Facebook is an interesting thing. It's a great place to keep in touch with old friends, make new ones and waste a little time (errr... a lot of time). Its the perfect setting to encourage others and lift them up or break people down and be brutally hateful.  It's interesting to see the posting trends of people, whether it's the debate over vaccinations, politics or even movie choices. We all have an opinion and it's the ideal soapbox for what we have to say. I also find it interesting how each person's Facebook newsfeed is unique to them. When I happen to catch my husband's newsfeed on my computer rather than my own. I see a heavy dose of news stations, UFC updates and a balanced mixture of gun posts and pictures of incredibly expensive Jeeps. It suits him quite well. Mine isn't so exciting. I have a lot of mamas, health and fitness enthusiasts and Christian inspiration. It reflects me pretty well until a debate comes along. Mamas and Christians can go from wonderfully delightful people to very judgmental and condemning, just being real here. It makes me tempted to just close things down and politely remove myself from the party. Why do we have to be this way? Why do we have to judge and condemn others because we don't see things the same way as they do? It's human nature I suppose...

I read an article yesterday about Katy Perry. It said that before the Superbowl she tweeted a bible verse and then said she heard God whisper to her heart "You got this..." If you know anything about Katy Perry you know that she grew up Christian. Her father is currently a pastor of a church. Well, the uproar of the Christian community was ridiculous. Many were not supportive of the fact that a delinquent such as Katy Perry would hear God's voice, not to mention encouraging her right before she went on stage to sing "I kissed a girl and I liked it". You should have read the condemnation and judgement that was being passed along through text. It was a train wreck I couldn't look away from. I get it, She's not the most sound role model and is possibly living a life with some sin in it. But who the heck isn't?! That's what I want to talk about today...

For many of us Jesus girls, we know what is right or wrong because we are reading our bibles. We pray for others, maybe go to church and do our best to be kind and a light to others. We know it's wrong to lie, steal and cheat.. and to kiss and girl and like it.. (haha). It's EASY to feel like we have it all together compared to others and that OUR sin is not on the same level as others, especially Katy Perry. I get it. It's EASY to judge, but it's also VERY easy to turn people away from Jesus and His good news by our condemnation and judgmental attitudes. Why would anyone want to be a Christian if it meant acting that way? We have to be careful my fellow Jesus girls. We have to be very careful. If we truly want to be a light to others, we need to shine a light of love. Do we have to agree with everything everyone does? Absolutely not, but we should above everything else love others with our words and actions. 1 Peter 4:8 says, "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins." I believe that Jesus meets us right in our mess. He comes to us in the trenches but loves us enough to not leave us there. He takes our hand and leads us out of the darkness. BUT.. for anyone that has ever been in the trenches, you know that coming into the light and the walk that we take with Jesus doesn't happen overnight. It's a process, often times a very slow process. It's little seeds that are planted that bloom overtime. So, shouldn't we as Christians give love and enough grace to let GOD do HIS part? Shouldn't we entrust our fellow mamas and friends to the hands of our Creator and let him do what He does best? I don't know if God spoke to Katy Perry or not. I don't know if He's working in her life, but I do know that Jesus loves her. I do know that he loves ALL of us sinners, equally the same. I know He loves the mamas that choose the vaccinate and the mamas that don't. I know he loves that girl that went to see 50 Shades of Grey and the one that stayed home. I know he loves the girl that kisses other girls and the one that doesn't. We don't have to agree with what others do, but we are called to love them. So, lets stop judging others. Lets be a light that reflects Christs' love, even if they aren't living the life we think they should. And most importantly, lets stop making it about us vs. them. The enemy is very sneaky. He wants to turn us against each other. Today, lets decide to love despite our differences. Lets give others enough grace to led God do His work in them.  Today lets let God be God because He is the only one that can change people.

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Today is the morning of my husband's military graduation. It's been a grueling 5 weeks for him and a very lonely and challenging 5 weeks for the boys and I. As I type this, 5 weeks sounds like nothing. As a military wife, 5 weeks IS nothing. We see our guys come and go and we miss them, but life is life and it continues. We stay busy and before we know it we are welcoming them back into our arms. This time has been very different. As I prepare to watch my husband graduate and celebrate his incredible accomplishment, I can't help but look back over the past 5 weeks and just feel worn and just plain ol' tired. I can safely say my husband feels the same way, probably much more so. We've made it to graduation day and I am praising God for his never ending faithfulness. During  these five weeks He has shown up. He has given me what I needed daily to get to this point and has continuously reminded me of his unconditional love for me and my family. We have seen prayers answered and blessing beyond those prayers given. I asked God to show up big in our lives and He did.

