life lately

“when life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. 

and when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” 

― shauna niequist

This has mostly been a season of sweetness for our little fam. We are overjoyed to be expecting sweet baby number four in October, and our lives are full of so much laughter and fun with the girls. We have been blessed with generally good health and a season of rest after the craziness of having a baby while renovating our home. 

There have been some bitter moments this spring as well, however, and we find ourselves needing to depend on the Lord more constantly. The first trimester of this pregnancy was challenging in the usual ways: sickness and exhaustion. Although I wouldn't say the physical part was any worse than before, I felt an emotional and mental toll far greater than any other of my pregnancies. Maybe because there was less time between these babies, maybe because I have felt the weight of my responsibilities more heavily, maybe because it's the fourth time... whatever the reason, I fell flat on my face in every realm of my life. In a word, it's been a humbling season.

Many days I still feel like I'm climbing my way out of the pit I found myself in, but I think I'm also turning to the Lord more genuinely and constantly as I struggle. I know my need of Him more deeply. For that, I am thankful.

Here's to summer. A new season, full of promise and hope. Also, just full! The girls will have swim lessons, VBS, art camp, drama camp, we are doing some major home projects, and somewhere in there, we are planning on squeezing in school. Because baby is coming in October, I hope to just keep plugging along through our curriculum until then so that I can relax a bit after baby comes and through the holidays. We have begun a simple, but surprisingly effective, morning routine that will hopefully help keep us on track.

I hope to better keep up with this blog over the summer. On hard days, it's such a blessing to look back over the Lord's faithfulness to our family.