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A Whole Lot of Nothing Much

We’ve been busy around here:

I have, for the second time in my short life {okay fine…for the 2nd time in 3 short months}, deleted everything on our DVR.  Every.single.thing.gone.  Just because I was trying to delete a single episode of Dinner: Impossible.  It’s a good thing my husband really loves me {and forgives quickly}.

But seeing this is a wildly practical and very mature blog {ahem}, here’s the good stuff…

We just installed a wood stove…tiles, rock wall and all.  We’re toasty warm, haven’t turned the heat on for over a week…and are in love!  Bug was a great help…

Christmas time 007Christmas time 008Christmas time 010 Christmas time 004Christmas time 045 Christmas time 051Random January 019 Bug in Nutella 017  

We’re planning, talking and dreaming about our family vacation to Florida next month {read: day trip to Disney World…”where there are lots of princesses, mommy!”}.  We are delirious with excitement!

I just bought my first thing of laundry soap since we moved into our house last May.  I forgot how much I love the smell of heavily perfumed detergent {don’t judge}.  As soon as I find another bar of Fels Naptha, I’ll make some more cheap goop.

Bug’s hair is finally growing out after I butchered it, leaving him with 2 almost-bald spots in the back.  Forgive me, son.

We’re working on letter recognition and…hmm, let’s call if “freedom of expression”, shall we…

Bug in Nutella 003 Bug in Nutella 006

I wrapped up the sadly-controversial-in-Christian-circles book, The Shack {for the 3rd time…it never fails to strip bare, rebuild and energize my relationship with God and break the bone of religiosity that so easily sets into the way I function}…and am starting a “steamy” new one called: Red Hot Monogamy.  Want to add a little more sizzle to your marriage {or completely re-ignite it, if need be}?  Click here to join us and read along with me and the Bloom crew?

I’m glad to report that the bible-left-open-on-my-dining-table trick is working well!

I’m enjoying my new pasta/fruit/anything bowl that a precious friend re-gifted to me {“I found this wedding present we never used and thought…that’s SO Joy.  I would never use it!”}.  And she was right…thanks sweet thing, I love it!

Random January 083 Random January 082

We’re starting our next marriage series at church next week; Sacred Marriage.  We so look forward to digging into this tremendous material.  Have I mentioned lately how much my hubby and I love marriage {ministry}?

I received a letter in the mail that set my heart a-flutter…but it was a false alarm.  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was simply reminding me that I’ll need to bring ID to my interview in Detroit.  Whenever that may be.  They couldn’t tell me.  Citizenship awaits.  I remain an unlicensed alien.

Bug is still doing great.  No signs of SVT, thank you, Jesus!  He did, however, grab a tube of glue off my desk {he’s a climber} and, thinking it was chapstick, applied it lavishly to his little lips.  Yikes.

The worship team did ‘Trading My Sorrows’ for the first time on Sunday – a special request by Cricket.  She belted out every word.  So proud. 

And speaking of musical talent…ever since I stumbled upon this video, I cannot get the stinking thing out of my head and have inadvertently started practicing my cups routine.

We painted.  Played with play dough.  And Cricket’s extensive collection of froo-froo things…

  Random January 086Random January 084

Cricket and I made hair clips and rings…

Random January 041Random January 038Random January 080Random January 048

We ate more Nutella.  With a spoon.

I am being more intentional…about just being with the kids, soaking up this wild and hairy sweet time with them, rather than always ‘escaping’ to chip away at my to-do list.  Living life a little more…rather than just writing about it {ouch}.  Intentional about reading.  Intentional about playing/practicing keyboard.  Intentional about eating more of the right stuff, rather than just avoiding the wrong stuff.  Intentional about being encouraging, gracious and servant-hearted to my hubby.  About consulting the Lord before I speak…

“A closed mouth gathers no foot”

I dusted off the bread machine and put it to delicious use {recipes to come}…

Random January 059

Found my baggie of sprouts and started growing some…

Random January 088

In an attempt to boost my domestic prowess and creativity, and essentially bust out of my “boring food” routine, I tried a couple of amazing new recipes that will be up on here soon {along with a very popular South African dish, yum, yum!}…

Random January 055

Speaking of food, I’ve got a friend working on some meal planning info for us…SUPER EXCITED!  This is definitely a brilliant concept that I’m needing to work on.  I’m sure her wisdom and insight on this topic will rock your world too.

And last, but not least…we’re breaking out the ingredients to make homemade granola tonight {to go with the yummy never-ending yogurt supply we have in this house}.

Now…off to work I go!  When the kids sleepeth, I designeth!  And bloggeth.  {I’m designing invitations for a Mother’s Day Tea…aren’t they sweet?}

What to Wear 3 What to Wear

Oh, and I’ve also been frantically searching for Man vs. Wild episodes to record for my hubby to replenish the ones his wife so recklessly obliterated.  Peace offering, you know.

