the change.

hi.

my name is becky.

and i used to blog.

wow.

have you ever been living your life, comfortable & 'happy'... minding your own business... when, seemingly out of nowhere, the Lord calls you to make a change? like, a radical, crazy change?

yup.

i hadn't either.

until about 8 weeks ago.

and it has rocked. my. world.

i'm not ready to share details yet, but i am excited about the day that i can let it all out.

and share about how the Lord has been working in our lives. our marriage. our family.

in the meantime, the change has been sucking all of the every-day-normalcy out of our life.

i used to blog.

i used to craft.

i used to {mostly} cook dinner.

i used to take pictures.

i used to keep up with project life. {sad, but true.}

but here's the thing...

this life is temporary. 

i LOVE all of those things.

love. them.

and i'm so sad that the change has caused me to put those on the back burner for now.

but i know that i'm making the better choice in following HIS will for our lives. HIS work is eternal, not the worldy {but fun} things that make me "happy".

i've found that, although it's been terribly hard.... frustrating - even - at times, being in the center of HIS will is the most uncomfortably comfortable place to be.

hard to explain? yes. even harder to live out? absolutely. but it's Truth.

have you heard of Jesus Calling by sarah young?

it's been my saving grace the past few weeks. short & sweet but packed with a message daily from the Lord directly to me.

one of my favorite excerpts, i sent to jeff just yesterday.

"When your energy fails you, do not look inward and lament the lack you find there. Look to Me and My sufficiency; rejoice in My radiant riches that are abundantly available to help you. Go gently through this day, leaning on Me and enjoying My Presence. Thank Me for your neediness, which is building trust-bonds between us. If you look back on your journey thus far, you can see that days of extreme weakness have been some of your most precious times."

love this. it was such a blessing to me yesterday morning. so thankful for a neighbor at the lake that gave these to a few of us on a visit recently.

"Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD." Ps 37:14

i've given myself permission to take some time 'off' during naps today to finally edit pictures of our vacation. yay! so hopefully i'll have those up tonight!

and project life? don't you worry that i WILL catch up. i've been saving all of my stuff in a box... and it will all be on a new blog. when? i don't know. but it WILL happen.

i realize that some of you may be 'lost' when i talk about a change in direction in our life. i promise it will all make sense soon. i will share as soon as i'm able.

and... i took the littles to the lake this weekend to visit with my grandparents.

it is so dry!

they have a beach!

but it was fun... trent & my dad fished... brady and georgia ran in and out of the water.... and georgia went swimming. on purpose! i couldn't believe it! we missed the hubbs terribly, but were glad that we could make it out there for a quick visit!

i'm here.

y'all.

life has taken a 180 degree turn for jeff & i in the last 7 weeks.... like only life does.

and i've been paralyzed! overwhelmed with all that has come to be on my 'to do' list. and all that is not getting crossed off.

but all the important things are together, right? family. health. sweet friends. 

so i try to keep it all in perspective. and that's why the blog has taken such a 'hit' lately. i have so much to say - and so many wonderful pictures to post - but that will have to wait. 

taking a backseat to my 'real life'. 

so....................

saturday before we went on vacation, we had a 'family' reunion at j's parents' house.

b. had fun playing the guitar and aunt 'neesie' had fun loving on lil' miss.

okay - so a while back, j's parents took b. to the circus. 

and he loved it.

and darlene dug out this old costume of jeff's from when he dressed as a lion tamer for a play in elementary school...

and this became b's 'high wire' costume...

here he is with mamaw - the maker of the lion tamer-turned high wire costume.

doing some tricks...

and here is doing the 'high wire'.... love it. he even sticks out his foot like he's trying to balance....

and his 'ta-da' at the end.... 

and just for fun - here's a picture of the hubbs in the costume for his play.  isn't he a cutie? 

and ps- i've always thought that b. favors me - but in this picutre, i think he looks SO much like his handsome daddy!

happy monday night {or tuesday morning}. 

love all of these new shows starting this week.

too bad that won't be helping my 'to do' list.

random.

hi.

i'm blogging from our last day of vacation. where i should be packing & finishing up getting ready, but i find myself with an itty bitty sound asleep & everyone else out of the condo, so i'm sitting down to write.

oh, how i've missed writing. i find it to be therapeutic, mostly.

