Fighting to Flourish – the American Dream

In Tucson, Arizona, visiting family

Why I Moved to Waco? That’s the question, right? We have been living here two years, nine months. We moved here for a job, but why would we take a job in Waco, Texas from San Diego, California? For the answer to a dream. We wanted a house, less stress, less debt, a better place to be a family. Follow God’s path for us.

Over the past couple years, I’ve received numerous emails and Instagram DM’s from people who live all over the country but mostly in California who tell me they identify with this desire to find a better land.

A better land – it’s a heart’s desire that can be found back in the pages of history.  The Israelites, God’s chosen people, picked up and moved with everything they could carry to exit the land of Egypt where there was food, water, and shelter.  They had the basic necessities, but they were slaves living a life of bondage.

There are many forms of bondage.  We can be slaves to work, our fears, another person, to the “man” i.e. debt, the expectations placed upon us by society, our parents, our environment. The American Dream says we have the right to be successful and achieve status if we work hard enough.  We tell our kids to stay in school, study hard, volunteer, stand out and get into the “right” school, so you can reach whatever pinnacle you DREAM.  What we don’t usually tell them is what that pursuit can cost.  Without a pure motivation, that pursuit can be for all the wrong reasons.  The adage “at all costs” goes hand in hand with “money doesn’t buy happiness.”

“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will
flourish like a green leaf.” {Proverbs 11:28}

So if life’s big purpose doesn’t lie in having the biggest house, or the best college education, then how do we realign our dreams to find happiness, fulfillment, and contentment?

What are your dreams?

Are you a stay-at-home mom looking to be back in the workforce but wondering how you’ll ever give up what your life looks like now?  Are you afraid of that might look like?

Are you working a job that makes great money and pours into others but leaves you feeling dried up? Maybe you’re looking to step back from your career a bit and lean into raising your family.

Maybe your reality is drowning under a mountain of dirty diapers, laundry, and dishes, and all you need is a little time to get out from under all the monotonous responsibilities and be able to appreciate the sunshine and outdoors.

The truth is that we women have to face this struggle of finding our place, and sadly it usually means toting a bag of guilt under a hat of shame.  Fulfillment doesn’t come from a paycheck or what car you drive or how many kids you’re raising or how clean your house is.

Recently, my fourteen year old son and I were discussing school and being motivated for a future; he asked me, “What did you want to be, Mom? Did you want to be a mom and stay home and do laundry?”  It’s a good question.  The answer is yes.  I chose this for this season of my DREAM.  My mom did the same thing.  Of course there are trade-offs, and there are different paths I could have or still might pursue.  THAT is the American Dream.  Most importantly to me (and what I told him) is that I get to choose.  And yes, we discussed that it’s not just laundry and dishes.  He knows, but he’s a teenager.

The age-old proverb “All that glitters is not gold” holds true in every century.  We can’t just go for the shiniest option.  We need to go for what we’re called to be in the middle of – whether that’s running a corporation or running a household.

Find your joy today.  Step out in faith if it’s somewhere you’re scared to go.

Why Waco?

I wrote a post for the Waco Moms Blog as a reflection of the question we have heard the most in our transition here.

Feel free to read it here.

Year Two in Waco

 

As of today, we have lived in Waco two years!  It hardly seems possible.  I don’t know that I officially pass as a Texan, but there are many ways we have adapted to our new home state.  We still miss water and mountains and have found a snake and other nasty critters in our backyard (all harmless), but we have also hit some big mile markers.

Settling into our new home

Obviously, we love our home!  We’ve been living in it for fourteen months and though we don’t have every wall decorated perfectly and still have an original master bath (I’ve torn down the wallpaper at least), we can honestly say we feel settled in.  There are maybe a few boxes hidden in closets, but they are the things I have excuses not to deal with.  I’ve managed to keep about 2.5 indoor plants living, and we only lost a few of our front yard trees/bushes (I’m blaming the winter freeze).

Getting a Dog

She has been a part of our family for a few months now.  It’s been an adjustment.  I am still not a dog person, but I see how much the kids love her.  One more mommy sacrifice.  Her hair and strange herding behaviors with random people and my husband still make me sooo frustrated though.  Just like raising kids, we go through seasons.  The good news is each season is a little less difficult than the last – whining and barking are down.  But dog breath – wow, that’s a tough one to take.

