And Away She Ran…

I keep forgetting to share this story about my eldest daughter and because our life these days is consisting of living with parents, lots of appointments with people to share about NYC, and pool time with the kids in between, I thought this would entertain you more 🙂

Here are some exciting/not-so-exciting things that have happened in Kinsley’s life lately:

1 – She got her hair cut short, just like her mamma, because “it is just too hot” to have long hair.

2.  She has a new favorite princess – Princess Elena of Avalor.  She decided to write Princess Elena a letter and not only did she mail it (put it in our mailbox only to be snatched out by daddy before the mail actually came), but she fully expected that Princess Elena would write her back. She religiously checked our mail for days awaiting a response. I got our sweet neighbor to craft a letter to her from Princess Elena and she was absolutely elated the day it came!  She held onto that letter like it was gold!

3.  She met another “real” mermaid.  Oh man, why are mermaids EVERYWHERE these days?  She already says she wants to be a mermaid, wants a mermaid tail, and wants a mermaid blanket…can’t a momma catch a break?

4. She “ran away from home.” Uh, yes, you totally read that right.  One day, not long before we moved, after bickering with Emerson, she said that everyone was being mean to her and that she was running away from home to her friend Olivia’s house (Olivia lived one street over).  I asked her “How were mom and dad mean”?  She said it was because we got angry because she disobeyed us….you think??

So, next thing we knew, she had her backpack filled, had ALL her stuffed animals in her hand, and she was walking down the street to Olivia’s.  Ed and I have very different parenting styles.  Knowing that my daughter was a rule-follower, a homebody, and is scared of everything, I told her dad to let her go, knowing that if she wasn’t given any attention, she wouldn’t make it very far before she turned back (I am very much like her in personality and I didn’t make it past my back yard when I “ran” away from home). Ed’s approach, however, was to follow her because “you can’t let her start walking down the street alone”.  So, he followed her about a block or two, and then when she stopped to turn around, she saw him, waited, and came back after a long talk.

Umm….she is 6!?!?!  What is going to happen when she is a teenager?  Honestly, this was one of our first signs that our kids were struggling a bit with all the transitions in our life, and we know that she isn’t a rebellious child at heart, but is just trying to adjust to everything the best she can.  Bless. her. little. heart.

Can you pray for us and our kids through all these transitions?  Blake doesn’t have a clue, but the other two have struggled a little, and if I tell the truth, I have a little too.  Thanks for your prayers for our family.

 

Pack Rats!

As I sit here on the floor in our empty living room, my kids sounds echoing through the house, and stare at the storage crate in our driveway, I am so tired, but yet so thankful.

We are currently at 81% of what we need to move to NYC and because we can’t officially move until we are at 100%, our storage pod will travel to New York with our stuff, while we travel to SC to begin meeting with people there.  We are praying to be finished in SC  and to be reunited with our things in NYC very soon!  It was super challenging to pack for our pod and pack for SC without knowing how long we will be there (summer or winter clothes? Halloween outfits? sandals or closed toe shoes?).  Once our pod leaves, there will be no seeing it until we move.  But, it is done and for that, I am super thankful!

I am also super, super thankful for the people who helped us get packed, brought us Krispy Kreme doughnuts and played with our kids when every toy was packed, had us over for dinner because all our kitchen stuff was packed, and even got down and dirty cleaning our house (you know they love you if they clean your bathrooms!).  We will miss you all greatly!

Our last night in our house was spent packing (what did you expect?!?), having dinner at our sweet neighbors, and eating ice cream at Sunni Skies (seriously one of the best ice cream places ever, and it doesn’t hurt that it is cheap).  We wrapped it up watching the Olympics in our camping chairs in our empty living room. Don’t mind my no makeup, hair falling down picture below – its called the packing all day-chasing kids around-no time for a shower look.

Our time in Raleigh has been hard but yet so good and sweet.  We have loved the way the Lord has grown us spiritually, personally, and as a family, our team at NC State, our amazing neighbors who would give us the shirt off their backs if we needed it, our fun little town, our great church and friends, and our sweet house where we brought home two of our kiddos.  For all of these things and the memories we will carry with us, I am thankful.

 

Essential Things

There are lots of things that are essential in life – food, water, shelter, clothing, relationships with others.  As a Christian, there are lots of things that are essential that maybe wouldn’t be for other people – praying, reading the Bible, being involved in a church and a body of believers.  There is one that I feel like most people miss but that I believe is essential for life as a Christian – discipleship.

We strongly believe in discipleship as an essential, not just for college students, but for believers of all ages – it is not something that you grow out of, by age or by maturity. Jesus had disciples who changed the world, he instructed us to make disciples, and all throughout the New Testament, you see discipleship happening.  I don’t say all this to have a large theological discussion about whether we should disciple or what discipleship should look like practically.  I say all this to say – The lady who has discipled me the last few years has been a god-send in my life.

When we moved to Fuquay, I started being discipled by one lady, whom I absolutely adored.  When she moved, I knew that I needed to continue to be discipled – to have an older mom to ask questions to, to have someone ask me hard questions about things in my life, someone to pray for and with me, someone I could learn from as they learn from Christ, someone to answer questions I had about God, and someone to just live life with. I found that in this lady.

I am going to miss her like crazy.  She has spoken truth to me in times when I didn’t want to hear it, she has challenged me to be thankful when I didn’t feel it, she has prayed for me when I couldn’t pray for myself, she has brought me meals and special gifts when new babies were born or just because it had been a really hard day, she has texted me things she had read in the Bible that impacted her deeply and in turn, impacted me, and she has loved and encouraged me through one of the hardest seasons of our lives.  I have learned so much from her about the Bible, parenting, life lessons, grace, speaking truth, showing Christ to non-believers, and serving people in the day in and day out.  I can’t wait to see how God is going to continue to use her and I seriously cannot be more thankful for our time together than I currently am.  If you don’t have a mentor, get one!!

She gave me this sweet, sweet parting gift and it is one I will treasure forever.

I am so very, very thankful for our church, Redeemer Community Church, in Fuquay.  I am thankful for a church that truly seeks to make a difference in this community, a church that is committed to proclaiming Christ and Him crucified, and a church that desires to see each person grow in their walk with Christ.  I also have never been in a church where discipleship is happening so naturally amongst its members without anyone initiating a discipleship program.  This body of believers isn’t perfect, as no church is, but they are a great picture of the body of Christ working together to make the name of Jesus great.

There are lots of people that we will miss greatly – friends, teammates, community group people who feel like family to us and our children – and while I wish I could give a shout out to each of you, just know that you are precious to us and we are excited to visit and see you again one day soon.

And, in true tradition, of moving forward, we sold Ed’s car today.  It was such a bittersweet moment and like so many moments lately, it took all I had not to break down and cry. But, it is another step towards moving to NYC and for that we are grateful and excited.  Thanks for your prayers!