- Time is fast and slow
In a year of COVID we were together way more than we would have anticipated. Not say we planned on being absent, but date nights with a babysitter would have been more common, kids ministry would have been more prevalent. This was just not the case, and we are better for it! - God will let you know what you’re supposed to know when you’re supposed to know it.
There is so much, and honestly too much emphasis and rhetoric around new parents proclaiming they have no idea what they are doing. It really isn’t the case. Yes it’s hard, yes you are learning, but God didn’t just abandon ship for new parents. He give you the insight you need to make the next best choice, yes it’s great to have a support system around and it’s useful, but you will never ever be left in the “I do not know what I am doing” space. - There is never a regret from spending a lot of time together
In a world where we take pride in busyness of schedule and how many trips we can take. Yes your marriage comes first, but I am not going to be saying yes to as many things as possible to prove I can be both parent and super woman. That’s not how life truly works. Instead I am working on saying “yes” to the things that really matter and trusting that people understand if I have to say “no”. Likewise, I am setting time to just sit with E EVERY SINGLE DAY where he gets the best and most engaged version of me. - Adventuring with a babe is hard but 💯 worth it
I know a few people who just stopped when they had kids. They stopped going places whether local or beyond, but that is not how we are choosing to raise Elijah. While Jon and I fully plan to have some trips just the two of us, we also plan (and already have) invited Elijah into all the adventures we take. Yes it takes planning and a whole lot of patience. You have to learn how to do car rides and days have to look less structured. However, between Disney, beaches, hikes and everything in between we have NEVER regretted inviting him into those memories. - I always said I wouldn’t be the mom that threw some big 1st birthday bash, but we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow so celebrate however you want aka I’m so glad I did!
In all honesty it sounded silly, why does a one year old care about a birthday party. Well, they don’t BUT in a year where I mourned and grieved all the firsts I thought would be I decided to invite people into a moment that overcame all of that. Even though we hadn’t seen so many of those that came but a handful of times (when normally we would seem them AT LEAST once a week), it rallied our loved ones – safely outside and masked – to just celebrate the fact that no matter how much we seemingly missed in a year, the enemy doesn’t get to win. God is still victorious sitting on His throne and if it meant a one year olds birthday party to remind us that then it’s well worth the craziness of putting it together.
So cheers to Elijah being one and every precious memory it holds.
Fueling Her Forward 