My Legacy...one blog post at a time

so the past few days have found this very prego mama actually trying to THINK UP things to do to bide her time. that's not normally the case. with working part-time at the pregnancy center (which often turned into 'full time' with all the events i helped coordinate) for the past year and a half, running my little photog business, helping serve within our women's ministry @ church, trying to fit in working out and making meals and running a home and oh yeah, being quite sick the first half of my pregnancy, i was never EVER at a loss of things to do. i had a constant running to do list and sheets of goals (photography, baby, and monthly goal lists) on my desk and to be quite honest, loved it that way. But now the nursery is basically done (will post pics once Luke hangs my shabby chic consignment-store-steal chandelier and i hang a few little things here and there), baby's clothes are washed/folded/hung up or put away, hospital bags are packed, books have been read in abundance, classes attended, photog biz closed up for the time being (taking a sabbatical from shoots & editing), and my duties as women's ministry leader have been graciously undertaken by dear sisters from church. I also quit work at the preg center about a month ago now, sent off with a shower that probably rivaled all baby showers in the history of mankind...hey, they kinda like babies and baby stuff there :) I'm actually loving this time of being able to SLEEP. although it doesn't come easily at night with hitting up the ladies room 10-15 x's/night (no joke) and being rather uncomfortable, I do like the fact that I can sleep in if I want. That's a luxury I will soon have to give up (although gladly since i'll be a mommy - a dream come true, thank you Lord) in exchange for caring for my Little One. I am enjoying reading Agatha Christie mystery novels and catching up on the some 'spiritual growth' books i've had the on back burner for awhile now. I am loving being able to just take a walk when I want, work on little crafts/projects/cross stitch, organize and clean (yeah, i'm weird like that! haha!) and get back to blogging. Yesterday, I had the sweetest phone conversation with my 'Opah' (grandfather on mom's side. Little Girl Grant's great grandpa). He was an English teacher for about 40 years (!!) and although retired, still substitute teaches up to 5 days a week in the local high schools. Being a prolific writer himself, my Opah encouraged me to set aside even just a half hour a day to write. He said that I have a gift and that the Lord wants to use it to minister to others and that when we write things out even if it's just about daily life stuff, it's storing up a legacy for future generations. Plus, we can go back to those writings and see the faithful hand of God weaving our stories in the everyday, the mundane...which really isn't mundane at all but glorious. for isn't this life really made up the everyday moments anyway? yes, the major life events of salvation, graduating college, your first day on the job, wedding bells, and the cries of your first child are momentous indeed but they're just the icing on the cake, the sporadic 'exclamation points' in the steady stream of what we call life. real 'life' is made up of having the Holy Spirit speak to your heart about something while you're stuck in afternoon traffic, watching your child take his or her first steps, burning dinner and instead of crying about it, being humble and laughing about it and then getting a pizza (which, after all, is probably yummier than your 'healthy' dinner that got burned anyway! haha!). Life is made up of...

sighs

tears

laughter

blips of heaven

moments of pondering

kisses

boo boos

disappointments

joys

sorrows that end up being blessings in disguise

tender mercies

healing from past hurt and moving on

forgiving

being forgiven

epiphanies from the Word

timely encouragement from a friend

a tender rebuke from that same friend

unexpected blessings on your doorstep

little personal victories

and on it goes...

as my Opah and I were talking, i felt a stirring afresh in my spirit to keep at it. writing, that is. I often get lazy with settling on fb posts instead of taking the time and effort to write on this thing. but the thing is, i feel like God reminded through my grandfather to keep writing for His glory and for the legacy of my children and grandchildren. I have already published my blog into one book (see HERE) and am working on my second one. yes, with a baby just around the corner, it will take time to finish. lots of time. but it's worth it to me to keep baring my soul as the Lord sees fit, to keep sharing with you all (whoever you are), to keep building my legacy for the glory of the King, to just keep writing. thanks for taking the time to read, if you do so. it's nothing very special, really. just my life and what God is up to in it. how about you? do you have a stirring in your heart to write? I would encourage you to join with me in this journey. it's time consuming, yes. but oh so worth it.