Skip to main content

Family Goals, Christmas, Etcetera...

By
   My inner voice says,"Hey Girl??? You better do a blog update, it's way past due!". My body says, "Hey Girl???  You too tired to write. Too many cookies, ice-creams and fudges last week"  Yup, I cheated big.  Sorry I am not.  But I digress.  This Christmas season was so much fun!
  We celebrated Christmas as a family on Friday, then went up after church on Sunday to spend time with my family on the 25th.  I think Ransom got a wee-bit spoiled by his Papa, Grammie, and Auntie!  For him, tearing and eating the wrapping paper is more fun than whatever the actual gift is!  Joel had work for a couple days in the middle of the week, so we came home for two days and left again to have Christmas with Joel's side of the family.  It was wonderful to have everyone together!  Even Joel's brother and sister-in-love made it up from Virginia to visit.
    As the new year dawns, Joel and I have been able to have some discussion about our family goals for 2017.  We are so thrilled to have a baby to plan goals with, too!  Some of our goals include saving for and going on a family vacation, taking time to read together at least once a week, filtering our input and filling our minds intentionally with at least one source of good "mental nutrition" every day, and intentionally working on projects together as a couple (of course, Ransom is always welcome to help with projects as he gets bigger!).
    One thing I cannot wait to see is how we will grow in different areas as individuals, as a couple, and as a family.  I have been so encouraged to joyfully accept every hurdle as a new adventure and as an opportunity to learn and grow.  I hope and pray that the light of Christ would be evident in my life and that of my family, that we would make the most of every opportunity, and that we would continue to make God the cornerstone of our home.  I pray that we would change the things we need to change, let go of the things we cannot, and that we would have the wisdom to know the difference.  That we would not waste our thoughts, but that we would dwell on what is pure, noble, excellent, and praiseworthy.
    In reflection, 2016 was both a wonderful and difficult year.  Some of the things I am particularly grateful for include the birth of our son, new and deepening friendships, hardships that have caused us to grow, and God's gracious provision.  I am thankful for all the people who have pointed us back to God and spoken into our lives.  Life has been messy, but in God's grace it has never been unbearable.
    So to you who need a dose of encouragement as we start 365 days anew:  "God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, of love, and of a sound mind."  ~2 Timothy 1:7.

Ready to Embrace a New Year,
Joel, Heather, & Ransom


~Family~

My Big Man...
...My Little Man!
Our precious gift! 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Birth Story

By
  I don't know when it happened exactly, but recently Little Man has turned into this light sleeper that wakes up every time he falls asleep on someone and needs to be put down.  Now that he's finally down for a nap, I can find a few minutes to write.  I hope?! ....     Anyway, for those of you who are curious, here's how Ransom's birth story goes.  His due date was on April 13th, buuuuut this being my first pregnancy, we were expecting him to be plenty late.  So April 13th came and went, but real labor started that Saturday, the 16th.  Joel was convinced this was the real thing, but I wasn't.  Actually, hours of labor passed before I was convinced  our baby was really coming that night!     Joel was an incredible help, and we really had the best birth team ever.  Some of the things my midwife had me do surprised me.  She let me know early on that I COULD try to make myself as comfortable as possible through the...
1 comment
Read more

Changes, Part 2

By
     "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." ~Zig Ziglar "   What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith  but does not have works? Can that faith save him?     If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,     and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?     So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." ~James 2:14-17   ....So, to continue my discourse from yesterday; here are a few more reasons I need to leave the world of social media and how I plan to spend my time.  Some of my solutions are more broad, I am still looking for ways to accomplish these goals. ***        5).I just finished a wonderful book called "The Art of Neighboring", and one thing that God has placed on my heart is my need to be deeply rooted where ...
5 comments
Read more

Baby Crib, Hairstyles, and Other Shenanigans!

By
      Time has indeed been flying!  Those of you on Faceboo k may have seen a recent update about Ransom turning 6 months old.  He did.  I blinked, and he's 20 lbs., has two teeth (Working on his third!), and almost, almost crawls!  I meant to do a blog update several weeks ago about his crib, but never got around to it.     We (Mostly Joel and Papa Cropsey) built his crib from a basic pattern we found on Pinterest.  Of course, it was altered some in the process, and we made it almost entirely out of two-by-four slats of birch wood.  That thing is solid as a rock!  We made it such that it is easily taken apart and re-assembled, for less transporting issues.  We chose to paint it in a Distressed style, gray being the base color and white for a white-washed-barn effect.  We are incredibly happy with how it turned out!  Also, we are in love with the thought of having an heirloom to pass down to our kids one day....
6 comments
Read more