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Hey friends, I haven't disappeared. But a lot has happened in our family, work and hearts.

On October 11th, Abel was born! It was a wonderful experience and he is an amazing little babe. My heart grew leaps and bounds the moment he was placed on my chest. He's a giggler, snuggler and sleeper. Abel turns four months next week. God has been so good to bring him into our family!

In December, I started working with Young Living Essential Oils to share with others how oils have been so good for our family. My website for essential oils is www.laurajadeessentials.com. I'll be sharing some of our oils journey here but there will be way more on that site and blog. I'm still doing graphic design work too.

I'm a different woman than I was four months ago. Along with the birth of our sweet boy, came the birth of a more relaxed Laura. I can't even explain how it happened, except to say that God worked something big in my heart.

I'll be writing more about those things in the next few posts. I used to be a big writer in my journal, but not so much anymore. I want this to be my journal, my place to process what God is doing in my heart, my family, my church and our world.

Love you All. And I missed you, seriously.

Processing

I need to process things. Things like my relationships, purpose, time commitments and spiritual growth. If I'm not processing, I'm not being intentional. Lately life has been blowing by me without me taking any time to reflect.

That needs to change.

Snow Days

This winter has been cold and snowy in Pennsylvania. Around here we used to hate snow - like dread it when we heard it in the forecast. To us it meant shoveling the sidewalk, cleaning out our parking spots just to have someone else take them and slipping and sliding on the way to work.

Let me tell you that everything changed once Mike got a job as a teacher and I started working from home. Now we act like little kids when we see the snow start to fall. Mike has had about six snow days this school year and it's awesome. It's so nice to not have to worry about getting to work safely. I almost feel guilty for wishing this treacherous white stuff on others who have to go out in it - almost guilty, but I'm too busy hanging out all day with my husband and baby.

There is another winter storm coming our way over the weekend and I say bring it on! 

Gift of Encouragement

Last Saturday I participated and helped to plan a brunch for the women of Life Church. I was hesitant to get involved because I still don't have too many relationships at church even though we've been going there for nearly a year. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and just do it. I signed up for the planning committee and actually knew at least half of the other women from the small group we joined in the fall. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The actual brunch was amazing and I put myself out there and had a good time. I talked with some people I hadn't met before and thanked God that He made us to be in relationship, even when it's hard.

One of the most beneficial parts was the little talk that Mindy, our pastor's wife, gave. The topic was on encouragement and influence - neither are things that I regularly think about. But as women, we have an innate, God-given ability to encourage those in our lives. Some key points that stood out to me where:

• Our ability to encourage others starts with a solid understanding of how God made us just the way we are. We need to embrace ourselves and our gifts before we can encourage others. Sometimes our insecurities stop us from being in relationship with other women because of jealous issues. Let's not allow our hang ups about ourselves get in the way of godly friendships.
• We can and should be setting visions for those in our lives. Through encouraging the talents and gifts of others, we can help them see their worth in God and this world. It's amazing how quickly people can flourish when they are noticed and encouraged. This came as an exciting challenge to me. I want to be someone in Miles' life who sees what he can do and who he can be because of God. 
• We need to notice others. I realized that I can't encourage anyone until I notice when people are struggling or when they are excelling at something difficult. Selfishness is a huge barrier to allowing our words and actions to bless others. If we never look away from ourselves, we can't possibly let someone know that we are praying for them or tell them that they are gifted at something.
  

I'm so glad that I took the time to get to know some new faces and to serve God through helping plan the event. I also got to design the visuals for the event! Being an introvert and creating new relationships is tricky but I'm learning.

Perspectives on Loss and Life

Two Saturdays ago a friend from high school was killed in a motorcycle accident. I hadn't seen her since high school where we became friends through playing softball together. We were friends on Facebook, but other than that, I never thought about her. Then I saw the newspaper article about her accident, and I couldn't stop thinking about her. I have been fortunate to not have lost many friends or family members. But when it happens, it shakes me to my core.

Nothing strikes fear into my heart more than thinking about loosing the ones I love. I'm not scared to die, but I'm scared for others. I was reminded many times the past few weeks of how short life is and how fragile it is. It's so clique but we don't know when our last day will be and remembering that dramatically shifts my priorities. Life is about relationships, not how successful, attractive or popular you are. It's about investing in the lives of others and caring about people because God cares about people.

I realized that I need to make time for others. I'm naturally an introvert and it takes effort to be with others. I don't often look forward to being social, but I am always thankful when I am. God is stretching me and convicting me in this area. I can't get so tied to my agenda, that I don't make time for others. My first commitments are to my husband and my son, but Jesus has so much to teach me through others. And I hope that he can somehow use me to inspire others to get serious about Jesus.

My heart still aches for the loss of my friend, but I am thankful for what death does to wreck our lives. God is ever present in our time of need and He shows himself to be greater than we could dream or imagine.