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Kisses + Caffeine

Sharing my journey as a mother, wife, homemaker, Jesus girl, entrepreneur and all things in between!

Archives for August 2020

Praying for our Persecutors

August 27, 2020      Leave a Comment

During my quiet time this morning, I was reading about Stephen in Acts chapter 7. the Bible says that Stephen was a man “full of God’s grace and power” (Acts 6: 8) and that he did many great things for Christ. In the midst of his powerful ministry, those who should have been on his side (the religious leaders of that day) were strongly against him. You could say he felt intense pressure and persecution, but he stayed the course and glorified God.

Eventually, this persecution came to a head. If you aren’t familiar with the story, Stephen was drug out of the city and stoned to death. And these weren’t just little stones!  In the middle of being struck down, Stephen asked God to forgive those who were actively hurling stones at him, with the intent to end his life. 

Not many of us will ever experience being stoned to death, especially not in modern day America. But we very likely will experience seasons of hurt and betrayal, where people hurl painful words and accusations our way. It is incredibly easy to feel justified in asking God to avenge you and strike them down instead. I myself have prayed that prayer before!

But what would it look like if we took the posture of Stephen-and even Jesus Himself when He said “Father forgive them, they know not what they do,” as He hung on the cross? How could we radically change hearts and minds by praying for those who sin against us? Even just the simple prayer, “God, forgive them for sinning against me. Please help me to find it in my heart to forgive them, too.” could make all of the difference! This is a challenge for me as well, ya’ll. With God’s grace!

Addie & Lillie’s Boho Playroom

August 25, 2020      Leave a Comment

Our home has a beautiful loft area that I have always loved! It has been many things over the years that we have owned this house; my office, a boutique, a craft room. Once Addilyn started to get a little older, and mama started getting overwhelmed by the toys all over the place, I decided we needed to create a fun space just for her and all of her “stuff”- ahem (mama’s sanity). About this same time, I decided to close my boutique, so converting the loft to a playroom was the most logical thing!

Now that Lillie is here too, I really wanted to put some effort into making it special for them! I can’t wait to give you a tour, so scroll on! And if you see something you are loving, I will be sure to include links to where you can grab one yourself. 

I’ve alway wanted a little teepee for Addie, but wasn’t crazy about the colorful ones. Then I stumbled across this one that was perfect! Light, solid color (you could totally customize this for a boy, too) and it came with the fairy lights for free!

The girls’ grandma bought them a little bookshelf (this is the same one!) that I placed beside it so that Addie could pick a book and snuggle in her cozy spot! Girl loves to read, and my hope is that it affords mama a little quiet time, too!

Inside, it is filled with cozy things. A soft pink rug, cute woodland pillows (here, here & here) and a blanket that was a gift. 

As you can tell, she’s a fan! The little curtains close, too…for those moments when a girl just wants to be alone.

As in love as I am with the boho vibe, I knew flowers and feathers were a must. So off to Amazon I went! I found these gorgeous peony bundles (available in every color) and these feathers for a great price! I also grabbed some vine garland to add a little interest and help hold everything together.

Like I said, the teepee came with the fairy lights, which was a major plus! Baby girl loves them and they add just enough whimsy.

As for arranging the flowers, they are just tucked in the top with the stems to the back. No one really sees back there, so it doesn’t bother me one bit!

On the other side, we have some energy burning activities and some make believe! I made the flowers on the wall by hand using my Cricut. I made a little curtain out of strands on the vine, and the Sparkle sign was a TJ Maxx find! There’s also a gorgeous boho dream catcher in the corner…it’s a little hard to see in the picture here!

I’m obsessed with these shelves, and they make up a huge part of my office which is on the other side of the loft. I’ll have to show you guys soon! I needed some more toy storage, so I ordered a 4-cube shelf for their side of the room, and some bins. My OCD can hardly stand that the one doesn’t match, but it was a gift and I am all for being practical and not buying things I don’t need (usually!), so in here it stays for now!

Baby girl wanted a slide so bad, for so long. So Santa brought her this one for Christmas and it is perfect in there. To make things a little more fun, we wanted her to have a ball bit too. I tried an inflatable one (that sucked) and looked into the cute foam ones (those cost an arm and a leg!) and then found this life saver! It’s a great price, and fully collapsible so you could totally fold it up and store it in a bin with the balls if you didn’t want to leave it out all of the time. Win, win! 

