Growing

My last post here was already nearly 3 years ago!? I have thought about writing thoughts here a number of times in these past many months buuut there always seems to be more pressing tasks. You know how life, especially with little ones in tow, can be so full. Days pass along one by one, and soon a whole month has come and gone. My life these days leaves little room for processing thoughts and pondering things in my heart, but reflecting is still very important to me. So I'm trying to carve out space again here for just that. Three years ago, when I last published a post here, we were living in rural western NC. I was pregnant with our first child and working part-time as a RN in Asheville; Doug was serving as assistant pastor at a local church. We were navigating our second year of married life, learning to love eachother sacrificially and slowly growing in our roles as husband + wife. We enjoyed regular hikes, visits to coffee shops, lots of reading, some gardening, and for a season we hosted weekly fellowship meals at our house which was so fun. Fast forward to now... Our daughter Maple is 2 1/2 years old and truly a joy to have her in our family. We moved to NY in 2019 for Doug to pastor a BPC church in Unionville. I now am full-time at home; and in addition to all my wife/mom/homemaking responsibilities, enjoy working remotely a few hours per week for IX Publishing. We are thrilled to be expecting our second child in July! We also are now established with Sola - our ministry to hikers along the Appalachian Trail (which passes just 0.5 miles from our front door!). Life is full and I love what I get to do each day. Does that make it easy? No. Some days I feel really discouraged. Sometimes I wonder "what am I doing", "am I even making progress towards goals, etc?" Some days raising little ones, wiping bums, washing floors, doing dishes, cleaning up after hikers, discussing parenting decisions or marriage struggles is really hard. It's not hard because I'm necessarily doing something wrong (though sometimes that IS the case!), it's hard because these things aren't easy. Change comes slowly sometimes. Following Christ and obeying His Word is challenging. But growth is happening! God is faithful! My word for 2021 is GROW. This year is one of growing, growth. I'm literally growing physically as this baby develops in my womb. Our family is growing in number... from 3 to 4! We are seeing growth in our church, in number and in maturity. Maple is growing up and learning to obey/listen more of the time. We plan to grow a garden this summer. We are seeking growth in our parenting roles, in our marriage, and in our walk with the Lord. I pray also that I am growing personally in who God has made me to be as I seek to honor the Lord in what I do, say, and become. SDG.