Last night as I layed next to my husband for the first time in way too long, I found myself worrying about the next step. This is just the half way point for us. We have another six plus weeks ahead of us, this time I'll be carrying the load as I transition me and the boys to our new home and take on the task of unpacking our household goods while juggling the mommy life and homeschooling. I know I can do it and last night I was reminded of that. In the darkness and among my prayers, God whispered this verse to my heart, "You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side." Psalm 71:20-21. The word revive sticks out so boldly to me in this verse. The word revive means to give new strength or energy to. I don't know about you, but it times of struggle I yearn to be revived, to be given a new strength, to have more energy, to be refreshed. This has been God's promise to me since the day we began this transition and today I look forward to the next step. This morning I am comforted and at peace. God's got this. No need to worry.

I know that the military life is a strange concept for some, there are so many weird acronyms, customs and courtesies.. and why in the world would anyone want to move every 2-3 years?! You may not get it and that's okay. I don't even get it some days, but I think no matter what, we can all agree that sometimes life is hard. Sometimes we come up against obstacles and go through transitions that challenge our inner most beings. We wonder if we'll make it through to the other side as we anxiously pray and hope for just enough strength to get to the next day. Military or civilian, it's human struggle that we all have in common. So whether you are in the middle of a struggle, going through your own transition or even sailing the calm blue seas, my prayer for you today is that you find peace in God's promise you to. God will see you through to the other side. He will not only get you there but He will revive you, restore you and comfort you along the way. There is no need to worry. Let Him be the source of your strength and watch him doing amazing things in YOUR life. Today is a great day!

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In woke up this morning in the crisp linens of a hotel right off the interstate in Mississippi. I snuck out of the room, not to disturb the boys, for a quick cup of coffee in the hotel lobby. Ahhh... I love my early mornings.  As I walked by the front doors of the hotel a man walked in and was greeted by the staff, "Good Morning, Sir! How are you today?" He responded with this: "Ma'am, I am blessed! I woke up this morning. God is good!" I couldn't help but smile. As I walked back to my room, I found myself thinking, "I wish I was that bold when it came to my faith." As a Christian we are told that we are the light of the world. We are to let our light shine out into the world, leading others to Christ. So, as I sat here enjoying my coffee I couldn't help but feel a little convicted. When was the last time I let my light shine? In the daily grind of motherhood and my current single mom life (not for much longer, yay!), am I being that beacon of light to others? Matthew 5:14-16 says, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine so before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." As I sit here, I have to admit that I have taken my shining lamp and put it under a basket. It's not that it's not glowing, if anything it has never shined brighter, but who can see it if I'm hiding it? In the midst of homeschooling and living in this transition period with family, I've unintentionally put away the very gifts that God has given me. I've been missing so many beautiful opportunities to shine for Christ simply because I'm too busy or "just not feelin'" it.

Each morning when I wake up and open my bible, I pray that God speaks to me through His Word. I find myself searching for the message he wants me to receive for that day. Some days, It's simply His peace knowing that He is there with me, through the craziness of life. Then other times, it's much for bold. It's the undeniable message that he doesn't want me to miss, like this morning. I find myself wondering who else out there is hiding their shining light under a basket? The people that passionately love God but because of the busyness of life forget to be that light on the hill. Yes it takes a little more effort, but what if we all shined our lights a little brighter? What if we encouraged others more, stood in the gap for those in need, and used the gifts that our Father in Heaven gave us to lead others to Christ? What a beautiful picture that would be.  I'm not saying I'm perfect. I'm a far cry from that, but today I was reminded of something so important. What's the point of being a Christian if we aren't living the life boldly, loving others and pointing them to the One that is the source of our everything? Today I want to change that.  I am blessed. I woke up this morning, with a new perspective. God IS good!

