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Where Passion & Purpose Collide

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The Week in ‘P’s

Police.  Profound Pride.  Passion.

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This photo was taken by Jeff Schrier (Chief Photographer at the Saginaw News) during the awe-inspiring funeral for the Trooper from my husband’s State Police post who lost his life suddenly last week.  It was one of the most profoundly beautiful, deeply moving, tearful events I have ever experienced.

~

Pincushion Protea

Pizza and Pinecones 004

This amazing blossom – indigenous to South Africa – was handed to me on Sunday by my sweet younger sister as a ‘congrats on becoming an American’ gift, with the words…”You can take the girl out of Africa…but you can’t take Africa out of the girl!”.  Amen, sista!

~

Praise & Prophetic Prayer

Piano 001

Sunday was our little Vineyard church plant’s first anniversary.  We hosted Steve Backlund & his team {from Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry} and what an amazing evening it was!  There were over 90 people from over 8 different churches, and as terrified as I was to lead worship, our little team rocked it out!

~

Perfect Pizza

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Quick dinner: it’s hard to do store-bought when this puppy is so easy to throw together!

~

Pictures.  Prolific.

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This was one of 9 creations compliments of Bean in just 2 days.  She was on a roll!  {got to love the toes!}

~

Puss in {Pretty Purple} Boots

 Miscellaneous April Kids 030 Miscellaneous April Kids 033 Miscellaneous April Kids 031

{I heart this boy}

~

Puddles

Puddle Jumping 038

Soaking up the first warm day of the season.  And by “soaking”…I mean “soaking”.

~

Pinecones, Pegs & Pistols

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In order to bring comfort and encouragement to anyone who thought it might look more like this most days, this is what my fruit bowl looks like today.  Don’t be fooled by my occasionally clear table.  I saw the surface of it today for the first time in a week.  Today, my fruit bowl holds rock-hard limes (way past their prime), the nature-pickings from time outside with daddy, a peg from a new friend’s business card, my sunglasses…and yes, that would be a gun.  Pretty, isn’t it?  Welcome to the real life of a law-enforcement wife.

~

Peace

Puddle Jumping 001

Life is delicious!

Related posts:

  1. All in a Week’s Whirl
  2. Hormones, Crafts & Snow {this week, in no particular order)
  3. Week One, Done
  4. Riding the Chill
«
»

Daily Life, Family, Home, The Kiddos

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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.
 photo Joy.jpg

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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I am regularly overwhelmed by the kindness of God I am regularly overwhelmed by the 
kindness of God in the small + simple.

Things like twinkle lights + Christmas jazz,
scraping out the peanut butter fudge pot
all by myself while sitting on the counter,
and walking around the corner to find my
loin fruit snuggled up together over tea.

They may fight like cats + dogs at times,
but their bond is deep and true and sweet.
Happy release day, @dralisoncook 💛 Written at Happy release day, @dralisoncook 💛

Written at the intersection 
of faith and psychology, 
this book is yet another 
soul-nourishing,
heart-healing, 
boundary-fortifying 
gift from Alison Cook
(if you’ve had a heart-to-heart
with me in the past two years,
you know how much I loved 
‘Boundaries for the Soul’). 

As an enneagram 2 who was raised 
in the church, this book was a timely
and liberating read. Pure balm for the 
weary, recovering-people-pleaser soul. 

I am beyond grateful for the wisdom, 
compassion + experience that Alison 
brings to all she shares (and it was
such an honor to be on her launch 
team for this beautiful new book).

Need a survival guide for your growth
and healing journey? Here you go! ✌🏼

#thebestofyou #thebestofyoubook #womenoffaith #healthyboundaries #healthyyou #healingjourney
Find yourself a tribe of people who will, togethe Find yourself a tribe of people who will, 
together, spend a beautiful Saturday
morning pulling this workout off:

• 20 mile run
• 340 tire flips
• 2,000 air squats
• 1,000 pull ups
• 1,500 box jumps
• 2,200 pull ups
• 600 devil press
• 3,300 sit ups

Brutal. Amazing. 
Exhausted.
So grateful for these two - their friendship, enco So grateful for these two - their friendship,
encouragement and wise counsel over the
past decade of being our pastoral couple
has been such a gift to our family 💛

Congrats on your retirement, dear friends!!
“Over the years, I have come to realize that t “Over the years, 
I have come to realize that 
the greatest trap in our life is not 
success, popularity, or power, 
but self-rejection.”
 :: Henri Nouwen

Somewhere along the journey of 
life, we start to believe the lie that - 
despite being made in the very image 
of a good and beautiful God - who we 
are is inherently bad and broken, and 
we learn to cover that deep sense 
of inadequacy (and the shame that 
accompanies it) with performance.

Because our visceral 
human response to 
‘bad + broken’ is 
‘reject + conceal’.

We think it’s the rejection of others
that cuts us to the core, but the truth
is…most of us walk around wounded 
by a constant and unrelenting sense 
of self-rejection and self-loathing.

Want to know why we feverishly seek 
out the approval and validation of others?
Why we desperately want others to like us?

Because we’re out of touch with our
inherent value and worth, and we’re
not sure that we even like ourselves.

We resent our weakness,
and abandon ourselves.

/ / /

But this good + beautiful God of ours…
He is drawn to our weakness like a
moth to a flame, swooping in to
bring strength and grace.

Paul writes in Corinthians 12:9 that 
he learned to delight in his weakness 
because it was when he was week that
“His strength is perfected in me”. 

Or, as the Passion Translation so 
stunningly puts it, “my weakness 
becomes a portal to God’s power”.

Precious ones, we can shun our tender
still-in-process places, pretend to have 
it all together, and hustle for our worth…
OR we can drop the masks, offer kindness 
and curiosity to our hurting, broken parts,
and learn to live fully seen and known.

But we can’t have both.

And yes, it’s scary.

Today may we choose
…grace over perfectionism
…curiosity over shame
…acceptance over rejection
…gentleness over judgement
…wholeness over pretense

You are loved.
And they’re off! Alathea is in 10th grade and A And they’re off!

Alathea is in 10th grade and
Aiden is heading into 8th grade.

Here’s to a year full of grace,
discovery, friendship + growth 🙌🏼
"Faith isn't the ability to believe long + far i "Faith isn't the ability 
to believe long + far 
into the misty future. 
It's simply taking God 
at His Word + taking 
the next step."

:: Joni Eareckson Tada
Day 15 | Beach Day + Travel Prep We fly out late Day 15 | Beach Day + Travel Prep

We fly out late tomorrow evening so today
has been a lazy day of laundry, laying in the
sun, a petshop visit (where Aiden fell in love 
with a cute rat + I discovered zebra finches), 
an impromptu stop for bubble tea + stuffed crepes [oh my word, were these delicious!!],
shopping [I found the best, comfiest - Joe
would argue ‘ugliest’ - romper at the thrift
store that I can’t wait to wear on our long
journey home], and Aiden is currently off
doing his thing: fishing right from the pier.
Our view from the lodge last night ✨ Our view from the lodge last night ✨
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