The Blog Wrapping Up 2014

Wow! Has it been a year already!?!?! 2014 brought a busy year of mothering 2 toddlers (which probably explains the severe drop off in blogs posts this year)... Here are some highlighs (to all you 2 people who read this blog: "Hi Mom!" "Hi Dad!" "Hi Paul!" )-ok... 3 people...

Anyways....

Highlights....

-January: 2nd annual vision retreat at the Lied Lodge in NE City... PERFECT! Oh yea... except we had our BABY with us!! Violet would not take a bottle until 8 months old so she tagged along... Still, it was a fabulous tradition that we are making a part of our life. This coming January we will have our 3rd vision retreat in Colorado (No babies!- Thanks Grandparents!)

-February... Theo turned two. With an affinity for balloons, balls, and Bam (the dog)... we will just call it the B year... Also, I survived the month of January and February with two small children, weekly dr's visits because of ear infections, and eventually Violet also got ear tubes which made my life much easier. 

-March: Took a trip to Lied Lodge with whole Lanphier side of family... 7 babies swimming in a pool! Fun!
-April: Paul started his dream job at our dear friends (Scott and Lindsay Warren)'s Home Building company and LOVES it.. Lots in of ideas and growth in the works for 2015 so we are both thrilled to find such a good fit for him :)
-Also in April... We had a dog. For a month. You'll have to take that brilliant idea up with my husband who insisted it would be great... Yea, with 2 kids two and under that trial month flew by... Best decision I have ever made is being Dog Free for Life (those of you who knew me in my childhood will be shocked by that statement)... Let's just hope none of my kids get my fervent love for animals or I will be eating my words...
- Mother's Day 2014 was very significant to my heart. My dear 97 year old grandmother in the Faith 'Grandma Germaine' has seen countless women who desire to be mothers have babies. She prayed and imparted the blessing of praying for others to get pregnant into my life. I will never forget that specail time.

-June! Bestie Elizabeth Mabrey got married! Paul, myself, KIM-BOW-LAY, and cousins Bryson and Alyssa roadtripped to Chicago for the wedding! We stayed with Havekost cousins Erika and Josh and so enjoyed our time with them.

-July... Schenzel Family Reunion in Chesepeake Bay with the Schenzel/Darr side of family... MAGICAL  I sure hope this is a reoccuring event. Pool, tennis court, boats, jet skis, theature room.... need I say more...

-August... Vi turns 1! Spunky, Spicy, and Sweet we will call this her S year... But seriously, this baby is very attached to her parents, her grandmas, and- well, that's kinda it. She is a sassy little thing who keeps us on the edge of our parenting game...

-September: Vi and I flew with my parents and siblings to wild and wonderful West Virginia for my cousin Josh's wedding. A very memorable time with the Alexander side of the family...

-Also September.. Paul and I decided to seal the deal on our faith and get baptized (just kidding... we were already committed, but just hadn't wanted to get baptized until my dad could be apart (Good job being a pastor and all Dad!)

 
-October: Paul's sister Amy had the 8th grandbaby on the Lanphier side after spending 5 weeks on hospital bedrest! So happy to have sweet Collette here safe and sound... Did I mention she has two brothers ages 3 and 15 months (at her time of birth) !?! Amy and Andrew are busy parents.... 

 
-November: RoadTRIP! Houston, Texas to visit our dear friends Nick and Angie Delaney followed by Jackson, Mississippi to see the Grantiers! Wonderful Thanksgiving with friends who are more like family. 

-December: Christmas is more and more special every year with young kids... We did the Santa thing with Theo and I don't know about him, but it made Christmas much more magical for me! December always makes me so grateful for the richness of life in having wonderful families on both sides.  

Here's to a great 2015!
   

