Family Rules

Today I did something that has been on my Bucket List for years! 😅 I cooked a turkey! 🦃 And it was a 20 lb-er to boot! Isn’t it funny how the things that scare us the most typically end up being not that bad? I confess that the amount of overthinking I did about cooking a turkey almost kept me from ever doing the thing! I mean, there are a lot of ways to cook a turkey. And don’t get me started on the gravy! 😵‍💫 But then God sent me a few friends and a sweet mama - all who were there for me even in the early morning hours of searching for giblets (no, I never did find them) and trying to figure out if I did the cheesecloth right. They let me borrow their roasters and fat separators and consistently cheered “You got this!” in my ears. I also surrendered that bird to Jesus and He was faithful to see me through. Often you have to narrow down the voices and fix your eyes on Jesus to find your victory. Then our great fears can become great adventures. 🙌🏻 So today I am thankful for God’s presence to strengthen and comfort in hard things! And I am thankful for His people who are willing to love me through the hard things! This is God’s best - His perfect design for us includes trusting Him and enjoying His many benefits through the faithful love of others. Happy Thanksgiving, sweet Happy Home Fairy friends! Thank you for being a great benefit to my family and to me! I adore you all! 🧡🦃🧡🦃🧡 Psalm 107:8-9 "Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things."

Who can you message right now and thank for being an example of God’s goodness in your life? “Return to your rest my soul. For the Lord has been good to you.” Psalm 116:7 🍂🧡🍁🍂🧡🍁🍂🧡🍁 #thekindnessantennae #kindness #bekind #godisgood #thegoodnessofgod

Today is Obi’s 3rd birthday and we couldn’t be more thankful! The transition to having a dog almost sent me to heaven and I think it’s taken me this long to finally accept that the floors and basically everything will never be clean again, but this dog has changed our family for the better. 🐶He is always happy to see us. 🐾He is a tremendous comfort to Ryan. 🦴He knows when one of us is sad and he looks for ways to make it better. 🐶He loves to be chased around the coffee table. 🐾He can destroy literally any dog toy we give him. 🦴He jumps on us when we get home from school and it’s the best thing ever. 🐶I thought getting a dog meant he would eat anything and everything, but he is exactly like my children. Will eat any meat, will not touch veggies. Also I have never been more stressed than when we have grapes in the house. 🐾But you should know his most favorite thing to eat is tissues. Any tissue he can find. Especially the used ones straight outta the garbage. 🦴He gets so proud when he catches iguanas in the back yard. We feel pretty good about it, too. 😜😣 🐶He is the perfect dog for us! We love you, Obadiah Jude! 🥳 #goldendoodle #goldendoodlef1b #dogsofinstagram #doglover #happybirthdaydog

Had the BEST time in the Netherlands! But super happy to be back. 😅 #lovemyjob

About a year ago, our church came to Ryan and asked if he and I would go to the Netherlands for a prayer conference. How could we say no?! But as the day of our trip grew closer, I grew more and more fearful! With the election tensions, travel out of the country seemed way too scary! I went into serious overthinking mode. And yet the Lord was so kind to me even though He had to drag me kicking a little. I would have preferred the familiar day to day grind rather than believe God had a new thing in store. Now, I feel foolish for resisting such a beautiful gift. What if Moses never went? He tried real hard to get out of it, but God said with tremendous compassion, “Off you go.” To reap rewards! To advance the kingdom! To benefit God’s people! To glorify the Father! To experience His goodness in fresh and new ways. Fear is a thief that WILL steal your joy, peace, and gratitude. To preach to yourself >> The Lord PROMISES to guide us in paths of righteousness for HIS namesake! He promises still waters and green pastures! He promises to be with us wherever we go! Oh, to trust Him without question as a loving Father. Forgive my spiritual amnesia, Jesus. 🤍 I’m so thankful for this week of worship, new adventure, precious people, growth, beauty, and uninterrupted time with Ryan. I think Amsterdam is a new favorite city and I’m already dreaming of going back. 😆 Tot ziens, Netherlands! 🇳🇱 God used you in my life!

Zion! His name means “The place where the Lord dwells” and I can honestly say that I feel close to God when I’m with this sweet boy. 🩵 We tried for a third child, but after 5 years we finally surrendered and accepted that our little family would remain a party of 4. I gave away the crib, the changing table, and all the baby clothes that we had kept in the garage. We were pregnant the next month. 😜 I prayed these things for Zion when I was pregnant with him and I love seeing how the Lord has answered… I prayed that Zion would be >> 😁Smiley - Zion’s smile is so easy and it truly lights up the room! 🥰Sweet - Zion has a tender and loving heart. He often will come find me in the house just to say he loves me or to ask for “up-py”. 💨full of the Spirit - Zion is quick to confess sin and pay attention to when the Lord is calling him to action. 🎶a Songbird - Zion is always singing! and… 💪🏻Strong! - He can do the monkey bars like no other. 😆 Happy 6th Birthday to our angel boy! We love you so much! 🥳

“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22. Something that is important to me is being discerning about the things we bring into our home as well as the things our family consumes. Like the Scripture above, I want to test it all, holding it against God’s standard. Does it bring life? Or does it promote death? Will this point us to light and truth or darkness and lies? Zion was given this book as a gift and he really loves it, but as we spent time with the story, the illustrations brought a discomfort and nudging to our spirits, indicating a need for discernment and action. A friend introduced me to this helpful tool when navigating culture. Receive Reject Redeem I’m all for a hero story and didn’t think this was something we needed to reject completely. And yet we didn’t want to receive it completely, either. So we chose to redeem the book by adding our own drawings to the various characters. It was a fun project and an instructive one. As a believer, there are many different opinions and thoughts about how to engage with the culture. The best thing we can do is pay attention. Be alert. Take it all before the Lord. Seek to honor him and make the most of these days! Ephesians 5:15-16 says. “Be careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” #christianmom #culture #christianfamily #raisingkidsright

When I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, she made a plan to take everyone to an indoor play park for the grandkids to enjoy and then go shopping at the Boca mall. While at the mall, she proceeded to buy the boys new Lego sets and me some drinking glasses that won’t break in a house full of crazy boys. On a day meant for HER, she made it about everyone else. Which is the essence of who my mom is. 🥲 My mom is truly the most magical, kind, generous, fun, warm, beautiful, encouraging, bright, happiest person I know. I can’t believe that I get to be her daughter. She makes me want to be better every day. 🎈Happy Birthday🎈 to my angel mother!! You are my light and my inspiration! 🙌🏻 I pray I can shine half as bright as you! ✨✨✨

✨There’s no place like home - except Grandma’s house!✨ We got to spend time in Jersey this past weekend with my Mom-Mom/Oma. 🥹 💛She is sunshine and joy and goodness. 💛She is always happy to see us. 💛We brought over pizza for dinner and she had set the table with some tiny treat additions that made me smile. Grandmas always add a little pizazz and magic. 🙌🏻 💛She told me about when she met my Pop-Pop. He came to buy refrigerators she was selling and said, “I will take 3 refrigerators and that lady.” 😉 💛She faithfully attends church. 💛The silhouette of the cross in her front windows is such a picture of her heart >> Faithfulness each day to love and serve like Jesus. 💛My Pop-Pop was a principal for many years and he wrote the 10 Commandments of Human Relations. I can’t help but think how Mom-Mom has lived out that message every day of her 95 years, raising 6 incredible, servant-hearted kids and impacting everyone around her for the better! I am so thankful to be her granddaughter and I pray I can be half as beautiful and loving as her one day! ☀️