Beauty for Ashes

Adam, I feel like I don't express to you enough how important you are to me.  I need you to know that I love you more and more every single day.   I couldn't imagine my life without you in it.  I want you to know that I pray for you daily.  I know you do a lot for our family and that can't be easy.  I am thankful for you-for your heart.  I am amazed at how well you love people.  You make me want to be a better person, a better believer, a better wife, a better mom.  Thank you for pushing me outside of my comfort zone.  For pushing me to want more out of life and to not be okay with the status quo.  I realize now, before you, I wasn't living.  You make life exciting for me.  Every day is a new adventure with you.  Even if that simply means we are laying on the couch and stumbling upon a new series on apple tv.   Thank you for ALL you sacrifice-for ME.  I know you still have dreams that pull at your soul. ...

Looking back on my life, when I was just a small girl, I dreamt of becoming a mother one day. Being a mom was the only thing I wanted to be when I grew up.  I didn't have aspirations to be a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher.  I simply wanted to be a mom.  So today, I am so thankful to my God.  He is the one who allowed my childhood dream of motherhood to come true. I am truly humbled that he picked me to be Cody and Owen's mommy. I come from a lineage of women who set the perfect example of what it is to be a great mom. The love of a mother is endless, as my mom, continues to show me even as I am an adult and have children of my own.   Today is the day we celebrate our moms and all of their hard work.  To show our appreciation to the one who has cared for us and loved us from day one.  As I celebrate my mother and all she continues to do, I am also reflecting upon my God.  What a mighty God we serve.  It's because of His blessin...

The morning I found out about you it was early.  I was up because I wasn't getting much sleep those days.  You see, two days prior, I found out my marriage was over.  We still hadn't told the boys, so my former spouse was asleep in the next room.  That morning, he left his cell phone on.  That morning, a text came through-from you.  When I first found out about you, I didn't know what to think or how to feel.  I felt betrayed instantly. I was angry with you.  I had been lied to.  I didn't want to believe the evidence on the cell phone I held in my hands.  You hear of stories all the time of this happening, I just never thought it would happen to me.  How could I have been so clueless-so naive?  I didn't want to believe any of it.  I think I was just in a state of shock.  I didn't want to believe that my then spouse was having an affair.  That you knew about my marriage ending before I did.  I can remember th...

Life is made up of so many moments. Watching the boys yesterday, I had a moment of true thankfulness. I can still hear their laughter-so happy and full of joy as they rode in on every wave. I wanted that moment to stand still-just long enough so I could soak up every bit of it. In that moment, I was truly thankful for every blessing in my life. Especially, the road I walked down to get me to my life today. God doesn’t promise our lives will be easy. He promises that he will always be there-for every moment. Whether that be sad, happy, exciting or terrifying. I learned that first hand along my journey. It’s something I’m extremely grateful for. I pray that I have set the right example for my children to grow up and want to have a strong relationship with their God. Not just in the happy moments, but in the painful and disappointing moments too. Their time of leadership and strength start now, when they are young. So boys: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you ar...