The Cousins' Vox

   Sometimes you begin something nonchalantly, not have the slightest clue that it will change your life forever. The Cousins' Vox has done that for me. 
  Voxer, for those of you unfamiliar, is a voice-recording, walkie talkie app. Me and my three cousins (Joy, Laura, and Alyssa) have a group vox where we chat EVERY single day.
   Guys, it beyond fun. Each cousin brings something so entirely different to the conversation that we can't help but vox ALL THE TIME! One time, I had 215 Vox messages to catch up on in the span of 2 hours... that's a small picture into our level of love for the cousins' vox.
   Take Laura, for example, she is like having a personal stylist and interior design consultant at your beck and call.. She pretty much single-handedly helped Alyssa envision the decor for her new home. She could probably design in her sleep. Laura also loves to cook and entertain. She is basically the ideal woman. Plus Laura is very prophetic and one of the most naturally caring people you could hope to meet.
   Joy, besides keeping all us other cousins' hair in top condition (she is a hairstylist), helps define our core muscles from the sheer hilarity of her voxes. Joy is the most naturally funny person I have EVERY MET. Seriously. She also is so versatile because not only is she hysterical, but incredibly wise and profound too. This girl hears from God and studies The Word more than I even thought it possible to do (kidding, kinda). Joy also boasts a deep love for her cats Lilly and Mischa, whose pictures make frequent appearances on vox. She has for sure been accused of liking cats a little too much...
   And Alyssa, undoubtebly the most "Zen" cousin of the bunch. Alyssa's calm and level approach to life and being the mother of TWINS makes her the go-to for Joy and my very high highs and low lows that our personalities present. Alyssa is the rock of the cousins Vox. She also will randomly be SO funny without even trying to be that you can't almost stand it. She and I lived together two years in college with some other friends so we have a lot of history together, have been in each others weddings, and plan on living together someday again if we all outlive our husbands.... 
  I will say that I have made several sacrifices being a part of the cousins' Vox. First off, I'm an avid cat disliker and I have had to power through some very long voxes about cat-related incidents because all the other cousins happen to love cats. I did conceded to us all having cats in our future cousins'  old people home (if in fact, we all do end up out-living our spouses- BTW we are hoping our husbands all live long, healthy lives... we just needed a back up plan and alternative to a nursing home).  
   Admittedly, I also have put the cousins through some stretching voxes of my own... Like that trial month where Paul convinced me that we should take a Schnauzer puppy... with me having a new born and not yet two-year-old... Yea those were some interesting times.
   But lest you think the Cousins' vox is all entertainment, think again. For a stitch in time, we actually had a "word of the day" challenge so that we increased our vocabularies. We have collectively participated in healthy eating challenges and regularly share what we are learning from the books we read and scripture we study. The cousins' vox has even crossed over into a couseling tool within the last week as we pleaded with Joy to consult her parents on some parenting questions we had. 
   In short, thank God for the Cousins' Vox. 

Time Freeze

   I'm almost certain that the times when heaven is nearest are the times when I'm rocking my baby in the dark in the middle of the night. 
   I sleep train my kids so they don't need me rocking them to fall asleep... but lately, in the last month or so, if Violet wakes up because she is teething I will go in and give her some infant Tylenol and rock her. As I stare at her sweet little face in the dark I am so overcome by my love for this baby that it's all I can do to not cry. I can see the shadowy circles of her eyes looking into my face as her eyelids droop and she falls back asleep. I know that in these moments she is sure of how completely loved and safe she is as we rock back and forth, back and forth. It's as if I'm given a pause button for a few minutes from the speedy first year of her life that is flying by. I stare hard at the silhouette of her face and will that this moment would be imprinted upon my heart forever... Has 10 months really almost come and gone? I felt like she would never sleep through the night or never take a bottle, but now she does. She turns one in two months. My baby. 
   I love everything about her. I think 7-10 months is my favorite baby stage. Alert and responsive, yet still not mobile (at least my kids aren't yet). I love how she flaps her arms when she gets excited. I love how she watches Theo and is so mesmerized by his every move. I love that she wakes up happy. I love that I can now fit a tuff of her little hair in a pig tail.. 
   But most of all I love those sweet unanticipated moments when one of my kids needs me and I get to just hold them, to smell the tops of their little heads, to kiss their plump chubby cheeks, and hold them tight against my heart reassuring them that everything will be ok because I will not leave them alone. I am their constant.