After review stalking, I landed on these balls, and definitely need to order another few hundred now that we have a bigger pit. Both of my girls love these, and it’s been a fun thing for Lillie as she learns to sit on her own!

Speaking of Lillie, she loves it up here, too! It’s the only carpeted room in our house, so she gets lots of floor time to roll and explore.

That awesome coordinating (and collapsible) toy bin? Target find! Check it out HERE. The round hamper was a gift and is full of dress up clothes. Some day, I will put a cute little rack and mirror in here, but it works for now!

After hunting high and low for a white kitchen for Addie for months, Santa brought her this KidKraft one and it has been the best! Just the right size for her and she could play with it for hours! It’s affordable and quality made!

(Side note- that little green handle to the left- Scoop and learn Ice Cream Cart! So much fun and a great learning tool!)

We grabbed her this cute little table for her second birthday back in March so that she could have a spot of her own. It has been in our kitchen for months, but with the re-emergence of the high chair, it was time to bring it up. This is where I intended it all along, and she has been thrilled to have her own table to play eat at and have tea parties! (This little tea set has been one of her all-time favorite toys! 10 out of 10 recommend).  

Like I said, we are loving this new space! I cannot wait to watch the girls learn to play together up here and make lots of memories. I hope that maybe it gives you a little inspiration, if you are working on a girly play room or nursery yourself!

Here’s a list of links, all in one spot:

Teepee

Flowers

Feathers

Bear Pillow Cover

Deer Pillow Cover

“Isn’t She Lovely” Pillow Cover

Pillow Inserts

Rug

Book Shelf

Vines

Toy box

Cube Shelf

Cube Bins

Ball Pit

Balls

Slide

Dream Catcher

Table

Kitchen

Tea Set

Ice Cream Cart

What Truly Satisfies Your Soul

August 22, 2020      Leave a Comment

Apparently today is National Rainbow 🌈 Baby day, which got me reflecting on my time waiting for my own sweet rainbow baby. I think if I were to find a word to sum up that season of my life, “longing” would be it. A deep, aching longing. And it was also a season where I spent a lot of time just a little salty with God.
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It wasn’t until early 2017 when I got my hands on a book called “Wait and See” (I’ll drop a link below) that my whole outlook changed. That book was life altering for so many reasons, but to summarize, my biggest takeaway was that during my season of wait, I needed to find my satisfaction in the love of Christ. Because truly that is the ONLY thing that will satisfy us at the soul level. Not a job, money, spouse, children…no matter how great all of these good gifts are. We are designed for more. And once I really leaned into that truth, beautiful soul change happened.
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And wouldn’t you know it that within a month or two of finishing that book and really seeking my satisfaction in HIM, we got pregnant with our little miracle girl. And now I have two of them! 💖💖
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Friend, if you are in a season of waiting, for anything, I challenge you to press into this truth and allow His love to satisfy you in a way that only He can! And if you don’t know His love, I welcome a conversation! Inbox me!

Love Those Who Hate You

August 21, 2020      Leave a Comment

Our world is so contrary to this truth. We are polarized. Wear a mask. Don’t wear a mask. Support Trump. Trump is the devil. Send your kids to school. Keep them home. Vaccinate. Don’t Vaccinate. Gay marriage. Abortion….I could go on. We live in a swirl of hot topics day in and day out, and with social media, it is so easy to get caught up in the debates and arguments.
 
I have to confess, I am guilty of having an “enemy” mindset sometimes. I would never verbalize it that way out loud, but that’s the truth of the heart condition. Those of us that love Jesus are the “good guys” and anyone that doesn’t believe the same as me is an enemy. I want to spend all of my time with “my people” who see and feel the same way as me. And that is sin. #ouch
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Here’s where the conviction comes in, brothers and sisters! If we only ever love those who love us and believe the same way that we do…how will we ever reach those who so desperately need Jesus?? If we spend our time “attacking the enemy” over our keyboards to make sure that we are right, how will we ever show them the love that He wants them to know? If we take the easy route, how are we making a difference?
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We are called to be different. This is my challenge to myself and to you the next time you find yourself in a controversy. Speak the truth, but show love to those who hate (or disagree) with you! Let God handle the rest ❤

God’s Sees You in Your Wait

August 20, 2020      Leave a Comment

I opened my bible this morning to do my daily reading and saw where I journaled this. And a rush of emotions hit me. I carefully penned that promise out 3ish years ago, in the midst of a really raw place. I had just lost our sweet first baby and we were not having any luck with getting pregnant again. Friends all around me were announcing pregnancies and my heart was broken. I was struggling to find His plan in the wait. And then I saw this and was reminded of how GOOD He is. How much His desire is to lift up those who love Him. How He longs to pour out blessing. I cling to this verse in my season of waiting.

