With this ring...

It has been three short years since Josh and I tied the knot... can you believe that?  It truly feels like ten, and I mean that in a very good year.  These have been three of the most fun, exciting, adventurous, intense, rewarding, non-stop, busy, fulfilling, and incredible years of my life and I cannot imagine living it with anyone else.  Three years, two children, three states, two successful church plants- some people don't even do that in a lifetime!  I feel so blessed by all of it.

I can still remember the excitement I felt when Josh first put that ring on my finger... you know... "the" ring.  He proposed on an ordinary Thursday night because he told me that he could not wait to spend the rest of his ordinary days with me.  As sweet as the sentiment was, I can honestly say that our days have been anything but ordinary.  What we've seen, done, and experienced in those days since we got engaged and married is enough to fill a book.  But that day was the start of it, and that ring was a symbol of things to come.

I remember how at first I could not stop looking at it.  I would love when people would ask me to show it off or hear the story.  The lighting in our church at the time was incredible for making that ring sparkle, so I can honestly say I heard very little of the messages since I was too busy admiring my bling.  But three years later... it's just a part of me.

This ring represents so much more than just an eternal commitment to the man I love.  It now carries a few years of great memories with it, and countless stories through our ups and (very few) downs.  Although I'm pretty good at getting it cleaned up every six months, it is a bit more dull in places and on any given day may have remnants of play-dough in the prongs.  Those added extras are simply reminders of the fact that my hands have gotten dirty as we've planted a church together... we rolled up our sleeves and put in the work side-by-side as partners.  I have also worn it as I literally played in the dirt with our rambunctious two-year-old and dunked my hands in soapy water to bathe our babies.  And it the very few times that I have taken off for one reason or another, there is a definite absence that I can feel and do not enjoy.  My left ring finger is not right when it's bare.  It is meant to carry that symbol... of our love, our vows... but mostly our story.

I hope that I can someday pass down these rings to a child or a grandchild, either for themselves or for a an intended spouse.  By that point I also hope that they are even more "broken in" and have a few more dings and dents in them, because that would be the result of a few more decades of this life with my love.  We never know how much time we have on this earth, but I am thankful for each and every one that I spend with him.  My life is so much better with him in it and I am such a better version of myself than I've ever been.

So Josh, thank you for these past few years.  Thank you for your encouragement and constant reminder that I can do anything and be anything that I want as long as I put in the work.  Thank you for loving me and our kids unconditionally and for showing us every day.  Thank you for working harder than any person I've ever met to make sure our present and future is the best it can be.  But most of all, thank you for picking me.  Thank you for asking me.  And thank you for letting me wear this ring everyday.  It just keeps getting better and better and I look forward to what is to come.

Forever and ever...

Mama's Month - Why I Love Being a Mom

Sorry for disappearing for a few days.  I wanted to do a few posts, I really did, but I was a wee bit busy spending tons of time outside... taking walks:

And lounging at the pool...

And hanging out with family at Grampa and Gramma's new house:

And even enjoying a much-needed girls' night out at a local winery...

See?  Busy... in the best kind of way!  My Memorial Day weekend this year was one of the best ever and really was like a stay-cation.  I've always loved every season, but especially now that I have kids, I think I am becoming a summer person.  Helllllooooo, summer... I'm so glad you're here!

Over these past few days, I've done a lot of thinking about what part of motherhood I would want to do this last Mama's Month post on.  If you're a mom yourself, you know that it's impossible to narrow down what you like best about motherhood!  It's the hardest, best, most rewarding, most frustrating, most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life, so where to start?  So while today won't be the only favorite thing I have to share about being a mom, it's one tiny part of it.

