Forever Beloved - Faith, Love & Truth

This morning as I was doing my devotion outside (during the sunrise over the ocean y’all, amazing) I had one of those “a ha” moments from God that we all live so much!

I was studying Colossians 3:18-4:1. I broke each verse down into person, do, don’t do and why. It wasn’t long before He started nudging my heart.

For me, as a wife, I was given one command in verse 18…submit to my husband. As a worker, I was given one command in verse 22…obey my overseer. I’m also a child and, praise the Lord, still have my parents here (and live directly beside them). As a child I was given one command in verse 20…obey my parents. I continually saw a pattern and felt the Lord telling me to pay attention. Submit and obey. Two things that certainly don’t come easy for this stubborn, hard-headed girl.

And with this, we have what our next Bible study will be on the blog in a few weeks…modern day submission.

Out for now

~kisses

today is my thirty-something birthday and i want ya’all to come along with me as a take a glance back at the past year. thinking of what all this past year has held blows my mind. honestly, though trying at times, i am overwhelmed with joy to see all that I experienced in the last 12 months! so let’s go for a little time-travel and reflect on my journey.

august was filled with 2 surgeries. a surprise party. lots of canning. visiting a few amish farms. school shopping. and spending as much time with my littles as i could before school started.

in september i came across a blog challenge done by a few Christian women bloggers i love, called revive your marriage. weekly, i did the challenges and blogged on the different subjects {prayers, attitude, friendship, praise and sex life}. i realized then that i had a passion for helping marriages. i also attended a women of faith conference with one of my girlies. it was an amazing-beyond-words weekend filled with worship and tears {for me, those two go hand in hand}. also, football football football.

october held my big surgery in cleveland to reconstruct my kidney, ureter and bladder. it also held photographing 2 weddings, a maternity session and a senior session. meeting with a future bride and groom. baking for a bake sale and cheerleaders. football football football. ladies bible study. lotsa photo editing. and all of my christmas shopping. yeah, october was a bit ridic.

my november was spent being thankful for oh so many blessings in my life. papa alan traveled down and spent a week with us. i was still recuperating from my surgery, and spent days in my chair making christmas crafts.

in december, my sweet grandma passed away. during that emotional month, i wrote this post that was super special to me and touched my heart. the kids and i also committed to making the christmas season about loving others and in the process, sharing God’s love for others, by performing one random act of christmas kindness each day of advent.

january brought me resigning my position at penndot. with that, i’ve started my venture into being a stay-at-home mama and running gypsy tree photography full-time. we dealt with a bit of bullying in school with the youngest little. i wrote a post about one super annoying thing i see on sunday mornings. and i made this video of my sweet grandma’s life.

oh february, the month of love. this month held something i was super excited about, my first marriage blog series called cherishing your vows. there were four topics we discussed {forgiveness, guarding, serving and celebrating}. the month also held a few of my fav blog posts of the year, especially this one on healing. i also got a new tattoo, which i absolutely love. and this month brought another big surgery, the removal of my left kidney.

march was filled with recouping from my surgery. it was also full of lots of working on, feeling blessed by and super thankful for my love. and that prompted this love letter. and a little weekend getaway 🙂 and some work on myself.

in april i wrote a post that has been my most popular to date. it super seems to have touched a lot of hearts, which makes this mama awfully happy! my oldest also went to the freshman dance with his super sweet girl. and ladies tea at church, one of my fav times!!!

may is when i began my weekly Bible study on the Proverbs 31 woman. super super loved that study!!! my oldest little turned 16. and this mama sure had a hard time with that one.

in june joe and i celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. and just saying those words makes me feel old. like really old. my oldest driving. watching my 3 loves get baptized. my family reunion. bible school. one of my fav posts, 10 God truths our littles need to know.

july was super busy. my littles went on a mission trip to south carolina. a taylor swift concert. a day i’m always thankful for. a super beyond words sad ending. and lotsa lotsa lotsa pictures.

celebrate with me by linking up. what amazingness are you reflecting back on today?

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New study? I think yes!

reflecting on 37

♥ le SIGH ♥