Dig a Well And Let Them Drink

Ada and I had a date night to go see a Christian concert. It was a lot of fun to be together, worship together and hear some good music. She has a love for music and really enjoys listening and singing along. I think what I loved most and didn’t expect was how overwhelming it is to watch your children worship. What a gift. To see that they experience and enjoy Jesus. It is pretty great! The big kids are quickly approaching the tween age and beginning to feel their own feelings and worship and learn their own way...it’s beautiful. And as terrified as I am at raising them and doing ok at it, experiences like that, seeing their faith and sharing it together, make me remember these are the days. This journey of parenthood only comes once and it’s a beautiful one. And in our meekness, God can build great faith in our children...even the tiniest and youngest of them! 

There was so much good and fun had, but there  was a big standout moment for me, too. One of the musicians were explaining about how his father had just recently passed away and how great he was to him and he used the phrase "I was able to drink from a well I didn’t have to dig"....WOAH!

 Yes. That’s it. That’s what I want for my kids. I want to give them a well. A never ending well to drink from. I don’t want to just throw the tools at them and hope they figure it out, I want to dig with them. Life is hard and ugly and all that, but it’s also beautiful and good and wonderful. I want to dig a well for them. And I’m so blessed to have someone digging right along side me. There’s so much that can happen in life but I have spent and will continue to spend my days, trying to raise good people, who shine light in the dark and who know without a shadow of a doubt, their mom and dad love them and don’t take a single day for granted. I want them to know we pray for them. Every day. Everyday I pray for them. I pray they will alway know where the well is and how to get to it. I’m trying to dig that for them. A well that will never run dry. They are it. I’m so blessed to be able to dig that well for them, however shallow it may be. I pray God will appreciate and honor the effort and will help it supply each and every one of them. 

Are you digging your well? Don’t make them dig their own. Let them drink from yours. We were gifted the most amazing gifts and it’s our job to dig. It’s our purpose. By digging it, our children and their children can be nourished and they can do good. And be good. And love well. And that. That is what I hope they drink from me! I, myself, have so little to dig with, but thank goodness, we serve and love a BIG BIG God. And He takes the time to fill the wells we dig, and what an amazing thing. Thank you, Lord for helping me dig, blessing me with a digging partner, and filling that well to overflowing now and in the years to come. Happy digging, my friends. No matter if it’s yours or you’re helping someone else, dig. And never stop! ❤️

Find Your Stride

The other day, as Chris and I walked by our wedding pictures, we stood and just reflected on the last several weeks, months, and years. Where did it go? 13 years of marriage, 18 years of life. It flew by. There’s been ups and there’s been downs. We remember them both. Right now, we are up. We have found our stride and we are soaking it up. I remember days, back when we had two little babies and lots of questions about what and how to do the future, when our stride seemed lost in there somewhere. I remember them so well, but life kept going. We kept going, and then it happened...we found our stride. 

Finding your stride takes time. Lots of time. And you will find it and then lose it and then find it again. It’s important to stick it out. To believe that you’ll get there. Even on the days when you have absolutely no idea what your doing or how you’ll do it. 

As my years of motherhood and life experiences go up (can NOT believe I’m almost a decade in but really just getting started good!), when I see tired young mommies, I just want to scoop them up and say "hold on! You’ll get there! You will find your stride"...it’s hard. Life. Life is full of changes, unknowns, confusion, and chaos...but in all of that are the diamonds. The good stuff. The "it" stuff. 

 Chris and I, our life isn’t perfect, it’s sooooo far from it. Some days we fail miserably at the Whole. Thing. But over the years, we’ve just learned we have to try not to live in or get stuck in those moments. Over the years we’ve began to find our stride. We shifted our focus to just living simply and in the now. We both realize just how fast it’s blowing by and we don’t want to miss it. We choose not focus only the yuck stuff. It’s there. It always will be. But it’s important not to let it swallow you up, because given enough of a foothold, it will. 

It’s also important that when you do find your stride, take some time and enjoy it there. Live in it. Breathe in the good stuff. The ordinary. Because one day it’s all just gonna be memories that make up your life. And that. That is what we stood in front of those wedding pictures and did together. Took a deep breath and breathed in all the love, all the diamonds, all the ordinary, all the chaos, the ups, the downs and soaked up the extraordinary moments that have made up this lightening fast decade. 

And remember everyone’s stride is different. Everyone finds joy and diamonds in different places, so take the time to trust and follow that still small voice inside that’s leading you. God wants the very best for you. He doesn’t promise a struggle free life, an easy life, but a good one, indeed! 

Over the last year, we have slowly ended a chapter of pregnancy, squishy babies, and all nighters to embrace what’s next. We continue to try and nourish our physical, mental and physical self so that we can be the parents they need throughout each season of their life. As well as attempting to teach them the importance of that as well. ❤️ We have such a big big job ahead of us and we are excited for the opportunity to live it. We have found an unexplainable joy in not just running through life together. The possibilities seems endless, the joy abundant, and in that, we have found our stride. We love our simple, quiet life. These truly are our moments. Our diamonds. Our good stuff. 

I don’t say all that to brag or anything like that. I say it to encourage you. Don’t stop, get stuck, or give up in the hard stuff, on the hard climbs, or because your stride doesn’t look like someone else’s. The yuck stuff comes uninvited and unexpected whether we like it or not, but keep going. Keep going forward even if it’s a crawl. Just don’t stop. Because just over the climb, you’ll find your stride. It will surprise you sometimes. It will leave without warning sometimes, but it’s always there, just keep pushing. Keep going. Keep running. And when you hit your stride, enjoy every minute. Smile big. And soak up those moments. Because it is those that carry you through the next season, the next yucky thing, and help you keep going until, once again, you find your stride.