Our Well Is Full | Our Roots Are Deep

We dedicated Marin last night, surrounded by many people, family and friends. The evening began with chili and soup, the breaking of bread and cornbread muffins, wine and beer. The sound of little children and adults filled the home and the chaos seemed fitting. We talked about what Marin's name means, "Little Queen of the Sea." Words were spoken over her life of "strength" and "authority." We ate good food, drank good wine, and managed to have Marin asleep in bed only a hour and half later than usual. 

Sometimes it hits me that our little baby will be an adult someday with her own hopes and dreams. She will fall in love. She may get her heartbroken once or twice. She will figure out her path one trial and triumph at a time. I already see so much of myself in her, which is thrilling and terrifying all at the same time. The words spoken over her last night are very similar to the ones that have been spoken over me, time and time again. As long as she grows up knowing and loving Jesus and the church, her strength and spunk will be directed in the right places. 

I made some poor decisions in my college days and I know many people tend to rebel at some point in their life. I just want to protect and guide her forever but also allow her to make her own decisions and learn through the seasons of life. I guess that's what parenting is supposed to look like in some ways, right?

It's so weird to think of her out in the world. Driving a car, heading off to college, dating boys, and working at a job. It seems so far off but I know it's really not. By that point, I will be around 46 years old. That's a strange thing to think about. What will be we be doing with our lives? Where will we be living? How many kids will we have? What dreams will have died and which will have survived all of those years of living? 

Such a strange thing to wrap my mind around. You only get just one life. It seems so small and fast in the grand scheme of things. The insatiable need to make it worthwhile and full of life is needed. I want to live a full, full life. I don't want to look back and see that I worked too much, lived too little, and didn't help my kids discover who they are and what they are meant for. 

Even as I journey through this year of "LESS," I still want to make sure that my well is full and my roots are deep. I only get to live this year once. I better make it worthwhile. I don't want to miss a single thing. 

The Everyday: Week Two

Our lives were filled with the welcoming of new life this week. We consumed cupcakes with mustaches on them. 

I was awake far too early, way too many times this week. Coffee is my companion. 

I've never felt the need to work on "Plan B" so much in my entire life. How's that for vague? 

(Stewie. Soon to be a big brother.) 

(Don't mess with my kid. She's tough) 

(Celebrating new life. A baby shower for my sister.) 

(Slowly but surely, I am working through this.) 

(Sometimes you just have to have toast with almond butter and apricot jam.) 

(Early Morning Fuel) 

Maintenance

 

Life seems to slowly teach me certain things. Some things I grasp easier than others. Others have to hit me like sledge hammer for me to gain one ounce of respect from whatever situation I’m facing. I keep finding myself thinking about the depths of life, how time passes, and how it passes too quickly. It is a terrifying thing to sit and grasp for a moment how quickly minutes really do pass and how far I’ve come in my 26 years of life. So much has happened. So much will still happen. Even though I am young, I still feel like time passes by so quickly. The weeks all blur into one and I’m left watching the leaves turn and fall yet again as the first snow graces our lawn. Time moves quickly. I want to keep a hold of it. But how?

Maintenance. I know I’ve spoken of this before, but it’s in the journey. Every day we are faced with a decision to merely sleep our way through life or to take every day by the horns for all that its worth. You have to make the decision though, it just won’t happen the second you finally decide to quit hitting your snooze button and get out of bed. Maintenance is found in the eating of wholesome meals, working out the kinks in my muscles, keeping our house as much of a home as possible. Maintenance is in reading a novel when life slows down in the evening. It’s found in picking up a guitar or paint brush. Or having a campfire out back while drinking wine and spending time with others. Maintenance is a massive process.

I want to know that I have maintained a good life, one that didn’t settle even when everything seems so routine and mundane. Life can be found in the maintenance only if you are willing to seek it out. We are all from somewhere, yet we have now found ourselves here with one another. I don’t think that should be taken for granted. I don’t think time is incredibly fair, but my goal each day is to make the most of it, in whatever way possible. No matter if I sit in an office staring at a computer screen all day, get to play a show, or experience the outside world as nature has intended: it’s all about maintenance.