Completing Junior High and Grammar School

Our kids are now twelve and fourteen and entering seventh and ninth grade.  It’s baffling.  These two years have been huge milestones, and I know that the upcoming six years will be filled with so many more, I will hardly have time to take them all in.  We entered the world of dances, cell phones, and shaving.  Next up: make-up, driving, and dating. Yikes.

More Involvement in the Community

We have friends and a life group and ties to many locals through school, work, even Instagram.  As most parents, we’re chameleons to the needs and involvements of our kids – each sport or activity becomes our current world.  My husband got back into the triathlon world this year.  The race ended up in a near tornado storm cancellation in the middle of the race!

Infinite amounts of Yardwork

No, really.  Winter is a nice break from the Texas heat, but then there are the INSANE amount of leaves.  We have 50+ trees in our backyard and 90% of them lose their leaves.  Yes, we are doing our own yard work (mostly my husband), and as he has slowly been shaping, cleaning, and redesigning the backyard as time and money allow, the people at the dump think he MUST own a landscape business!

More Travel

We promised ourselves that the move to a new part of the country would lead us to travel to new places.  While we haven’t reached international status yet, we did finally make it to the East Coast!  We spent two weeks this summer driving 3,700 miles through 15 states and saw big bucket list places like New York City, Washington DC, and the Atlantic Coast at Virginia Beach.  As silly as it might seem, I think the drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel was one of the most memorable.  We made it just before sunset and that sixteen miles of driving across the water (and under it) was just magical.  I only wish I had been able to capture a decent photo of the bridge.  We took plenty of others:

Brooklyn Bridge

Virginia Beach

Lincoln Memorial

Shehawken Lake in PA

Hopes for Year Three

Year Three has begun, and I can’t wait to see what amazing surprises God has in store for us.  One day at a time, with the promise that He will be with us and guide us according to His will.  I’m praying for more writing opportunities, more community involvement, and maybe another (dry) triathlon for the hubby!  I’m also so thankful for all the new people I’ve met through this venue.  It also makes me laugh when I have encounters like the one I recently had with a woman in Marshalls.  We had met once at a local restaurant months before as connected by our kids being at the same school.  We talked briefly at Marshalls, and she admitted she didn’t remember my name.  A few moments later, she said, “this might be weird, but are you ‘whyimovedtowaco’ on Instagram?  Isn’t this a weird world we live in now?”  It’s fun to hear so many stories of others who are seeking God’s will about where to live or their experiences while here in Waco.

Where Else to Find Me

I have been posting less on this blog because I have been contributing on the Waco Moms Blog for the past 6 months!  You can find more of my posts there or my random photo and thought posts on my Instagram account.

Blessings to y’all.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will be carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

When Time Flies in Texas

We moved into our house 1 year ago already!  Isn’t it funny how quickly the waiting period for something greatly anticipated suddenly becomes ordinary and almost a hazy memory?  We left the Southern California coast in all it’s perfect scenery and weather and a picture pretty life in exchange for something different.

We’re settling into our new phase of life; year two is almost down and I can officially say that it feels like time has flown.

I have some specific ways I can verify that we feel like we aren’t the new kids in town.

I’ve started talking about life here in years instead of months.

The one year anniversary of moving into the home I felt would never happen a year ago passed almost without notice.

I drive around the town without using a map app or even thinking much about how to get there; instead, I wonder if I should take one of three ways I know I could get there.

We get connected to other newbies in town who want to know how well we’ve adjusted.

When I talk to my husband, we’re both able to use names of the people in our community without descriptors like a last name or “the guy who works in marketing.”

I feel like I say the “the” before I refer to a freeway number less and less.

I say y’all without even realizing (not much but sometimes).

I sort of know where the small towns are that others mention they’re from.

We are less surprised by the randomness of Texas weather where it can rain at any moment!

Our kids now think athletic brand clothing is way cooler than surf brands and can run three miles in 80 plus degrees and 85% humidity.

We still miss the coast many days, especially as we are entering those hot mid-summer days where the heat index is 100+.  We have to constantly remind each other that what we said goodbye to there was hard, but what God is daily teaching us is new and unexpected.  No place is perfect.  We survive each day He has given us with enormous servings of grace.

