abide in 2013

So I took that whole “no goals. just grace” thing pretty seriously, right? I gave myself a good old 14 days of grace and chose not to blog.

At first it was just because I didn’t really want to, and then after a few days, I just fell out of the habit and actually enjoyed not blogging. I didn’t read any blogs and didn’t have that nagging feeling in my gut that I just had to get to my computer and write something. And if I had allowed myself, I could have ignored it again today.

The truth? I have no idea how often I want to keep this up right now. But I appreciate all of you who read this blog so very much and I have loved having this blog as an outlet for so long that something keeps pulling me back.

Things with our family are going well. Todd and I are doing great and the boys are doing great. We’re playing a lot, reading a lot, cooking a lot and seeing a lot of movies. I watched all of Parenthood on Netflix and now I’m addicted to The West Wing.

We’re still trying to find our new balance and our new routine. The lack of consistent routine has a lot to do with the lack of blogging. But we’re keeping busy and we’re having a lot of fun. I like to do my writing by myself while my kids nap. But I’m rarely by myself and Hudson has completely dropped his nap. (And that hasn’t been a bad thing at all. He has done great!)

I guess I’m just saying that life is changing, as it should. And, as I was confused a few months ago, I’m confused again about how this little piece of the internet fits into our life.

I have heard a lot about people adopting a word for the year. I thought about mine, and what came to mind when I tried to think of one word.

A few months ago, during The Nester’s 31 Days series, my friend, Ellen, wrote a beautiful series called “Abide: 31 Days to Love Where You Live.” This was in the midst of our home-selling process, and her words really spoke to my heart.

Fast forward to today, and our family is still “displaced.” We are waiting. We are trying to wait patiently. We are praying. We are grumbling, though we try not to.

We have toured home after home after home. And our prayer each time we get ready to make an offer is, “God, if this home is not your will for us, please make it very clear. Please stop this process before we get too far.”

And so far, in the last few months, that has happened five times. Five times!

So we’re listening. And waiting. But each day, I am consumed with this overwhelming feeling of “needing” to get all of this sorted out. For us to find our home. Where we will abide together.

Webster’s Dictionary defines abide this way:

1. to wait for; 2. to endure without yielding, to bear patiently, 3. to remain fixed in a state, 4. to continue in a place, 5. to accept without objection

Seriously?

No objection? But we want a home of our own. We want our kids to have their own space.

To bear patiently? But I’ve been patient. We didn’t start this process yesterday.

But God is protecting us. He’s telling me to be quiet. To wait. To stop grumbling. To enjoy the ride. To endure it and accept it. And realize that His plan is so much greater than ours, if we could just sit tight and wait for it.

And I can do this. I will do this in 2013.

I know that our reward at the end of all of this will be well worth it all.

But I’m also choosing a different form of this word. I’m choosing to abide in the Lord, Jesus Christ this year. I’m choosing to hold and remain in Him and be held secure in that permanent relationship. I’m choosing to learn about him through this process. And thank Him for the blessings and praise Him for his glory.

Thank you for listening to my heart, and hearing me where we are right now. I’m excited about 2013!

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Comments

  1. says

    love this, friend!

    do you know what God is doing when He is pruning? He is making room for new growth. it hurts like the dickens and there are many days when i feel with all of my everything that i’d just rather stay the same. but. it’s a beautiful thing just the same.

    love you, friend.

  2. says

    I’m excited for 2013 for you & your family too. I know the right home for your family will come at just the right time. Maybe this is a way for you, Todd, and the boys to get to know Nana in a different way then you have in the past? Or maybe this is preparing you to appreciate your future home even more? Or maybe it is something you haven’t even thought of yet, but certainly He knows.

    xoxo

  3. Frances Raybon says

    I love this post! I am right there with you. My husband, myself and our 2 year old moved last May to my hometown and moved in with my parents while we sold our other house and looked for a new house. I had our second son in November and we are STILL HERE! Talk about patience. My baby sleeps in a closet and my 2 year old is spoiled absolutely rotten my his grandparents every single day. I can’t wait to be a family again and have our own household, but in the meantime I have had to learn to be patient. We are now under contract for a house in a town 45 minutes away that I would never have dreamed we would live…but now am excited about! You never know what the Lord has in store!

