The Good Life

We scroll social media, taking in the hundreds of different voices and different opinions on what we "should be" doing right now. We compare our bodies to the woman who seems to have her home workout down like it's nothing, while we struggle to find time to fit in a quick run (or even just a shower). We question our relationships because maybe we and our spouses are having a really hard time just communicating while Susie Q and Ken are having picnics and making pillow forts together. We worry if we're good enough Moms because we don't have a color coded schedule or numbered learning stations and can hardly keep up on the weekly E-learning, ZOOM meetings and expectations of serving our family a healthy dinner every night, so we find ourselves feeding our kids cereal for dinner and wondering if there's enough nutrients in gold fish to keep them alive. We're feeling the pressure to start new projects because so many around us are hustling harder than ...

According to Meriam-Webster, quarantine is defined as (1)   a period of 40 days . The official COVID-19 "stay at home" order went into effect on March 23 and will be lifted (in most areas) on May 1. That's 40 days. Christianity uses forty (40) to designate important time periods. The rains that came as a flood that covered the earth lasted 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:12).  Moses departed for Mount Sinai and stayed there for 40 days and nights to receive the 10 commandments before wandering in the wilderness for 40 years (Joshua 5:6). Jesus fasted in the dessert for 40 days (Matthew 4:2). I think it's interesting that the optimum number of weeks for human gestation is 40 weeks and the recommended postpartum recovery for a Mother is 40 days. A group of theologians believe the number 40 represents "change". It is the time of preparing a person (or people) to make a fundamental change.  Change is happening and will continue to happen. These 40 days of ...

2020 is about alignment, connection, obedience, wholeness, rest and getting rid of a lot of head garbage centered around the "hustle" mentality.  I'm in favor of getting rid of the toxic hustle beliefs like: ▪️that if we're not achieving big goals, we're not doing enough ▪️that we have to push to make things happen ▪️that we're in charge of our own destiny ▪️that if others are doing it successfully and we're not, we must be doing something wrong ▪️that if we don't hit our personal goals, that's, in some way or another, our fault ▪️that our successes, titles, promotions or roles determine our worth We live in a world where it's easy to fall into the trap of believing these statements at some point or another. But what happens when we hustle, with no rest? We grow weary and disconnected.When we hustle and hustle but our goals still aren't met? We are left feeling defeated. If there's anything we can admit, it's...

Over the past few years (on the days between Christmas and NYE) I have experienced a Christmas hangover. Not a hangover from the result of too much alcohol, but an emotional hangover. The build up of Christmas can bring so much (self-induced) pressure to make things magical (especially when you're a Mom to little people). So, I planned, shopped, wrapped, baked, cleaned, showed up to all the parties and events, shopped more, wrapped more and cleaned more until I realized I was so busy doing ALL.THE.THINGS that I missed out on experiencing the true joy of the season. After the "shock and awe" of Christmas, I was left feeling disappointed, empty and regretful and couldn't really understand why. This past Sunday, at our candlelight Christmas service , pastor Scott said something that really stood out to me . It lined up perfectly with something I've been working on all year (expectations). He said "we expect things of this world that the world can not deliver. If...

There are less than 50 days left in this year. In this decade. 10 years (almost) gone by. I spent the past 1.5 years doing a lot of soul work. Digging in to who I really am. So many factors play in to who we are. There are so many layers to work through to get down to the real and raw of it. The journey of the past year has motivated me to be more present, while also moving forward with intention.  During the month of November, I have been challenging myself to look for (and give recognition to) things that I am thankful for. Complaining is natural and easy. It takes no forethought to complain. Gratitude is the opposite. It takes being intentional. It means training my mind to look for the good in all things and being content with what I have. This isn't always easy and I do not have this perfected. But, what I am realizing is that contentment is a choice that I can choose every single day.   This gratitude challenge was sparked by my desire to be more joyful. I spent...

It's been over a year since I visited this place. A place where I used to come daily and spill my thoughts. It's funny how different seasons bring different needs. Several years ago, I was deep in the trenches of new motherhood and this little blog was a place that I needed, a way to express what was on my mind (and heart). Some seasons we need to let it out. Then, I found myself in a season where I needed to process, self reflect, seek guidance and keep it all in. Learning to lean in to and respect each season has been good, although challenging, for me. So why am I hear today? Because I'm back to a place where writing out my thoughts brings comfort (and some joy). Maybe it's because my kids are getting bigger and I have more free time. Maybe it's because my birthday is next week and I'm inching closer to 40. Maybe it's because I don't have a journal so these are my pages where I can come back to re-read, remember and reflect. Whatever the reason, I...

I am notorious for having a messy bedroom. When I was a little girl/teenager, it looked like my room threw up clothes (and all other kinds of odds and ends) everywhere. In fact, it was so bad that when anything was missing in the house, my parents would say "look in Renee's room" and sure enough, it was (more times than not) in my room. I can keep my entire house clean...except my bedroom. As I've gotten older, I have come to realize that it's really not as much my bedroom, as the closet area. Until we built the house we live in now, I have never had a walk-in-closet (WIC). Not only have I not had a WIC, but Matt and I have never had a "master suite" with our own bathroom. SO, when we designed our house, we wanted to have both a WIC and a big master bathroom. Our master suite is designed where you walk into our bedroom and then turn into a little hallway that has my WIC on the left and Matt's on the right. and then you walk into the actual bathro...