Each new season of life is filled with adjustment.  We have a son entering high school and our daughter is officially in junior high.  We are in THAT stage.  We could be empty nesters in six years.  These are the days to hold on to.  I’m thankful for our health, a home, kids who still like us most days, and a faith-filled hope that we have purpose here on earth.

As we celebrate our nation’s independence, I also celebrate our independence as a family who sees the head of our house more often, who own a piece of the American dream, and can “afford” (I say that loosely as the truth is what Americans ever feel they can afford it all) everything we NEED.

Enjoy this holiday and thank God for the freedoms you have and the ability to appreciate all the little things one day at a time whether you’re limping or dancing.  In a blink of an eye, you’re suddenly in a new place, age, or phase of life.

“I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you.  I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.”  II Corinthians 7:4

When We Moved To Waco, We Never

 

May 2015 – before we knew we would move to Waco just 3 short months later!

We never planned to move to Waco.  It just came about.  When people here ask us “what brought you to Waco?” I think they expect to hear the common answer of “Baylor” or “we grew up here.”  But we say, “God.”  Because the truth is that it didn’t completely make sense to uproot our family from where we had friends, a job, and a place with a ocean view.

When we say we moved here from San Diego, the usual response is “Oh, it’s so pretty there!” or “I love the ocean” or “Why?”.  When we said we were moving to Waco, I know many of our friends, family, acquaintances, and others have said, “You should be on Fixer Upper!” (after some of them said the expected references to the Davidians or the bikers).  I’d guess that 50% of American households have heard of Chip and Joanna by now.  And we know that they are amazing, but they are NOT Waco.  I know people are moving here by the droves.  Literally.  The housing market is booming – the word is that it’s up 25% in just the past year.  Downtown businesses are growing, there will soon be an expanded riverwalk filled with restaurants and new businesses.  There are good things happening in Wacotown.  Magnolia and what Fixer Upper shows America is one of them.

It is fun to watch Waco scenery flash across the tv and see familiar faces we’ve met in our brief year and a half of living here.  What’s really strange about the whole Fixer Upper thing is that we will be seeing our own faces on there, on the next episode, which airs…TONIGHT!

So when I say “when we moved to Waco, we never…,” I really mean that we never thought we’d actually be ON Fixer Upper.  It all just happened.

We have had to be pretty hush-hush about the process (contractual agreements and all), but now that it is about to air…

Our family is so thankful for our home and everything Chip and Joanna have done to make that happen!

So, if you’re a Fixer Upper junkie or you just really want to see us makes fools of ourselves on national television, tune in tonight.

 

The Tipping Point

I have a love-hate relationship with roller coasters.  As a child, I felt I had to go on them.  I was the oldest of four girls, and my dad needed a companion in the thrill.  I have a pretty legitimate fear of heights.  Even today, when I drive on single lane bridge overpasses, it makes me queasy.  I mentally overcome my fears by telling myself “I have to do this” or “it’s not that bad.”  Now, my own kids beg me to go on roller coasters.  When we had passes to Legoland, they had to have an adult to go on the rides (yes, I realize these don’t even count as roller coasters).  I would visualize before we were even on the ride that moment at the peak of the drop, where I knew I would momentarily wish I was dead.  But I had to do it.  My kids needed me to.  Just like my dad needed me to.

I am a people pleaser.  I’ve started to grow out of it though.  I tell my husband that he has helped me stand in my own place and say “no, I don’t have to if I don’t want to today.”

Today, I’m not wanting to.  I’m at a tipping point.  I’ve arrived at the peak of where we’re at in our new home.  I’m surveying the landscape and taking inventory of what this ride holds for us.  This tipping point is also the reality checkpoint.  All the newness has begun to wear off.  Our landscape isn’t filled with so many exciting unknowns.  It’s filled with dips and climbs in the form of house project checklists, homework-filled weeknights, and schedules filled with “have-to’s.”  We have a new life rhythm of school, work, church, and whatever we fill in the in-between.  We have new go-to’s that have new people and places.  All the dreams we imagined for our new life are a little more watered down with truth that budgets, schoolwork, and yardwork bring.  We are leaning into the turns where God is bringing us as a family into deeper spiritual and social growth.  Others are still the ones traveling the world, buying boats, and getting puppies.  Instead, we are filling our lungs with Texas air at the football stadium and cross country meet wildflowers.  Our rain-dirtied car is loaded with schoolbooks and smelly shoes and an exercise mat.  I am still working on that book that should be finished by now.

