Transition Breeds Growth

Happy newness, my friends!!! As we are getting settled into our new home, new life, new church, and basically new everything, I am realizing a lot of things about myself... I'm also realizing new things about God. We are working on getting plugged in and connected to a great network of believers here in Southern Alabama, and God is doing an excellent job with those connections!

As we connect with people, I am realizing that I may be more awkward than I ever really acknowledged before... So, as we become friends, please realize that I have finally admitted it. Will it change anything? Probably not, but at least I know now... I think I always knew I was a bit awkward, but I am so social that I never really thought about it. As a stay-at-home-mom, I have become more awkward in my adult interactions than ever before! And, I'm perfectly ok with that, I hope you are, too. 

But, really, I think that through this revelation, I am seeing even more how much God loves me... He places people in my life who are awkward alongside me, or just don't mind my awkwardness. As we finally feel capable of putting down roots for the first real time in the 6 years that hubby and I have been together (6 years??? What?!?!?!), I am so excited to use the things God has placed inside of me! I am starting to feel the passion bubbling up inside me again, after a very long time of not understanding if God was still calling me to do much... 

We had a small groups signup party last night with our new, amazing church, and we were able to connect with people who are like-minded and similar-hearted, and it felt so good! As we were driving home, I was telling hubby all about all the things I feel about my heart for ministry. I can't even figure out exactly what it is I feel called to do, because there are so many things that pluck my heart strings... I'm feeling so many things that He is saying to me and finally feeling passionate about life again and looking forward to making a difference in lives. How that difference will be made, and in what arena, I don't yet know... But, I do know that it starts here, with my writing, and in the Word and through my prayer and time with Him. I am excited to share this journey with you as He walks me through it and gives me clarity! 

I cannot believe that we are really here, in this amazing, crazy life! 6 years ago we met, now we have 2 amazing children who we adore, a super sweet puppy, and we just purchased our first home in a place we are meant to be for a long time... I am so happy in the midst of this chaos and I am so pleased that you are sharing in this new adventure with me!!! 

Until next time, 

Mikyhla 

Thoughts on moving....

We are officially 30 days out from our move to Alabama from Arizona!!! I can't believe it's really happening! There are so many emotions and so many things I should be doing that don't involve sitting here, writing to you... But, I really just need to write it all out! :)

The first and foremost thing is gratitude! We are beyond thrilled to be going somewhere so beautiful, close to the ocean, where people are kind... We are buying an amazing house in a family-friendly neighborhood. And there is no lack of evidence that God orchestrated it all. We can't believe that we never considered living in Southern Alabama before because we are so in love with it!!!! But, God knows our hearts and needs and plans things better than we could even pretend to dream of! 

The second is that I am losing my mind! Moving across the country with 2 high-energy toddlers is proving to be a bit more exhausting that I expected... I knew it would be trying, but, wow.... I am working on trying to be more compassionate and respectful of 3 year old Sam's feelings. We have been selling stuff and purging as we pack. This weekend, several people came over to purchase things such as our dresser and nightstand, and Sam's dresser and nightstand.... We kind of went over what was going on and then didn't really talk about it anymore because he seemed ok. Well, yesterday someone from a moving company came to get us a quote and we were standing in Sam's room talking. Sam ran around the corner and screamed, "Don't take my bed!" He was so sure that this strange man with the glasses was here to take more of his stuff! Needless to say, I felt (and still feel) horrible.... We've been working on more conversations with him about moving to "Alagrama" as he calls it. The good news is, 16 month old Noah is unbelievably content, as long as he isn't being contained or put down to sleep. ;)

The last is sadness... We are definitely not even close to sad about leaving the desert, by any means. But, there are many people we wish would just come with us. We have made many friends, and people have become like family because we don't have any close. This is going to be very emotional as we forge new friendships, never forgetting the ones we never thought we'd make. We moved to AZ 4 and a half years ago with the anticipation of not putting down roots and getting out as soon as possibe, with no children until we did. hahaha. Yeah, God laughed, we know.... Through our process of adopting 2 children and being married for 5 years, we gained so many heart connection friends... Please come visit us... Help us maintain these friendships. It is so hard to maintain friendships with children, even in close proximity geographically. We need you to continue conversations, and check in on us every now and then as we get settled. We love you all and we really will miss you, even if it seems our excitement for the new outweighs the emotional... 

I try to make my posts be geared toward growing and knowing God better, and finding yourself in Him... Today, I just want to say that I appreciate my audience and I love you. Thank you for giving me this outlet to get it all on the table. :) 

His plan is better than good!

Another Monday, the middle of April already! What?!?!?! How did it get to be so far into 2015?? What have you accomplished this year? What have you set out to accomplish this year? Did you set some goals at the beginning of the year and then forget about them, or decide they were too hard? Write them down! Remember the dreams God gave you! Don't give up. He gives you dreams and desires, you just have to find motivation to reach them! 

