A year ago today, I tried something new- I wrote my very first blog post!  It was entitled More answers than questions and when I read it now it sounds tentative, unsure.  I had NO idea when I wrote it that I would actually have friends that would read my words.



A year later, I realize that I still have so much to learn.  For those of you who actually subscribe to my posts, you will understand exactly what I mean by that.

I'm still trying to figure out what my purpose is in regards to blogging.  What does God desire for me?  How does He want to use my words?

I am trusting Him to reveal that to me.  Until then, I will be faithful to this challenge that He has placed on my life- to write, to encourage, to motivate, to inspire.  I am blessed by those of you who read my words and encourage me to keep writing.  Thank you!



It is my one year blogging anniversary!!!!!  I feel like I should throw a party!

Instead, I will share with you my favorite posts from this past year.  I pray that my words will encourage you as you travel the journey that God has you on- day by day.

From February- Insecurities and Isolation - still being challenged in this area to allow Jesus to deal with my hurts, to heal the broken parts of me and to be glorified in and through me!

From March- I Have a Density- My reflections on a women's conference that I attended...



From April- Self and Selflessness - I am constantly learning lessons from my kids.  This one was from Ethan!

From May- Insatiable -Multiple lessons and conversations that God used to challenge my heart.  THIS is the reason why I love blogging.  I love being able to look back and see how God has worked in me, how He is changing me, the sweet way He answers prayer.  He is so GOOD!

From June- Top Ten Promises that I Cling to! - This post was written through tears- one of the most gut wrenching moments of my life (thus far!).  Eight months later, I can clearly see how clinging to the Word of God is ALWAYS the right response.  We can't control the storms that come our way, but we should trust in the One who can!



From July- At a Loss - My thoughts as we left our home in Connecticut and prepared to move to Rochester.

From August- New Every Morning - My reflections after my husband's first sermon as the senior pastor at Orchard Community church.

From September- me or You? - One of the reasons that I know I am supposed to write is that when I read words that I have written, I am challenged!  This is one of those posts...



From October- Venti, Grande and Tall - A review of my first year of blogging would not be complete without a post on my favorite subject- my kids!!!!

From November- It's a Rocky Road! - Lesson learned the hard way!

From December- Ponderings - My personal thoughts on what it might have been like for Mary as she prepared for the birth of Jesus.

From January- Motherhood and Millions of Moments -A bit of what I have learned about being a mom.



There you have it- my year in review!  In addition to reading old posts, I was encouraged by your comments!  For those of you that have been with me from the very beginning- thank you!  Your support of me, your belief in my ability and your love has meant more than you know. 

For those that have joined me along the way- you are a blessing!  Hearing your heart and reading your words consistently challenges and encourages me.

In this entire year of blogging, I have only received one negative/critical email from someone who doesn't know me.  That is a blessing as well!  As I begin a new year of blogging, I feel better equipped to handle criticism.

Please keep me in your prayers.  Pray that my words would reflect the love that I have for Jesus.  Pray that I would find my security in Him.  Pray that He would use me for His glory!

...being a woman!

I missed posting a Top Ten yesterday.  It was one of those days that was great in many ways and crazy difficult in others.  But it was nonstop.  And although I had a top ten post brewing the entire day, I clearly missed my window of opportunity.

I am part of a women's Bible study that is currently studying Beth Moore's Esther study . The tagline is "It's Tough Being a Woman".

If I had been able to write my top ten, it would have been on this subject!  Because it's tough being a woman when you feel like you live life under a microscope.  It's tough when your nearly 3 year old finds great pleasure in locking his sister out of her bedroom.  It's tough when that sister handles her angst with screaming. 

It's tough being a woman when you miss the text from your husband that says that his evening meeting includes dinner.  And you realize that you missed it after you have set his place at the table with his food.

It's tough being a woman when you have a conversation with your daddy and you have to tell him how many kids you have and what their names are.  And you realize AGAIN that this is your new normal.

It's tough being a woman when you get to the end of the day and you realize that you have not had any significant face-to-face adult interaction for the entire day.  It's tough when you put a load of laundry in the washer and when you count the loads that you have done throughout the day, it equals 7!

It's tough being a woman when you put your kids to bed and 15 minutes later discover that your daughter has turned her light back on and is reading.  And then your son comes downstairs complaining of a sore throat.  And on the way to take him back to bed, your other son gets up and says that he has wet the bed.