Does it sound like I’m feeling sorry for myself?  It’s that daily teetering precipice.  Each day, I choose which way I let the scale tip.  Joy or Discouragement.  Fear or Courage.  Contentment or Bitterness.

We all move through life the same way.  One foot in front of the other.  We choose our path.  My prayer this week has been that I could truly let “God determine my steps” (Proverbs 16:9).  When I’m at my tipping point, I need Him to nudge me the right direction, towards His best.  When others fail me, or I fail myself, He can make it right.  I’m trying to be a living example of this for our kids.  This is the point of the school year where everyone feels the squeeze.  Homework and studying are almost all-consuming.  My kids are such troopers.  Somedays, I want to take away the struggle and give up for them.  We’ve hit that point where I’m ready to pull the ripcord and say “this is too much.”  We’ve done this to them – plucked them out of the only place they really remember and put them in a new city, new school, and new way of life.  And it is hard.  Hours of studying doesn’t always produce success.  Being nice to people doesn’t always mean they’ll include you.  Practice doesn’t always make perfect in this life.

But in Christ, our joy will be made complete.  Joy doesn’t mean perfect circumstances.  It’s being thankful that we have each other.  We have everything we need.  I choose to bathe in the truth that “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)  Failure has value.  It can make us better.  It can lead us down a path where God can use us where we might not have gone if we hadn’t met our limit.  We can’t let the shiny things of this world steal our joy.  I want to reflect this to my children, so they won’t get caught sliding into the traps of disappointment, discontent, and disillusionment.

I want to reflect this to myself.  “In Christ alone, my cornerstone, weak made strong in the Savior’s love.   Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all.”

 

 

Getting Into a Rhythm

As we start lap 2 of living in Waco, we are having to find new ways to lean into making this our HOME. We’re barely getting adjusted to our new home.  I’d say there are still about 15 boxes to be unpacked – some because the bonus rooms aren’t ready for games and more books (yes, we have SO MANY books – I should count someday) and some just because I’m not “feeling” where the stuff inside said box should go.  Some would say I should just get rid of what I can’t find a place for in a 3000+ square foot house, but I’m not ready for that yet.  Slow and steady wins the race?

My philosophy of moving into a home (which we have done literally 20ish times in our 21 year marriage) is to grow into the space.  Sometimes I lay out all my options for a room and leave it looking cluttered until I pare down to what I decide to keep there.  And sometimes, I leave it pretty sparse until I find inspiration for a wall or shelf. We’ve rearranged the furniture in the living room and our bedroom twice, the office 3 times, and the walls are mostly still bare as I keep changing the location of what I’ve leaned against them.  Yesterday, while the kids were at their first day back at school, I attacked the laundry room to find some better order for the backpacks and laundry that somehow have to coexist.

Back to school was all about trying to figure out where to shop for the shoes they’d both outgrown.  We made the rookie mistake of not just buying what we saw the first time the month before, and so we spent some wasted hours trying to find the right size and uniform code appropriate color, only to end up buying two pairs instead of just one.  Female shoe shopping is no joke – don’t let anyone tell you any different.  My husband knows better.  I buy no more than 2 pairs a year because of my indecisive/budget conscious  inner struggle.  So he’ll buy me a pair (that I take back half the time) or my sister finally bought me a pair of Converse that I wasn’t sure I could pull off.

The previous seven years of schooling, we’d usually spend the last night of summer at the beach.  There isn’t really a beach here, although I guess we could’ve gone to the park at the lake?  We did start a new tradition thanks to a friend’s suggestion.  We sat together as a family and prayed over each of the kids and for the school year.  It was sweet to hear their prayers for each other.  Next year, I’m hoping we’ll have a pool to celebrate the last night of summer with a splash.

Now that we’re back on track (can you tell that we’re back into cross country training?), it feels appropriate to evaluate what will become our “rhythm” here.  How will we choose to spend our time and money and what is God telling us to do with both of these?  As September approaches, it’s a more realistic “spring cleaning” for me as I reset our schedules and our budget.  It’s time to see just what God has in store for us as we stop just treading water and start paddling towards new goals – whether they are spiritual, academic, financial, or fitness focused.