I have been working through some training for my essential oils business that discusses how to set and achieve goals. The speaker talked about the first step being to figure out and name your specific desired outcome. Pick the results you are reaching for, then and only then, you can set up a plan for reaching that goal. Sometimes the plan you put in place won't work; write it in pencil because that's ok. The only part that is really important is that you keep your desired outcome in mind and do whatever it takes to achieve it! That goal must be set in stone, but the journey doesn't have to be! 

I say this because God has set a path before you and a dream to reach. He lets you figure out the path, to an extent, but my family is learning that the path may not be exactly what you picture it to be. Be open to other paths to result, God may have a detour for you or a "longcut" that will allow you to minister to more people or grow more in preparation. Sometimes we just need to be open to what He is saying to us, more than what we think He wants from us. 

Just this morning, hubby and I were talking about how different God's plan looks sometimes. I reminded him that neither of us thought we'd end up with people like each other... We prayed and God answered our prayers and we are perfect for each other and exactly what the other needed. But I thought I'd end up with someone completely different from him. But, all the things on my list of what I wanted in a man that I prayed specifically for? My husband completes every single one of them, and so much more! Just not how I pictured it, and I am 100% ok with that, because if I had picked my husband, it would not have been so great. ;) 

Please be praying for specifics, but don't forget that God's plan is better. Don't be closed minded about the ways He is going to do it, because he WILL surprise you if you let Him, I promise! Just remember to maintain your relationship with Him and let Him be your tourguide on the adventure He has laid out for you! Share your stories with me, and let me know how different His plan was for your life than your own and how great it ended up! I love testimonies that help other people see that He is good! :) 

Love you all so much!!

Mikyhla

Not another Monday

Yesterday was Easter and today feels just like another Monday... How is it that we can have a day like Easter, where we celebrate that He is Risen and we are redeemed because of the blood He shed and how He loves us and then the next day, we wake up and dread the day? Whatever comes at us, we should be able to face because we know we aren't facing it alone. The battle has been fought, and that same battle has already been won. 

We may not always be able to see the victory, but stepping out and believing that God has done as He promised is your side of the battle. In the wait, we should be embracing every moment and finding ways to praise when we can't see. Even if the only praise we have is that He saved us. Our praises for our family are so vast that I can't see the storm when I focus on them, but sometimes I forget the things He has done for us... When I wake up to the screaming and whining of our 3 year old, I forget the story that led to him being ours, or when our 1 year old is learning to push buttons and laughs when I get onto him, I forget that his story is also such a beautiful one. 

I am working on remembering the things God has done, and it helps me remember that He can and will do more amazing things in our lives. The way our story has played out thus far could not be anything but God. This reminds me that it's going to be better than great, whatever He is doing. Therefore, this post-Easter Monday, I urge you to remember yesterday's celebration and all the celebrations before, and begin this week with praise and thanksgiving. He might just surprise you. :) 

Revelations of love

I have been pondering all day what I wanted to post about because I really want to be intentional about posting at least once a week. I couldn't really come up with anything. But, then a couple things happened today that really did it. It isn't going to be a long, profound post, I am just going to share my heart and hope that someone reads this and gets something out of it. 

I told you before that I've been reading through Jennie Allen's Restless study about finding your passions and seeking God's will for them. Well, in my fervor to seek God, I started praying that my husband and I would have goals together because I want nothing more than to minister alongside my better half... Well, God took me down a couple notches this week, in an amazing way. 

We have always had a very great relationship, your cliché best-friend-spouse, don't want to spend time away from each other, mushy relationship. ;) And you know what? I absolutely love it! I love when people tell me they are getting married because being married is by far my favorite thing in life, only topped by my relationship with the Lord. 

Today I was reminded just how much our relationship means to my husband, as I saw a post about when we first got Sam. He had told one of our friends when we started the process towards adoption, "Adoption is my wife's life long dream, so how could it not become my dream with the love I have for my wife?" That, my friends, is an amazing husband... We will be celebrating our 5th anniversary of marriage in May and I am still completely and utterly blown away by the love this man has for me. Reading that post from 2 years ago made me cry because he is still so amazingly and fully devoted to our family... I was then on the phone with him tonight, as he is out of town for work, and he told me a few different things and I was again reminded of the amazing heart he has for those around him. I cried again when we got off the phone because I can't believe how blessed I am to be loved by such an amazing, genuine, caring man. 

I say all this to say that our ministry is, and always has been our relationship with each other. We knew from the beginning that God wanted to use us as a couple to bring families and couples together and show them how amazing a relationship can be when God comes first. I lost sight of that part in the chaos of being parents to 2 boys under 3, but I was reminded today. After praying for 2 weeks for God to show me how I can minister with my husband, He showed me exactly what I've known all along. Our heart is to have a large house where we can have people over and speak into their lives, and I am so excited that that dream will be coming to fruition soon...

Sorry if this is a bit of a harder-to-follow post, it feels a little bit more of a journal in that I just needed to express this amazing revelation and overwhelming love I have for the man God gave me. :) Thank you for reading!