And now as I read these words again, I can hear my children giggling with their daddy in the other room and I’m overcome again. God is so awesome y’all. He is a Waymaker. He heard my heart in the midst of my pain and He has been SO faithful. He has allowed my pain a purpose to help other women in that hard place. And He has blessed my life with two beautiful little disciples to steward, even when the days are hard and the fray of motherhood swallows me up.
Friend, if you are in that place or you are doubting God’s goodness, cling to this truth: He loves you and He is faithful! Whether you are waiting for babies, a change in your marriage, your financial situation, whatever it may be!
 
And please, know that you can always reach out to me! If you need a prayer warrior or sounding board, I’m your girl! Especially if you are waiting on motherhood 💖💖💖

DIY Step Stones

August 17, 2020      Leave a Comment

As most toddlers do, Addie brought home about 5,000 seashells when we made our getaway to the beach back in July! She put so much care into finding them that I hated to just throw them out, but we certainly did not need buckets of seashells (aka choking hazards for the baby) laying around the house. Since we have spent our summer redoing our patio area (more on that later!) I thought it would be fun to turn them into some step stones that we could use to decorate. She decided that she wanted to make some for her Grandmas, too (sorry to spoil the surprise, mom!) so that is just what we did! 

I honestly was crazy intimidated and spent hours scouring Pinterest to see how to do it just right. Finally, I decided to just wing it and I am sharing what we did below in hopes that it will help save you some time! 

This project is SO easy to customize, too! You totally could stamp little hands and feet (we are SO doing that soon), make “fossils” with leaves, add marbles or tiles for a mosaic look…let your kids’ imagination run wild!

First up, grab you a bag of Quikrete! You can order them on Amazon, or check your local Lowes! 

You will also want some disposable foil pans. I only had one, so I improvised and wrapped an old cake pan in foil. I think the actual foil pan stone turned out better, so I will do that from now on. Once you have your pans, generously spray them with cooking spray to help your stone release when it dries. A 10lb bag of Quikrete will do approximately 4 stones. I knew we only had time to do 2 at a time so I only mixed up a half of a bag.

Follow the recipe on the bag for how much water to add, but I sort of just eyeballed it! You want it to be moist enough but not runny or it will separate and take forever to set up. Thick oatmeal is the consistency you’re shooting for!

Spoon it into your pans, a scoop at a time and spread it out. My pans sort of self leveled after a minute and then I gave them a good tap to get any air bubbles out.

You will want to be sure that you have any decorative items ready to go before mixing up your concrete. Since we were just adding sea shells, I had our pile close by! 

My little artist, anxious to do her thing! 

I tried very hard to set aside my spacing OCD prior to starting this project because I wanted them to be truly her work. Much to my surprise, my two year old correctly turned the sea shells and spaced them really well! 

Once they are all finished, set them somewhere that they can rest for at least 24 hours (preferably 48) without being rained on. I just kept an eye on the weather and picked a day that I knew it wouldn’t rain. If you think you may get rain, it would be a good idea to bring them in! 

After a couple of days, they were fully set and popped out very easily! Let them cure for a week or so prior to stepping on them, if you plan to do that. We are just using ours for decoration! You could even play around with the shape of the stone and do squares, bend the pans into hearts, etc! The sky is the limit!

This was such an easy, fun project to do! And Addie was SO excited to see the finished product and points it out excitedly every time! I can tell we will be doing these again!

