figure who's been an encouragement in your life

#2: Communicate about the giveaway in some way: 

Tweet it, facebook it, blog about it. 

{comment and say you did}

#3, #4, #5, and so on: You can get an entry for each vendor/shop/blog who has contributed to the giveaway. I'll tell you how to do that for each of them. Example: if you like a vendor's blog, follow them on twitter, and favorite their etsy shop - that's three entries! 

{Comment for each one!} 

Ok. Hold on to your hats. 

Let's get this party started! 

I can't host a giveaway and not giveaway myself:). I'm throwing three prints into the pot. You choose which ones you'd want from my etsy shop if you win. And you're always welcome to favorite the shop for more entries. 

One Diamond Ball Drop Necklace

One Leather & Diamond Chain Tie Bracelet

both from MaddyNBella Jewelry Collections (favorite her shop or like on facebook) Courtney from MaddyNBella is the sweetest internet friend and I'm a huge fan of her stuff!

(I'm not kidding, here)

an 18x24 oil on canvas landscape & figure painting by Kelly Bollman Art

you can commission it from a photograph or submit an idea

$300 value, Kelly's site here - like her on facebook here. 
Kelly is an OUT OF THIS WORLD artist, and sweet friend in the Lord. I love her. 

The cutest octopi zippered bag you've ever seen from Handmade Recess. 
Ellen from HR is a breath of fresh air in my life & being in her sewing room helped grow a piece of my creative heart back. 

I want to steal this, but I won't. Come on, octopi?! 

Favorite her shop and follow her blog for entries!

No joke, I'm still adding items! Mindy from Marigold Road is giving away this BEAUTIFUL hoop art. I want this very, very badly. How amazing is that?! Follow her blog or favorite her on etsy for more entries! 

A pair of flower stud earrings (your color choice) and a silver owl necklace,
both from Thirty One West Etsy shop. Favorite their shop on etsy or like them on facebook for entries!

Dare I say the CUTEST HEADBAND ever?! You can grab this ivory sailor knot at the
Tea Accessories Etsy Shop!  Favorite them on Etsy or like them on facebook! 

NOW. My sweet friend Stacy. She doesn't want to promote anything, doesn't have a shop right now, she's just a great mom with great style who wanted to bless my readers too. She's also beautiful and our pastor's wife if you want to know the whooooole story. She's giving away one of these sweet chalkboard pots in white and two of these precious ceramic honeycomb frames. Follow her blog and pray that the Lord would bless her family like nuts, because I love them and they're a blessing to us. :)

How about some handcrafted notecards? yes! Yes, please! The wonderful Jami from Call Me Blessed is giving away a set of handcrafted cards, that are tooo tooo tooo sweet. You know the drill by now, like her shop or follow her blog for more entries! 
(ps: she's the sweetest)

Vegan, earth-friendly, all-natural, organic, fair-trade laundry soap?! I say, why not? Redemption Soap is giving away a 16oz. earth-friendly container of their sweet laundry soap that is safe and clean and amazing. Like them on facebook for an entry!

How about a beautiful necklace from Mommy Needs Coffee? My sweet friend, Michelle, has just begun making these cute yoyo necklaces and you can get 
extra entries by following her blog! 

Anyone want a $25 painting shopcredit to ten thirty one shop on Etsy?! yes! yes! Yes! you do! Trust me! Favorite their shop on Etsy and like them on facebook for entries! 

My friend from Seattle, Kerri, has a great Etsy shop where she makes pillowcase dresses, not only from her own great pillowcases - but she'll make them from your heirloomed ones as well! She's giving away one pillowcase dress of your choice (or a case of yours) and you can get an extra entry by making her etsy shop one of your favorites. 

Oh man, this next one is a doozy. Get ready. When I first saw this incredibly beautiful agendas, I kind of wanted to weep. I'm an agenda JUNKY. Nick limits me or I'd want to buy one every single week. But this one, from Trading Ashes, is BEAUTIFUL. These are printed on kraft paper & recycled grocery bags, non-year specific so you can use them any time, and EXQUISITE. There are beautiful hand-drawn graphics of seasonal fruits and veggies for each month. I'm saving my pennies right now for my own, so if you win this - we'll DEFINITELY be twinsies.
Favorite sweet Bess' Etsy shop and follow her blog, Trading Ashes for entries.

Another beautiful painting?! Why not?! I love you guys! This beautiful "Blessed" painting from LaLaLu Designs is inspired by Proverbs 31 and you can get extra entries for the entire giveaway by making her etsy shop one of your faves or following Tiffany's blog!

Why not another headband?! Sweet Tara from Beautiful Blendings is giving away a $15 shop credit to her sweet Etsy shop. Also, check out her blog for extra entries as well! 

So to review - winners will win one item, drawn at random. 

