'Merica, y'all.

Now that election season is over and it's once again safe to share my opinions on social media without getting karate chopped in the mentions, I thought I'd do it. Here's why I love America.*

6. Reality t.v.  Had you going, didn't I...

5. Air conditioning. This one is serious. Please, don't judge me.  I live in Louisiana, so it's pretty much a necessity. I like to think I'm not high maintenance, but I know I'm a lightweight in this area.

4. Diversity. So many thoughts, ideas, personalities, passions, gifts, talents, cultures and experiences. I believe this is the way heaven will be!  

3.  It's the land of opportunity. You can be nothing and then become something.  Almost anything you can dream, is a possibility.  Of course, this creates Beanie Babies and Toby Keith, but I'm not going to pour the baby out with the bathwater.    

2. Courageous men (and women).  People who believe in our country enough to fight for what they believe in. Red, blue, green, white.  I'm not saying I agree with all of them, but they are strong enough to stand up for what they think is best. They give up years of their life to lead and serve us. That is honorable.

1. There is freedom.  Countless brave men and women have laid down their lives that I might live in a country that has all these things and more. I can love and serve God without fearing for my life or my livelihood. I can vote for those courageous men.  I can create and fail and create again. I have a voice.  I can use that voice to stand for those who don't have one.  This is beautiful and hopefully a foreshadowing for Americans of the freedom found in Jesus.      

Thank you for your time. God bless you and God bless 'merica.

Abigail

P.S. I love all the countries on this planet! And I'm positive that they all have equally awesome qualities, but that's for another day and another list...

Happy 6 Months!

It's time for the second installment of High Five! I can hear the applause all the way from Baton Rouge...
This one is dedicated to my sweet and funny 6 month old! You know what happened? I blinked.  A second ago I was trying to keep tiny mittens on an even tinier baby. Now, I'm trying to keep sweet potatoes off of all my clothes. I know you all told me this would happen, so I just wanted to make sure you knew you were right. I blinked and she is half of a year old. I'm going to try to keep my eyes open for the rest of my life.  Maybe then she won't get any older. Or something like that...
Anyway, here are the top 5 things I love about having a 6 month old

5. You get to cut in line to vote. Shaved a good 45 minutes off my wait. I need to time it to always have a baby during election years...

4. Attachment.  She loves me. She really loves me! It is so sweet that she has attached herself to me and Jake. I'm soaking it up now because I know that one day she'll have a car and be all like "later, playuz."

3. Three naps and 11 hours of sleep at night.  This is probably the pinnacle of sleep that we will get in her life. I literally thank God every day that she is such a good sleeper.

2. Singing fixes everything. Boredom. Sadness. Anger. Restlessness. All of these can be remedied with This Little Light of Mine or a good Postal Service song.  Wouldn't it be nice if this worked for adults?!?!

1. Seeing things like they are new. I get to see things through Harper's eyes every day and it makes the ordinary so much more special.  I had forgotten how funny Ruby is and how cute Jake is in the morning. Harper reminds me to find joy in the little things.  

Don't be surprised if this little lady shows up on Fridays a lot.  She's fun to talk about!

Happy November,
Abigail

A Series of Fortunate Events

I had the realization (in the shower, of course) that I'm pretty fond of lists. Grocery, packing, gifts, set, pretty much any kind of list. Most people like crossing things off of their lists. But I don't get a ton of satisfaction out of that.  I'm hooked on the organizing of those tasks/thoughts, etc.  Which led to another revelation (same place) that I should make lists RIGHT HERE! I know you're constantly wondering what I am thinking... so I'll put it in list form.  You're welcome.  

This series of lists will sometimes be humorous, other times serious, but always thankful. I want to remember all the things I have and the things that make me laugh.  I'm going to call this the High Five.  I decided on five because ten is a lot when you don't have a team of writers to be funny and witty and insightful. We can't all be Dave, you know.  In honor of alliterations, I'll be posting the High Fives on Friday every week. 

I recently celebrated my birthday. I began the downward slope of my 20s. Weird. Anyway, this High Five will be the top things that have changed since I began the decade.

5. I had a nose ring.  I think there are still some picture on the Facebook that I haven't untagged.                                            Disclaimer: I loved that thing when I had it. No, I won't get it again. And... sorry Mom. 

4. Harper. Duh. Sophmore year in college vs. motherhood.  My roomies were quieter, the work less rewarding, but equally sleep deprived.

