Lesson(s) Learned

Out of my life’s story…          As some of you may already know, Jeff and I have recently been looking for houses to buy here in Lynchburg. We go through phases of daily searching, searching, searching Zillow and the local MLS; email-conversing on and off with a local realtor; attending open houses (ok, so we went to one already…hah); and spending many, many, many a Saturday mornings and/or afternoons going on scouting adventures and participating in our own concoction of neighborhood-watch parties (a.k.a. driving around-and-around the neighborhood to see if it “feels safe” to one day live there… We’ve actually gotten fairly good at reading each other’s queues on this one. We’ve done this so often that we’ve gotten to the point where no words need to be said to one another. Just one look, or one quick lock of the car doors, signals that we most likely will not be buying in that particular neighborhood.)      ...

I don’t know about you, but winter can really zoink the energy and life right out of me, sometimes. {Well, for now at least, I’m blaming winter.} I can quite literally go to bed suuuuper early, sleep all throughout the night (more or less), and then find myself more exhausted when I wake up in the morning. In attempts to never want to get out of my nice, warm, flannel sheets and out and into the cold, I then aim to go for the gold with sleeping, round two, the Daytime Nap edition. Maybe it’s because I’m a Florida girl at heart. Winter and I just don’t jive. At all. Or maybe it’s because I’m a girl and allow low moods to overtake me sometimes, no matter what the season is. And. For. Seemingly. No. Reason. At. All. Maybe (and much more likely) it’s this: I now have a spaghetti-squash-sized human little girl, living and growing inside of me, that I carry everywhere I go. I love her already with all of my heart…. and, apparently, all of my energy, too. Whatever may b...

Yesterday, Jeff and I started a Hazard family tradition that we hope to do every year from here on out with our little (growing!) family. It's an oh-so-simple idea, but its implications are far-too-profound to skip over or miss out on. I'm not exactly sure how the idea came to me or how we settled upon the fact that this should become a family tradition down-through-the-years, but I do know the idea came to me at just-the-right-time. Somewhere amidst the madness that is Christmas preparation, I began to think of the fact that this would be Jeff and my first Christmas together, New Year's, and so on. Not only our "firsts" together as a married couple, but also our "only" ones to celebrate together - just the two of us - as a family, BTB. (That's how we refer to everything that comes Before The Baby.) With this in mind, I wanted not only to make these days/holiday times special, but I wanted to start some family traditions that would be three things:...

I ran across a quote today that really made me think: “We’ll become what we accumulate the most of. Gather love.” – Bob Goff Naturally, after reading that quote, I thought, “Hmm. What do I accumulate the most of?” Being a self-proclaimed minimalist (meaning: I try to cut down on clutter as much as possible by giving away excess items to friends/family and donating to the Goodwill so-much-so that they’re probably thinking I work there part-time by now), I didn’t readily think of anything I “accumulate” or have in excess just chilling out around my house. But then, it hit me. Suddenly, and all at once. There’s that one box. Full of that stack of stuff. Stuff that would make complete and utterly-no-sense-at-all to anyone else looking through it. Stuff that other people would likely throw away. (Because it’s not suited for them.) It’s tailored specifically for me. But it’s not something I’ll ever outgrow, either. (which is probably why I’ve kept it all...

As some of you may already know, my sweet husband Jeff and I started recently volunteering in the Cubbies class at church. (not just any Cubbies class, we’re in Cubbies 1…. which means that we have the smallest, youngest, neediest, yet most precious Cubbies that ever existed) They’re 3-not-yet-4-years-old. These kids are so precious and so little, but already I’m realizing that little kiddos carry within themselves some BIG needs. Some of them need attention. LOTS OF IT. Some need time, conversation, encouragement, and a confirmation-that-they-matter. Some need simple help doing certain tasks. And some, let’s be honest, just need a spanking. But no matter what BIG needs our little Cubbies walk into the room with on a particular night, they all carry one BIG need in common: they need Jesus. We all need Jesus. Although some nights spent in Cubbies 1 can be down-right exhausting, Jeff and I can rest assured that our time spend with them is well-needed because we’re pointi...

You know, over the course of the last handful of years, I’ve noticed that my blog has taken quite the different direction(s). Mainly, because my life-story has taken on new directions, experienced new adventures, and uncovered new lessons to be learned all along the way. Today, as I went about my daily routine, I realized how lucky I am. Actually, luck has nothing to do with it. I recognized, truly, amidst all the life-change, the redirections, and the varied transitions, how blessed I am. For me, the moment came today when I saw my sweet husband’s army fatigues in the house. In that self-same moment, I realized how very proud I am of him, the man he is, the heart he has, the  way he serves our country, and the way he loves me so ridiculously well. At the same time, I became deeply humbled - to the point of tears – that God chose me to be his wife. Seriously, of all the women in the world that it could have been, it’s me. And only me. And always me. There’s somet...

If you’ve read the 1990’s Children’s award-winning novel, The Giver , written by Lois Lowry or you’ve taken the time to see the recent theatre-box rendition of it, then you’ll know what I’m talking about when I use the phrase seeing beyond . It’s nothing mystical or oddly-spiritual. It’s simply the ability some (few!) of the characters in the book/movie were born with that enables them to see things other people don’t see. They’re tuned into things like color, for example, when the rest of the world is merely seeing black-and-white. It’s an interesting skill to have, this seeing beyond .   It’s actually quite cool to have an advantage like that over the others. But this ability must be exercised and revealed with caution. For with much privilege comes much responsibility. Just as recently as yesterday, two distinct situations came across the lives of two people that are very dear to me. And they soon, as you can imagine, came to my attention as well. The first situation...