Happiest of birthdays to our little pineapple, Mia Kai!! A few of our friends and family gathered this past weekend to celebrate - and, oh, what a sweet celebration it was! As we stood around together before blessing the food, I looked around and felt a bit emotional. What a year this has been! It's been a fantastic year - watching our little Mia Kai grow and learn but it's also been a bit challenging. Between her surgery and well, everything that else that the first year of life entails for a baby and first-time parents, we've had our ups and downs. We're deeply grateful for our community, the people who have walked so closely with us this past year and the sweet ways God has carried us through it all. To see everyone gathered together at one time... it was comforting and a wave of overwhelming amount of peace flooded over us. But I digress. :)
Read MoreTwenty-Nine
It's no secret that this past year has been one of the greatest yet most challenging years. Between welcoming our sweet little pineapple into our family and then completely giving up control as we handed her over to the nurses that took her into surgery (that blog post series will be starting next week), our Father has stretched our faith, sustained our family and strengthened the story of His goodness in our lives.
We were carried by the prayers of His people, of our community. I look back and wonder how we made it through last year and my only explanation is Jesus.
This past year drives me to be more grateful in every moment. More relational so that I can be as much of encouragement to others as they were to us in the seasons of celebrations and heartache. More fluid with my schedule, to always make time for prayer and people. More purposeful in each action, each conversation and each project (whether personal or for Jitneys).
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Thirty-One // My Husband + Humility
We celebrated JD's 31st birthday yesterday so I wanted to keep the celebration going on the blog!
If there is one word I could use to describe a characteristic I've seen more than any other this past year in my husband, it would be humility.
Read MoreThirty
Happy THIRTIETH birthday to this handsome guy:
Your hunger for adventure is enthralling and captivating. With everything you do, you work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Because of that, countless men and women are continuously blessed by what the Lord does in and through you. Your laughter is joyous and resounding. I seriously can't get enough of it. You have the 'humble confidence' thing down to a tee. You challenge me on a daily basis: to think more analytically, to articulate my beliefs and opinions more clearly and to strive for success more wholeheartedly. You're silly, mysterious, unpredictable and I love communicating with you via our secret languages.
When I asked you about your thoughts on turning thirty and about all of your successes in life leading up to it, you said, "All of my greatest accomplishments in life are only by grace."
It is an honor to be your bride. It is a joy to love you and to follow you as you follow Christ in building our family.
I love living life with you, J.D. Todd.
P.S. We're well on our way to completing our dining room feature wall! Only a few more frames to build then we'll post the whole process / finished product. Thanks for spending the last day of your 29th year helping me to build this, lovey.
