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.

Reflections on July 2.

Counting blessings today as I reflect on this day two years ago — the day we got engaged at Yosemite National Park! I love to look back and see where God has brought change, beauty, and answered prayer, oftentimes through pain, trials, or seasons of waiting, etc.
Today I think about the day we got engaged and even before that, how our lives crossed paths just 5 months prior to that, and all the behind-the-scenes work God was doing in our lives, not just to bring us together but to hone and shape our characters/lives/plans. God has given me many waiting seasons in life and has answered “not yet” more than a few times, and through it I have grown — in patience, trust, and my edges aren’t quite as rough as they used to be. ;) At just 30 I know I still have many lessons to learn, but I also know I’ve experienced much and God has been gracious, to me.

Some of the blessings to name today are:
My husband Doug - we’re approaching 2 years of marriage in a few months.
Our baby growing in my womb - almost 27 weeks along.
The little white house we call home.
Good health.
Tasty, healthy food each day.
Job + ministry opportunities.
Our Wednesday Fellowship dinners.
Sola progress.
Establishing (and sticking with) exercise routines.
Music to enjoy.
Family devotions and reading times.
Blueberries and zucchini from church-friends.
Watching Andy Griffith.
Family time, visits!
Grace and mercy each day from the Lord!

A few recent and older pictures:

S o l a

For those of you who don't know about Sola Appalachian Christian Retreat - it is a retreat center/hiking hostel we are working on starting up and hope will be a place for many to come for encouragement, rest, study, and community. You can learn more at our website: www.discoversola.com

Small update: work/ministry

Proud of my husband as he recently finished 1 year of his internship to be a pastor and successfully passed the exam for pastoral ordination in the reformed presbyterian church. We hope to be full-time in Christian ministry together and begin our Sola Retreat center in the next couple years. We will likely maintain other work as well: part-time nursing for me and part-time pastorate for Doug. We desire to always have an open and hospitable home and serve others well. I am thankful to have Doug as my life-partner, hiking buddy, leader of our home, and my husband. Life certainly is not easy, but we have much to be thankful for each day even amidst the many challenges we're facing.
Also, we're coming right up on our first wedding anniversary next week (Oct 22)!

Soli Deo Gloria.

(P.s. No, we did not get kittens... those are Mike's - Doug's twin brother's in August.)

1/2 year!

"If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." --African Proverb

Celebrating the first 6 months of marriage with my love last week. :)

2016: a year in review

For some reason i simply love the 1st of the month. Something about beginning a new month that strikes my heart chords.
2016 was a year of travel, moving (3 times to be exact!), adventure, and new joys; a year unmatched by any before it. God is so good; He is faithful to provide for what we need. (And, often way more than that too.)

This past year I tasted His goodness anew...and enjoyed a wild + fun ride along the way
(And a very different ride than I anticipated from a year ago)!

Below is a series of photos and snapshots from life in 2016, depicting just how adventurous (and crazy!) it truly was.


The 1st of each month in 2016: A Year in Review

January 1, Dearborn, MI - working night-shift on Labor/Delivery + Antepartum. This was one of my last few shifts as I would be leaving this job the following week. We were all decked out with New Year's necklaces :)

February 1, Huemoz, Switzerland - spent the first week of February at L'Abri (meaning 'shelter' in French), a Christian hostel/study center in the Alps. On this particular day I found myself assigned to cleaning the main chalet (where all the students lived) alongside a guy named Doug. (After leaving L'Abri I then spent a week in France with my cousin Helene + her husband Aaron, then 5 days in Zurich with cousin Lorraine before continuing on to S. A.)

March 1, Johannesburg, South Africa - here I was now at TLC children's home caring for babies + toddlers for the next several weeks. Here I am with this cuddly little guy (baby A) who was about 3 months at the time. I was on the night-shift that whole week and fed him all of his nighttime bottles and enjoyed every snuggle.

April 1, Johannesburg, South Africa - Was on night-shift again this week at TLC and for April Fool's Day my fellow volunteer (partner in crime!) Anna and I hung toilet paper up in the doorways and played other tricks on the daytime volunteers when they came in that morning. Here are the Lions (preschool age) after discovering the t.p. Hanging in the kitchen and wondering why it was there. :) Lots of laughs were enjoyed!

