4 Reminders My Heart Needed This Fall

As the cold comes and the Advent season is upon us, I began to think back over the past couple months. We welcomed into our arms our sweet little Claire in September, and so this fall has been a journey into all things new as a family of four. Its been hard, but its been sacred. The Lord has been so gracious and kind in this new season. And in looking back I've seen the four reminders my heart needed to hear. 

​​Grace is Sustaining

We've had some really long days. Lots of really, really long days. Spencer leaves the house by 6 and comes home around 6 and sometimes later, and I'm home with the a three year old and an almost three month old. The Lord has provided extra opportunities at work for Spencer with driving the bus and coaching; and we are thankful for His provision for our family and I'm thankful for a husband that works hard to provide for us. But as thankful as we all are, it makes long days for us all. But the Lord continues to sustain us. And I'm so grateful to experience that daily. Being desperate for His grace and strength and joy and peace is a wonderful place to be. The grace that saved me is the grace that sustains me. That reminder leaves me utterly grateful.

Simple is Good

We probably had the simplest Thanksgiving either of us have ever had this year. We decided it was best for our little family to stay home this year. Because, well, see the above point. We need any rest we can get and we cling to any time we can get together. We also have a new little one that has a really great scream in the car more often than not and Spencer had a couple of basketball practices to coach. So staying home was the best for our family. We roasted a turkey for the first time and I made a few sides. It was so simple. Part of me wished for more, more family and more food and more friends and more noise, but the simplicity of it, the quiet of it, the rest of it, was what we needed. And it was good. It wasn't flashy, wouldn't have been pinned on Pinterest or liked on Instagram. But it was us. Just us. And sometimes less fosters more gratitude. Sometimes simplicity reminds you of all the Lord has graciously given.

Parenthood is Reflective

As my oldest daughter grows, she struggles more and more with fear. Anxiety already displays itself in her. And it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart because I see myself in her. I know how fear and worry and anxiety can grip you, and I desperately don't want her to deal with the stronghold it can become. Her fear breaks my heart because I know it all too well. But as I parent her through her fearful times, I see a direct reflection of how my Heavenly Father cares for me when I am fearful. He bends down and holds my shoulders and looks me in the eye and tenderly says, “You don't need to fear because I am with you. You can trust me. Look in my eyes and believe what I tell you. Take my hand and know I love you.”

Hope is Certain

The election brought out some really ugly parts of our country and culture. And it brought out anxiety and heartache in me. I couldn't go online without my stomach turning in knots. But then I started to listen and look for the good. I started to see glimpses of hope. And I remembered that death comes before resurrection, bondage comes before freedom, ashes come before beauty, destruction comes before restoration. So while so many things seem to lead to despair, I choose hope. Because the only way healing, reconciliation, repentance, revival can come is if sin first comes to light. And it sure has. So now, as so many divisions are displayed, the Church can rise up in this unique time and show the world the real Jesus. Because the world is so desperate for Him. ​And we have a hope that is certain and secure, a hope that does not put us to shame or disappoint.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. {Romans 5:1-5}

A Little Connatser Family Thanksgiving

This post is linked up with others on Emily P. Freeman's blog for a What We Learned Fall 2016 post.