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Happy Anniversary to the Love of my Life!

Wishing a happy anniversary to my faithful, handsome, thoughtful and loving husband! I love you even more now than I did when we promised to love and honor each other for the rest of our lives, more than the night you proposed to me, and more than when we first said "I love you", back in 2009, I think! I am honored to raise Micah with such a wonderful man!

I pray that God will continue to bless our marriage and that we will continue to honor Him in the way we love one each other, raise our family and lead our lives in this dark world. I wouldn't want to be on this journey with anyone else!

Love & Hugs,

Tara

Self-Care & the Grace of God.

I recently took a training on trauma and children - at the end of the training, it had a few slides on burnout & compassion fatigue. After feeling this way A LOT in the past and eventually experiencing burn-out, I'm the first to say, self-care is so important! Having my cup overflow from God's grace, my relationship with Him & other encouraging believers, such as my wonderfully supportive husband and mom, is what gets me through each and every day. I'm able to help others because my heart & spirit are full. And organization and not procrastinating are key!

http://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/field-placement/What_I_Wish_I_Had_Known%3A_Burnout_and_Self-Care_in_Our_Social_Work_Profession/ 

I hope in whatever your job is that you find your cup to be overflowing with His grace. 

A Beautiful Mess

MOPS, Mothers of Preschoolers held a progressive dinner tonight, where we had an appetizer, main course and dessert at three different homes, prepared for us. I was able to deepen some friendships and make new ones! It is such a relief to know that other moms are going through similar things in life, whether its sick kids, adjusting to busy schedules, etc. but the most important part is knowing that God is the center of these relationships. In fact, I've been encouraged to start routines now that will make a huge difference later, including family devotional time. 

I was so encouraged by this evening that I wanted to share a tidbit from one of MOPS' earlier entries in their blog (http://southcrestmops.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-beautiful-mess-embrace-your-story.html?m=1):

As moms, we deal with messes all around us- sticky fingers and floors, laundry, and dirty dishes. We also have internal messes such as conflict in our marriage, emotions ranging from anger to depression, or even a lack of faith in God. The good news is that we are not alone! There are others moms going through the same stages and problems as you. We are also so blessed to have wonderful mentor moms who have been there and done that and can offer sound advice. The theme verse for us this year is, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10 

Ponder this...we are God's MASTERPIECE! As someone enjoys crafting, if I call something I've made a masterpiece, it more than likely took me a very long time to create it, making sure every detail was just right, every line was straight, inside and out - was perfect! I would cherish my masterpiece, place it to where all could see it and make sure it held a purpose in every person it encountered because it was that special and more importantly told a story. We are God's masterpiece. Wow, I think I'm still trying to comprehend this. 

I'm so grateful to be a part of this "beautiful mess" with other beautiful women, wives & moms. The picture below is from some photo booth fun at the first house we went to.  

Hugs & love,

Tara

Just another day.

We all have our days backwards sometimes. Some of us like to eat dessert before dinner, some brush their teeth before drinking a glass of OJ (yuck!), some take a shower before mowing the lawn or going to the gym and some even put lotion on their hands before trying to open the door. 

Well, our big guy has experienced this backwards syndrome, too. Micah has learned to scoot, except he's going the wrong way! :)

Enjoy some updated pictures of our growing boy!

Love & hugs to all,

Tara

Sharing the LOVE!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I felt the need to share my morning. 

I was so rejuvenated this morning. MOPS, Mothers of Preschoolers has been such a good place for me to get away, enjoy time with other moms and believers and be encouraged in our calling to motherhood. Today, I was so grateful for our speaker, Gabrielle Keenum for sharing with us in learning to love our husbands even more and learning better ways to meet each other's emotional and physical needs.  

Here are some Bible verses/ Books of the Bible mentioned throughout our meeting to reflect on:

Romans 12:2

Phil 2:3-4

Ephesians - mutual submission

Eph 5:33 - love & respect your husband 

Be like-minded in Christ with our husbands (referencing Phil 2:2), striving to love one another and appreciate one another for our similarities and differences. 

I hope you're encouraged as much as I was. Happy Valentine's Day!