INSTALIFE POSTS ARE LIFE-BASED + PHOTOS ARE DIRECTLY FROM MY INSTAGRAM FEED.
Do you guys ever have weeks where it just feels like you’re being attacked? Like life is just so good, and you can see that God is so wonderful, and yet it feels like you’re being robbed of it somehow with no real explanation? This week was kind of like that for me. There are so many memories that I can look back at and see smiling faces, fun times, and extraordinary amounts of love – but for some reason it also feels like I didn’t experience it at all.
Last Friday we had to take Bunker to the vet because he has a little infection on the tip of his tail – a “hot spot” where he got a bite or a scratch and just kept licking it til it got infected. My big Bunker boy is just over 7 years old, and it’s not news to me that he’s no longer the teeny puppy that used to fall asleep on my chest. I know what happens when dogs get older, and it scares me to think of life without the joy of having Bunk around. Not that a hot spot on his tail is anything to think he’s going to die from, but those little pockets of reality are never fun to experience. All that to say he’s on antibiotics and it looks like it’s all clearing up – yay!
Saturday I got my #powersheets in the mail after anxiously awaiting them for a few weeks. Y’all, these are life-changers. I can’t recommend them enough, and I haven’t even started on the monthly stuff yet. Lara Casey is just incredible, and her heart for the Lord is amazing. It’s so refreshing to see a woman of faith who also has a hand in the business world and motherhood who speaks God’s truth as consistently as she does, and it makes me SEE – really see – how to honor the Lord in a fallen world. I hope I can somehow be a beacon of light like she is to so many!
Saturday and Sunday of last weekend were so gorgeous we couldn’t help but get ourselves outside as much as possible. Wes is at the age now where being around Daddy just makes him light up so much – all day he’ll walk around the house and point at pictures of Nate, and when Nate actually gets home his smile is just so huge I can hardly stand it! Honestly I tear up about it probably every other day. I remember during those first really hard 6 weeks of having an infant I was so worried that Nate wouldn’t have a strong relationship with Wes (we can 100% chalk that up to postpartum hormones) because he didn’t know any more than I did what our baby was crying about. Now I can see how ridiculous those fears were. Nate is the BEST father in the world, and watching my guys play together makes my heart both melt and burst at the same time.
Another shot of my #powersheets planning because honestly it’s been a lot of what I’ve been doing when I’m not playing/reading/walking/climbing with Wes (aka when he’s napping). There is so much positivity and encouragement in these sheets, but I think the down time in between when I’m working through them is where I’m feeling the most attacked lately. Like the enemy is asking me why I dare dream such big dreams – what could God possibly use me for? What in the world makes me think I could ever do something like that successfully? And sometimes, I’m sad to say, I listen. I cry. And then I look up and pray for truth to come into my heart, for the strength to fight those fears. 2 Timothy 1:7, y’all!
Tuesday. Oh Tuesday! I had a chance to take the dogs on a mid-day walk while Wes was playing with some of his buddies and they got to run and swim and gallivant around in the sunshine. It was JUST what our two 4-legged rascals needed after such a long bout of cold weather, but honestly I needed it too. Just getting to watch them run through water and splash and play was so joyful; it reminded me of the times in our pre-Weston days that I used to watch them do that at the dog park near our home in Colorado. Get them in water and you’d never guess they’re both over (or almost over) 5!
I’ve been working on my snacks these days, trying to make them healthier and tastier and just generally better for me. I made these sweet potato chips (recipe is coming soon on Naptime Diaries!) every day this week and loooooooooooooove them. I’ll let y’all know when the recipe goes live – I think you’ll adore them just as much as I do!
Finally there was yesterday. Oh yesterday. I had the privilege of watching my sweet friend Mandy’s kiddos for a few hours, during which time Weston both threw a couple a fits and then threw up in the middle of when I was changing someone else’s diaper. After Mandy came and got her kids Wes and I ran to the store to grab Pedialyte and crackers. And then he threw up again. And then he screamed for about 30 minutes and then he cuddled for another 20, and then finally took a good nap. When he woke up he was like a totally new kid, but I spent most of the afternoon worrying and praying and hoping he was OK. I can handle me being sick, but my little boy? Heartbreaking. Luckily I think it was just a small bug, so here’s hoping today will be better!
How was your week? And what do you do when you start feeling the enemy question you?
So sorry your little man was sick. Toddler throw-up is not okay. For mama or toddler.
Hope he’s on the mend for good.
The best thing I do when I sense the enemy question me is quote scripture to myself…especially anything relevant to the situation. Or…if my brain is too muddled for that, sometimes, I’ll just sit down and hand-write out (copy) a particular passage. I find that re-routes my brain because it’s pretty hard to worry or doubt when you’re reading & writing such good words. Praying you FIND IT this week.