Unexpected Surprises

Tomorrow my #3 baby turns one and I just can't believe it.  How did the last year go by so fast?  If you had told me 2-3 years ago "you're going to have a third kid", I would have laughed.  At the time we were "done".  Norm had finally gotten back on track to get his MDiv (after being stalled because of my freak lung thing) and though a small part of me longed to have another baby we knew it wouldn't be the "responsible" thing to do.  Well in the fall of 2014 Norm and I sat down at Prost for a beer and I told him "I think I'm pregnant" and decided I would take a test that following morning.  I was a little freaked, I didn't know how he would react but he said "at this point I think I would be sad if it was negative".  Lo and behold, bonus baby!

The past year has been hard.  Especially recently as we have been preparing to move.  As Freija has grown and been sleeping less, it made it more and more difficult for Norm to get school work done and it just kept piling up and creating more stress.  I would be lying if I said we never had conversations about how things were "supposed to go"...our plan for me to learn more of his job so he could work less and I would work more, giving him more time to focus on school.  Of course when Freija was born I took time off and then had to keep my regular schedule.  We have hit some low points that I NEVER thought we would get to...we have definitely gone through the "for worse" part of our marriage...BUT, this tiny human has brought more joy into our hearts than I knew possible.  She is so full of happiness that it leaks out.  On the darkest day I can't help but look in her face and be lifted.  She is an amazing gift from God.  Kieren and Zoe are the most amazing big brother and sister and I could not be more proud of them.  With all the hard times we have had in the last year I would not trade it for anything because it is the year we welcomed our sweet Freija Grace...a precious child we did not "plan" on but were pleasantly surprised by.  I'm finding that it's hard to trust God sometimes...hard to believe He is in control when things seem to be spinning out of control...in those moments I have to look at Freija and think well, that "plan" didn't work out like we thought it would and that turned out just fine...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

She, He, Them

 The world we live in was built on the Patriarchy and it bleeds into everything, especially religion and faith.  Growing up in the Christian church, I thought that was how it should be because that's what I was told to believe.  If you ever for one second questioned that, you were headed down a "slippery slope".  I remember one day my dad asked me "What if God is a woman?" and you would think by my reaction that he had asked me to commit murder.  That's how deeply entrenched I was in the idea that God is and must be and can only be a man.  Fast forward about 30 years and last weekend on Mother's Day I'm sitting in my mom's church (Normandy Park United Church of Christ), celebrating "Mother Earth Sunday" and singing:  "She's got the whole world in her hands, she's got the whole world in her hands..." The idea that God is only Father can actually be very hard for people that have never had a close relationship with their...
Read more

My Calling

Leave it to a Taylor Swift docuseries to give me an earth-shattering revelation.  If you know me well or have read my blog, you will know about my very long struggle with vocation and what that means for me.  When I was around five, I wanted to "cut hair".  Flash forward to early college, I wanted to do youth ministry which turned into music which turned into I should just graduate already.  I had a string of random jobs to help pay the bills while we started to grow our family.  As I got older, I started to wonder "what am I doing with my life"?  I regretted being in debt for college when I wasn't "using" my degree to make money.   At one point I thought it might be fun to go to massage school and maybe that's something I could be good at.  Then when we were in Iowa, I realized I had a strong passion for social justice and began a certificate program but only took one class because we had to move pretty suddenly.  Once we got back to Se...
Read more

Paleo Fish Tacos

For those of you who were interested in the fish taco recipe... -Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, By Sarah Fragoso Fish Tacos with Spicy Slaw 1-2 lbs wild-caught cod fillets Marinade Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lime 1 tbsp olive oil 1/4 tsp chipotle powder 1 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp salt Spicy Slaw 2 cups shredded green cabbage 1 cup diced mango 1/2 cup diced cilantro leaves 1 1/2 cups peeled and diced jicama 1 fresh jalapeno, seeds removed and minced (optional) 1/4 cup mayonnaise (she makes her own, I just used out of the jar) 1/8 tsp chipotle powder 1/2 tsp ground cumin For tacos: Butter or Romaine lettuce leaves Diced fresh cilantro Sliced radishes Lime wedges 1.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together marinade 2.  Put the fish fillets in the bowl of marinade and gently rub the marinade into them; let the fish soak for at least 15 min. 3.  In the meantime prepare the spicy slaw 4.  Rinse and dry several large butter or Romaine let...
Read more