it ain't always pretty...

It has been over a month since I last blogged.  And for good reason.  The truth is, I needed the break....from writing my own and from reading other women's blogs.  I love writing and documenting our family life, but when it is done via something as public as a blog, it's easy to leave out the hard, messy details.  But sometimes  I think the messy stuff is more encouraging to women like me.  I need to see that you struggle just like me and that God's grace is the only thing that gets you from day to day.  I need to see that your kids aren't perfect and your house is messy more than it is clean.  And I disovered this past week that other women need that from me to. 

I was given the opportunity to speak at a women's luncheon in Cason, Texas this past week. I spoke on the biblical portrait of Christian womanhood from 1 Peter 3:1-6 and I gave my own testimony of the last 4+ years that Jordan and I have been married.  I was completely bare in front of these women and I shared things with him that only my husband knew.  It was hard and I felt very exposed.  But you know what? When I looked into those women's eyes, I saw the tears and the hurt and the understanding...I saw that they too had their fair share of pain in this life. I realized then that just being honest, raw and real with them did way more good than if I would have gotten up there and painted a picture of how I wanted them to see me. 

With that said, when I post pictures here on my blog, please realize that my life is FAR from perfect.  My main reason for blogging is to document my boys' childhood and not to paint a picture of perfection.  I may not go around taking pictures of all the messiness that happens around here, but just know that there is plenty of that to go around. 

Below is a slew of pictures from the past two months.  And yes, God has blessed me abundantly.  But please note that "messy life" also took place in between these pictures and during them.  : )


September:

October:

So who's ready for Thanksgiving? : )