Because staying under the covers is not an option:

Sometimes, when life gets hard, I just want to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed…but I can’t. I have two kids and a husband to love and a job to do, every day. Staying under the covers is not an option.

Instead, I have to get up on the hard days and dive in…

• Even when I am feeling small in the “life is passing me by” kind of way.
• Even when I stay in gym clothes till late afternoon, trying to get motivated to work out.
• Even when I stuff a fun size candy in my mouth each time I pass the pantry.
• Even when I feel judged by a friend for parenting differently.

I was ashamed of my mess. I grew up trying to fit in and fly under the radar. And failing. I was weighed down by shame and regret over falling short. But, as I’ve written this blog and written my books, Prodigal Confessions and Curating the Good, God put a new message in my heart. Or really, He just connected the dots for me on age-old truths:

God is powerful, good, and wise.
His plan will never fail.
I am part of His plan!

Jesus Christ creates life out of death, brings order out of chaos, and makes peace out of brokenness. He makes all things new on a grand scale, but He also does that in my heart, every day,…and yours too, if you love Him.

So, when I “fail” at life, there is something good in that mess!

Sometimes laundry and dinner and dishes and working and loving my family threaten to undo me.  How can I, when I struggle so much, be a part of God’s BIG PLAN?  At times, hard things like my husband’s chronic pain or difficulties in our marriage, my mom’s battle with ovarian cancer, or being separated from our family by thousands of miles have discouraged me.  I have wondered, why does life have to be so hard?

But here’s what I know now: God’s Plan for me is in this struggle.  Because every time I get to the end of myself and have to lean on Him, I see again and again that He is good, and He is more than enough.

We are Sojourners

I’ve been an Air Force wife and a Marine Corps kid.  I moved a lot as a kid (which was a little hard, with a name like Britta). And my kids have spent their lives moving too. The military has been a part of almost all my life.  This experience has shown me what God has said about me in His Word: I am a Sojourner. You are too. But we have an eternal home; this life is not all there is.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:1-3).

We keep our eyes to the East, waiting for Jesus’ return. And we keep our eyes trained on the people at our breakfast table, across the office or grocery store aisle, and over the pew—because loving people is the most important ministry a Christian can have.

My breakfast club is small ~ most days, it is just Grace and Josh.  This fishing picture was taken such a long time ago.  It is hard to believe that I have two teenagers now!

Mothering them has humbled me more than anything else.  And it drove me this Truth: Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock (Matt 7:24-25).  

When we became a family that wanted to build our House upon the Rock, upon His Words, this scripture became a cornerstone of our House:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deut 6:4-9).

My husband is the wind beneath our wings.  He can fix anything, though at work he fixes other people’s teeth.  He makes us laugh.  He is the champ of family game nights and the instigator of the most trash talk at family game nights.

He wants all of us to strive to be our very best and he encourages us to pursue our dreams, which is why I am a writer, instructional designer, and why I finished my second graduate degree at age 50.  He prays for us.  He takes us to church.

And he loves us, which is the best part.

Our marriage and family journey have had some really big rough patches.  I guess that is what helps me to appreciate the goodness in it, too. I am very proud of Scott.  His work ethic.  His faithfulness. His service to his country.  His desire for excellence.  He is God’s provision for me.

I love this picture of my dad, a retired USMC Lt Col, swearing in my husband for his promotion to Lt Col, USAF.  It is hard to believe that, after 26 years of military service, my husband is finally retired from the Air Force. And we are so excited!

I love this picture of my Mom and Dad.  We celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary AND our 20th anniversary in 2014.  We are excited to live much closer to them now that we have joined civilian life.  They are fun.  And we all love each other a lot.

Now we live closer to all of our family.  My husband’s parents, his brother Claude and his wonderful family.  My amazing sister Amy and her brood.  They all live near the Gulf Coast.  We have missed so much by being far from home and far from them.  That’s why we are so happy now to live closer to them, and to be back in the South, y’all!

Join my breakfast club!

Well, now you know tons about me and I’d like to meet you. Don’t you want to join my breakfast club?

If you want to know more about #CuratingtheGood, finding God’s best in the mess, experiencing your purpose through peace-making, and living a more abundant life, just invite me over to your inbox. Let’s be friends!

You can also find me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Youtube. Or you can order my books from Amazon (in addition to Prodigal Confessions and Curating the Good, I have written an Advent Devotional and am a contributor to a year-long devotional from (in)Courage) as well as year-long devotional based on the Westminster Shorter Catechsim. Here’s a little about my first book:

I would LOVE to meet you in person — so, please contact me today, to speak to your group!

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