Look back on the past few weeks

This girl brings so much sunshine and smiles to our lives!

We recently spent a few hours updating our foster care CPR certification.

I recently discovered a lot of reduced-price bananas, so we freeze them and use them to make green smoothies (frozen bananas, milk, vegetables, and peanut butter). so good!

She is a little mother to Baby D.

A single mother friend of mine was suffering from appendicitis. I found out that she was alone in the hospital, so when she had the operation, I gave up everything and went to the hospital to spend the day with her. Single mothers are incredible…They are usually not good at asking for help, but they often feel very lonely. If you know a single mom in your life, how do you show up and let her know that she is loved and not alone today?

I wrote this On Instagram Recently: A year and a half ago, I was sitting next to her at Christmas brunch. We laugh at our children and funny stories of motherhood. She updated me on her current cancer treatment methods. I shared where we are in the foster care journey.

We said goodbye at the end of the brunch… I didn’t know that it would be the last time I saw her in the world (she passed away shortly after that brunch).

I thought a lot about what I would say if I knew this would be the last time I talked with her. This has allowed me to change the way I treat life from now on.

In fact, I often think now: If this is my last conversation with this person, I want to make sure I tell them what? Then I tried to say these things often, telling them I love them, telling them how grateful I am to them, telling them how their lives affect my life. It costs zero dollars; but it may completely change someone’s world, let us tell them aloud about life and love!

She is very proud that she is learning how to walk in new shoes (she experienced many attempts and falls, but finally succeeded!)

This is my perfect picture for many nights now. And I will not exchange it for the whole world!

I’m in a strange season of having teenagers and toddlers at the same time. (Plus a teenager and a baby!) We still remember how to navigate diapers, nursing, teething, naps, baby-led weaning and learning to walk and talk, while also entering a whole new world of teenagers now driving, just found a copy New job, is talking about college preparatory course, ACT preparatory course, university scholarship and dual credits.

The email came with a leaflet for “For Your New Baby” (Baby D), a “Small Engine That Can” (from the Dolly Parton Library of Imagination) and more university brochures. I had no choice but to laugh! This is our life-from car seats and poop diapers to job applications and late-night talks about college, friends, boys, and the future.

Suddenly it is exhausting and exhilarating. When I saw these two people together and the sweet relationship between them despite their age difference of more than 15 years, my heart was so full! ❤️

Guess who is coming to visit? ? Our cute little champion. Oh, how we love this boy! (If you are new here, we raised him for 8 months last year, and then he reunited with his mother.)

These two people are always happy to see each other. We took them home from the hospital within 4 weeks of each other, so they have a twin relationship, which is the cutest!

They sorted the kitchen drawers for me. ????

“I like having teenagers!” I recently told a young mother about it, and she told me how she became so discouraged when people told her, “Just enjoy these years when they are young , Because when they are teenagers, it won’t be fun anymore.” She sighed and said to me: “I hope people will stop making such negative comments about my child’s future!”

I can’t “Amen” her statement fast enough! I like to share with her how much I like teenagers. Of course, we also have difficult times and days. Of course, there are hormones and disagreements. But in general, I just like to have teenagers!

I like our in-depth discussions and our stupid internal jokes. I like to watch them spread their wings and stretch their necks. I like to learn from their perspective and let them teach me how to use electronic products and play video games (I am now learning to play Rocket League, I am terrible, but I want to figure it out!)

One of the best parts of having teenagers is that our family keeps flooding with other teenagers to hang out. I want to treat all of them as my own-I like to hear their noisy laughter fill our home, our late-night discussions can’t stand, and my heart is very happy to see that friendship develops with the way they consume Deepen a lot of junk food together. (All teenagers seem to like Spicy Doritos, Takis, Sour Candy, and Oreos. What’s the matter? I see the food combinations they will put out and are farming, I just thought how I would feel to have all these combined in my own In the stomach!)

Young mothers: Don’t let anyone tell you that teenage years will be such a terrible and terrible period! Yes, you will need Jesus like never before, but instead of fearing it, I encourage you to look forward to it! Practice staying up late, get used to a lot of opening your hands, letting go, trusting God, maybe you can stock up some spicy Doritos… and then get ready to take a step back and watch your child enter adulthood! This is a wonderful journey, there is a lot of beauty and laughter along the way, if you have eyes you can see the gifts and kindness there!

I want to meet my friend Irene (from Humble housewife) While she and her family were in town last week.

I never thought it would be part of my daily life-injecting medicine and juice through a feeding tube!

Caitlin likes to go back to hardcore skating again! (She currently goes to the skating rink five days a week and works with three different coaches. It is so interesting to see her enthusiasm in this regard!)

Did you see my post How do I prepare lettuce for the salad of the week?

Baby D has done a good job of treatment! We are extremely proud of him and the progress he is making!

Her smile is very contagious!

I just want to stay true here, so instead of pretending that I have put everything together, I will honestly say that I ran into some difficulties last week. Yes, there are a lot of extra stretching exercises, and I am more picky than usual for babies and toddlers.

However, I did not practice what I preached about relying on the Holy Spirit and looking up to his power—especially in the exhausted and overwhelming days—I tried to get through the difficulties on my own…but the effect was not good. In fact, one night in the past week, I had to go back and apologize to every one of my family members because I was furious with them or frustrated in front of them.

I will post it here this Monday as a reminder to myself: I need Jesus. I cannot live the life I am called to live alone. I am not enough. But in Christ, I can do anything.

I don’t have to try to spend this life alone; as a Christian, I have the Spirit of God in me! When I feel tired, I can seek energy from Him. When I feel overwhelmed, I can pray to him for peace and clarity. When I feel depressed, I can pray with firelight and pray for patience.

“Lord, help me remember to rely on you today and rest in you. At the moment of feeling stretched, may this prompt me to lean on you. Let me rest in your love for me, in your sufficient knowledge when I feel inadequate Rest in peace, when I feel I don’t have what I need, you are enough. May I wholeheartedly believe in your supernatural power instead of trying to survive today on my own. You have everything I need to do today. You call me today Everything I do. I rest here and eagerly look forward to how I will see your faithfulness and goodness in today’s ordinary and magical moment.”

Being a middle mother has always been one of the greatest blessings and gifts in my life. It means that another mother loves myself… It has profoundly changed my heart.

I don’t know what the future of this little boy will be. But today I was given a deep love and indulgence. Attach forcefully. Vigorously promote. Speak to him the words of life and love. Pray wholeheartedly for his future. Snuggle, hug, swing, sing, read, and say “I love you” over and over again.

To be honest, none of us knows the future of anyone or anything. But we have today. Let us not miss the moment to tell the people around us about love and life. In terms of our behavior and our performance, “You have value. You are loved. You are worth advocating and fighting for.”