 

Another friend renewed by own resolve about pursuing passion and excellence as she posted about her desire to keep art going in her everyday life.  “Life often gets in the way, which in turn, starts to define art as a distraction…I want art and life merged into one organic and messy flow.”  She went on to say she was challenging herself to spend one hour an evening on her painting.  She already discovered that she DID have the time for her passion.

And that’s where I picked back up the truth that I had set aside (probably packed in a box) – I am the only one in control of how I spend my time.  I can’t blame it on my kids or my husband.  It is only me.  My motivation to pursue what God has put within me lies in my choices with my time, my words, my action.  The woman who teaches the class at the gym that I go to often encourages (sometimes guilts) me with her challenge to “just tell yourself you’ll do for just ten minutes.”  Then you usually end up going for it.

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him – these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.” I Corinthians 2:9-10a

Year One in Texas

Art by Crystal Sandoval

It’s been a year.  We have lived in Waco, Texas for 365 days.  This time last year, we rolled up in our sadly overstuffed CRV and threw everything into our VRBO rental in a transitional neighborhood (optimistically) before we headed directly to a back-to-school meeting at a school our kids had never laid eyes on before that minute.  The next 24 hours were a whirlwind of school shopping and grabbing used uniforms (the new ones hadn’t arrived) and jumping right in to athletics’ practices.  There was hardly time to breathe let alone process what we were doing.  Four months earlier, we had no plans to do so, but we had just uprooted our lives and moved over 1300 miles from Carlsbad, California AKA “Vacationland.”

So I figure it would appropriate to discuss the ways we’ve adapted to life here now that we have become official residents.  New house. One year of school under our belts.  One year at a new job.  Ten months of living a bit too long as gypsies. And one whole year of…Texas Weather.  Yup.  It was a full-blast, dive right into the sauna, HOT-IN-YOUR-FACE baptism from Day 1.  Sorry, kids, but you had to start running three miles and conditioning for a solid hour every weekday morning in 90ish degrees and 80ish percent humidity.  Then in October, the rain came.  And it didn’t stop.  For like three months.  Every weekend.  For sure if we had visitors.  Flooding rain that lit up the radar a nice shade of red.  Especially over 35 (not THE 35) if those visitors were driving late at night from Dallas in a tiny rental car.

Oh, and driving.  The biggest adaptation: Roundabouts.  They’re everywhere! Instead of an intersection to just turn left or an onramp to merge onto a different direction, you have to do a loop first, being careful to avoid any vehicles that might ignore the yield sign.  I know that in California, rolling stop signs is a thing, but here – a yield is only a pause in your mind, not from the gas pedal.  The good news is that there still isn’t too much traffic in Waco (aside from 35 construction, right by the Silos, and big game weekends by Baylor – oh, and maybe Valley Mills Rd).  When we were on vacation for a month this summer, I found myself getting frustrated with sitting through traffic signals and searching for a parking place for longer than thirty seconds.  I am already spoiled.

Y’all have no idea about the “y’all” influence!  Even if I don’t say it, I think it.  It’s already there.  In my brain.  There are also at least three other words I’ve written about that I said with a Texas twang as I typed them.  How did this happen?  I’m not gonna fight it though.  I still say “you guys” and “whatever” too, so I think I’m a good mutt.

A year into our new culture, and I’m still working on my kids to adopt Southern manners.  There’s nothing like a good ‘ole “Yes, Ma’am,” when you’re being corrected, questioned, or just plain asked a question.  Just once a day maybe?

What I could do with less of is bugs.  Mostly, it’s the skeeters.  They LOVE me.  They always have.  Growing up in Arizona taught me that.  At their worst this year, I had 31 bites on my legs and arms!  I have still not learned a regular protocol of applying repellant along with the sunscreen.  But I have stopped wearing any lotion.

Lotion isn’t really necessary when you live in liquid air.  The humidity is tough, mostly when you exercise.  Or take out the trash.  Or walk to get the mail.  Last week, a friend texted from California, “how are you handling the heat?”  My response: “it’s becoming our new normal.  We just sweat a lot.”  I can be thankful that I don’t have curly hair or care that much is my makeup runs (waterproof mascara is a must).

