Hope for the new mom

I’ve been a little quiet here. Motherhood has changed me in more ways than I expected, and more deeply than I can put into words yet. I’m still processing the past almost five months, so I don’t feel that I have much wisdom to share about this new season yet. However, lately I’ve been impressed […]

a little more love

When I was around twelve years old, my mom started our official Wilson family Valentine tradition. I’ve mentioned before how much my family loved traditions – Valentines Day was no exception. On February 1st, we would pull out a couple small heart-themed decorations, usually paired with homemade snowflakes taped to the sliding glass door in […]

Why I Listen to Christmas Music Early + Recommended Albums

We made it to November! I sort of feel like we’ve been breathlessly treading water and the tide finally brought us to the island – the island of holidays and the start of a new year. We’re going to make it. Things have been crazy but we’re all sort of winding down as the holidays […]

graceful resignation

Planning a wedding is a flurry of emotions, expectations, and sparkles. I knew I was going to marry this man, I knew it was God’s will, and I was just so ready to be married. So when we entered the pastor’s office for premarital counseling, I felt like I was just checking another box on […]

Have you done anything lately worth remembering?

We sat at Panera Bread tonight after church, outside eating salads and watching lightning bolts and googling “deep life questions” to spark discussions. I read aloud from my phone, “Have you done anything lately worth remembering?” Joshua scrunched his nose. “I don’t think so, really.” Of course I assured him of several things, but I […]

SELF-CARE IN A SELF-LOVE WORLD

I cannot scroll through Instagram ONCE without seeing the phrase “self-care” or “self-love.” A few years ago, when #selfcare started popping up on social media and Pinterest, I sort of rolled my eyes because it seemed obvious that this was not a Christian movement. But that was years ago. Now, the lines between Christianity and […]

This Is My Story

“If this is how my story is going to go, so be it.” I wrote that in my journal about two weeks ago, and I’ve both said it aloud and thought it to myself many times since. Sometimes I have a resentful tone, sometimes simple resignation, sometimes restful. I don’t know really know what I’m […]

Not a Waste

That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Psalm 104:28 April is over. Truthfully one of the oddest months I’ve ever experienced. April 2020 is a month I’m sure I’ll tell my babies about someday. Why? Because April was our first complete month of shelter-in-place. (Hopefully the last full […]

Guest Post: Punctuating the Crucifixion

This is a guest post by my lovely sister in law, Autumn. I appreciate her heart and willingness to share some thoughts from her devotion today, and I know it will encourage you as we prepare for resurrection sunday at the end of this week. Somewhere in the midst of all my years of celebrating […]

These Are Simple Days.

These are simple days. Sleep in, slow wake up.Read the Bible, sit on the couch for a few more minutes petting the dog.Put kettle on for coffee or tea.Breakfast.Put away clean dishes.Load dishwasher with dirty ones.Listen to an audiobook.Light a candle.Play the piano.Put in a load of laundry, listen to the rumble of the washer […]

Twenty-Nineteen Reads

(None of the links in this post benefit me in any way. They are simply to serve as quick access to the books I recommend.) In 2018, I set a lofty goal for myself concerning the amount of reading I wanted to do. I failed. Epically. (WordPress says that’s not a word but IT IS […]

growth

I’ve been learning two things that may sound like opposite concepts but can both be applied simultaneously. It’s OK to do things that feel a little crazy, that seem too hard, too big, too complicated. & Living an ordinary, unbusy, unhurried life is OK too. It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life. […]

grace upon grace upon grace

Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. – Psalm 36:5, 7 I have fallen massively short recently. It probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it […]

You Never Know What You Had ‘Til It’s Gone

Since blogging about the social media epidemic, I re-downloaded Instagram. I was only on it for a week before recognizing (ok, my husband noticed it first) how much time it had started to take up. It wasn’t that much – comparatively. It wasn’t as much as it had been before I deleted the app back in […]

