What I've learned in 2012

1. No one should be praying for your husband more than you are.  No one.

2. At the end of the day, the only being you are truly accountable to is Jesus.  The same is true for everyone else.

3.  Let fear dictate nothing.

4.  When we let ungratefulness and entitlement in, we also invite ugliness and sorrow in as well.

5. Repentance is beautiful.

6.  The Holy Spirit's voice is gentle and specific.  An accusatory voice is grumpy and comes in the form of second person.  You're terrible at this. You should have worked out longer. 


 Learn to recognize the difference.

7.  It's going to get better.  In December, you will have your first fight with your husband in the parking lot of a most delicious restaurant.  By April, you will be ordering appetizers, holding hands, and wearing your favorite sun dress.

8. For some, Earth is the closest they will ever get to Heaven. For others, it is the closest they will ever be to Hell.

9.  If you want the power of The Holy Spirit, you have to ask.

10. When life feels Ridiculous.  You need to lean into it.

11. Pray consistently that God would show you your idols.  I spent years thinking they were all golden calves when in reality they come in all shapes and sizes.  For me, they largely involve food. body image. teaching.family. and housework.  Go figure.

12.  The answer is, as Mark Driscoll would say, "Always back to Jesus."

13.  The question is often asked, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  The question should be "Why do good things happen to bad people?"  We are all sinners.


The answer is God's grace.

There is no measure as to what we are capable of without it.

14.  There will be seasons in which we will shut the mouths of lions and seasons of chains and imprisonment.   Run on.   Hebrews 11:33

15. Joy is not the same thing as happiness.  Chase the joy.

This is a combination of Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, and Sweet Meg Fee or, yet another blessed trinity.  

Love & I can't take credit for any of it, 

H. 

Oh the leaning, Part 2

This is what the last week of kindergarten has done to me.

I call this "Rounding up the Usual Suspects."

Stick with me, guys.

It's about to get so good.

Love, H.

Oh, the Leaning

     And now this is the part of the year when the dishes pile sky high and there are funny things in random places like a bottle of witch hazel on the coffee table and let's-not-even-talk-about-it and the list probably goes on and on.  And we sigh and we say, "I will get to it this summer..."  Which is (ahem) 7 school days away, thank you very much.

     A while ago, that wily brunette posted a video by a woman named Brene' Brown and I watched it and felt as if a window had opened.


About 3 minutes into it, she says that when life gets uncomfortable, you are supposed to lean into it. 

You are supposed to lean into the discomfort.

And I realize that my house and this mess are my idols.  I realize that.  I am trying Very Hard to reconcile and repent for that and for heaven's sake make it just a little bit better.

This summer. Maybe.

With that being said, our piano is covered in laundry.

This is me leaning.

Love, H. 

The one about kettle corn

Yesterday, we spent all day at a craft show in my home town.  It was super fun and for the most part, the weather was great.  While we were there, my mom bought me this HUGE BAG OF KETTLE CORN.

It was so huge that I may or may not have actually cradled it like a baby and rested my head on it and contemplated using it as a body pillow.

Now I can't stop eating it.

And neither can Noel.

Love and in-need-of-an-intervention,
H.