3. My skin care regime.  Amazingly, I never washed my face, took off my makeup, or wore sunscreen until I got married. Please don't leave me hateful comments. I've since realized the error of my ways.  

2. On my 20th birthday, I was living single.  A few months later though (or a year...), I was swept off my feet. I'm thankful that I have spent most of the decade with my best friend!

1. I lived in Texas.  Moment of silence.  Now open your mouth... and take a big bite of gumbo.  Long live Louisana!

Life is, obviously, good. More to come next Friday!

Abigail

Livin' Large

So many things have happened in these last few weeks. Our lives have been very full.  Not in the how-you-view-the-glass kind of way, more like the after-a-chinese-buffet feeling. You know, extremely satisfied and maybe slightly uncomfortable.  As the title suggests, we view this fullness as "living large." Now onto the good stuff.

Harper is almost 6 months old.  6.  Months. Half of a year.  We really are in shock.  She is so fun right now!  Her little personality is starting to show itself.  She does not prefer being cold, taking baths, or being stuck on her stomach.  She loves singing (hers or anyone else's), chewing on her toes, grabbing everything, and Ruby! She had her first sickness, a little cold.  It was so sad hearing her tiny cough, BUT it made her a snuggler which she is not normally.  So it was sweet. We took advantage of it.  No shame.

And she's teething.  Chewing on everything, clearly.

Another thing growing bigger by the day is our church! As you probably know, 9 of us moved here from Waco.  We started getting to know people in the city, inviting them to church, lifegroup, LSU watch parties, and pretty much anything else we were doing. We now have two lifegroups, good friends, and a growing presence in the city. The real story here though is that we have people coming to church whom the 9 of us have never met!  And we love that.  Our friends are bringing their friends and their friends' friends. It is FUN.

My birthday was this month.  I now feel like a twenty-something mom.  Because that's what I am...
I felt so celebrated. Harper surprised me by waking up at 5:30.  AM.  Yes, welcome to my first birthday as a mom.  It really was a great day, though.  Friends brought me coffee, lunch, and gifts.  I got mail, phone calls, tweets, and texts.  LSU beat South Carolina.  And Jake gave me this awesome gift:

A new bed! A friend of ours, Jacob, designs/builds furniture and made this headboard.  And Anthropologie supplied the bedding (after I paid them...) Have I mentioned that we have an Anthro here?  It is fantastic. And Jake is incredible. A few days later I, also, had a birthday party (with the lovely Jillian, whose birthday is 3 days after mine), complete with firepit and s'mores bar.  It was perfection.

This last part is that slightly uncomfortable feeling of being full.  Our family lost a very important man at the beginning of the month.  Don "PawPaw" Hart, Jake's grandpa, went to be with Jesus unexpectedly.  We traveled to Houston to be with family and to celebrate his life.  He was a fighter, so loving, and never met a stranger.  He left a legacy of faithfulness and kindness.  We obviously feel deeply saddened by the loss of PawPaw, but God is always faithful and gives beauty for ashes.  What feels painful and hard to understand now, we know to be temporary.  We believe in the unfailing and eternal goodness of God and gratefully receive every reminder of that. We miss you PawPaw and can't wait to see you again!

Now you are caught up on our lives.  Stay tuned for more frequent updates and possibly a weekly series... Intrigued? So am I.

Abigail

   

a pain in my neck

A few weeks ago, Jake got this awful pain in his neck.  I thought it was a crick, he thought it was from working out.  Whatever caused it, it was a doozie! He couldn't sleep very well, was in pain most of the day, and even a massage didn't help.  But, I guess it finally went away because he hasn't mentioned it in a while. Or maybe he passed it on to me... an epidemic!

You see, I woke up with a crick in my neck the other day.  It wasn't terrible, but it got worse throughout the day. By the evening, I had to sit with my body facing right so I could turn my head to the left, aka the only way it didn't hurt.  The next morning I was feeling more myself, but still in some pain. Quick movements still made me want to gasp... GASP (disclaimer- I live with dramatic people, y'all). The crick hasn't let up, but I learned to cope by looking over my left shoulder instead of my right and things like that. I'm making it.

