Slowing down sounds nice. It sounds better than nice doesn't it? It sounds right. It sounds freeing. It kind of sounds slightly impossible too. But like Matt says in the film, "This is how Jesus changed the world and is still changing me". Slowly. Maybe even as slow as 3 miles an hour.

I’m almost four months postpartum. My hair comes out by the handful in the shower, my eyes have darker, baggier circles under them than ever before, maternity jeans still fit better than ones with actual zippers and buttons, and swimsuit season is approaching at a terrifyingly fast pace. Will I ever look that pretty again? I ask myself this multiple times a day...

I come back to these thoughts, these questions often for what I think is a very good reason. They humanize Christ to me and I so need Him to be human. Sometimes, because I have never seen Him in the flesh, my idea of Him can be so extra terrestrial, quite vague, and, if I’m being honest, un-relatable. However, when I day dream about His birth and His boyhood, I am reminded that He was “God with skin on”.

For me, Lent isn't so much a season of saying 'no' to things in my life, but a season of saying 'yes' to the things that stir my affections for Christ. A season of abolishing the idols that have grown up in my heart and making room for Him. A season of choosing He who fills me up instead of things that drain me. A season of remembering my first love and cultivating that relationship because it is what sustains me. 1 Corinthians 10:23 says it best, "All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up."

Maybe you think I'm taking a hashtag too seriously, but I disagree. Everything we do in life matters, even our hashtags. If we aren't consciously making decisions about our actions, we will get swept along into the flow of the masses, into the crowd, when we, as Christ followers, should be different than the crowd (John 17:16).

The Good Place is more than a TV show. It's a mirror held up to humankind reflecting our true plight. We need Jesus because all those good works will never be enough. Too often we get caught up in calling out people's sins or we ourselves work extra hard to tame the sins in our own life. We make Christianity and following Christ all about following the "rules", being good, or killing the bad stuff in our lives that needs to die, and it does need to die, but that's really missing the mark. Sin is not a list of bad qualities or broken rules, it is an incurable disease that we have been born into. No matter how "good" or "bad" we are, we are all still sinners in the eyes of God. Jesus Christ is not.

Write here...

Our list of things we were believing God for was forgotten as soon as we checked into the hospital Wednesday night, but our hope in Him was never forgotten. His will is always what is ultimately best for us and we trusted Him with Benjamin's delivery and life even when the specifics we had handed to Him in faith didn't pan out. I hope that we have ample opportunities to share our story with people so that God can be glorified through the birth of our boy and I pray that the rest of his life will be lived for God's glory too. 

I've never really been a New Year's Resolution type person, but I firmly believe that if I walk through 2018 holding tightly to these questions, everything will be different.

My friend Katie and I had the pleasure of discovering Nora Jane Struthers when she performed with her band, The Party Line, for the Blue Plate Special in Knoxville. This specific song is definitely more "modern country" sounding than bluegrass, but it had the best video!

This band is a new find for me. Have you heard of them before? I'm really enjoying their songs and I hope you will too!

It's been fun rediscovering music from my childhood as I enter back into that world with our boy. Of course, I wasn't listening to Mumford as a kid, but I do remember mom singing this song!

There's so much mainstream Christian music that makes me cringe and quickly change the station when it comes on the radio, but there's also some popular Christian bands who make me reach for the volume button, turn it up louder than is probably good for my ears, and turn an otherwise ordinary moment into a powerful one of worship. This song falls into that second category. 

Love, love, love this acoustic version! I can never listen to it just once. I'd love to hear a large congregation lifting up this song to heaven.

I have gone looking for a Savior. I have found myself in desperate need of a God that was bigger than my pain, my fear, and my circumstances. I've been in a place where what I thought I knew about Him was undone and I had to go searching for what was actually true. I have gone looking for a Savior I could know.

These lyrics + their harmonies = one powerful song. 

Christ knows you. He knows it all. And gosh does He love you fully. That is ridiculously wonderful news!

Some things you can only learn in the dark....

I want to be obsessed with the things that Jesus cared about and most of those things are the opposite of what our world cares about.

Our words and how we wield them are of great importance. There's just no denying it.

I think Lewis found a beautiful way of saying that sometimes, the worst has to happen to get our attention back on the right things.

This quote runs through my mind a lot these days. No such thing as a good hair day with a newborn. 

If you were looking to start 2018 off in a POWERFUL way, I've got just the thing. If this doesn't get you fired up, I don't know what will!

I thought this would be the perfect quote for the last #MondayMomMemo until 2018.

God's grace through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, should compel us to repent.

If you're at work and daydreaming about a summer time vacation, then you're going to love feeling transported to these rooms with incredible views!

Does winter give anyone else that cooped up feeling? If, like me, you are suffering from a bit of cabin fever, this post is for you! Look at all these gorgeous places!

Even if you've heard this song before, give it a listen again, cause I don't think you've heard it like this!

As truly tender as a Tennessee Christmas is, there really is never any snow! And is it just me or is there less and less snow every winter?! Here's hoping we actually have some. If not, you can enjoy this post now and return to it whenever your life needs a little snow.

Part of my super serious preparation for parenthood included searching for funny kid sayings on Pinterest. Sometimes, in the middle of prepping for hard things like labor or nursing, you need a mental break that includes lots of laughter. Hoping these put a smile on your face like they did mine!

Sheet pan meal #2 and this one was Matthew's favorite. I guess it's hard to go wrong with sweet potatoes and Sweet Baby Rays.

The less time I have to spend making dinner, the better these days, so I've really appreciated the 4 sheet pan meals I'll be sharing with you over the next few weeks.

Like they say, repeatedly, during this episode, I am not sharing to call anyone else out about their eating habits or lifestyle. I'm sharing because the thoughts discussed in this episode gave me a lot to chew on (again, pun intended). Maybe you need to hear this stuff too.

I haven't made an "impress your guests" dish in awhile because we haven't had guests over in 3 months (see: baby). But you better believe that when we finally do start hosting folks again, this will be the dish I serve them

Both Matthew and my mom were thoroughly impressed with this soup and I have to say, I helped myself to seconds! It has just the right amount of heat and the sweet potato is a wonderful substitute for beans.

Matthew had his doubts! He even (jokingly) asked if I was trying to kill him by serving a dish he knew had to be full of milk and cheesy goodness. But it was true! This delicious dairy free recipe allowed him to have his very first bowl of potato soup!

Another chilly day, another warm crock pot dinner! In all honesty, I didn't have high hopes for this meal. I expected it to be just "okay", but I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be really good!

Not only is this mouthwatering meal is ideal for frigid Winter nights, it's also very simple to make! And if a woman learning to take care of a newborn claims a meal is easy, you can be sure that it's true!

I snagged this recipe from my friend Laura after seeing it look all delicious on her Instagram feed. I had never made White Chicken Chili before and I'm not sure if I'd ever actually eaten it! What was my problem?!