No Greater Joy...

There were so many blessings during the wedding weekend. But one of the sweetest and the most mom confirming moments for me was right before the ceremony. Everyone was upstairs. The music was playing. Our friends were being seated. The nerves were beginning. The time was upon us. But we stopped one last time to honor the One that had brought us to this point.


We were in a room downstairs in the church. It was just the bridesmaids, Katie, Amy and me. The girls gathered around the bride. Ansley raised up on her knees. She grabbed her sisters hand. She closed her eyes and began to pray the sweetest prayer.


She praised Jesus. She lifted her sister to the Throne. She blessed her new brother. She shared the heart of a young woman who not only knows what she believes but boldly proclaimed it over her sister. The words were a soothing balm to the very core of my soul.


It was a blessing that few moments can come close to. A glimpse into the heart of a child. An audible confirmation of who they are. A sweet aroma to the Lord.


The moment is etched in my heart and held in my mind by this picture. Not only did one sister proclaim truth and blessing out loud and in love, but one sister received the blessing well and one sister watched and listened to her older role models. A true joy for a mother's heart.

I have no greater joy than to hear 

that my children are walking in the truth.

 3 John 1:4

Launching a Daughter

A dear friend of mine shared her perspective of some of the wedding with me this morning. She said that she had watched a lot of parents work through the emotions of "giving away" their daughter. She said that most of them struggle with the concept because they are sad or haven't processed the idea. She told me that she felt like we did not struggle with the idea because we had raised Katie for that day. I took that as a huge compliment.


Not because I felt like I had done anything right or well but because I felt like our prayers for our daughters were honored in her statement. We made a decision a long time ago that we would not raise our children with closed arms but with open arms. We chose to look at each season as a launching not a losing.


So today I am thankful for the first day of my sweet girl's new life. She is back from her honeymoon and home in her own house. As weird as it feels here, I am so happy for her. Her new season has begun and with it comes a time of change for all of us.


But she is ready. So am I. My heart just hasn't caught up yet...

A man’s greatest treasure is his wife—

she is a gift from the Lord.

 Proverbs 18:22

How Great the Father's Love for us...

The emotions are still raw. The exhaustion has set in. But my heart is overflowing with thoughts and memories and blessings that I want to share over the next few weeks. There are so many things that happened. So many God stories. So many sweet interventions.


The overriding moment in it all though was that moment when the father of my children and my oldest daughter walked down that aisle toward her groom. The ceremony was not traditional in the sense of songs. There was no wedding march. No Bach or Beethoven. Just two of the most talented and gifted musicians we know. Their music and their voices singing in harmony~"How He Loves Us".


Oh, how He loves us. Oh, how He loves us. Yes, He loves us so!


The picture could not be missed on anyone that was present at that moment. The beautiful bride standing with the first man in her life walking toward the new man in her life with her heavenly Father right alongside. Trey representing the Groom. Katie representing the Church. The two becoming one. A union that will glorify the Kingdom. Two young believers who will be so much stronger knit together as one.


My prayer for you, sweet friends, is that you know this week that you have a Father who loves you so. A Father who adores you. Delights in you. Loves you no matter what. His Grace is sufficient for you. His strength can be your joy. His Spirit can teach you and bless you. Receive that love this week and simply be still and know...


Oh, how He loves you so!!!

"What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! 

Just look at it—we're called children of God!

 That's who we really are. But that's also 

why the world doesn't recognize us 

or take us seriously, because it has no idea 

who He is or what He's up to." 

1 John 3:1 the message

And it begins....

The official wedding week begins today. I have mixed emotions. If I am completely honest, I am struggling with a lot of untruths and wrong thinking. Amazing how big life events can stir up so many conflicting emotions all at once. The good. The bad. And the ugly.


I struggle with being a pleaser. I want to be a good wife. A good mother. A good friend. A good steward. A good leader and teacher. But I sometimes let my barometer of those things be other people instead of the One I am doing it all for. The bottom line is that if I serve out of His goodness then I can't go wrong.


This week will be a roller coaster of emotions. The highs will be tear jerking. The lows will topple me without prayer coverage. The ugly will only come if I allow the enemy a foot hole. So as I sit here this morning, trying not to check the 5 day forecast for the 100th time, I find myself having only one choice. I am choosing to begin this week on my knees.


I am alone in the house. It is just me and my Abba. It is quiet and peaceful. I am focusing on His goodness. His provision. His blessings. It is overwhelming. Oh, how He loves us. He calms the storms in our heads. He speaks Truth over the lies. He upholds us and finds joy in who we are. He rejoices with us. And He walks beside us.


This week has been planned for. Prayed over. Provided for. The anticipation of it has been a year long. She is ready. I am ready. And He is ready to see a bride. Pure and ready to be joined to her groom. 


Please pray for all of our hearts. To be filled to overflowing with the Peace that passes all understanding. To be flexible and sensitive. To Love well each moment. And to bury the moments deep.


So many of you have sent emails and texts. Left Facebook messages and offered prayers of blessing and support. You will never know what your kindness means to me. If I could, we would just have everybody that we have ever known join us on Saturday. But realistically, that cannot happen, so please join us in spirit and in prayer. I covet your prayers and I am blessed by such an outpouring of love.


From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

For this reason a man 

will leave his father and mother 

and be united to his wife, 

and they will become one flesh. 

Genesis 2:24.

Packing up a childhood...

We are on the final countdown. Things are getting crazy but so fun. Of course, life continues to happen in the middle of all the craziness. There are still things to do that have nothing to do with the wedding. There  are jobs to go to and carpools to drive and groceries to be bought. 


And, there is a daughter packing up. She is putting away the childhood things. She is packing up the stuff. She is deciding what goes with her into the next season of life. She is moving away. Not too far, but away. We will be a house of four now. But always a heart of five.


My mom heart is struggling. My head is still in planning mode. I want to finish strong. But the mom heart is still wavering a bit. Prayers would be appreciated over the next 2 weeks. If you think of me, pray those things: that my head can continue to plan, that those plans will be honoring and glorifying to Jesus, that we would all finish strong and that my mom heart would take it all in and hold it tight!


Life is a process of seasons. Just like we walk out our faith and our calling, we walk out our parenting. And as each season comes and goes, I want to Trust completely, Hope in what I know, and Love like crazy in the process!

When I was an infant at my mother's breast, 

I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, 

I left those infant ways for good. We don't yet see things clearly. 

We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. 

But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!

 We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, 

knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, 

until that completeness, we have three things to do

 to lead us toward that consummation: 

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. 

And the best of the three is love.

1 Corinthians 13:11-13. the message