and i've found that lately, i've been trying to censor myself from being entirely open on this blog. and i don't like that. i AM an open book. it's just me. i like to tell it like it is in my life. the good, the bad, the funny & the ugly.

hence, the reason for turning it private.

but today, i'm feeling open.

so here i am.

we've been on vacation for a week. we brought tropical storm LEE into town with us. yesterday was our first day of beautiful sunshine. and funnily enough, it was cool & crisp outside. just like fall.

i heart fall. especially after a very long & very very hot summer.

i love the smells of fall. queso, football, texas chilli {YUM. that WILL be on my menu next week}, the state fair, pumpkin patch hay, crisp dewey morning walks, fire places & smores.

yay! i can't wait.

oh - and crotons. i LOVE crotons. can't wait to put one on my front porch next to a small pumpkin patch that i have planned in my mind this year.

who knows if that will ACTUALLY happen. right? right.

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the good thing about being stuck in a tropical storm is the laziness of it all.

reading. watching football. eating. coloring in a coloring book for what seems like the first time in forever. napping. oh - and more eating.

i feel like it makes us slow down. when we SO need to slow down.

so for that i'm super thankful.

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in the spirit of being random, let me catch up on some pictures from before our vacay.

recently, i've been so incredibly thankful for my sweet girlfriends. i'm blessed to have them. in every way, they are a very specific answer to prayer. each of them individually & collectively as a whole. they pray for me, encourage me, challenge me & speak truth in love. they send me scripture at the very moment i need it. they send notes in the mail. they send sweet nothing texts that speak volumes to me about their character & the kinds of friends they are.

i love them.

the friday before vacation though, one of these dear friends had a birthday party for her daughter.

a luau. {is that even how you spell it?}

we had a lot of fun, ate way too many cupcakes & made a huge mess between the itty bitties & the 'big' kids.

but that's the point of a birthday party, right?

i so often feel sad for b. when he's the only boy of the big kids. but he eats. it. up. can you tell?

thanks, harper! we had fun celebrating you, sweet girl.

********************************************************************************

so there it is. my random thoughts this morning. and little bit of procrastination on my part.

oh - and before i leave, i want to share an awesome & powerful excerpt of scripture that i've been clinging to these past few days. the Lord has been teaching me more than my fair share lately - some i'm very thankful for - and some i want to turn my eyes from because He is showing me {very clearly, i might add} my ugly side. yuck. 

but i love this. i rest in this. {or i try to}. and i hope you will, too, today.

"do you not know? have you not heard? the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does NOT become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. though youths grow weary & tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, the will run & not get tired, they will walk & not become weary."

isaiah 40:28-31

i don't know about you, but there are many days as a wife, a mommy, a friend that i feel like i cannot do it. i don't have the strength to do what i need to do. or be who i want to be. 

but HE does.

that's the beauty of it. that's the point.

that if we are going to get through the day in one piece, as a whole, and still have some room left over for our husbands and ourselves, it will be a miracle. and it will be HIS strength, not ours. 

our lives are to POINT to Him. 

that's a challenge for me. a huge one. 

it's one that i'll be wrestling with for the rest of my life. but i'm ready. 

and i'm done with my sermon for today.

love you all for sticking with me & reading until the end. 

happy wednesday.

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PS - remember that i'm turning this blog to private on monday, september 12. please email me or leave me a comment below with your email address if you want to be added to the list! {disregard if you've already let me know!}

private. {again}.

good morning, lovelies.

how have you been?

yes, i've been absent lately. due to crazy, unpredictable life! isn't that the case for everyone?

nevertheless, i haven't been able to clear my head & thoughts long enough to sit down & write what i would call a 'cohesive' post! so here i am, getting STRAIGHT to the point.

jeff & i have been praying about this for some time, and in the best interest of our family, we've decided to make THIS blog private. 

'THIS blog', you say?

yes! THIS blog.

that means, i will continue to chronicle & document my family and our daily goings-on here. but, it is my intention to start a new blog that will house my project life/crafty/DIY/yummy goodness sort of stuff. the way i invision it, it will probably keep some clippings of our family stuff & personal thoughts - just in a different way.

i will have more details in the coming week, but if you would like to be on the reader 'list' for this blog, please leave a comment below with your email address!!!! 


we will turn the blog to private on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 

i hope y'all are having a WONDERFUL weekend!


'sic em!