The Social Media Epidemic

“I release myself from the obligation or expectation to share with the world what is going on in my life.” That was what I wrote in the back of my sermon notebook a few weeks ago in the middle of the service. I had deleted Instagram off my phone the previous night, Facebook that morning […]

GO OUTSIDE AND DO THINGS

About a month ago, Josh and I got to spend a few days in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. While we were there, we got matching stickers that say: GO OUTSIDE AND DO THINGS. The irony is that we put them on our laptops. But they serve as a two-fold reminder to us. First of […]

sometimes: a reminder

Sometimes life is hard. But sometimes, life is harder. Sometimes you make mistakes and have to go back and apologize, and hope they forgive you, no matter how much you think they won’t. But sometimes you do everything right, and they still hate you. Sometimes you recognize you did something wrong and restitution has to […]

5 (Partly Silly) Things We Do to Save Money

Everyone wants more money. But I believe the money we need is already ours; we just don’t make the best use of it.Yes, I said “we.” We started our minimalism journey over six months ago, but old habits die hard. My desires still tend to lean toward shopping. Minimalism is a mindset and a process. […]

The Mess of Ministry

I’ve been a part of ministry since I was a baby. First I was just the child of a traveling preacher, then a YPK, PK, Sunday School teacher, missionary, camp counselor, youth group leader, part-time worship leader, pianist, mentor, nursery worker, small group leader. . . and while there have been countless things I’ve learned […]

The Talk: For Singles

I want to broach a topic that, in my personal opinion, is not discussed enough among Christians in a scriptural way or in a safe environment. Sex. It is time we stop acting like this is not an issue. It’s time we start acknowledging that it is a struggle to remain pure in any capacity […]

Meal Prep: Worth the Hype?

a step toward mindfulness: part four My eyes have been opened, y’all. Two words for you: MEAL. PREP. I finally get why this fills my Pinterest feed and everyone talks about it! Meal prep has made our lives so much simpler. We decided back in January that we wanted to attempt meal prep and see […]

God is my Defense, pt 2

In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. Prov. 14:26-27 I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this concept since my last blog post. It really spills over […]

God is my Defense.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on [Jesus] the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before […]

The Time-Eater

a step toward mindfulness: part three There are countless things endlessly vying for our attention. I’ve blogged about a big one here but that is just one distraction. Today I want to share with you how going without something we used almost every day impacted our lives, and how it continues to. We went without Netflix for […]

The “Unmentionables”

a step toward mindfulness: part two Just being honest here: I struggled to start writing this because I couldn’t decide the format. The original plan was to have several “steps toward mindfulness” in one blog post; but that ended up being way too long for anyone to sit down and read in one sitting. Then […]

Quarter of a Century

Happy 25th birthday to me! How crazy is that? Sometimes when I get asked how old I am, I have to stop and think because in my head apparently I’m still 22 or thereabouts. When my husband turned 25 back in October, he wrote 25 things he had learned in his 25 years of life. […]

An Open Letter to the Girl I Can’t Help

Dear friend, I’ve known you for a long time. Years ago when we first met, you seemed so young. You were so full of life and so excited to learn new things and make new friends. Excited to become my friend. I didn’t realize back then how much you looked up to me. I […]

In the Dark Moments

It’s just been one of those days. Well, it started last night. I was getting ready for bed, doing my usual nighttime routine; and as I washed my face, it just hit me in the gut. That sudden nagging feeling of sadness, almost loneliness, for no reason. This morning was fine, but then it just […]

There’s more to life than brunch & puppies.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. And what was I doing a few minutes ago? Being discontent. Ugh. Get ready for another episode of Brutal Honesty with Bethany. Can I stick an emoji rolling its eyes right here? Earlier this afternoon I started thinking about the house we just bought, and going over all the things we still […]

Do Just One Thing

I was taking a walk with the little guy I watch every day, and pulled my phone out to call my sister. She didn’t answer, so I tried to think of who else I could call. Then I thought, “Well, maybe I’ll listen to some music.” I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to listen […]