Hello! It’s me! Way behind as always! Still have the majority of 2021 to sort through but we got to celebrate my wonderful sister and her soon to be arriving daughter yesterday and I just didn’t want to forget it so here you go! Let’s see if I can end every sentence with an exclamation point!

Being that her name is Eden, my oh so original thought was to have a gardeny-paradisey feeling party with loads of flowers, birds, perhaps some bunnies hopping around… would a couple of storks be too much? Buuuuut, it was the middle of winter …and I didn’t know what to do about the inevitable poop. Luckily, her middle name is Renee, meaning reborn! SO I thought WHO CARES there are no flowers in the stores right now… what is a better picture of rebirth than sticks and new life poking through! Luckily mom managed to find the most lovely flowers and I think it turned out rather pretty ifIdosaysomyself in a crazy jungley sort of way.

If that’s not the prettiest cake you ever did see. THANK YOU CINDY!!!!

Have you ever seen a more adorable pregnant lady? Also, is it too much to ask everyone that enters my house to have this sort of reaction?? ;)

Whew! We did it! And a HUGE shout out to all my aunties who have thrown so many stunning showers! You guys amaze me. And to everyone who helped and served and baked and let us borrow all the things. We have such a wonderful support system and I know you all made Taywhad feel so very loved. Thank you thank you thank you thankyouuuuu!!!!

And purely for Taylor cause she said she wanted it written down but I was really hoping not to relive this… ugh I’m serious… when mom asked me to do the devotional with her, I had such hope that good advice would just flow to me… not so. I’ve been sick in bed this last week and instead of watching shows or reading books, I just sat there. Staring straight ahead wondering what the heck to say. We have had a doozy of a couple weeks leading up to this and parenting has not… been easy. We shall say :) so, probably wasn’t the best person to offer any advice but for Taywhad and all the people in the back who couldn’t hear my squeaky laryngitis voice, here’s what I came up with ;)

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I remember reading, I think I had just had Luke… an article called walk slowly, momma… it was about how children tie the feet of their mothers. 

She talked about Jacob and how he wrestled with God and from then on, his name was changed to Israel, meaning God prevails, and he walked with a limp. 

By His glorious design, I’m convinced the hidden gift of motherhood is to get us to lean hard on Him. I want to read you a short excerpt from that article cause I love it so much. She says: 

[ Lean, Momma. Lean on Him at the hospital when confusion clamors, and it’s not going how you envisioned. Lean on Him when that baby is up all hours of the night. Lean on Him when your toddler has peed on the floor for the fifth time in one day. Lean on Him when your little one is screaming because he’s shoved a Tic-Tac up his nose. Lean on Him when you discover things like rashes or ticks or high fevers. Lean.

You might feel tied up, but you are wrapped up in the abundance of God’s Grace.

And that place of spills and kisses? It’s Holy ground.

If I could say one thing to the young momma behind me: Your feet are tied up for a reason.

Walk slowly. ]

But to be honest, parenting is hard. The hardest thing is seeing sin in your kids – when you see them lie straight to your face, or are blatantly defiant, or hurt each other repeatedly… it breaks your heart. 

But even harder is seeing sin in yourself. Sin you may not even know was there! I can’t imagine screaming at anyone before having kids! I didn’t GET mad! To see fear in your precious child’s eyes because you, the adult, were acting irrationally… it’s heartbreaking. Almost too much to handle sometimes. 

But the hope is that you’re never left there. Parenting teaches me over and over again that I am in desperate need of a Savior and that He is strong enough to save me. You get a front row seat to his redeeming grace, again and again and again. 

We were never meant to do this without Him. So lean on Him, momma, and NEVER ever underestimate the power of prayer. Ephesians 1:19 says “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for US who believe in him. This is the SAME mighty power that raised Christ from the dead” THAT is the power you have fighting for your family. The SAME power that raised Christ from the dead! Lean on Him. 

My prayer for little Eden is from the verse I put on the little seed packets. God had just given the Israelites the Ten Commandments and despite being terrified, they were eager to listen and obey. God says to them “oh that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands!” If that is not the heart of every parent. Oh if you would always be obedient and stay on the right path! I pray that from a young age, she will fear God, be obedient to Him and remember that no matter what, God will prevail! 

I sure can’t wait to meet you, sweet little Eden!!!