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I picked one heck of a time to give up sugar. With the holidays over, I took on the task, like many others, to dump the junk and get back on track. Refocused! I read recently that our brain behaves the same way when we have sugar as we do when we ingest cocaine. Crazy, right? You know, while I've never done cocaine.. sugar, more specifically chocolate, does make me feel pretty good. It can make a bad day just a little better. Feeling down? A brownie sundae can cure that. Probably not the BEST way to handle life, but it's my default, or was. Over the past year I've recognized my dependence on sugar and have come to the realization that I can't just have a little. It's all or nothing for me. So, with the new year I'm in the "nothing" phase again. It's a daily choice and it all honesty I feel better when I'm not enslaved to my cravings. Now... when I was making my new years plans, I didn't take into consideration that my husband would be gone, that I would be doing the single parent thing, that I may be a little overwhelmed and a tad on the lonely side. I've done this separation thing many times, but I've always had my BFF chocolate there with me. It's been my coping mechanism until now. (Seriously, how sad is that?!) So, with no sugar in sight and determined to do this.. I've been doing a little more praying. Praying because it's really all I have right now. I keep reminding God of his promises. He promises to hear my prayers and to comfort me, to sustain me, to fill in my gaps and to give me the strength I need to get through each day.

This morning I woke up rather unmotivated. I got up early because that's what I normally do, but I would have rather slept in. I wasn't looking forward to the day. I just felt blah. Have you ever had one of those mornings? Like you'd rather just climb back in bed and hide? Well, that was me. I opened my bible and ended up in Phillipians 4:8. I was reminded that I need to focus on the good things, on the things that make the smile, on the many blessings in my life. I could sit here all day feeling down, focusing on all the things I can't change or I can focus on the positives. I can choose to have hope for the future and focus on good things or I can wallow in my bad day. As I was praying, asking God to give me joy in the here and now, he spoke directly to my heart and told me that having joy is a choice. I have to choose to have joy. I'll be frank and admit that it would be so much easier if God just gave it to me, if I woke up each day happy and full of joy; a perfect little gift from God. Unforutnatly I'm learning that that's not particularly how it works. We have to do our part and for me, that means changing my perspective and focusing on the good things. When I wake up on mornings like today feeling kinda blah, I can choose to continue on that path, poisoning every area of my day, or I can focus on the positives. I can smile, I can laugh and I can boldly expect God to fill in my gaps and give me the strength to get through another day.

So, on this Monday I'm choosing to have joy. I'm going to smile, love on my babies and make this week a good one. I'm going to focus on the good rather than the bad and lean on God more than I ever have. As much as I feel like I need chocolate I know that there is nothing that can satisfy me more than Him.

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It's 6:35 and I hear the creaking of a door. I hold my breath, which one of my little people is awake already?! I always do a tiny pity party when my boys wake up so early. I sacrifice my own sleep so I can have a few hours in the morning for me. Not to mention, an early wake up means a cranky afternoon. Ugh. So, today it's the little one...not good. It's going to be a rough day.  I smile and greet him with a warm hug. It's the mom life.. and these days.. the single mom life. Today the hubs goes off the grid for this special training. No contact at all for an undetermined amount of time. We knew it was coming.. and now it's here. It's the military life and in all honestly, we have truly been blessed with few separations over the past few years. I really can't complain, I have friends that continuously endure much worse. But with any separation there is stress, stress of missing dad, stress of parenting alone and this time.. the stress of having an older son who is old enough to truly understand. He doesn't like it and he doesn't even want to talk about dad because it makes him sad. This is a first for us. It can leave a mom feeling unsettled and unsure, just praying that this season goes by quickly and we can get on to our new normal. It's times like this  I wish I was walking along the water near my old house in Virginia. God's presence was so powerful there. There was so much comfort and answers to my many concerns along that waters edge. I wish I had the undeniable reassurance that everything will be okay, that whatever season we are in, no matter what we are going through, it will all work itself out. We all want that, but often times we don't have this booming voice from heaven telling us the good news. Sometimes it's more subtle.

That's what life is like for me these days, little whispers of hope each day, just enough to keep me going and reminding me of God's faithfulness. I'm reminded of the importance of having hope, that even though things may not be exactly how I want them in the moment, I can still hope for a better future. I'm reminded that the struggle is only temporary, but God has a plan for us that is far greater than we could ever imagine. So, today I'm holding on to those little whispers of hope. I'm loving my babies and doing what I can with what I have. I am blessed and loved, what else can I ask for (besides a little less whining..lol)?

