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Happy Birthday, sweet Bean!

birthday girl

Today you turned four.

Even though you told your auntie ‘Poo’, who called all the way from South Africa this afternoon, that you were “something like 15 now”…you’re actually four. 

You’re starting preschool this Fall!  And using words like ‘condensation’ and ‘moisture’ in everyday sentences.

I haven’t quite figured out how you got here so fast.  ‘Tis true what ‘they’ say…the days may creep, but the years fly by.

Weren’t you just in my belly a moment ago?

 

I just can’t wait to see what this new year holds!  You’re so ripe and ready to take on life, whatever it may bring.

You’re such a treat to the senses, oh mighty toad catcher and puddle jumper!

You take after your daddy in your love for all things wild and adventurous.  I especially love it when you cuddle up beside him and watch ‘Man vs. Wild’ without being totally grossed out.  How wild are you, in fact?

The ‘swoop and swirl’ you’ve choreographed and mastered on your bike is just the coolest thing since sliced bread.  The fact that you’re either wearing a frilly long skirt or are as naked as a jay bird when you pull it off is quite possibly my favorite part of your bike show.

Your dancing.  And singing.  Oh, they melt me!  Especially when done at the same time.  During a pretend worship service in which you request that I preach.  You make fake church look awesome.

While your dad isn’t a huge fan of you dressing your brother up in tutus and tiaras and calling him “Penelope”, I think it’s delightful.  He’s also a very obedient puppy when you leash him.  And a pony, which you have yet to try riding.  Good thing.

And you’re as hooked on tea as I am.  But I’m not sure this is a good thing.  We need to talk.

 

You’re such an amazing big sister, sweet girl!  Bug doesn’t even know how good he has it. 

But we do.  And we just love the way you love him.

You’re a lavish lover of people.

We haven’t a clue where you got that from! {smiles}

Your spunky sense of humor, tender heart and zeal for life are so contagious, precious girl!

Have I told you recently how much I love your head of curls?  And that I’m actually okay with the fact that you stole them from me, in utero?  They look better on you anyway.

Your giggle tickles my toes.  I love it!

 

We’re so thankful God chose to place you – with all the deliciousness that is wrapped up in who you are – into our little family.  We couldn’t ask for more in a daughter. 

And we simply cannot wait to see all He has in store for you.

Watch out world…she’s a movin’ on up.

After all.  You’re like 15 or something now.  Or something.

Happy 4th Birthday, sweetheart!

Birthday teaparty collage

We love you more than a fat man loves cake your mommy loves tea, more than a squirrel loves nuts, more than a cactus loves water.  You’re the bee’s knees, baby cakes!

Related posts:

  1. Happy 5th Birthday, Bean!
  2. Happy Birthday, Bug!
  3. Happy Birthday, {Big Boy} Bug!
  4. O Hacker… er um… Happy Birthday!
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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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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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