Guided By Grace Life Coaching

Unfortunately, since my last post the world has gotten more and more messed up. It's honestly a very discouraging time to be an American. My heart is sad. My hope is in the Lord...but I'm running out of hope for the future of our country. My prayer has more and more become "Lord, come quickly." Here's a recap of the last 3+ months: All colleges in the country finished out their spring semesters online. All elementary & high schools across the country did that as well. Masks are required in almost every public space. Dave has had to wear a mask all day at work since mid-March. Not only has the corona virus caused fear and bickering amongst those of differing opinions, we are also smack dab in the middle of the largest race war since I've been alive. Police agencies are being defunded. Antifa and other groups are invading cities, tearing down historical monuments that they oppose, and proclaiming "autonomous zones" in the middle of city ...

As the entire world is living smack dab in the middle of the least funny April Fools' Joke ever...I thought I'd take some time to jot down some of what our March brought us. The main reason? So I will remember this crazy, upside-down, bizarro-world moment in time. I mean, I seem to be programmed to forget the bad in life and remember the good. So there's a pretty darn good chance that my brain will choose to forget most of what this pandemic has left in its dust. And as much as I'll be glad when we're on the other side of this...there's a lot of God-moments and gifts in the chaos that I don't ever want to forget. Just over four weeks ago, the girls and I ended up taking a pretty last minute "girls trip" to Florida. It ended up being my two girls, plus Liva, Abby, and Allison. Back then, the college girls were stressed out and ready for Spring Break. They were also still recovering (physically and mentally) from a pretty stressful couple of weeks ...

I have a word to share today. Perhaps I'm the only one who needs this reminder - but I'm going to say it anyway. Life is NOT about being comfortable.  As I approach 48 years of living on this earth, I realize that - for most of that time - I have been seeking comfort. For as long as I can remember, "being comfortable" was my safe space. It meant I knew what was expected of me. I was familiar with my daily routine/surroundings/people. It meant I could just live life on cruise control and get through my day. And "my comfort zone" was something I sought after in every possible facet of my life. Like - living in the comfort zone was my end all, be all of a successful day.  But that's completely false. Have you heard this saying: You can either be comfortable or you can be growing. But you can't be both. Yep. Read that again.  In other words, you can be growing into more of the person God wants you to be. Or you can be comfortable. ...

It still feels like this is someone else's reality that I'm living, but...here we are! 2/3 of our children are now living on campus at the University of Toledo. 😮 How did we get here so quickly?! Seems like we were just in the middle of training wheels and the Tooth Fairy and Little League. It is really kind of a cruel parenting joke: just when you really love having your kids around (because they're so interesting to talk to and helpful, etc.)...they move out! I'm excited for this new chapter in their lives. But honestly really sad about it too. I am not sure which is harder - them learning how to navigate life independently or me letting them. So far, I think it's the latter.  Besides sending our twins off to Toledo, we have also added a foreign exchange student from Denmark to our family this school year. Liva is a phenomenal addition to our family! She seems to be thoroughly enjoying both Lowell School and her time here with us. I pray that this is a gr...

As 2018 comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts on this - my twins' senior year of high school. For the first year in a while, I am really enjoying this holiday season. I'm being purposeful about slowing down and enjoying it. Making a point to fit in our family traditions - yet not stressing about the details. What a joy! I have no idea how our holiday traditions will change in the future, but I'm just thoroughly appreciating each moment of this one. One quick sidebar (to follow-up on my last post from June): Luke ended up with 7 full-ride offers. He verbally committed to Toledo in September and signed his National Letter of Intent in November. We are officially a Rocket family! It's actually Luke's "Road to the Rockets" that has really shaped my thoughts on this year. I've been thinking a lot about this: We have prayed more plans for direction for our family this year than I remember doing in a very long tim...

I've wanted to post all the details of Luke's basketball recruitment (mostly so I don't forget) - but I've been hesitant to say too much out loud for fear of jinxing it or something. 😊 However, now that we're a full year into his official D1/D2 recruitment period, I feel like I want to share the journey because it's full of #OnlyGod moments. It's long. But it's a fun story - I promise. Before June 15th, 2017 (the first day D1/D2 coaches could officially reach out to him), the true start of his basketball journey was when he started AAU his 8th grade year. We had NO idea then where this whole thing would take him. He had been playing since he was 8, and we knew he had lots of talent. But here's how this whole thing really started... I found out about 8th grade tryouts for ACB (an AAU team that doesn't exist anymore) in the fall of 2014. We had heard that playing AAU (travel ball) was a must and that it was best to get him started in the AAU c...

Interesting that I haven't posted in here in over a year and (sadly) I am still dealing with much of the same struggles. I would say I have gotten a lot further in the grief process, which is great. But still have a lot of days where depression & anxiety keep me from truly enjoying life. I hope that a year from now, I will be posting about how I've overcome in this area too. But for now, let me share some thoughts... The Enemy Is Sneaky I have some time alone today (which doesn't happen much), so my mind has time to process things more clearly. I have been praying recently for God to - once again - help me with my self-talk. When I was having weight loss success in 2011, my self-talk was amazing. I didn't tolerate condemnation.  Or guilt. Or self-hatred. I was all about grace and love and encouragement to myself. Just like the weight has all come back on, so has my horrible self-talk. And it's kind of shocking when you realize just how off-track you've g...