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I kicked off my new years goals a little late. Monday seemed like a better day to start any way. As I mentioned previously, lots of changes going on in the Griffin family and we are well  under way. The hubs is off to his training school, the boys and I kick started our homeschooling and this mama is back to her "healthy living" way of life. Day one went great, all things considering. The boys are missing dad and my little guy is responding with increased temper tantrums and irritability. Poor baby is approaching 3 and doesn't quite understand. Trying to balance love and understanding with discipline is always a struggle but more so when dad is away, when the whole family feels the ache. It's tough. THEN, just because that wasn't enough my big boy X came down with a fever last night and is now sick. I went to bed a frazzled mess and woke up sore from my workout and less motivated then the awesomeness of Monday. Isn't that just the life of new years resolutions (or setting new goals for that matter)? I should have known that Jeremy leaving would create some form of uproar. It always done, ask any military wife. The moment the husband leaves, everything breaks, someone gets sick and the urge to cry over a pint of ice cream is way to powerful to resist. So, here we are day 2 and I'm filling the urge to throw my hands up in the air to quit. Have you ever felt that way? Like you are so motivated to make those changes but before you can get a handle on your new life, something (or a whole lot of somethings) pop up and totally zap any motivation that you had just a few days ago (or yesterday?!)

Yeah, so that's where I'm at today. Scrambling to find my way through the obstacles that have been plopped on my lap. As I sit here re-planning my day to accommodate a sick kiddo, I'm reminded of grace and the importance of not giving up. So what if I can't stick to the schedule I have laid out in my pretty little planner or if we don't get to the fun activities I had planned for today. I'm going to work with what I have and do my best, then I'm going to give myself a little grace to continue forward again tomorrow. Will I get everything I want accomplished today? I have no idea but I'm going to do my best with what I have. X and I may sit and read for a bit  and work on some fun map activities. I may snuggle my little guy a little more and give him extra love and I may go on a run this evening rather than this morning. Who knows.. but I have too much to lose to give up and so do you. So, my lovely ladies... whatever your goals are for this year, if you made one and are already feeling the pressure of life creeping in.. don't forget that it's okay to give yourself a little grace. Just remember to do your best with what you have and don't give up. That's it! As long as you keep moving forward and doing SOMETHING every day that will get you closer to your goal, you WILL get there.

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The new year is upon us!I love the sense of hope that comes with a new beginning. Anything is possible. However, as exciting as it is to dream of all the ways we want to improve, it's also so easy to fall back into old habits. Change is difficult and lefts face it, it doesn't happen as quickly as we like. This year I made a goal to slow down, to take the time to simply be present with my family, my husband and friends. In a society that is so success and money driven, the concept of  taking a step back isn't always the popular choice. I'm okay with that. You know, I barely remember Christmas 2013. I don't remember the looks on my kids faces on Christmas morning, I don't remember all the family outings we had.. nothing. I was too busy planning my next business move and focusing on myself. Scary huh? It's so easy to get caught up in the lies that success and money will make us happy. Now, don't get me wrong.. I love accomplishment and money just as much as the next girl, but I'm slowly learning (the hard way) that at the end of the day there are more important things. I love what is said in Ecclesiastes on this topic: " Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done. And on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun." (Ecc 2:10-11)

You know, I used to think I'd be happy when I reached a certain point of success. When my bank account had a certain amount in it, I would have the FREEDOM to do what I wanted and be happy. To live life by my design. It made complete sense to sacrifice the here and now for later. Every success driven book will tell you that it's okay; sacrifice now for the life you want later. I'm questioning this logic these days. These days I'm counting the cost of my sacrifice. Is it truly worth it? In some instances, I say absolutely! It's worth the sacrifice of tasty foods to have good health or the sacrifice of shopping trips to be debt free. In some instances, sacrifice is necessary in order to reach our goals. Each day I sacrifice a few hours of extra sleep in the morning to read and invest in myself. It's worth it. I just encourage you to weigh the costs before you dig in. Not all sacrifices are created equal.

I truly believe there is a time and season for everything. As much as I would love to have everything I want on my schedule, it doesn't always happen that way. As moms it's so hard to find the balance between our inner desires and those of the little people in our lives. My desire for success can so easily become my main focus that I forget about my greatest calling, and that is the title of mom and wife. These days I'm reminding myself that God makes everything beautiful in His time (Ecc 3:11), that God has an incredible plan for me, it's just on his timeline and not mine. So my dear success driven friends, as the new year kicks off and you are pursuing your awesome goals, don't forget to slow down. Don't forget to make time for the things that matter the most and don't be discouraged if things don't unfold as quickly or as smoothly as you'd like. Embrace the season you are in and continue moving forward. When we surrender to God's perfect timing, we will truly be blessed.

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