I’m turning 22! How did that come up again so fast? I have a two year toddler and I’m expecting my second little boy within the next couple weeks. I don’t feel super young although that’s probably a lot of life under the bridge for most people my age.

Birthdays are always a time of reflection for me. They’re a time for me to step back and really ask myself, “what am I doing with my life?” This past year has been one of growth, which is always my goal. I don’t want to be the same person I am today when I’m 50. My desire is to grow more loving, intentional, and reflect Christ more and more.

When I think about who I am and what my life is about, there’s many different things that come to my mind. I’m a wife, a mom, a homemaker, (and absolutely loving it.) I’m a business owner, gardener, and small scale homesteader. I deeply love and care about my family, church community and youth. I have a small group of friends that I love dearly and would like to make more time to connect with regularly.

I’ve learned a lot about being a mom this year. I’ve had to grieve mistakes and ways of doing things. Although it was my best at the time, I’ve decided that I want to do some things differently now.

I’m learning to embrace “the hard.” There was a time when hard meant bad. Now, I’m working on embracing the fact that few things that are worth having come easy. The very act of giving birth to my son means embracing the hard thing most of us have been taught to fear. Having a strong thriving marriage means fighting for time together, for connection. Living out biblical and traditional values means facing upstream in a world whose current is quickly flowing the other way.

So, here I am, 22 years old. My heart overflows with gratitude for the blessing of every day and the life I’ve been given. It’s not always easy which means that often gratitude is a choice to see the good. Thank you my friend for being here, for sharing this life with me in whatever capacity that looks like. I hope that in some way, my life may inspire you to reach just a little higher every day.

I had intended to have Aaron take a couple birthday photos of me but Jaden wasn’t too keen on being left out so I decided to embrace it. 🙂