Things I Enjoy!

The booties Alice made for Daraby.


One of the only decorations in our home.


My brother Darrell holding Daraby. He and his wife-Deb have six kids.

11 of us played Apples to Apples- So much laughter!

Sweet Sixteen- My Niece Dacey

I believe the little things play a big role in our life. "It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important," said by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the little things that we say and do everyday and conveys who we are. It is the life we live, when no one is looking, that matters. Perhaps that is what makes me tick everyday. This year like every year I have such high expectations for my life, marriage and child. I want everything to be absolutely perfect or as close to it as can be expected. Granted, I know that none of us are perfect and that we fall short of the mark by a long shot but the goal is still there.

This year as we prepared for Christmas everything went haywire. We hunted up and down the creek for the perfect tree to cut down but couldn't find him so we settled for a shaggy little cedar tree. When the tree decided to not stand upright and stay in the stand he got booted out of the house. Never mind it dropped off multiple branches and sticky green fuzz in the process. What a mess! All that to say we don't have a tree this year and we won't be putting up one at this point. At first it floored me that we wouldn't have the perfectly decorated home for Daraby's first Christmas but then I thought it through. What does it matter? Will she even remember? No!

It is the little moments that we spend with her, the moments we spend with others, and the moments we spend with the Lord. I love Faith Hill's new song, "A Baby Changes Everything." It is such a true statement for Andrew and I this year. Although Faith is singing about the baby Jesus -we believe the song has such a double meaning for us. Daraby has come and changed so much in our life. We will never be the same and because Jesus' birth, life and death we will never be the same. Gradually Jesus takes our lives and molds us daily into the vessel he wants us to become just like Daraby who gradually grows and we adjust our life accordingly.

For some people there are huge life changing moments that define who they are. For me it is the little things. It is the little eye openers, the simple truths, and the constant in the everyday. I love seeing the hand of the Lord in the everyday simplistic events. Yesterday, Alice my neighbor stopped by to say hi and drop off some booties for Daraby. She didn't care that I was in sweats, no make-up, and my house was a mess. It wasn't any big event but just a simple hello and check in. It is the simple little things: this week my mom is taking care of Daraby so I can work and catch up on things, this last weekend we sat for hours and played Apples to Apples with my family, this last weekend Andrew and I watched my family love on Daraby, and we sang happy birthday to my niece while chowing down on pizza. No big fan fare just living life the simplistic way.

So although we won't be putting up the tree, all the decorations and all the fan fare-Christmas will still happen. We will celebrate the Lord's birth, celebrate family/friends and celebrate the little things that make life happen everyday. After all that is all that matters. So let's extend a heart of grace this year for the imperfect people. The people that don't have the perfect sayings, the perfect clothes, the perfect body, the perfect gifts, the perfect spouse, the perfect children, and perfect heart. Remember to extend that grace to yourself. God knows you aren't perfect and that is why we need him.