All the moisture does make it so green here.  Yes, the heat will fry your grass if it’s not watered, and the trees lose their leaves in the fall and winter, but the spring brings Bluebonnet Frenzy.  There are cars on the side of the road wherever there’s a cluster and someone is taking a selfie or a photo of their dog (I actually witnessed this in Austin).  The wildflowers really are pretty.  They aren’t just bluebonnets – there are Indian paintbrush, daisies, sunflowers, horsemint, poppies, and basketflowers in every color of the rainbow.  And they come in waves – when one color fades, another blooms.  It’s beautiful.

Wildflowers also bring allergies.  Apparently, Texas allergies are no joke.  Two of my family members suffer pretty harshly from them.  But they did in Arizona (dust) and California (mold) too.  It’s just a matter of finding the right antihistamine to swallow.  The magnificent trees are worth it though.  Makes up for the lack of mountains.

Instead of an ocean or mountains as far as the eye can see, there are trucks.  Trucks e’er’where. Work trucks.  Fancy trucks.  Trucks with horns.  Trucks with what looks like fence grates on the front.  Those are for the deer that will jump across the road without warning on the farm to market roads.  My own Mama loves her truck, so I get it.  Truck love is a thing.  And I get why you need them here.  All. that. rain.  And now that we have one, it’s so handy when you want to get rid of something – like old toilets.

 

And that brings me to the wrap up of our first year here in Waco.  We are finally settling into a routine where we can kick off our shoes, hang some pictures on the walls, and rest our bums on brand-new toilet seats before we lie down in our beds and stare up at freshly textured and painted ceilings.

God has provided in so many ways during this year of huge changes.  So what do I anticipate this next year to be like?  There will be plenty of driving, homework to finish at the kitchen island seated on our new barstools, and negotiating the highs and lows of the world of teenage (& preteen) emotions.  We are close to putting down our paintbrushes and texture guns.  There will be continued projects like ripping out overgrown sections of our yard and building a deck (and hopefully a pool).  Our master bathroom is still 100% original 80s and needs a millennial makeover.  I will write more and try more cupcakes.  We have hundreds more sunsets to watch and watering holes to explore.  We will continue to learn more about the amazing people in our town as we meet more of our neighbors and kids’ friends and church friends of friends.  We are building community while we live a life we are grateful for every day.  We are still pinching ourselves.  Sometimes I forget, but I’m reminded when one of my kids says, “I still can’t believe…”  So I guess I will also be continuing to work on my Mindfulness this year.  So I don’t forget why I moved to Waco.

I’ve Come Home

Mountains in Western NM

Too much luggage to lug!

Back in Texas

It’s been a long hiatus.  There are many excuses but none worth the page space.  The important thing is that I have returned!  We have returned to permanent home life – no more gypsy existence.  We have returned to Waco from our four states in four weeks summer travels.  And I have returned to write.  All of these reflect the biggest reason for “Why I Moved to Waco.”  We get to have our own home, go on vacation, and I can spend time writing.

It hasn’t been easy re-aclimating to the crazy life we’ve been juggling the past three months, but it has been worth it.  I have put up the suitcases after two months of living out of them (1 in home transition and 1 on vacation), but that doesn’t mean I have a perfectly organized closet yet.  There are actually still unpacked boxes of clothing in our still under construction bonus rooms (which probably means I should give most of it away), and there is blue painter’s tape around our closet door frames because we meant to paint in there but ran out of time before I declared a ban on suitcase-as-dresser living.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen the mess of toilets, green carpet, and paint swatches.  Our big renovation project did finish, but…it only encompassed our downstairs.  We purposely left ourselves “fun projects,” both for the money savings and because we want to DIY some of it.  It means our lives are mostly functional – we have an awesome kitchen, living, and dining space.  But we also have hit the reality-check wall of “there aren’t enough hours in the day or muscles in my arms” to accomplish all we put on our daily to-do lists. My husband has a full-time job but has spent most of his evenings steaming off wallpaper, texturing walls, or priming trim.  The kids are on summer break and can’t in good conscience just play Xbox or watch tv all afternoon. And they’ve done their fill of child labor.  The good news is we do have newly carpeted and painted bedrooms that no longer have popcorn ceilings, brand new toilets, and 2 of our 4 bathrooms are almost done with their cosmetic makeovers.