So far, at every single age, I have said that I would freeze time if I could.  I cannot tell you how many times I have said, "This is my favorite age."  Yes, it's true... every single phase has it's challenges, but seeing my son or daughter figure something out or learn something new just blows my mind.  Jake is just a chatterbox these days, stringing together sentences and saying words that I didn't know he knew every single day.  And Lil, still as sweet as can be, is imitating sounds we make, army-crawling at lightning speed, and pulling herself up into a standing position (make it stop!!!).  I am constantly wowed by their little accomplishments... so I can only imagine how much pride I will feel as they get older and accomplish bigger things (by most people's standards anyway).  It's this constant amazement that I love most about motherhood... the daily surprises, and continuous awe, and inexplicable amount of pride, joy, and love that overflows because of this gift.  The Bible promises us that God can do anything and that He is amazing, but motherhood to me is the tangible proof of this promise:

20 Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  (Ephesians 3:20)

Because I'm a mom, not only do I know that I can love more than I ever thought possible, I also know that I can do anything and that no challenge is too big or too small.  My oldest child is only a little over two, but already I know that I can change a diaper and field a sales call at the same time.  I can switch from tending to Lilly in a gentle, caring way, to sternly disciplining Jake for climbing on the countertop.  I can build a train track village like a champ, throw a ball better than I ever could (which isn't saying much), and suddenly have cat-like reflexes when one of them trips on something.  I can carry a load of laundry, a child, a laptop, and a coffee cup up and down the stairs... all at the same time.  I can sing nursery rhymes I thought had been long forgotten, use voices when reading stories that I never knew I had, and go from a deep sleep to amazing alertness if one of them needs me in the middle of the night.  I have superhero hearing now and intuition that astounds me.  Yes, my kiddos amaze me daily, but now that I'm a mom, I am in awe about what God can do through me.  Parenthood takes a lot of prayer, but when I pray for strength, He gives it to me.  When I pray for patience, He usually gives Jake a double dose of temper tantrums that week or Lil a rough week of sleep so that I have no choice but to find extra patience. When I pray for peace, I have more moments cuddling sweet Lil as she falls asleep that week.  Through the gift of motherhood, I know more than I ever have, that He delivers.  These feats may be small in some people's eyes, but in mine, they are bigger than I could ever imagine.  And if becoming a mom makes me capable of doing all of this, there is no end to what I might be able to do.

13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philipians 4:13)


There has never been a truer statement, but I didn't know it until I was a mom.  

Love Day Link-Up: The Story of Mauneyland

Even though we don't really do much for Valentine's day (and the day has already passed), I decided to link up with Becky from the Mrs. to Mama blog and talk about my favorite subject, the story of how Mauneyland all began!  So here goes... the story of us:

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

This might be a shock to some of you, but Josh and I met on July 31, 2008.  Yep, a marriage and two kids later and we've known each other a whopping three-and-a-half years!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Let me start by saying that even though he doesn't remember it, I can still remember the very first time I saw Josh.  It was at church and he smiled and said "good morning" to me.  He was so incredibly good looking that I thought that I was pretty darn impressed with myself!  I thought, I must look good today!  Then he got up and did the announcements and I realized that he was a pastor and was required to say "good morning" to everyone.  And that there was no way that I would ever date (much less marry) a pastor!

We were officially introduced at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, where I still work (albeit from home now).  A friend of mine brought him and a friend of his to play golf and I walked out to greet them and check them in.  It just so happened that I dressed up that day and on the first tee, Josh looked at my friend Christie and said, "I think I'm going to marry your friend."  She laughed and told him that he was not my type, probably due to the fact that he was a pastor.  He bought us all lunch afterwards and called later that night to "make another tee time," which was actually his lead-in to asking me on a date.

3. If married, how long have you been married?

We will have been married for three years on June 13th this year (Jake was our honeymoon baby).

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?  

We got married at the same place we met, the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Florida.  Since I work there, I had a very specific idea of where on the property I wanted everything to take place and how it should all look.  All in all, about 130 people watched us join together in holy matrimony on a terrace overlooking the golf course.  It was supposed to storm and even though the wind picked up at one point, the weather held out just for us and the breeze actually kept it from being scorching hot!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Not really.  Josh has nicknames for just about everyone, but I'm mostly "babe."  So is he for that matter.  We're super creative.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

Only three???  I would definitely say his love for God, his ambition, and his sense of humor.  And I do need to add in his calves... haha.  That's a bit of a running joke around here.  But seriously, they are fantastic.

