1 of 52

I can't think of a year in the last six that hasn't included some major change. Engagements, weddings, babies, jobs, school, moving, just to name a few. This year will undoubtedly follow suit and while I like to think I'll look back at the end and remember everything... I just won't. So I've decided to document at least one part of our year every week.

I hope you'll follow along as I post a snapshot of our child(ren) every week and maybe we can all remember together at the end of it.

Week 1 of 52

Harper finally (after 18 months, y'all) got some teeth and she is proudly showing them off while celebrating New Years with her favorite person in the world.

A Look Back.

2013 was a stellar year for our family. A full year living in Baton Rouge, a full year with our not-so-tiny-anymore babe, and big changes for our church and family! If I hadn't lived it, really I wouldn't believe all the amazing things that God did in and through us.  So here's a brief rundown  month by month of the highlights, with a little more detail in the fall months because they're mysteriously, uhhh... ahem, missing from this little space.

January: Our last month hosting church in our home. We went out with a bang, somehow managing to accommodate and feed 120 people in our living room.

February: We began trying to find temporary (that were also long term?) locations for our church to meet on Sunday morning. We first met in the Radisson hotel this month, which turned out to be our most consistent place throughout most of the year.

March: Harper finally started to pull up on furniture/anything semi-stable, sometimes scaring us but mostly just making us proud. We also participated in a 5k to end human trafficking.

April: Jake's 30th birthday and Harper's 1st. It was a month of celebration (and lots of blogging...)

May: The beginning of a fun summer. Harper took her first real dip in the pool and got her first passport!

June: We found out that our family would be expanding (along with Abigail's belly) and shared the news with you! We also went on our first family vacation to Orange Beach, AL.

July: First overseas mission trip for our church! It was a treasured time in the Dominican Republic despite the virus that swept over our team. Also, our organization's conference for US church leaders, held in Utah, took Mom away from Child for the first time. It was not as sad as one would think ;) Harper took her first steps and tipped the scales at 20lbs finally.

August: the return of college students and football season. What could be better? We also discovered what the word "toddler" meant as Harper was a full on walker/climber and very curious... Our kid's ministry at church flourished, growing from our faithful 3 at the beginning of the year to averaging 15-20. This also meant that we had so many families coming that we needed to have 2 family lifegroups. So much fun to see God move like that!

September: We travelled to Waco for World Mandate with our discipleship school and others from our church. It was refreshing to be with so many whose hearts yearn for Jesus and to see the lost saved. It was like a big family reunion!

October: Antioch Community Church met at the Dunham School for the first time. Another temporary location, but with more room to grow than at our beloved Radisson hotel. Abigail celebrated a birthday and we hosted a team from Antioch's Discipleship School in Waco. While the team was here, we went to the fair and ate a lot of delicious fried food (can't wait for next year...). And a little elephant who wouldn't keep her ears on made an appearance at a fall festival in town.

November: Lots of time with family this month, as we travelled to Waco again for a baby shower and wedding, had Abigail's family in BR for a weekend and then made our way to Houston for Thanksgiving. As we looked back over the year, we saw just how much we had to be thankful for! Our church continued to grow and meet at Dunham.

December: We finally decided on a name for our dear son. God spoke to us so clearly out of Isaiah 45 that he would be like King Cyrus, used by God and a warrior, and so we deduced that to be his name.  Cyrus Andrew (or more likely to be called Cy) should be gracing us with his presence any day now, though he seems pretty content in there. We hosted Christmas in Baton Rouge and Jake enjoyed using his new smoker to make a turkey and ribs for dinner. Our church signed a six month lease with Dunham, an answer to the prayer for a longer term place to meet than hotels or theaters! The auditorium seats 650, plenty of space in the lobby and room for Antioch Kids to expand when needed. We are a blessed people!

Thanks for coming with us on our adventures this year! We are expectant for all that God has in store for our family, church, and city in 2014.

More on Being the Change

If you recall my post earlier this year about the 5k our family participated in, then you will understand that this is a continuation of what we can do to change the world around us. 

Pornography is a very real problem in our society. Scientists are studying the destruction it causes in young and not so young brains and are confirming the worst. Pornography changes the brain the same way an addiction to drugs can.  This article, written by a former editor of an "adult" magazine, gives very frightening (and *disclaimer* pretty graphic) statistics on the effects of pornography on children.  Specifically in England, the government has begun taking action to protect kids from internet pornography a number of ways. This inspired Unbound, the anti-human trafficking arm of our organization, to bring the fight to our soil. Why can't we do something about pornography right now? What's stopping us?

The answer is nothing. Nothing is stopping us. 

Sign the petition. Spread the word. Say no to pornography. 

It really is her hope. 

I Keep Hitting Repeat.

In our family, I am not the repeater. Even if I love a song, movie, food, etc. I'm pretty content to enjoy something once, maybe twice, and then I'm satisfied. Jake, however, will play songs over and over until I'm pretty sure I've gone insane. But he's perfectly happy to keep listening. Same with movies. I'm really hoping that I never have to see Paul Blart Mall Cop ever again...