Yup, that’s green countertop we’re working with!

New floors need new rugs (I didn’t keep them all)!

So, all this to say…I’m back!  I have lots to catch up on.  School’s about to start, but we’ve got a couple weeks left to live summer to the fullest.  We’re hoping to squeeze in a little movie watching, river paddling, and possible wake boarding around the home projects and early morning cross country and soon-to-be football practices.

I hope y’all are enjoying the last days of your summer.  I’ve heard from some of my readers that they had planned trips to Waco (and some are moving here!), so I’d love to hear about them!  I also hope that you can give yourself grace for whatever plans you’ve held high hopes for but didn’t quite manage to accomplish.

Storytelling

 

This photo was from our recent 21st anniversary day trip to Salado to Fletcher’s Books and Antiques.  My husband and I have a “go-to” date place – bookstores.  My sisters think it’s funny.  In the beginning, it was because it’s a free place to go, but in truth it’s a place where we both like to explore and dream.  We explore separately and bring our finds, some funny, some cool, and share them.  We’ve shared many ideas (from religion to home decor to grad school) and discussed places to visit (or move) amid the sanctuary of page-lined walls.  The thing is that my husband was and has been for our twenty-one years of marriage, a big supporter of all my crazy ideas.  If I say anything resembling “I wish…” it will be done if not seriously attempted/explored.  I don’t tend to be a flamboyant dreamer, lucky for him, and I am a realist (he might say pessimist).  I can talk myself into and out of something in the same conversation.

The only area that I have become the dreamer in has been in home decorating and in my writing.  I indulge the first on Pinterest.  The latter, I am learning to jump into more than I’ve ever allowed myself.  Recently, I came across an article in the Waco Today magazine that was left on my coffee table after my sister visited.  It was an article about an upcoming Christian writers’ conference.  One of the things I haven’t replaced here in Waco was the accountability I found in a small writing group I was a part of in Vacationland.  I made myself go to the opening event to hear a speaker.  It was a good motivator to reminding myself to get back to my writing goals.  I missed the first week’s workshop but made it to the second.

I was definitely among the few heads younger than fifty, I’d guess.  We sat through an energetic presentation by an author and former educational presenter.  She made us sing and sway and share details about characters we were writing about.  My introvert nature was thinking about bolting for the door.  Then they made us get into table groups by our genre.  My Non-Fiction table consisted of six other women.  I’m pretty sure I was the youngest by a few decades.  As we each shared what our writing project was, I found myself taken in by the summaries of lives longing to share their experiences, pain, love, and family history with others before it was too late.  Most were widows, had lost a child, or had lived through a painful divorce, but each held onto the redemptive value of these losses and the need to write a beautiful story in an individualistic format – devotional, memoir, blog, or even an imaginative cookbook.

I walked to my car that evening filled with amazement at our Creator.  He has given us each such unique stories.  We get to choose what we do with them.  Some days, I’d like to be able to crumple up an experience or a decision like a discarded story attempt and toss it into the fireplace.  I am thankful for repentance and forgiveness that offer me that opportunity.  Each day is a fresh sheet of paper ready to be written on with my unique font, sprinkled with the blessing of great expectations and new chapters at unexpected moments.  It’s why I eagerly work towards finishing the book about my friend Valishia’s life.   Just this past month, she experienced a fresh loss in the death of her father-in-law.  I was fortunate enough to attend the service and witness the testimonies shared by his family and friends about a man who was ready to help others and live his faith.  The stories of life are filled with all the ingredients of life – pain, loss, hope, joy – stitched together in such unbelievable ways that there is no doubt an amazing Potter has used all the broken pieces to create a beautiful vessel as testimony.

Testimony is the same reason I feel led to write these blog entries.  I share our hopes and trials as my family walks into the pages of the second half of our first year in Waco with the expectations of great adventure in the form of a new stage of parenting a teen, renovating a house on a grand scale, and exploring future endeavors of God’s leading into a mission field of unexpected venues.  Life pages to be scripted at the hand of the Grand Author.

“Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,” Psalm 119:2