May 1, Royal Oak, MI - at this point I had been back in Michigan a couple weeks and was having tea at Goldfish Tea (our favorite spot) with a dear friend. Catching up on life, sharing about my travels the past few months, and sharing more about the guy I met in Switzerland. :) (He had recently flown to Michigan to pay me a visit and meet my parents. OoOoh!!)

June 1, Dearborn, MI - I was moving the NEXT DAY to California! Packed up and left, with my co-pilot (my Mom!), early the next morning. We drove two days and arrived in southern Colorado June 3rd to spend some time visiting that guy named Doug. My mom stayed a few days here then she flew back to MI and Doug drove with me to Cali the rest of the way to Modesto, which would be home for me for the next 4 months.

July 2, Yosemite National Park, CA - Ok, so this day is actually July 2nd which means I'm breaking the pattern here but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to share a little about the day Doug asked me to be his wife. My super good friend Heather was visiting for the week and Doug booked a flight for the weekend to come visit me. He was glad, I think, to get away from his seminary studies for the weekend. And I was glad he would be able to meet my dear friend, and also for my sister Tali and brother-in-law Josh to be able to get to know him more. We had talked about marriage quite a lot at this point and I knew he had spoken with my father and received their blessing. I knew we would likely get engaged sometime in July or early August but it still came as a surprise when after our grueling hike up a boulder-field to the butt of El Capitan that hot July day, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! Here's a few photos from that fun day.

August 1, Westcliffe, CO - Here I am the first few days in August visiting my love where he was finishing up the summer semester at Sangre de Cristo Seminary. (He would graduate the end of August.) We did some wedding planning and pre-marriage counseling, also some hiking and fit in a double-date with another couple there who've been married 10 years (the husband was in seminary with Doug). A few days later I flew home (back to CA) and watched the munchkins and their brood of chickens :) while my sista and her hubby stole away for a long weekend in SoCal with some of their dear friends. I loved playing Auntie-mom for 4 days!!

September 1, Estes Park, CO - Vos Family Vacation was drawing to an end. We had been planning this time together over the whole previous year and it truly was a wonderful week! We rented a large house just outside Rocky Mountain National Park and got to spend a lot of time there in the park, driving and hiking and exploring and picnicking. We also enjoyed family dinners and devotional times every evening. One of my top highlights was one morning we all (18 of us!) awoke before sunrise and left at 6am to drive into the park and watch the sunrise from a great lookout point. (Thanks Dad, for instigating this idea!) After enjoying the view, snapping some photos, and driving around and stopping for the many Elk roaming around, we then all went out for breakfast together (Thanks Tali + Josh for this fun idea!).

October 1, Highland, MI - the last week of September my Dad flew out to Cali and stayed a couple days there before we drove over the next four days back to Michigan. On the drive home we swung down to Joshua Tree where we camped one night, then over to Grand Canyon, spent a night in New Mexico (that's a long, funny story!), across beautiful CO (all yellow with Aspen trees), stayed near Grand Island, NE and onward to Dearborn, MI by the end of the fourth day :). October 1st I spent the day watching Ephraim, my favorite 1 year old nephew! He helped me run errands that day for some wedding tasks I was working on.

November 1, Barnardsville, NC - On this day we (my new husband and I) went hiking on the Appalachian Trail and camped one night before hiking back to the car. It was a nice break from unpacking boxes and getting our new little home established. (It turns out I married that guy named Doug on 10/22/16, enjoyed a lovely honeymoon on Drummond Island, then packed up all my stuff back in the Dearborn area and moved to NC.)

December 1, West Virginia/Maryland border - Doug and I went to visit his twin in WV and here we are on my 29th birthday! I love this man. God brought him into my life at just the right time (and when I was least expecting it!), and he has brought many adventures into mine. Thankfulness abounds.



2017 is here and I really don't know what to expect, but we are here and ready for what God has for us and how he will direct our steps in this new year together! Thanks for following along in this recap of 2016...my year as a vagabond becoming a wife!