I realized that this is like the sin in my life.  Jake does it first...  No, no, I kid.  It usually shows up unexpectedly. I am confronted with it.  For a while it's like a kick in the face. I rearrange my life because of it's inconvenience.  It's not my ideal and I want it to go away.  And then, gradually, I learn to live with it.  It becomes a little more convenient to just go about my life normally.  To live inhibited. I can pretend like it's not there for a very long time.
But I'm reminded that Someone once said that I was meant for more.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Yes.  To live in fullness. Not to cope with my sin and the destruction that it brings. To be able to turn my head to the right and to the left.  To live a new life.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am new!  I do not have to cope with the old me.  I am dead to sin and alive in Christ. I can lay my sin on the altar of His sacrifice. Walk in that newness for which He died. Jesus wants us to be free. He is just that good.

Now if only I could figure out my neck...

Abigail

Tiny, little packages.

I find it very fitting that we had a baby just weeks before we moved to "birth" a church. I'm sure that when we look back later, we will see so many other parallels.  But presently, a thought has come to my mind.  Actually, it's pretty much in front of my face daily:

there is POWER in small beginnings.

Our journey of starting a family did not begin the way we anticipated. Waiting, excitement, a miscarriage, disappointments, and questions filled the third year of our marriage. God was good to us, so trustworthy and faithful, but this was a small place. Then, as I braced for another month of disappointment, He surprised me.  It wasn't my timing or my plan.

It was bigger.

I had been stripped of reasoning and practicality and realized that I had been in "pleasant places" all along. And this place included anticipation, lack of sleep, tiny clothes and very swollen ankles, all leading up to an especially great Sunday. In the midst, we were preparing to plant this church.  Similarly, we had to wait and we had disappointments and we were in a pleasant place.  And I think Jake's ankles were even a little swollen...

Sometimes it felt like we were going to be preparing to go forever! BUT, now we have birthed a little church.  We have a small gathering of people.  And just like Harper surprises us everyday with something new, this church is constantly growing.  Friendships are forming, intercession is changing this city, and God is showing up in power.  Almost everyday we say how much we love how little our girl is.  She can't do very much or return the love we give yet, but our affection for her grows.  Our church is simple and we don't always know what we're doing, but we wouldn't trade it for the world! We cherish this season of small but powerful.  Because, as we've already seen, God's small is so much bigger than we could imagine!

  

Chemical Spills, Mosquitoes, and Talking Babies

This post is dedicated to our new life in Baton Rouge. And Harper. Duh.

But, first, a tribute to the place I grew up.  I lived in Texas my whole life.  It was mostly hot, sometimes humid, and full of pride, but lovely and so very unique. My only complaint for the longest time was that I would never see a white Christmas and then the miracle happened in 2009.  It was magical. It was as if Bing Crosby was in my living room, singing to me as the snow fell. I never once believed that living somewhere else could be better. I loved traveling, but I could always come home to the Lone Star State. To the Rangers, Mavericks, Cowboys, Stars, biggest contiguous state, Six Flags, cool cities, lots of country, BBQ, and (alright, alright) cowboy boots.
     

Two things you need to know about Baton Rouge.  #1 is that God is moving here.  It is humbling and way too fun to be part of this people and this movement. There is a hunger and vulnerability in people that can only be explained by a God in love with them!  #2 is that there is traffic.  Always.  Miles mean nothing in this city.  Time of day and the state of the interstate determine your travel time.  Like the other day when there was a chemical spill on I-10.  The entire interstate was shut down for about 24 hours.  It ended with the city burning off the chemicals and the fire department putting out the fire.  Sounds more simple than it was, I'm sure.  All of this commotion caused the city to be one giant traffic jam. One of my friends was on the road for 8 hours just to RUN ERRANDS. Reporters were interviewing people in their cars because they were at a standstill.  It was c-r-a-z-y. Being my father's child, I have tried to find back ways, the fastest ways, and really just any way to get places.  It's like my own little game... in the car while I'm sitting in hours of traffic. It's not always terrible. If you go somewhere at 6am, there's not any traffic.  Yea-uhh.  I guess a third thing you should know is that the mosquitoes are crafty.  You'd think that because the doors and windows are closed... and sealed... that they can't get in your house, but you'd be wrong.  The number of times I've woken up with mosquito bites that I didn't have the night before is getting longer by the day.  They're, like, mutant.  I'm pretty sure they can swim backwards.

And now the reason you're all reading this, I'm sure.  Harper is indeed talking now.  Though we are unsure what she is saying, she is saying it. Want some proof?
*disclaimer: please ignore the high-pitched baby talk/noises that are not from the baby... Have you ever tried to talk to a baby without doing that?

         

Can't wait to know what is going on in that little head of hers.
Until next time,
Abigail