Not a great pic, but I just love how this captures her little cheeks and lips... was taken during a late night rocking session

nothing like a sleeping baby....

and again...

big almost 10 month old! (first poney tail!)

 

Sharing the journey....

   Sometime, from the outside it can seem like certain people have it all together. In this world of social media and artificial relationships we can feel like we are alone in the fact that we have struggles or encounter trials.
   Lately, I find myself aware of how important it is to "share your journey" with others because the hard work of life often is much less celebrated and documented in our culture. I have been thinking about Paul and my lives the last few years and to be honest: it is not anything like we would have anticipated it would be at the beginning of those years.
   You see, we decided to take a risk and not follow the typical trajectory of marriage, house, stability, and then babies (although there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that- and believe me, there have been times the last two years when we scratched our heads and wondered if we had made a mistake in pursuing a different path). Three years into marriage, we rid ourselves of all our possessions and took one car 1600 miles across the country to attend ministry school together (that was almost 3 years ago!). We had saved really hard and lived with my parents for several months leading up to the move so we could take an adventure. We moved without jobs, housing, or knowing anyone. But guess what?  We have the best year of our lives. So much growth, excitement, and fun. Plus who doesn't love California?!
   But then we came home... with a baby, no money, and a lot of dreams of what the following years would look like for us. We had a pretty good idea what the Lord had called us to, but weren't entirely sure how we would make it happen. Paul got job, we ministered on the side, and worked hard to hold fast to the amazing beliefs and gifts we now carried from our year away.
  But guess what? Life was hard. We lived with my parents for an entire year (that part actually was really fun... I will blog about it sometime), we still had only one car (and up until a few weeks ago still only had one car) and no money to fall back on since we spent our savings to be able and attend Bethel. Paul wasn't doing his dream job and yet, we felt we had clear direction with every decision we made. Things seemed to take twice as long for us as they did those around us and every month we battled to not sink emotionally that yet another month had passed without Paul living in passion and vision.
   We love the prophetic. This is where we come alive and love to use this gift to help others see what incredible plans God has for their lives. With our own lives however, we knew what we felt we were supposed to do, but it seemed as if there was a pause button on our destiny. Honestly, we needed God to open clear doors for us to help us find our fit.
   A little before Thanksgiving, one of Paul's good friends from church spoke with him about coming to work for his home building company as the VP of Sales. We felt truly excited about this opportunity that had come almost two years since being home. Working in a successful, Christian-owned company was a dream come true for Paul and we knew that there is much potential.
  This is our breakthrough. But what about the two years that led up to it? Is that part of our story something that should even be shared? I believe it should.
    Everyone, EVERYONE, is on a journey. Whether you believe in God or not, your life is telling a story and inviting other people into your hardships and struggles in not a sign of weakness, but rather strength. Those two difficult years have taught me that my roots and character are much more important that worldly success and "accomplishing my dreams." Paul and I have talked much about how we want who we are on the inside to be bigger than what people see on the outside. We are imperfect, fall short, have made mistakes, felt discouraged, but we clung to the promise that God is good. We chose to believe the promises that had been spoken over our lives even when our circumstances were screaming the opposite.
  I know now that God wastes nothing. There is no experience that cannot become an asset for his plan. Even working two years while feeling that 'pause button' has translated into tools that we use now in ministry and Paul's job. You see Isaiah 55:8-9 says " 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" God knows. His plan is best. But it's ok to have struggles along the way.
  Here is an excerpt from my journal about why it is so important to share your journey:
-opens you up to receive love and support from community
-allows others who have walked the same road to strengthen you
-when you are on the other side of your mountain it will give people hope that they too can overcome their own mountains
-keeps us relatable and grounded
-allows the Lord to heal our pain
-gives Jesus glory
-invites others to share their own stories
-gives others the opportunity to respond well to what you share

Now not everyone needs to start a blog or post their struggles all over the internet, but it is important to share with someone around you. The highs and lows of life were not meant to be experienced alone. Be brave. Know you're not alone.