just a house

It’s just a house It’s just our first home It’s just where we painted and painted and painted It’s just where our new church family helped us move in It’s just where our hamster escaped (twice) It’s just where we got our first dog It’s just where we came back to after so many trips […]

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 […]

Lydia Sage: A Birth Story

The short, non-graphic version of this story is that I labored for about five hours, and delivered our baby girl in our home (yes, on purpose). She was 9 pounds exactly, 21 inches long, and we named her Lydia Sage. Yes we had the name picked out; I suggested it and Josh was immediately on […]

Baby Rushing: a short story + FAQs

WE ARE HAVING A BABY! I feel like I’ve waited forever to be able to say/write those words. And at the same time, it feels like Joshua and I just sat down and had the conversation where we decided that we were fine with getting pregnant so I could quit the oral contraceptives I was […]

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 […]

2020: The Year of the Book-Buying Ban

At the beginning of this year, I set two very specific goals for myself. And actually met them. Both setting and meeting goals are very unlike me, so please don’t think I’m boasting. 1. Read at least 20 books before January 1st, 2021.2. Do not buy any books for myself before January 1st, 2021. Thanks […]

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 […]

we will never forget

we heard it in the distanceone country, two countriesit would be here soon it was a jokebut then —it wasn’t in a blink it was hereand we froze in its wakewhat would happen? tom hanks got itone hundred, two hundredthere would be more soon spring break canceledone event, ten eventseverything closed empty buildingsjobless peoplelonely people […]

The Church That Built Me

At six years old, sitting on the couch between my dad and sister, across from my mom who was expecting a baby, I read aloud a letter Dad had written explaining to us that we would be going to a new church where he would be the youth pastor. It was a small church perched […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

what a year.

It sounds so cliche to say but I am shocked at how quickly the year’s end came upon us. Just like that, it is 2019. A new calendar, a new set of goals, a refreshed perspective. 2019 is full of possibilities. I am stoked for our new website launch (you can find our new site […]

Impressed.

This past Sunday, Joshua and I stopped at Starbucks around 2:30 to treat ourselves to an iced mocha and iced chai latte. The plan was to get our drinks and chill inside, reading or journaling until choir practice. After I got my drink and sipped the spicy almond milk deliciousness, I mentally wrinkled my nose […]

journal entry: a Grenada word picture

sixteen january, two-thousand-eighteen tuesday, late “Sometimes I think that I feel too much. But how can I not, after all I’ve experienced, all the people I’ve met? Sometimes the memories, the tiny snippets in my head, the thoughts come crashing – hard – into me, like the waves against the cliffs of Fort Jeudy. That’s what […]

sovereign over us

About a week and a half ago, my life got turned upside-down. More accurately, my brother’s life did. But that in turn affected me. Ricky had a massive aneurysm in his brain. He also had a stroke which left part of his brain very damaged. Last Sunday, I thought we were going to lose him. […]

reach out

This isn’t a fun blog post. My heart has actually been hurting for over a week as I was unwillingly, unknowingly prepared to write this post. When I say my heart is hurting, I don’t mean I saw a cute picture of a puppy. I don’t mean I read about orphans in China. I don’t […]

when you’re not supposed to build the temple

I’ve been learning recently that even if I want something, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s what God wants. It is so easy to wish for different opportunities and miss the ones God has already given me. I’m really good at explaining it away too: explaining why I/we would be so good at whatever it is […]

two-thousand seventeen in retrospect

What a year it has been. Definitely one of the craziest years of my life, I have to say. I hardly know where to begin. God has been so good. He has proven Himself faithful over and over, even though I fail in my faithfulness to Him. This time last year, marriage seemed very far […]

When your creativity has dried up.

I’ve been in a rut. It’s been three months since I was inspired to blog. I mean, I’ve had ideas and jotted down topics–I even finished one and posted it! But it ended up being deleted because no matter how many times I read over it and opened it to edit, the post just wouldn’t […]

Top 5 Things to Do in Havre de Grace

Welcome to Havre de Grace! Our little town on the water with hidden shops and delicious food and . . . no decent blog from a resident about what there actually is to do around here. This is a list of the top five things to do in Havre de Grace, not […]

what I learned from camp:

Well, it’s that time of year again. Summer time. June is here, and camps all over the country are getting pumped up for the craziest three months of the year. And I’m not. For the first summer ever, I’m not going on any wild/summer-long adventure. How crazy is that? Summers 2011-2013 I was at Sandy […]

so, I’ve been a wife for 3 weeks!

Y’all. Have you tried marriage? It’s amazing! Big supporter of marriage right here. The last time I wrote, my heart was aflutter and my head was in ten different places making at least four different lists. There were many unknowns and more worry than I wanted to admit. What if I get sick the […]