You can tell me which ones are your favorite, but you don't have to:) 

For each blog/shop/site you follow/like/promote somehow, you get another entry!

Please comment for each entry.  

All you HAVE to do is follow this blog & tell me a 

mother/mother-figure who's been an encouragement to you.

 Tell your friends, tell your mama, tell your mama friends. 

I want to bless you ladies so enter once, enter often, 

and grab yourself one of these 16ish items. 

(Also - be sure you check back on Friday because besides telling you what great things people won, I'm going to tell you more details about these ladies & their shops. In the meantime,  they're also sponsors on my blog for the whole month - so check them out!) 

goodbye box mom.

Things are getting a little sister-wifey around here. 
Sometimes you just NEED two moms. 
We needed two this week, and I would like to introduce you to the Connolly-family-second-mother. I affectionately named her, "box-mom". 

First, our water heater busted. Well, really it busted twice. In one week. Both times on days that we were hosting a meeting in our home. That was calamitous enough in itself. It happened in the midst of one of the most silly-things-all-going-wrong-day and I was frazzled beyond belief. Then we lost toilet usage for 24 hours. Then I went away for three hours to get my hair cut and hired a babysitter, which is a brand new phenomenon for me. Then I got some kind of crazy death flu. Then I had to clean the WHOLE house after recovering from the death flu. Yeesh, it was a week. 


In the midst of it all, we discovered that with a new hot water heater came a new HOT WATER HEATER BOX. And as soon as that baby made her appearance, Nick called it. It was going to do us some good this week. When I came home from getting my hair done and asked for a report from the babysitter, she assured me the kid's behavior was AMAZING, because they hadn't gotten a foot away from box-mom for three hours. 


When I was resigned to the couch with fifteen minute intervals of sprinting to the bathroom, box-mom came to the rescue. I put her in the middle of the room, gave the kids washable markers, held one eye open and called out a creative idea every eight minutes or so of what they could do with box-mom. 


Pretend she's a spaceship. Pretend she's a house. Pretend she's your mom and beg her for more juice cause Lord knows I can't get off this couch right now. Ask her where babies come from. Ask her to change your diaper. Ask her if she knows how to potty train you or how to increase your bladder strength. Pretend she's a planet. Color her aimlessly for fifteen minutes. You get the drift. 


Box-mom, she saved me. 


But now, I'm feeling better and the sheets are all washed and de-germed. I've kept solid food down for 24 hours and I'm ready to retire her. And in almost-but-not-full-disclosure, I'll tell ya'll: one of our kids is going through a hard season right now. I won't tell the whole story, because even though they're little, there is no point in shaming them. It's just normal preschool age behavior issues, but in the moment - it seems larger than life. It's discouraging and disheartening, it makes me sweat and it's often made me cry. It's not that I want my children to be the most well-behaved, I don't. I don't think that's gospel centered. I just want to be able to apply the gospel to this situation, for this child, and it's very hard. 


Another reason I won't tell you the whole story, is because you'd be tempted to give advice and I'd be tempted to ask for it and the biggest thing I've learned in this situation is that a) this is a normal problem, that a lot of children experience and b) the way every kid/parent responds to a normal situation is different. So all that being said, I'm seeking help from people who know me and my sweet kiddo and mostly, I'm seeking the Lord and praying about each day and each situation - asking Him for wisdom and grace to handle each little flare up of behavior. 


But what box-mom did, is she made me miss my kids. While I'm so thankful for her help - while I was mopping up overflowing toilet water, and a few days later, hugging that same toilet for dear life (thank you husband for deep cleaning it in between) - I wanted to be on the floor with those children. Playing airplane and praying with them, reading books and getting crawled on. It was almost like a weirdo-vomit-induced vacation, that left me refreshed and longing to be a mom again. To kick box-mom to the curb, quite literally. 


And with that, I'll leave you with a few quotes from my FAVORITE PARENTING BOOK ever, Gospel Powered Parenting by William Farley - a quick read this morning coupled with the refreshing help of box-mom, left me more ready than ever to be a mom today. Hope it's a blessing to you, too. 


"Parents who joyfully pursue God are contagious. Joyful sacrifice for the gospel is contagious. A gospel that makes parents stable, joyful, loving, affectionate, and humble is contagious. Children will want a God that produces these qualities."


"Kids also internalize their parents' passions. They alone see what you REALLY love, and not what you merely pretend to love." (ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch)


"So our attempts to live the gospel expose our failings, which in turn amplifies our humility, which in turn makes us attractive to our children. The gospel is the good news that our children do not need perfect examples. The need humble examples. Humility impacts parents in several ways. First, it makes us quick to admit wrongdoing... When they sin against their children, humble parents quickly confess it. They confess their parental faults to God first, but they are not afraid to do so in front of their children also."


ok, ok. I'll stop. I want to quote the whole book. 
I smell a giveaway coming.