7. Tell us how he proposed?

Our story is a bit random actually.  I wasn't really expecting a proposal (since we had only been dating for 6 weeks) but the night before he actually proposed he made this big fancy candlelight dinner, gave me a card and flowers, and throughout the meal I started getting suspicious.  After dinner he told me to check the oven and I got really excited, thinking that maybe this was it and there would be a ring in there.  But alas, it was an apple pie.  I have never been so disappointed about an apple pie in my life.  His decoy plan was perfect.

So the next day I rushed over to his house after work because we had planned to go meet some people and I was running late.  I quickly changed clothes and then he sent me on a wild goose chase to find the remote control before we left.  He needed to set the DVR.  Looking back I should have questioned why he didn't look for it himself or at least asked what he needed to record.  Since he knows me so well, I first looked in the most obvious place (the drawer in the entertainment center) and sitting there was a ring box.  I was totally confused.  And then he walked over, dropped to one knee, and asked me to marry him.  He told me that he would rather propose on a normal Thursday than with some grandiose gesture, since the normal Thursdays are what he was looking forward to in our life together.  After I said "yes" he handed me a Bible and on the first page it said, "To Kim, on the day you said "yes," October 2, 2008.  At that point, I did get super teary.  We spent the rest of the night meeting up with friends and calling our families.  It was so much fun!

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Um, neither really.  Although once he did make a trail of Hershey's kisses all through the house, which was pretty awesome.  And he likes to send me or bring me flowers when I don't expect it.  So he is a flowers and chocolate guy on unexpected days throughout the year I guess.  For Valentine's day we've decided to just buy gifts for the kids and then go out on a date sans kiddos. We actually discussed our Valentine's Day expectations yesterday so that we would have a standard from year to year!  

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I would pick option A, but seriously, we have two kids and don't live near a beach.  So I do look forward to the day we go on a vacation again and get to do that.  But popping in a movie and relaxing on the couch happens at least once a week around here.  And going to the movies is even better, which again, we never really get to do anymore.  I'm pretty sure the next theater movie we'll go see will be something released by Disney or Pixar.  I am surprisingly okay with it.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Wow is this list long!  We have plenty of things on our "bucket list" but my true dream is to go with him on a mission trip someday, preferably to Africa since neither one of us have ever been.  The good news is that I know this is in our future.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

We didn't have plans until Valentine's Day.  Josh called his dad to come over and watch the kids and we ventured out to our favorite restaurant (Saul Good), thinking it would be a crazy wait.  This restaurant is incredibly delicious, and the wait was only 15 minutes and there was plenty of space to wait in the bar.  I think people were scared it would be busy and steered clear.  It worked in our favor and was so well worth it!

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Nope, just one-on-one time with my husband.  After the craziness of the past few months, that would be perfect.

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Communication is everything, which is something I have to work on daily.  Both people have to clearly define their expectations.  If I tell him to do something and he doesn't do it, it's his fault.  But if I expected him to do it and never communicated that, I have no room to get upset if he doesn't do it and vice versa.  Assumptions are never a good thing.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Busy

I've had this post floating around in my head for awhile now, and the ironic part is that I have literally just been too busy to sit down and write it all down.  And it all revolves around that word... "busy." 

Think back to the last phone conversation you've had with someone you haven't talked to in awhile.  It probably started out with a, "hey, how have you been?" and if the answer wasn't "fine" then it was probably the other four-letter standard answer of "busy."  Or when we don't get around to doing something that we were supposed to do or said we would, our answer is, "sorry, things have been so busy."  All that to say that it just makes me wonder, when did life get so "busy" for absolutely everyone?