BUT...

It is a JOY to be a woman, because under that same microscope, you are reminded that the only One whose perception matters is your Father God.  And He sees His imperfect daughter who He has rescued.  He sees His child who He delights in.  He sees a bride that he is working on and in- to prepare her to be RADIANT!

It is a JOY to be a woman when you are able to be calm and demonstrate to your daughter how to handle a difficult and annoying situation.  It is a JOY to be able to pray for your children's hearts and trust the work of a loving God to mold their hearts and make them like Jesus.

It is a JOY to be a woman when  you remember how very blessed you are- that most evenings (and breakfasts and lunches and bedtimes) you are able to share with your husband.  And you are reminded that you should never take this for granted.

It is a JOY to be reminded that your daddy has impacted your life in such beautiful ways and that as a result, you have the hope of eternity with him in the presence of JESUS.  "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

It is a JOY to be a woman when you are blessed with friendships that extend to the ends of the earth.  And although you do not see those friends every day, they are intimately involved in the details of your life, through prayer, through social media outlets, through email, through phone calls and simply through the way that they have pointed you to Jesus.  And then you have a day where you are overwhelmed with the face-to-face opportunities (my birthday party! ) and you are reminded how blessed you are.

It is a JOY to be a woman when you come to the realization that your dilligence in laundry means that you won't have to even think about it for 2 WHOLE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is a JOY being a woman when your life is blessed with 3 kids.  It is a joy that your daughter loves to read and is discovering and exploring the world for herself.  It is a joy that your precious boy considers a sleepover with you a dream come true.  And it is a joy that the 3 year old didn't really wet the bed- that it was simply wanting attention (whew!).

It is tough being a woman, but it is also the biggest JOY I have ever known.

My birthday was last week.  If you know me even a little, you know that I love planning parties.  It started with Lindsay's 1st birthday when I planned a Noah's ark party for 75 people!

I have blogged about parties that I planned in the past year.  I did a zoo party for Gibson, a Tangled party for Lindsay and a Kung Fu Panda party for Ethan (which I never blogged about- sorry!).

My friends have allowed me to plan their kid's parties, so I was able to do a Goodnight Moon party , another Tangled party and a Polar Express party.

I was looking at ideas on Pinterest prior to my birthday and I saw an idea for a Favorite Things party.  The idea looked like a lot of fun, so I decided to plan my own birthday party and have a Favorite Things party!

There are so many things that I love to do and favorites that I have.  In addition to planning parties, I love to get to know other women.

This party exceeded my expectations!  I am a pastor's wife, so one of my goals with this party was to invite all of the women in our church and to make sure that everyone felt included.  We have a small church, so this was a possibility.  But when 35 women came for a sit down meal, I was amazed!

So what is a favorite things party?

The great thing about this type of party is that it will be unique to you and to your guests.  I love to read and I love books, so the decorations reflected this.


I made paper chains and snowflakes out of book pages.  Before you get squeamish, my fellow book lovers!, the snowflakes were from a book that I would never read (there ARE some of those out there!) and the chain was from a duplicate of The Scarlet Pimpernel- one of my favorite books that I already have- and this particular one was already falling apart!


I decided to do a sit down meal (much to my husband's chagrin!), so there were four different tables/eating areas.  I used books and candles for the centerpieces.


I made lasagna and friends brought salad and bread.  I have some amazing friends who served everyone buffet style (and then did all of my dishes!!!).

My Favorite Lasagna Recipe

1 pound ground beef, ground turkey or sausage, cooked
2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I use Ragu, but I have big plans to can my own, just like my mama used to do!)
9 lasagna noodles (cooked and dried on a towel- keeps the lasagna from being soupy)
Cheese mixture- one container of cottage cheese mixed with one egg and oregano.  Add 2 cups of shredded mozzarella

Assembling the lasagna- Mix sauce with meat (and preferably simmer for awhile).  Spoon a portion of the sauce into the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan.  Lay down three lasagna noodles.  Spread half of the cheese mixture over the noodles.  Spoon 1/3 of the remaining sauce over cheese.  Lay down three more noodles, top with remaining cheese and 1/2 of the remaining sauce.  Top with the last 3 noodles and remaining sauce.  Sprinkle mozzarella on top.  Bake for 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Let settle for about 15 minutes and enjoy!