Anyway, that's why this is so strange. I can't stop listening to this song.

This song is not new, and yet it touches me to the core every time I listen to it.

I feel like I am in a season where God is exposing a lot of my inner workings and struggles. I see things that need to change and I resist or I self-loathe or I mourn. I try to fix myself and fail. God is ever so gracious and tender with me but it leaves me feeling raw and, honestly, unlovable. I know I am loved, but I just can't imagine why. Do you ever feel like that?

But this song takes me full circle. I need God to show me all the unsurrendered and dark places in my heart. I have to trust that He is good enough and strong enough to bring me through deep transformation. I need Him to do that. I am too weak to do it on my own, but His spirit is strong and His love is great. And at the end of the day, He will not fail me. And He won't fail you either.

"Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

So if you need a faith refresher in the form of a song, go ahead and hit repeat a few times. I'm with you on this one.

My PSA.

Now that it's been over a week and a half, I think I can tell you this story without emotionally traumatizing myself... again...

First of all, let me just say that I am pregnant. I am not blaming this on my son, per se, but pregnancy brain is a real thing y'all. Further, I'm not really sure I ever regained my normal cognitive processes after Harper was born. Even so, I never thought this would happen to me. I mean I'm a pretty together person; not very forgetful or absent-mined. All of that to say...

I locked my daughter in my car.

I didn't forget about her. I just didn't realize that the doors were locked when I threw my keys in the diaper bag and shut my door. Panic (in my head) ensued. Did I mention my phone was in the car, too? I was at the doctor's office (thankfully!) so there were a myriad of receptionists, nurses, and security guards/police officers to help me. Harper was the calm one in all of this. Playing peek-a-boo, waving at nurses, and trying to take her shoes off.  She whined one time in the whole 25 minutes she was looking at us through the window. When pop-a-lock, my hero, came the door was opened in seconds.  S/O to those guys! It used to take me the better part of an hour to break into my car. Anyway, Harper was completely fine (other than the fact that she had to have her temperature taken... rectally) and got apple juice for the first time since we were all worried about her.

So, my Public Service Announcement is this. Invest in the magnetic hide-a-key for your car, people!! You may never have a brain blitz as bad as mine, but wouldn't it be nice knowing that if you did there is a back up safety feature? And for those wondering, I NEVER leave my keys in the car anymore. If I can avoid those hours and days of feeling like the worst mother in world by keeping my keys in my pocket, then heck yes I'm going to do that.

And it's all about perspective. At the end of a really hard day, I can say that at least I didn't lock my kid in the car today.


*disclaimer*I am in no way trying to make light of the tragedy of children forgotten in the car. If you are a mother, father, grandparent, or ever have kids in your car for any reason, please check the back seat before you leave the car! 

#sillystringfail

We thought that it would be September, at the earliest, before we found out the gender of Baby G #2.  It was pretty much killing us, though secretly we both thought it was a boy. Then, some really great friends of ours took us to get an early ultrasound the week after we got back from Utah and a month earlier than we were expecting. Thus began the brainstorming on ways we could share the big reveal with our families.  We did the balloon reveal with Harper and we thought it would be cruel to send a  video of us cutting a cake they couldn't eat... So we got creative. Here are the results.

Revealed the news, traumatized the baby.  #sillystringfail

My Wooden Anniversary

This is my and Jake's 5th anniversary. The traditional anniversary gift for this is wooden. so I'm anxiously awaiting my whittled flute or walking stick. (Hint hint...)

Five whole years.  Y'all, that's just crazy. Sometimes I still feel like, "OMGoodness, is he sure he wants to date me?" Other times I'm like, "did I exist before June 2008?"  Life is sweet being Mrs. Jake Griffin.  Not only are we living the dream of advancing the kingdom of God in Baton Rouge, but I'm living the dream of being married to the best person I've ever met.  In honor of my deary, here are the top 5 things I've learned from him.

5. Exercise is good. Well, I don't know if I've learned this yet, but sloooowly it is getting ingrained in my thick head... He is obsessed with being active. He not only thinks it's fun but he also sees it as being faithful in the little.  I like that about him.

4. It's always a good time to laugh. As Jake says, "if we aren't having fun, we're doing something wrong."

3. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.  My coach of a husband can't help but live his life this way.  Of course, we don't really believe in luck, but the principle stands.  Be prepared for whatever might come your way.

2. Drink strong coffee. If you can't chew it, it isn't strong enough.  I'm glad I can drink coffee like a man now.

1. Purposeful living. The man does not waste a second of his day.  He really is a good steward of his time, gifts, and passions.  He lives as a man that will give account for it.  I hope that I have picked up at least a sliver of this from him!  

We've done a lot together in five years- led trips around the world, bought a house, moved cities, started a family, gotten a dog, laughed, cried, and dreamed- and that just makes me excited for the next hundred. The best is definitely yet to come! 

Abigail