As I reflect back on my life and compare it to the season that we're living in now, I almost feel silly that I ever really used that word to describe my current situation.  High school?  Well, yeah, I went from school to dance team practice to soccer practice and twice a week had additional dance lessons.  Plus I of course wanted to hang out with my friends on the weekends.  So I guess you could say it was busy.  Then college?  Well, there was class, which I was actually good about going to, with the exception of freshman biology, but really, who could blame me for that?  For a few years I worked as a resident assistant, which really just meant a weekly meeting and being friends with all of the girls on my floor (tough job, right?) and in the latter years I was a lifeguard at the YMCA, which honestly, was just hours spent in a chair watching a few very capable people swim laps.  I juggled that with weekly sorority meetings, which eventually led me to being a part of the board (which meant another weekly meeting) and then there were various social activities and probably too many parties.  And at that point, yes, I thought I was busy.  After college I moved to Florida and worked at a country club for awhile, which meant giving up a lot of weekends when I'd rather be doing something else.  When that job came to an end, I worked for the FedEx Orange Bowl, which meant working ALL. THE. TIME. (not even kidding there), and while I would say I was "busy," my time at work was really just filling a chair half the time.  The company culture lent itself to having us work all hours around the clock, when our jobs were really done for the day at regular business ending hours.  But becuase I worked so much I was, yep, you guessed it... "busy."  Then from there I started my career with Marriott, and while my hours got more regular, my social calendar filled back up with weekends at Disney with the girls, which I generally planned, bridal showers, weddings, and all the fun stuff that goes along with being in your twenties.  And then of course there was the planning of my own wedding, which filled up many weekends and was probably the most fun I've ever had being "busy" in my life.  As soon as we were married we packed up (immediately) and moved to Illinois to plant a church campus and while Josh worked some crazy hours, I worked from home and basically sulked that my husband wasn't always there to keep me company.  And instead of jumping on board and really lightening his load, I thought that I was "too busy" with my own full-time job and housekeeping to really be of any significance.  Plus, I was pregnant, so I liked to point out that I was constantly busy "building a human."  Yeah, try to top that!

So what's my point you might wonder?  Well, it's just that the word is... well... overused I think.  It's like the word "love."  I can love my husband and my children, but I can also love my new purse?  That makes no sense at all, but it's the only word we have for it.  And right here right now, in this season of my life, I am beginning to understand the absurdity of "busy" as well.  When Josh and I moved here this summer to plant a church, I knew things would be a bit crazy at times.  I was six months pregnant with our second child and we were starting at square one, with just a calling that we were supposed to be in this are, but no real direction beyond that.  The first couple of months of figuring it all out weren't truly all that busy, but Josh was on the go a lot as he built contacts and tried to flesh out this dream he had in his heart.  And then Lilly came along and I had three months of maternity leave, and while there was down time here and there, learning to adjust to two children can have a person "busy" around the clock.  Things started to ramp up for our church during these months as we partnered with the Kinchen family and their existing church, and suddenly the calendar started filling up.  Josh was meeting with anyone and everyone who would listen to him, casting vision and letting them know that they could help change the world.  I took over the childrens' ministry and began spending any free time I had searching for curriculum, pestering the childrens' pastor from our previous church, and putting together policies and procedures.  Our facility went under major renovations and we were often there painting, dry-walling, or whatever else we could find to do, all the while trying to keep an eye on a toddler who has more energy than anyone we know.  And then... I went back to work two months before our church was scheduled to launch.  Basically the two busiest months that a church plant will have.  At the beginning of January I remember literally thinking to myself, "I am going to hate January."  I knew at the start of it that Josh would be gone a lot and I would be juggling my job, the house, the bills, and two kids, both of which are at needy ages, and I just wasn't sure that I could do it.  And then I blinked and it was February.