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Would it be faster to do it myself? Sure! Would it Would it be faster to do it myself? Sure! Would it be done better? Absolutely. But what I would be doing is robbing my sweet baby of the blessing of serving and the joy that it brings her. 
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My prayer as her mama is that I would always put her spiritual development over my own convenience. That I would let go of my pace and perfection and give her the space to learn. Kids will become what we foster in them! Teach them Responsibly. Teach them life skills. Teach them to serve, not because they are less than but because that is what we are called to do. Teach them Jesus 🤍
Cast iron bakers ain’t just for cookin’! Total Cast iron bakers ain’t just for cookin’! Totally the perfect dessert serving dish! 🍰 🍌 🍓
Slow your growin’ 🌱 baby girl! 🤍 Slow your growin’ 🌱 baby girl! 🤍
That will preach all day long. It’s so easy to That will preach all day long.  It’s so easy to get caught up in “throwing stones.” Justifying our sins and short-comings with the “at least I’m not as bad as she is” mindset. Comparing ourselves to others. Allowing jealousy and discontentment to settle into the achy places of our heart. Gossiping. And yes, even the things we think in the quiet places and may never say out loud. 
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The Bible calls us to put our eyes on Jesus and Jesus only. Our main purpose for relationally interacting with others should be to love and serve so that they might meet Jesus through knowing us. When Jesus knew His crucifixion was coming, He wasn’t worried about enjoying the final moments. He chose to wash feet, one of the most basic and honestly nasty ways to serve others. A beautiful act of humility. 
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I admit this is an area that I am working on in my own life, and Jesus is taking me on a journey with it. My prayer is that I would look at people and see the need for their feet to be washed. To seek practical ways to love and serve. Because if I am focusing on serving, I’m not focusing on judging. 
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Tell me, is this an area of struggle for you too? I’d love to pray for you and your journey! 
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“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”- Mark 10:45
I just finished up this 5 week study and it did no I just finished up this 5 week study and it did not disappoint. If you have ever struggled to see the big picture of scripture and how it all connects, especially if the Old Testament has been an issue for you, I would highly recommend this one. Even as a seasoned believer, I feel like I learned so much and was really brought deeper into the heart of God. I needed this peace in the midst of our crazy time, and I’m betting sister that you do too (shout out- they even have a men’s version...and you can get them as a bundle!). 
This particular study and tons of others are on sale for just $5️⃣ right now! Skip a #starbucks trip and invest in your spiritual life. I promise you won’t be sorry. #selfcare at it’s finest! 😌
Head over to the #linkinbio to grab your copy!
We had the most fun busting into this awesome box We had the most fun busting into this awesome box from Kong Box and spoiling our sweet girl! She’s such a good dog and deserves some new goodies!

What’s even more fun?! They fully customized to her based on her age and mannerisms! Grab the #linkinbio to curate one for your own baby 💖 [check my IGTV for a full video!] #ad
In case you need a smile this morning 🥰 In case you need a smile this morning 🥰
Better late than never, right? #MealPlanMonday on Better late than never, right? #MealPlanMonday on a Tuesday! Grab your full week of recipes at the #linkinbio!
Seeing their friendship develop makes my mama hear Seeing their friendship develop makes my mama heart burst. Gosh, I love them so much. 🤍🤍
If you know, you know. I know I’m not the only p If you know, you know. I know I’m not the only person who did this. After a year of not going anywhere that I couldn’t wear leggings and a T-shirt to, a closet full of clothing that I haven’t worn in almost 2 years (pregnancy + pandemic) and a body that has been changed by my second pregnancy and postpartum depression medications, it took everything in me to find something I felt like I could wear to church. If I’m being honest, I was frustrated. There was a big part of me that wanted to say “forget it,” & watch church on the TV instead. Everyone was going to be in their Easter best, and all I could find that fit right was a cute T-shirt and a cardigan. I was tempted to let my anxiety and self-consciousness win. That’s what the devil wanted for me yesterday.
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But let me tell you about Jesus! He knew that I needed to see my community. He knew that I needed to hug my Brothers and sisters in Christ. He knew that I needed corporate worship. He knew that I needed to listen to a live sermon. He knew that my kids needed to get back into church now that that was an option. So He spoke to me through my three-year-old. Every time I tried on a shirt, she would say “you look so beautiful, Mommy!” And eventually I decided that I would listen to that small voice that Jesus was using. It may have been 30 minutes later than planned, but I loaded up my girls and took them to church. And I’m so very glad that I did! It was exactly what my soul needed, and I could feel a burden lifting as I stood in that barn and worshiped with my family.
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Maybe you can relate. Maybe your closet won and you stayed home yesterday. Maybe your anxiety over what the well-dressed people at church will think of you has been keeping you at home for years. I get it, even as a pastor‘s wife it can be a struggle. I’m here to tell you, go to church anyway. Even if it’s in a ratty T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Go. And if the church that you choose makes you feel anything less than precious and valued, it’s time to find a different church. Jesus does not care one bit about the clothing you have on! He died for your heart and that is the only thing that matters. 🤍 #youmatter #jesus

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