Brave Women

Relationships are complex. There will be some that will come and go based on the season of life. When you are within that season you don't necessarily see what the relationship is bringing in terms of changing, growing, stretching you. If the stretching, growing, and changing is positive then you lean in and pull a little tighter. You hold it closer and gleam what you can from the impact the person is having in your life. 

When you become a 'grown-up' you start to understand that friendship isn't just something that you invest time into because 'you like the person.' When time is precious you have to evaluate how your spending your time and with whom. If there is something I'm learning as I get older it is that the people we surround ourselves with and spend our time on should be those that encourage us to fix our eyes on what is loving and kind and not what "I want," but what God would want.

 It overwhelms me that my thirties ushered into my life the most amazing women. Just ask yourself, do I have women in my life who encourage me? Do I have a woman who can be honest with me?  I have an amazing group of women who encourage me to fix my eyes on the one who knows me best, Jesus! Those are the ones I call my friends. 

There are lots of great things that come with being a mom. One of the best, the friendships that come out of the friendships your children form! Missy and I first encountered each other in the Preschool line pick-up. Then to dance teacher/dance mom questions, to talking about how we want the dance hours our girls spend not only focused on their scorpion technique, but on their character. Sharing little bits about our lives in the quick moments we pass our daughters off on each other. Then one day you realize that this person has words they share with you that change how you perceive others, in a healthy way. The way they trust God and pray over every choice they make is one you admire. You want to be around them more, cause you hope that the courage they possess will make you brave too!

This is what I want my kids to grasp when it comes to the people they surround themselves with. Do they bring out the best in you? Are you proud of who you are after you have been with them? 

I also want my kids to know that no one is perfect. Each friendship is unique and brings something different to your life. All the women in my life bring a "best" to my life. Each one is a bestie and a best friend, because at this season of life my time is precious and I don't want to waste a minute. I want my time to be where I'm doing my best, and when I screw it up, cause I will, then the best comes out of trying to make it right.

This is much easier to do when the people we have in our life who are doing the same. I am amazed and overwhelmed and abundantly grateful for the beautiful, brave women God has put in my life.

Hebrews 13:7-8 
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Leaders to me are people I admire who have shared bits of truth about God with me. I don't want to model my life after them, because I'm unique and my life is my own, but I should mimic their faith! As people change and move in and out of our lives we can always rest in Jesus being our constant.

This is a leader in my life whose faith I want to imitate. She is humble, full of empathy and compassion, she loves to talk about her life and the way Jesus has moved in it, she has been my constant rock on this earth. She is a true model of brave, my Grandmother.

Happy Birthday Grant

March is the trickiest month. It gives you sneak peaks of Spring, but it isn't quite done with Winter. It is close enough to Spring that you stop trying to force yourself to stay positive about the weather. March means you open the windows around one o'clock and rush to close them around six. March means dance competitions, soccer season, and spring break for the kids, and the taste of summer, which brings this pent-up energy out of the kids that drives mother's batty. 

It is also the month my sweet, tender hearted, big brown-eyed boy was born. I will never forget how excited I was over the hospital nursery being full and surgical recovery rooms being full, because it meant I got to hold you much sooner than I had anticipated. This baby was calm, and content, and completely at peace with being out of the womb and rested on my chest. My Grant Mitchel was born 8 years ago today. 
He is the first in the family to pick-up on someone else's pain. He worries about others, deep concern that causes all these confusing emotions to emerge. He cries, but can't tell us why. He will be quick to get angry, but we aren't sure what set him off. He will refuse to hug me or say he loves me, then begs  me to lay with him and wraps his arms around my waist without warning. He is filled with so much empathy and sympathy and questions. I know God has a great plan for those gifts. 
Happy 8th Birthday Grant Mitchel!