The Seven Year Itch

Hello, blogger, my old friend. I've come to write with you again...

(How sad is it that instead of Simon and Garfunkel, I hear Princess Poppy's voice in my head?)

Anywho...so it's only been seven years since I've written. Seven. And I'm itching to write it all down. There's so much to catch up on, but I'll give the Reader's Digest condensed version before I have to start dinner. The whole ministry thing flopped. J's government job ended as predicted. He was out of work for 6 months, but between his side jobs, we managed to stay afloat. He got a job working for an environmental consulting firm, and it seemed pretty cushy. Bug was all set to become a big sister. And then, in late 2012, a month before Bud was born, J came home with crushing news: he was out of a job. Again. This time, we endured an extraordinarily tough seven months of unemployment, complete with a 12 day stay in the hospital for him, just 6 weeks after Bud was born. At Christmas. To say it was a test of faith would be an understatement. But we continued to trust God to show us His perfect path. Much to our shock, His path led to Texas. J got a job working on an oil rig, and went back and forth from Maryland to Texas every 2 weeks on the company's dime. The oil was booming, and we eventually made the decision to move back to the Lone Star State. We sold our house, packed up, cancelled a vasectomy appointment, and the kids and I drove out to meet Daddy in our new hometown. We started building a house, and almost as quickly as it began, J was out of work again. Oil crashed. This time, the unemployment lasted 11 months, testing, trying and refining our faith. We leaned heavily on God for provision. We saw His fingerprints on everything. And remember that cancelled vasectomy? HA! At the tail end of the unemployment, in late 2015, we found out that I was SURPRISE pregnant with our third kiddo. We were so happy, but naturally a little apprehensive. But of course, our good, good Father came through for us. On the day of my first prenatal appointment, J was hired on the spot for his current job, doing absolutely nothing related to anything he'd done before. Belly graced our family last summer.

So that brings us to today-ish. Three kids filling our minivan, and I'm toting around a diaper bag yet again. Most days, you'll find cloth diapers on Belly's booty, but some days, you'll find a disposable, because life. I'm less of a control freak, because with three kids, I'm unabashedly aware that very little is in the realm of my control. My standards are a lot lower, but I enjoy life with my kiddos a lot more.

I resurrected this blog for a couple of reasons. Mainly, I really, REALLY miss writing. I did a little guest writing for a friend's blog, and it was so fun. This is for me. I spend my whole day serving my family, and that is absolutely not a complaint; it's a privilege. But I've been thinking a lot about self-care lately, and I need an outlet to help me feel like ME.

Also, I have a love/hate relationship with social media, especially Facebook. I love documenting life's little moments along the way. But, I don't want to write novels every time I post. Our newest upcoming (mis)adventure is homeschooling. I'll post soon about how we came to this decision, but I like the idea of journaling along the way.

So here I am, back at the computer, fingers flying over the keyboard, writing, even though I know that there's a meatloaf that isn't going to make itself. But it's cool. Because between the grin on my face, and the swell of my heart, it feels SO GOOD to be writing again.