  4. says

    I’m glad that the Lord is showing you many things during this confusing time; there are always lessons wherever we are! Sometimes, we get in this state of rushing and running and life just feels like it’s a hamster wheel. And oftentimes, when I feel myself running into the same wall, I take that as a signal from the Lord to slow down. Maybe God keeps putting up these walls for you so you are forced to stop and slow down. I’ll be thinking about you for sure!

  5. Cate says

    Naptime question…Does Hudson go to his room and have quiet time in place of a nap? Or something similar? I think we are also ready to drop the nap (my little boy is 5 or 6 days younger than H). We are already not napping 1-2 times per week and he does fine and is asleep right after he gets in bed. Other days he goes to sleep and sleeps 1.5-2 hrs…but the he lays in the bed quite a while before going to sleep. Thankfully he doesnt get out of the bed or call us to his room for all sorts of things, he stats quiet or reads a few books. Anyway lots of rambling…I’m thinking either drop it completely or not let him sleep as long.

    And totally understand the house hunt…We sold our house (moving to a new town closer to “home”) and have been renting for 18 months because we can’t find something we’re totally at peace about purchasing. We’d love to buy our rental and update it, but the landlord just wants to keep it (he’s thinking he may get his mom to move in…one day). We decided we’d rather stay here than purchase something we’re not completely happy with because I don’t want to be moving again a few years down the road 🙂

  6. says

    What a wonderful start to the year, to take time with the family. I don’t know about watching Parenthood, though. It’s amazing, but I think 90% of the episodes have made me cry, so if I watched them on Netflix I’d be crying for days. The process of house hunting is *so* stressful, so I hope that y’all find something that works soon!

  7. says

    I know how you feel. But I missed your blog! 🙂

    I hope God shows you the perfect home. When the stars align, it is a beautiful thing.

  8. Melissa says

    Any tips for “quiet time” when they drop the nap? My son is almost 2.5 and still naps, but I KNOW I’m going to need to do something when he drops the nap because when he doesn’t nap and I don’t get a little mental break, I think I’m going to lose my mind. 🙂

  9. says

    Beautiful post. Ya know, sometimes in life we just need to focus on things that are not social media. Whatever works for you and your family, my dear. xo

  10. says

    I love this post. And I love your honesty. I also have wondered how blogging and social media should fit into my life and how much it should consume my time. I love blogging to keep track of things that happen with my little family but sometimes it does create extra pressure to get something done.
    Proud of you for taking some time off!

  11. says

    This is a beautiful word to have as your theme of the year. So glad you’re back! Praying for you as you’re patiently waiting to move forward!

  12. mindy says

    house hunting is hard! it took us two years to find “the one”. i pray that you find “the one” sooner than that 🙂 i miss reading your blog & am finding that a lot of the blogs i used to read are starting to one by one disappear…bummer, but totally understandable. i used to blog, but now just ready others 🙂

  13. Tammie says

    I am happy that you are back blogging again, I understand fully that everyone needs a break from blogging. I have a blog (which is no where near what yours is) and I seem to do good for a bit and then it seems like I have nothing to write or it is not worth writing. (after reading blogs like yours and several others I read I often find myself wondering how you all have the time and most of all the energy to do such GREAT blogs. I find myself reading them and ishing the posts to go on and not stop. I guess maybe I want you to write a book not a blog. HA. I am just happy that you have decided to blog again. GOOD LUCK with the home hunting.

  14. says

    I know exactly how you feel about blogging! That was me a year ago! I still do not regret the big break I took. I do enjoy it now and def write more for me than I used to, but it does suck to feel like I lost my place in the blogging world and my audience that I worked so hard to build. I feel like with instagram and twitter we stilll stay current with what you are up to, so its like mini blogs!
    Really hope you guys find the perfect home, I know that is so frustrating!
    xoxo

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