After dinner, all 36 ladies gathered in my living and dining room and we attempted to get into a boot like shape for my favorite part of the evening.  All of my guests brought a gift- one of their favorite things- that cost less than $10.  Everyone grabbed their favorite thing and found a seat.  I was the only one who knew everybody in the room, so we went around and everyone introduced themselves.  Then they explained what they brought and why it was a favorite.

I absolutely LOVED this!  We laughed at all of the candles and chocolate choices.  There were also several books and one woman crocheted socks (I was a little bummed that I didn't end up with that gift!).  There were lotions and Smash books.  Art supplies and containers.  Nuts and Auntie Anne's pretzel mix.

Women shared stories of their lives- why a certain gift was meaningful.  There was a lot of laughter and a greater sense of community.  New connections were made- like the moms who have daughters that were born 5 days apart last Fall.  And the women that live on the same street, but didn't know it.

After everyone had shared, I shared one of my favorite things that I have loved since I was a little girl.  I wrote a Mad Lib and had the ladies help me fill it in!  This particular one was about my life, so after my friends shared their brilliant responses (I am an ugly and smelly friend and I married my husband 82 years after meeting him!), I read the story.  Every time that I said "she", "her" or girl, they had to pass their gift one to the left.

They told me later that they would just be peeking into a bag and would have to pass it on or they would get something that they really wanted only to see it go to the next lady.  When the story ended, I gave them the opportunity to exchange gifts.  It was sweet and satisfying!

Then we had dessert!  Instead of making cupcakes (which I enjoy, but I am not great at, so if they don't turn out, I feel stressed!), I decided to do an icecream sundae bar.  And I made brownies and chocolate chip cookies!


I also bought a bag of my favorite Jelly Belly's- Juicy Pear- and then received another bag in the mail from my sister.  She knows me well!


My purpose in doing the party was to get women together and enjoy one another (totally succeeded!), but my sweet friends spoiled me with gifts and cards and lots of love.  One friend brought me this beautiful bouquet of roses...


On my actual birthday, my dear husband took me out for an exceptional dinner and a movie.  I love my man!


On the night of the party, he took our three precious kids to the mall (did I mention that I love him?!) and my kids bought me a gift.  It is a gift that Lindsay has been wanting to buy for me for four years!  We were at the Disney store in NYC, four years ago and I saw a stuffed Eeyore.  I made the offhand comment that I had always wanted it.  She has not forgotten.

My husband and my kids came home as the party was ending and gave me this...


It was so sweet to see the excitement of my kids as they gave me something that they knew I would love!  I have snuggled with Eeyore every night since.

And that is what a Favorite Things party is all about!  Learning about others.  Appreciating the things that others find important.  And leaving with a greater love for others.

So, what are you waiting for?  Get out there and plan a Favorite Things Party!!!!

Linking with with www.thegypsymama.com for Five Minute Friday .  The challenge is to write for five minutes on a specific topic without any editing.

Today's topic is "Real".

Real...


The same thing happens every morning.  Daddy takes the older two to the bus stop.  And the nearly 3 year old hides under a blanket or a couch cushion.

And they play the same game.  Daddy pretends that he doesn't know where the little boy is.  He sits on the couch and giggles ensue.

But today was a little bit different.  Because Daddy sat at the table instead and pretended to eat the cereal that wasn't finished. 

And Gibson jumped up and said "here I am".  "I'm right here, Daddy!"

And then he ate his cereal.  And talked nonstop.  "There are bubbles in here".  "I'm going to pop them".  "I spilled".  "I change myself".

And I wonder when this changes- when do we lose REAL?  When do we lose this ability to just say what we think, when we think it?

Real should be this ability to be who we are, but also who God is making us to be.  When I look at my nearly 3 year old, I don't say, "Oh, please- we all know that you are hiding on the couch, Gibson!  Don't be ridiculous!"  or "of course, there are bubbles in your milk.  Who cares?"  NO!  We love it!  We celebrate it!

And that is what I want to celebrate in others and pray that they celebrate in me.  Because being REAL is a truly beautiful thing.  When we are able to be ourselves without any pretense, without any need to prove something, there is a freedom and a beauty!

Because we trust that God is working in the lives of His children.  And HE will mold us and make us into what He wants us to be.  We don't have to be perfect.

But please, let's be REAL!