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national adoption month part 2: giving.
Hi there! I realize I’m late writing this post, and it’s not technically National Adoption Month any more. Friends, I am sorry and will try not to promise blog posts on a time frame!!!!!!!! I love this blog and love, love writing, but life just seems so very full right now. It’s full of wonderful things and often I wish I had the creative energy to share them with you. But many days, when I reach our afternoon house quiet time or the evening, my brain feels like mush. Thank you for faithfully reading alone with my posts, when I can post. I fervently hope that in a different season…
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jones gap, sc.
On the day after Thanksgiving we slept in, drank a leisurely cup of coffee, then set out for the Southern Appalachian mountains in search of late-fall colors and adventure. On the van ride, a bit subdued from the huge meal and holiday celebration the night before, we ushered in the Christmas season by listening to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. As always, David lured our family into a hiking adventure with promises of delicious food, so after a couple of hours, we stopped for brunch at Tandem Creperie, one of our very favorite places to eat. My recommendation? The sausage, kale, and potato crepe, with a steaming cafe au lait.…
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national adoption month part one: an ode to our adoption agency.
Hi there, friends! This weekend was the three-year anniversary of the day that our adoption of Gabe and Noah was finalized in court. Did you know that November is also National Adoption Month? This gives me a double excuse to talk about adoption, which is one of my favorite things! I’m going to write two blog posts this week, and this first one is about our adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services. Since it’s been over four years since we started our process, I think it’s a good time to reflect on the agency we chose. I realize that there are many avenues to adoption, including through foster care, and many…
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moments of thanksgiving.
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fall at the river walk.
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new members class.
Happy November, my friends! Fall has really and truly come to Columbia. The leaves typically don’t begin turning until after Halloween, and so here and there a golden or berry-colored tree can be spotted and there’s a pleasing brown crunch underfoot. I love this time of year because windows are thrown open day and night, we’ve pulled out everyone’s sweatpants but don’t yet need jackets, and it’s pleasant enough that the kids want to be outside for large portions of their day. I love fall. For our family, fall also means church New Members class, which is one of my favorite things I do as a pastor’s wife. So I…
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first fire pit.
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a little mid-term school update.
It’s hard for me to believe that we’re well into our second quarter of the school year! Well, I guess we sort of cheated by taking off and hitting the road for three weeks in September (and truly, I was out four weeks because of Charleston). “Road-schooling” was amazing for all of us. It involved tons of learning but zero workbooks. So as you can imagine, it took us a bit to get caught up and accustomed to our normal routine, but we’ve made the transition and are enjoying this semester more than ever after the gift of exploring our great big country. First, Classical Conversations. After a year off,…
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poetry teatime.
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leaders collective marriage retreat.
We’d been home from our road trip just over a week before it was time to pack up and leave for a marriage retreat in Charleston. I’ll be honest: that reentry week after our grand adventure hit hard. I planned for it, expected it, but there’s still just an immense amount of reality to face after three glorious weeks of disconnect. I felt myself pulled under the current all week, knowing vaguely I ought to be thankful and re-energized, but not sure how to deal with the pressures of my real life, just the way it is. So pretty much the last thing I wanted to do was think about…