{over and out}

Related posts:

  1. The Battle Plan
  2. Through Thick and Thin, in Sickness and in Health…
  3. Just Look At These Faces…
  4. Life over Cheerios
«
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Complete nonsense, Daily Life

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Simply Bloom exists to empower women to embrace their stories, live out their passion with purpose, and leave a legacy of love.
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Hello there! I'm Joy. Speaker, designer, author & coach, and creator of the #weROARproject. Welcome to Simply Bloom Co., where passion & purpose collide.

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May you remember that God is not only the God of d May you remember that God is not only
the God of destinations, but of detours.

When life takes you somewhere you never intended to go,
may you recognize that you have not been forgotten.

May you have eyes to see the people in front of you,
hands willing to gather the sticks,
courage to shake off the snakes,
a heart willing to welcome and be welcomed,
and faith to believe that even here,
especially here, God is at work.
What if the place you keep calling a detour is act What if the place you keep calling a detour is actually part of the story?

Paul was headed to Rome. Instead, he ended up shipwrecked on Malta.
It wasn't the destination. But it mattered.

A reminder for all of us: don't waste the waiting,
the detour, or the place you didn't choose.

🎙️ 042 | Make Malta Matter | Finding Purpose in Divine Detours
  The latest Oh, Good Grief Podcast episode is out now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #MakeMaltaMatter #SimplyBloomCo
Instagram post 17924817765424628 Instagram post 17924817765424628
What if the years you thought were wasted… weren't What if the years you thought were wasted…
weren't wasted at all?

In Part 2 of my conversation with Leah Harvey,
we go deeper into what it means to trust
God when the outcome is still unknown.

Leah has spent years carrying the ache of infertility,
and she doesn't offer a tidy answer or a spiritual shortcut.

Instead, she talks about restoration.
About eternity.
About choosing Jesus over her preference.
About looking for treasure in the middle of the story.

And about the surprising realization that there
may not have been wasted years after all,
because God was present in every one of them.

He is.
Even here.
Even now.

🎧 Part Two with Leah Harvey is live now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #StruggleWell #StayRooted #SojournTogether
Instagram post 18091972097640684 Instagram post 18091972097640684
What if trusting that God is good doesn't mean bel What if trusting that God is good doesn't mean
believing He will give us everything we ask for?

That's one of the questions my friend Leah Harvey
and I wrestle with in this week's episode.

Leah and her hubby, Jake, have walked through years
of infertility and the kind of unanswered prayer that
doesn't just hurt once—it asks you to keep
trusting God over and over again.

We talk about grief, surrender, the questions we sometimes feel afraid to ask, and what happens when we stop trying to put tidy answers over messy pain.

This is a tender conversation about choosing Jesus over our preferences, embracing the mystery of God, and learning to believe that His goodness doesn't depend on whether He gives us the thing we're asking for.

Part One of my conversation with Leah Harvey is live now
🎧  040 | The Goodness of God in the Waiting

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #StruggleWell #StayRooted #SojournTogether
Before the world told you who you needed to become Before the world told you who you needed to become...
Before fear taught you how to survive...
Before shame convinced you to hide...
God looked at you and called you His own.

Not because you had healed.
Not because you had figured yourself out.
Not because you had become your best self.
Simply because you were His.

You are still becoming.
And you are already loved.

Keep coming home.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #SimplyBloomCo
What if the goal isn't to become a different type, What if the goal isn't to become a different type,
but to become more fully yourself?

We've spent the last several weeks exploring the Enneagram:
our gifts, wounds, coping strategies, and the stories we
learned to believe in order to survive.

Now it's time to come home.

Episode 039 closes this Summer Series by asking
what happens when self-awareness becomes surrender.

The Enneagram can help us understand our patterns.
But it was never meant to become our identity.

You are not your number.
You are not your trauma.
You are not your coping strategy.

You are a beloved child of God.

🎧 Oh, Good Grief — Episode 039 is available now.
Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee, m Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee, my Bible and a book of maps in my lap, and the sun on my face, has me thinking about how strange and beautiful life can be.

It’s no small honor to be given the opportunity to preach at our church from time to time. Had you told the broken, shoplifting, lying, giving-her-body-away-for-free teenage girl I once was that one day she’d stand in a pulpit and talk to people about God’s goodness and grace, I would have laughed at you.

But maybe that’s exactly why God delights in using the messy, the unlikely, the misfits. Because these are the stories that make His redemption impossible to miss.

One of my favorite lines from The Chosen, spoken by Mary Magdalene, sums it up perfectly: “I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”

That’s my story, too.
And if I were to hazard a guess, it's yours as well.

It’s one of my greatest joys to dig into God’s Word, share what He’s laid on my heart, offer some encouragement and conviction, confess the uncomfortable things, and ultimately point people back to Jesus.

Because there’s no denying the extraordinary power of redemption when you’ve lived it yourself.
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