Snow Day!
/Oh, Oklahoma. One day you give us sunshine and the next, SNOW!!! But, this snow loving girl will take it!!! We had a fun few days of snow and being cozy and making fires!
New mercies every day.
/This is us.
We dont always get it right, in marriage, in parenting, in leading our family well, in cherishing every moment. There’s a lot of mistakes and a lot of asking forgiveness and seeking grace around our house. This season of still having “littles” feels really hard a lot of times. The days seem like they go so dang slow, but then we look up and it’s trash day again (it’s funny I know, but I always have the sinking feeling that yet another week of life has gone by, when it comes time to wheel our trash bins out. I hate trash days.)
I’m not saying we don’t do anything right or that we don’t have some days are just magical to be a parent - we have those too. But something we really DO do well, on the regular? Starting each day anew. Starting fresh. Letting go of the day before, and basking in the new mercies for EACH of us, and asking Him to shower it on us...teaching (and more importantly: showing) our children that the grace of Jesus is available every single day, and at every single moment.
Not sure who needs to hear this...but there are brand new mercies, y’all. Every. Dang. Day.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness!” Lamentations 3:22-23
My July 10th Story
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OUR THIRD MISCARRIAGE (7 years ago today)
Above is the link to my original sharing of this part of my story. If you want to read it, feel free. If you need to reach out because you are going through heartache with miscarriage, feel free. Id love to connect, and I truly mean that.
(Instagram post from today, July 10 2020)
I woke up forgetting in my brain what today was. But I think my body and heart have been telling me the last few days.
Today is July 10. It’s a day that is a huge part of my story, and a major part of the undealt-with trauma that I am currently seeking help for. (And so so glad I am).
7 years ago (which btw 7 means something to me so I am believing that THIS is the year I finally press in and do the hard work of actually grieving more fully and exploring all that goes with that)...
but 7 years ago today, I went into “labor” with a sweet little one who was just about 11 belly-weeks old. We had seen it’s tiny body and heard it’s precious heartbeat. And were so happy to be pregnant again, just a few months after the loss of my dad and a second miscarriage. (Yeah, 2013 was terrible).
But God had different plans. And while I’m okay with that now because I know I will never understand all His ways, but that He still loves me...I’m realizing now how much trauma my body and mind have clung onto from those losses - especially that very painful and traumatic one.
Trauma can be stored in our body. Did you know that? So it finally hit me this morning that the random physical cramping and the heightened anxiety the last few days have been my body remembering. I truly believe our cells remember. And that can affect so much if left undone.
So this is the year I will pursue healing for my July 10 day. This is the time I will use all that I have - prayer, counseling, oils - to help me process and become free from the heartache. Will it ever go fully away? No I don’t think so. But can I live more healed? 1000% yes.
I share this to say...if you have been through miscarriage or loss, know that you aren’t alone. Know that this IS a process. Know that there is no “right” way or amount of time to grieve. But also know that there is healing from Jesus for your hurting heart. I don’t understand a lot going on in the world right now, but I do understand that. 💕
The Snuggle Inn at Broken Bow
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These last few months have proven to be crazy and chaotic for most people I know. Being home with kids for quarantine, distance learning, running a business differently, having to make hard decisions (and work harder than ever) as a local employer during a pandemic…it’s nothing short of stressful lately! So a break has been much desired. A getaway for just the two of us was becoming more of a need, not just a want!
We had planned to go somewhere else, had booked it all and lined up sitters, etc. But then decided not to be around people or in a town that was spiking from the pandemic. So we scrambled to change plans, and were facing the fact that nothing was available after so much searching. But…very last minute, my husband texted and said “I found the perfect cabin. It’s like God has it waiting for you all along! You’re gonna love it!” He wouldn’t let me see pictures so when we pulled up, i was surprised and immediately in love with this sweet cabin in Broken Bow, Oklahoma - just a few hours from where we live!!!! And it was called “The Snuggle Inn”…literally perfect for me.
It had the sweetest farmhouse chic decor, it had cozy blankets everywhere, a kitchen ready for cooking, the most gorgeous bedroom and bathroom, (and the bed was SO comfortable!), a jacuzzi on the beautiful back porch…it was simple but had it all!
It was the perfect place for us to do exactly what we needed: nothing. We rested and slept and read books and watched a movie and played old-school Pacman and Galactica (they had the coolest little arcade table - Parker literally lit up bc it took him back to childhood!) and cooked some Green Chef meals together, and caught up. (Funny how married people need to catch up sometimes, but in this crazy season - it happens!). We got to talk and dream and pray together, undistracted and uninterrupted. Was JUST what our souls and minds and bodies needed!!
I highly recommend this place in Broken Bow, Oklahoma!!! The Snuggle Inn was definitely snuggle-worthy, and we will for sure be back to visit it! So if you need time away alone, with your spouse, or even a special one on one kid trip…this is the perfect spot!!!
Here is the link to rent it!!!
Go book it asap, enjoy your time, and SNUGGLE IN!!
(and not, I did not get paid to write this - I truly just loved it so much I had to share!)
A picture of the new normal.
/This picture sums up a lot about this crazy season...the family calendar, totally erased in March. And hasn’t been changed to April bc there’s nothing to add, and it’s just not really a priority to fill in empty spaces. (And lets be real, I stopped looking up at it a few weeks ago, and just now realized it was still on March).
And where backpacks used to hang, now hang bike helmets and ball caps, for the million times a day I make everyone go outside to get out some energy during this quarantine.
I actually kind of love the helmets hanging there. But at the same time, it represents the new normal, which has taken a LOT of adjustment on all our parts. This is such a weird season, am I right? Appreciation for change, yet also having to deal with the angst that change can bring. It’s a strange balance/non-balance for me, if that even makes sense, lol.
There are a lot of days that seem totally overwhelming, mixed in with some really sweet moments that would not have happened had it not been for all this.
At least for this day, for this HOUR (because it truly changes by the minute around here with 6 different souls in the house!)...I am going to do my best to focus on those.
Finally gonna stop wishing for backpacks and old routines, and appreciate the helmets and the blank calendars.
