Has anyone ever tried to buy you? If they did, how much would you say you were worth? I know this is a random question and in the day and age of human trafficking being at an epidemically horrifying level, I in no way mean to make light of buying humans. I have a worthwhile (pun intended) point. Stay with me.
Most of us have heard the story where Jesus fought his way to earth through the birth canal of a virgin. Fought his way through his childhood being the boy who did nothing wrong and whom many in his family didn’t even like him – never mind that He came to give them eternal life. Fought his way through Satan’s temptations. Fought his way through crowds. Fought demons. Fought incurable illnesses. Fought death.
He fought all these fights, for me, and He won.
I’m thrilled to introduce you to my once cyber friend who recently turned into an “in real life friend”, Laura Murray. She is a dedicated mommy, party planner extraordinaire and a beautiful soul with a gorgeous face to go with all that. When she shared this post on her blog, happilymurrayed.com (such a clever blog name!), I immediately asked her if I could make it a permanent fixture on EPFH. Her story, laced with vulnerability, honesty, and truth, resonates with mine and I felt like it would resonate with many of you as well. It’s a story that needs to be shared so others, you, can be filled. Be sure to check out her blog for more incredible stories. ~Andrea
I got new glasses recently.
I’m not going to lie, I feel like a poser.
I’m not enough and I never will be.
That’s not very motivational or uplifting, is it? That’s not typically the message we hear these days. That’s certainly not what we want to hear.
We generally hear, albeit with the purest hearts and best of intentions, that we are enough. That we can do it all. The message I hear is, “Press on Christian soldier! You’ve got this!!”
Please help me welcome our newest contributor, Kadi Stunz! She happens to be the only person who will ever hold the position of being my daughter in love which mean she’ll always be my favorite. 🙂 She has been the most recent addition to our family and we could not be happier about that. I’m actually jealous that our son is the only one who gets to live with her. She is wise beyond her years and inspires me daily with how she seeks God continually and loves and lives well and lives simply. I’m beyond thrilled for you to get to know her as she shares her heart with us here on EPFH. Read more about Kadi and our other contributors here.
Our youngest is now 16. When we lived in Singapore, we were headed out on a vacation and the taxi driver who picked us up to take us to the airport thought it necessary to mention to her how ugly her freckles were. His words. She was about 11 at the time. You think she remembered that?? Heck yeah. Coming to his defense, with SO much grace, the Asian culture generally do everything possible to keep their skin light and without blemish so freckles are a sign of too much sun, therefore, ugly. But man, really???
Fast forward to present day….. about 5 years later…
She yells to me from upstairs, “Mom, guess who came to visit???” I yelled back, “Who?” She said, “My freckles!” My heart sank a little because as her mom I know those voices and I knew what she was thinking. Because mom’s don’t forget these wounds in herself or her children.
Oh my sweet baby girl. She is just so beautiful. She knows this in a healthy and humble way. She really does. I mean, look at her! And she’s even prettier on the inside! No joke!!
She came downstairs and leaned into me. I asked her if she was hearing that taxi driver’s voice in her head and she nodded.
5 years later, y’all!! I even remember exactly where the taxi driver was standing and the look on her sweet, confused and devastated face.
Whoever said, “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me” is a flat out liar. We want to believe that so desperately but it’s just not true. Words break us and word build us up.
I remember someone telling me once that she didn’t sing out loud in places because her husband told her once she didn’t sing well.
I remember the very moment and exactly where I stood when a church leader pierced my very soul with his words.
But… let’s flip this convo over on it’s buttocks and put the dark side down, shall we?
I also remember when I spelled the word “neighbor” right when I was very young (and I’m very old now) and how my Dad praised me for knowing how to spell such a hard word.
Our favorite outfit is probably one that someone told us we looked really good in.
I pray our daughter will remember the countless times we’ve told her how gorgeous she is, inside and out, freckles and all!! And gosh her freckles are SO cute!!
What are your freckles? And who is your taxi driver?
Embrace the freckles!!! And love the taxi driver anyway. Bless his heart….
~Andrea
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Philippians 4:8
Moms’ Night Out… I really enjoy this movie. I’ve actually watched it several times. Yes, the movie is a bit over the top cheeseballs in parts but I found it very entertaining and refreshing. This clip makes me tear up every time I watch it.
Gosh, we’ll just never feel like we’re enough will we? So we strive…
I watched a live chat between CeCe Winans and Priscilla Shirer (both AMAZING women!) where I heard CeCe Winans say something like this,
“Our believing (in God) should be everything. When it’s not everything, we can’t have joy in anything. There aren’t many smiles. Nothing else will ever be enough. There will always be a striving.”
Wow. Like jaw dropping wow…
Most days I long for rest from the striving. Striving has sort of become a way of life. To strive to be a better Mom. To strive to be a better wife. To strive to be a better volunteer. To strive to write this better. To strive to keep a cleaner house. To strive to eat healthier. To strive to keep friendships from falling apart. To try to please my family. To strive to make a dinner every night. To strive to…. It’s what most of us do in all areas of our life. We’re really good at striving. Not so good at resting. What would I do with my self if I wasn’t striving for something. And if I’m honest with myself, I know I’m striving because I’m not resting in God first.
And that is not simple at all nor is it helpful to anyone I do life with. Mostly myself.
~Andrea
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:29-30 The Message
Empty Plate . Full Heart 