The (Big) Little Things bringing me joy
Recently my phone backup got corrupted and the best possible solution was a February 2018 backup. It was the last backup from my previous phone before it died...the day before Giles was born. (ahem #nervewracking.) It's been like going back in time. Every contact I've added, every app I've downloaded or deleted, every setting I've customized is just...
As inconvenient and inefficient as it's been, it's also served as a good reminder of all the big and little things that have changed in the last two years and how grateful I am for so many of the little and big changes.
- Family-wise, in February 2018 we were fostering our oldest son Guy, still unsure of how long we'd be his parents. We had no certainty we'd be adopting him in the months to come, though we hoped for it. Giles was past his due date, but had not yet arrived. We had no inkling that Gage would join the family soon after.
- Work-wise, Hayley had begun looking for a new job that would allow her to work in-person rather than remotely after her move from Waco and we were grieving losing her, but celebrating her decision and helping her look. Brooke and Chelsea were dear friends who I dreamed of working with someday. I didn't even know Rachel and Ali yet, which I'm grateful to have remedied as I reflect on what a joy it's been to have them on our team.
- Home-wise, we were still in our previous house, our first home together when we got married. We were looking for a bigger space for our growing family and home-office based business, but we just kept touring lots of dead-end options.
- Church-wise, we're now apart of a really life-giving weekly discipleship group at church with folks in a similar season of life after a long season without a group. Most of them weren't even members of our church yet in 2018!
Thanks be to God for all these truly BIG gifts which had been long prayed, hoped, and worked for. Felt like we tilled the soil and planted seeds for those for a long time before fruit came on.
But, I've also realized how much I appreciate lots of little things, like all my customized settings including blocking unknown callers so my phone's not ringing non-stop, dark mode, having my email set to manual instead of push or fetch, keeping social media apps on the 2nd page with some even buried in folders, and just having fewer apps overall so my phone is available to me to use for connection, but not screaming at me for attention. I even keep fewer work apps on my phone than I did in 2018. I keep most of them on my desktop only, because that's where I work.
There are 5 more things I've been working on since 2018 (and long before) that are just now bearing new fruit.
- Until Brooke joined our team, I hadn't been able to get out a weekly newsletter...ever. And, I've been wanting to since we began in 2015. I love that we can meet with you each week by email now. Thanks, Brooke.
- We haven't been able to offer a daily AND a weekly planner both since 2017 (which was possible at the time because of a HUGE 12,000+ planner order from Faithbox that once). But, we'll offer both for our liturgical year planners this year. YAY!
- We haven't ever had our planners in-hand 3 months in advance of their start-date before. BUT, we will this year! The academic year planners are being bound now and will be available soon. The liturgical year planners will be sent to print this month.
- In 2018 we had just transitioned from our super-active, super-fun Facebook Group to another online community space called Common House. It's been a bit dormant, but we're about to swing the doors wide open to you again under our new name with renewed vision and design, Kindred House. Having a place to meet (more than comments or a hashtag on social media) that feels more like a mutual conversation and less like a megaphone-enabled one-way monologue, where we'll be able to host small groups, live discussions by chat and video, and offer courses is SO exciting.
- Instead of re-launching our podcast in summer 2018, like I thought, it's taken a bit longer. But, now we're preparing to launch a whole podcast network instead of just one show. It will allow us to collaborate with some amazing folks to offer something together none of us could offer alone.
Wishing you an easy, restful weekend. I'll be celebrating the mothering love and mothering love-bearers I've been given. May your cup overflow with Big and Little Things and eyes to see the fruit your life is bearing.
Alongside you,
P. S. Last week, I asked you to share your ideas for our shop and you delivered! Thank you SO MUCH for your responses and recommendations. I've had the very best kind of email tsunami in my inbox ever since, and our team is still sorting through them all. We're excited and so grateful for your thoughtful input. You are certainly the BEST people to befriend on the internet!