oh the joys of these days!! thought about re-recording a more polished version but that wouldn’t be reality. 😅❤️✝️ discipleship at this age can be chaotic and silly but it’s so formative and sacred!!! we memorize scripture as we drive, before bed, and even while we play or do the dishes. the best watches his little heart take hold of Gods Word!!
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
Motherhood has exposed my NEED like nothing else has which has driven me to the ONE who can meet my needs like no one else can!
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
oh where would I be without the grace of the gospel! mediating on that this Holy Week — that Jesus took up my sin on the cross and rose from the grave so that I could walk in LIFE and VICTORY. that gives me tremendous hope as a mother knowing that I don’t have to be enslaved by my sin and allow it to have a ripple effect onto my children, but rather I can be a mother clothed in the grace of the gospel and walk in righteousness by the power of JESUS alive in me!!! hallelujah thank you Jesus for your blood poured out for me! I would be lost without you!
A testimony of Gods provision I couldn’t help but share!!!!! Thank you Lord! We praise you for this “daily bread” and we praise you most ultimately for YOU as the BREAD OF LIFE who gives us salvation!!! 🦢🥲🧷🐣❤️ matthew 6:25-34 all day long!
okay this was so yummy & easy! perfect for your morning yogurt or just an afternoon snack! and makes such a sweet gift during Christmas time! ❤️⭐️🎄
ingredients:
- 6 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups pecans (chopped)
- 2 cups almonds (chopped)
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of cloves
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 cup olive oil
- flaky sea salt (I love @maldonsalt )
instructions:
1. pre-heat oven to 300F°
2. combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl, toss them up so it’s all combined!
3. add your wet ingredients directly into the bowl and stir to combine.
4. line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and spread the granola evenly on pans.
5. place in the oven and stir the granola every 15 min for about an hour or until golden brown!
6. remove and sprinkle with lots of salt!! don’t hold back!
7. let it cool and then place in bags! store at room temp & enjoy ❤️🤤
adapted this recipe a tad from @cookingwithrel — soooo good
as a mom, the quickest route to discontentment is the road of entitlement. when a baby wakes in the middle of the night and has trouble going back down, my flesh whispers “you deserve more rest.” when my toddler has had a particularly unruly day and my husband works later than expected, my flesh whispers “you deserve more help.”
my mind fills with thoughts of what I want and am not getting, selfish desires that are at war inside me!
well it’s in those moments that I have a choice, to be ruled by the flesh or ruled by the Spirit. to dwell on thoughts that lead to death or fight to believe truths that lead to life. it’s often in those moments I’m reminded of something @donyes told me growing up — that entitlement is the enemy of gratitude.
and so, I’ve found.. that the inverse is true, that gratitude is the antidote to entitlement. that as a mom, the quickest route to joy is the road of gratitude. when babies that wake up in the night become reminders of the heritage God has given me, and the blessing of a body that can feed them, my soul rejoices!!! when laundry to fold and dishes to do are reminders of clothes on our back and food in our tummies, my soul rejoices!! when a husband working late is a reminder of the worthy ministry our family gets to do at a church we believe in, my soul rejoices!!
so as we center our hearts on gratitude this week, I wanted to confess that theres areas of my soul where I’ve allowed a cracked door for entitlement.
and the ultimate truth my heart has to return to — is the truth that the only thing I truly deserve is death, eternal separation from God in hell. and what I deserve is not what I have received. therefore my whole being can rejoice in the truth that He who knew no sin became sin so that I could become the righteousness of Christ. and as a mom — that gives me reason to give thanks in all circumstances: the good, the hard, and everything in between.
The Lord owed me NOTHING but He gave me EVERYTHING, in Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
sharing these pics of the people I am so so grateful for!!!
4 years ago today cooper asked me to marry him, and today we celebrated our sons 2nd birthday with our almost 4 month baby girl! I was weepy trying to wrap my head & heart around Gods lavish loved that He has poured out on us! struggled to put words to it myself as I was decorating our house last night, so I asked my guy chat to help and these words really blessed me!!! thought I’d share ❤️
happy birthday my Louie man — I ADORE YOU. You’ve changed my whole world forever! went from seeing in black & white to seeing in color when you came into the world and nothing will ever be the same. I love who you are and who you are becoming! 💙🎈🎂🥹
first pic is @lexichasemedia she is a wizard behind the lens! greatest picture I’ve ever seen!!
A little over 2 months with our crew: mom, dad, Lou & Ru !!!! 💙💖 thank you LORD !!!! we are obsessed with these little children you’ve given us !!!!
so thankful for my bestie @lexichasemedia who has documented our family in every season!!!
some recent reflections on the joys of motherhood as someone who feels like the assignment God’s given me for this limited time on earth is to teach His Word ❤️
“I just can’t believe we have a daughter”
on Wednesday July 16th our home got fuller and our hearts got bigger as our precious baby GIRL, Ruth Kathleen McCullough came into the world after a beautiful & worship-filled labor and delivery! 7 pounds 3 oz of pure sweetness. we are so overwhelmed by the richness of Gods grace to us and the gift it is to shepherd this little heart!!!
as we thought of what we would name a daughter, if we had one someday, we always came back to Ruth Kathleen. the name Ruth is translated to mean compassionate friend, we pray that she would be compassionate to those that are both easy and hard to love because of the compassion Christ has lavishly poured out on us, and that she would come to find that friendship with Christ is the greatest treasure in life. we pray she believes that even in the midst of our sin and rebellion, that we serve a covenant keeping God! who even in the days of the judges when Israel was running after other gods and stuck in the cyclical nature of sin — that God was faithful even when they were faithless. God chose to use a Moabite woman to be apart of his grand rescue mission to restore the world back to a right relationship with Himself through our kinsman redeemer — the person of Jesus Christ! we pray that like Ruth, that she would fear the Lord and be zealous in her devotion to Him.
kathleen is my middle name, named after my grandma Kathleen Foster, a woman who built a beautiful legacy for our family and was known for the way she “worked hard, and played harder”the name kathleen means pure — we are blessing our ruthie girl with a heart of purity, that she would lead a life of holiness and integrity. believing that blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God! (Matthew 5:8)
ruthie girl — it was always you! your daddy and I have longed for you and prayed for you and asked God for you!! i can’t wait to teach you about biblical womanhood while we get our nails done and bake cakes together! you are already my best little girlfriend! and your big brother ADORES you. you are our dream girl. 💖🎀🌸🩰
Lord we give you the praise, who else is worthy! there is no one, only you, Jesus!!!
early labor moments with my Lou I will cherish always! Louis Allan — I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be!! 💙
captured by @lexichasemedia of course! coming over to help me figure out if my water had broken haha and snapped some pics in the meantime!
