Learning and Growing: One. Day. At. A. Time.

Well it's been another month since my last post and here I am. Finally sitting down to do some reflection on the blog.

I miss this space.



I'm also overwhelmed by it.

I've always longed to make my blog something more. This sounds so dorky to admit, but I want to be a "real blogger" (aka: post "pinterest-worthy" tutorials, offer free printables, design prints that I sell in a successful Etsy shop, inspire my loyal following on a daily basis...you get the picture).

The thing is that I can barely manage my life as it is.

Working as a teacher (sure I get lots of breaks, but I make up for it during the school year by working many extra hours) and being a wife/mom (+ daugher/sister/friend/etc) is hard to balance.

I have these creative ideas, but rarely do I have (or make) the time to bring them to life.

Plus I've been grieving pretty hardcore this fall. Many ugly-cry sessions have gone down (mostly on Josh's t-shirts). In the midst of the pain, there has been a lot of joy as well...but in general it's been a hard season!

And then...I started reading this book that completely wrecked me.

Let's be honest...it's still wrecking me.

It's called Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker (click here to check out her website) and it's the kind of book that turns everything you thought you knew on its head and forces you to completely reexamine your life. I'm still processing all of it, but I am hopeful that after reading this book I will not remain the same.

I wish I could try to summarize how this book has changed my heart, but I'm just not quite ready. It's all still settling in my soul. Once I can put it together in an articulate way, my goal is to post more here.

I will say that through the process of reading this book, and studying it with a group of women from my church, I have realized how incredibly rich I am (duh!). And with that realization, I am pretty certain that Jesus wants me to live a life that is the opposite of the American Dream.

So I'm kind of stuck in a weird place where I'm certain that I want to welcome this change. I want my life and how I live it to mean more than just bettering myself and my circumstances. I can't sit back and ignore the needs of the people in my community any longer. But I still don't know exactly what this looks like. So I'm wrestling with a few different ideas and I am excited to see where God leads me. More on this later...

...in the meantime my goal is to get around to posting some photo updates from this fall. We have made fun memories, laughed, and enjoyed God's grace in addition to all the grieving. I figure now is as good a time as any to catch you all up on some TONS of the good that's been happening around here.