We are now T-minus five days to the launch of TurningPoint Church.  To say that I am proud of my husband and what he has put in place would be the understatement of the year.  Over the past few months he has worked non-stop to pour into people, build them up, encourage them, and truly help them know and believe that they were created by God on purpose and for a purpose.  He helped individuals become leaders that they didn't realize they could be, and he helped those leaders build teams that will serve this community every Sunday starting next week.  He got up early to read not just the Bible, but manuals about speaker systems, accounting programs, and membership tracking applications.  And the whole time, I know that he beat himself up about not being home.  And then I look at my past few months and, well, I'm a bit proud of myself, too.  While I would not say that I want this pace to be the norm for our family, I have managed to keep our home pretty clean (if not always tidy), kept our kids happy, well-fed, well-groomed, and entertained, built the framework for what I hope will be a successful kids' ministry, and have even made it back to the gym about three times every week, which was more than I was going before all of this was going on.  Sure, my kids are with me 24 hours a day and come with me everywhere I go, which can be a major hassle at times (and a deterrent from leaving the house to be quite honest) but even when I didn't want to, I sucked it up and made it happen.  And I realized that for the first time in quite possibly my entire life, the difference has been discipline.  Because I so deeply believe to the very core of who I am in what we are doing, and  because I so very much believe that this church we are planting is something that we were created to do, I made the time work, even when there never seemed to be enough.  Sometimes with my kids I get frustrated that "my time is not my own," meaning I can't necessarily do things or get things done on my schedule, but then I remind myself that with or without kids, the time never was mine to begin with.  God gives us all 24 hours in a day, and I think it's important to Him how we use it.  We learn about tithing and giving our first 10% of our earnings to God, because it belongs to Him anyway, and I don't think we ever stop and think that it's the same with our time.  He has promised us eternal life in Heaven with Him if we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but I think with that acceptance comes a responsibility to take care of this gift of time he's given us.  And the more responsible we are with it, the more responsibility He will give us... just like the tithe.  In these past few months I have learned so much about what it means to work hard.  I have learned how to utilize my time so that no single part of my day goes to waste.  When I walk up the stairs I have a basket of laundry in my hand and when I come back down I'm carrying cups that have accumulated.  I tirelessly pick up toys, load and unload the dishwasher, and change more diapers than I can count.  I write business proposals and contracts, return phone calls and send emails.  I try to pour into my kids' ministry team, send schedules and outlines of how Sunday should look.  I now know what the word "busy" really looks like.  It is my life in this time right now.

This post is in no way to try and say that we are truly busier than anyone else right now.  I think in many ways, those times in my past when I thought I was busy, I actually was for the capacity of what I could handle right then.  I think God saw how I handled my time, probably tried to hand me more responsibility at times, and I wasn't at a place where I was willing to take it on right then.  And now, well, we've been more than willing and He sure has handed us quite a bit.  And even though it's been tough and exhausting, and believe me, I have a mini-nervous breakdown about once a week (which my husband can confirm), and as much as I would love an entire day just to myself, I really can't complain.  This journey has stretched me in more ways than I have ever been stretched.  I have been challenged beyond any measure that I have ever had in the past.  And at the end of each day, I go to bed so satisfied with what we're doing with the time we've been given.  And I am proud.  And I hope God is proud of us.

So in finally putting all of this out there my challenge to you is this:

If you feel like there is something that you really want to go after, or you're hearing a small voice in your head pushing you in a certain direction, maybe it's time that you go for it!  Has your excuse been that you're already too busy or just don't have time?  We're all given the same amount of it... maybe it's "time" to start rearranging some things and make more time out of your 24 hours.  It won't be easy, and at times you'll be so tired that you think you might fall asleep standing up, but if you accomplish what you set out to do, it will be worth it.

I know that this Sunday is the first of many for TurningPoint Church and I know that our pace will still be a little crazy for awhile, even after we're up and running.  But this weekend, on February 12th, when they play that last song and our first service ends I know it will be worth it.  And whether fifty people or five hundred show up, I think that God will be smiling down on us, proud that we stopped being "too busy" to find the time to make this happen.  And deep within me, I will be filled with peace because I know that this "busy" season won't last forever and the pace will slow down eventually, and sometime in the near future my "busy" will look a lot less busy than it is right now. 

"Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath" 

(Psalm 39:4-5)

Turkey Day done RIGHT!

