Living Life as a Preacher's Wife

I can't believe 2016 is coming to an end! So many things happened in 2016. But what I am grateful for is a New Year to do things over again. For however much time God allows, I am thankful for each and every day we have to live. We have so many chances to mess up and stray from Him, but He continues to love us and give us another chance to make things right in Him. And I have learned about God's grace more than I ever have in 2016. One of my favorite verses now is Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." I think this verse is a good daily reminder for anyone who wants to be more like Christ. With this new year I have a few resolutions in mind, but one I plan on working on is not being so hard on myself. I tend to beat myself down with a lot of things and if I don't accept what is, I won't learn to be a better version of myself. And if I'm a better version of myself then I can be...

This time last year I had no idea what the New Year would bring, and little did I know we would be starting a new chapter of our lives somewhere else. This year has definitely been a rollercoaster ride. One of the harder years I’ve had in a while. Your will for your life might not be God's will, but you have to trust Him and have faith that things will work out for the better no matter where life takes you.  This year I got to celebrate my baby boy’s first birthday; (I can’t believe soon it will be two years since his birth!) first birthday’s are always a memorable one for me. And one of the highlights of my year was going with my best friend to see New Kids on the Block. I had so much fun and I was able to just kick back and enjoy myself for 4 hours while putting all the emotional stress aside. And I’m so grateful to my best friend who came along with me so I didn’t have to enjoy it alone. It will be a time I won’t forget!  But as there were great times with frien...

Wow, our time is quickly coming to an end as a family of three. It is really starting to hit me how much things are about to change! I know that his addition will be only the best that we could imagine, but at the same time, I am kind of sad that Natalie won't be the only child anymore. I recently had a mini break down just thinking about it one evening (Is that normal? I hope so). She has been ours for 2 years now, and it's been the best 2 years of our lives so far. Sometimes it's hard to fathom how life can get better...but I hear it does! God has blessed us with more than we could have ever dreamed of just by giving us her, and now He is graciously blessing us with another one to love and to raise in our family. Not to mention being blessed with a son now! My heart is so very grateful beyond words and I will be eternally thankful for these two blessings in my life. I've become so use to having just one kid and knowing what she needs, how she feels, how to fix her b...

"How much longer do you have?"  "You're really starting to look pregnant." "How much weight have you gained?" "Are you sure there is just one in there?"  "Oh....that many weeks left....you look ready." Those are just a few of the phrases us pregnant mama's love to hear, right? Being 36 weeks during my second pregnancy, the time has come for those comments.  It doesn't help when your second or third pregnancy starts to show sooner and you grow faster than your first because your body has been through it already and your muscles just relax. Right now  I've had those awkward stares or glances in public (like people have never seen a pregnant woman before). And no matter how nice someone might say something to you, it still ends up sounding rude most of the time. Why is it suddenly "okay" to say what's on your mind to a pregnant woman?  We may never know the answer to that mystery.  After a while, you ...

If you know me, you know I love babies! I have been obsessed with them for as long as I can remember. After church services you never saw me without a baby in my arms or on my hip. The first time I babysat a tiny baby on my own I was 15 and the baby was 3 months old. She screamed the whole time (I am guessing because of tummy issues) and 15 minutes before her mom came back, I finally bounced her to sleep. I will never forget that day, but it didn't stop me from wanting a baby of my own. I always longed for and wondered about the day I would have my own baby and what the baby would look like and be like. More importantly, I had always wanted a little girl I could name Natalie Ann. I would doodle her name in school on my paper and pray that God would one day bless me with a Natalie if it was in His will. Didn't matter who I married I was going to name my first daughter Natalie! (Ha, glad I found Jacob who loved the name as much as me.) And then it happened. On November 22, 2011, ...

"I am not going to marry a preacher" is what I told myself when I started getting old enough to date. I was so sure I did not want to be in the preaching family business again once I was old enough to start my own life...and then I met Jacob. (ha!) It's funny how so often in life you end up "eating your own words" because I sure did! When I first started talking to Jacob I flat out told him that I wasn't interested in marrying a preacher because I grew up in a preacher's family and I wanted something different. I was tired of moving, changing schools, having to let old friends go and make new ones, I was tried of starting over again. That's pretty much what my life consisted of while growing up. And right when I met Jacob I had just moved to the Roanoke, TX area and so my emotions were running high. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change the past for anything (well, maybe just one or two things, ha!) because it has made me the person that I ...