Thanksgiving is a holiday all about gathering the family together, stuffing your faces, and then falling asleep from being so full... or so I thought!  Little did I know that in Josh's family, the day is jam packed with activity from start to finish.  This year we decided to head to North Carolina and spend the holiday at his mom's house, and I have to say that it might just become our tradition.  Don't get me wrong... my family throws a fabulous Thanksgiving and my mom can whip up a meal with the best of them, but his family traditions surrounding this day were all new and exciting for me and the kids.  Many things are the same as they are staples of the day: cooking, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, football, the annual nap, and of course the food!  But this year's agenda included all of this PLUS a hay ride (complete with Christmas carols, cider, and a champagne toast) and a bonfire (with s'mores of course!).  Being the holiday freak that I am, I was in heaven!  Although I don't have pictures of everything (the hayride hilarity is on my mother-in-law's camera... I'll have to get those!), here are some good ones from our trip east:

Jake loved riding on the tractor with "Grandy"!  

Uncle Sam and his niece, Skye.  Sam spent the entire weekend with one of the two babies in his arms. 

Food preparation was definitely a group effort... there is no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen here!

 Did I mention that there were NINE dessert choices?  Just one more reason to love my momma-in-law!

Uncle Jay and Uncle Ben... I believe this was taken during a debate about proper deviled egg filling procedures.

Lilly literally slept ALL. DAY. LONG.  Too much excitement I guess!

The weather was nice enough that we could eat outside on the back porch.  It was a perfect fall day!

Poor Jakie didn't feel good all day.  We came home only to find out that our kiddo had a touch of pink eye and an ear infection, but he was pretty miserable for the last half of our trip.

Lilly sleeping.  AGAIN.  But she loves her Aunt Ginny (Skye's mama). 

The boys and the babes.  So sweet!

Naptime is SO much better with someone to cuddle with.  Jake was extra cuddly since he wasn't feeling well! 

Uncle Josh's favorite niece!  Oh how I love her!

Trading secrets.... they're best friends already!

On Friday we hiked around the property... again, we could not have asked for better weather!

Jake has mastered the art of tackling.  It's good when it's me or Daddy... not so good when it's another child.  Whoops!

Hugs for mommy and baby sister (who loves the Moby wrap now that I finally figured out how to use it!). Oh how I love my sweet babies!

The neighbors have horses that we visited daily... again, I was in heaven!

A back porch + a swing bed + 60 degree weather + a blanket + Lilly cuddles =

THE BEST NAP EVER!

Poor guy was all tuckered out from all the fun, but still managed a half-smile for the camera. 

We had such a great time and we were definitely sad to pack up the car and head back on Saturday.  Driving home through the mountains gave us the perfect opportunity though to stop and find a tree.  I grew up with a fake tree and have only had a real one since Josh and I got married.  In Illinois, there are places to chop down your own tree everywhere, so I am spoiled and will not have it any other way now!  No trees from a tent for this gal!  The stop was a welcome time to stretch our legs and enjoy the fresh mountain air for a bit.  Plus, the tree we found is pretty perfect (and made it all the way back to Kentucky in one piece)!

 I love old barns... this one was perfect.

Isn't she a beaut?

And the views!  It was worth a stop just for the scenery! 

We still had about 5 hours ahead of us with the tree on our car... thanks to these guys, the tree stayed in place! 

As a family, we definitely needed and cherished the time off to spend together... a little down time if you will.  Here lately we've been running around like crazy and it was a nice break to reconnect and recharge.  And as I celebrated the holiday, I certainly reflected on our life's many blessings.  It's not perfect by any means, but I am overwhelmed with gratitude when I think of where my life has taken me at this point.  I am thankful for so many things... for a husband who loves me unconditionally even though there are plenty of things that drive him crazy.... for an active, goofball of a son who can literally drive me to tears and have me laughing hysterically in a matter of seconds... for a beautiful, healthy baby girl who wants to be cuddled all the time... for parents who have been married for 40 years now and would drop everything they are doing if we called and told them we needed them... to live so close to my sisters and their families now and for all the time we get to spend together... for in-laws that have taken me in as one of their own... for more friends than a gal could ask for... and most importantly, for knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am loved and saved by grace by Jesus Christ, despite the fact that I do not even come close to deserving it, even on my best day.  My list could go on and on, so it is sad that sometimes I forget these things and have to be reminded.  I hope that in the coming year I take more time to just sit still for a moment and really cherish and enjoy these blessings and to be thankful each and every day.