A Purposeful Peek

If you were to visit our home, you may be surprised by the way our family lives. It seems that every time I turn around, I see people around me who are just starting their careers and/or families and are already moving into their "dream home" - a home that my accomplished, hard-working, middle-class parents could only dream of in their retirement years. It seems that our Western culture screams, "You need bigger and newer, and you need it NOW."  It is never fair to judge a book by it's cover; likewise, it's impossible to judge someone's "success" by the cars they drive and the home they live in. While you may live next door to a modest millionaire and never suspect it, you also may live next door to a mini-mansion with a 3 car garage filled with luxury SUVs that is all underwritten by crippling debt.  People who know our family well are likely not thrown off by our very modest (at least in terms of dual-pharmacist income) home.  Bu...

An otherwise ordinary trip to Target tonight quickly escalated when I started to drive away through the parking lot and heard a woman screaming - I looked to see her being dragged inside the store by 3 men, and I immediately threw my car in park right there at the entrance and jumped out to follow them in. With no idea what was happening, but recognizing that this woman was being dragged against her will, I couldn't not stop and find out. On my way into the store, I had to step over a puddle on the sidewalk, just as I heard her screaming for help, that her water had broken.  I followed the moving cluster of commotion over to a red door, where the woman was being dragged into what appeared to be a break room. I quickly learned she had been accused of shoplifting, and the security guard told me she just needed to "calm down" and that the police had been called. He described to me all the things they believed she had taken, and I was struck by the fact that everyone was...

There is something truly special about a fresh start, a new beginning, a clean slate. I love breaking open an unmarked calendar and dreaming of the possibilities in the year ahead of me.  But before I am able to fully embrace a new year and move forward into the wide-open space of the blank pages, I like to reflect on the previous year. While I often recap each year chronologically by month, this time I am going to instead revisit some of our family's most defining experiences of 2018, where God's faithfulness was so incredibly apparent. The Wreck. January started off with a literal *bang* when JJ was turning into his work parking lot one freezing cold early morning and a car behind him slammed into the rear of our SUV going nearly 40 mph. Cue the protein shake in the driver's side cupholder flying out the shattered back window and the spare tire on the tailgate now nearly in the back seat.  By the grace of God, J.J. escaped the accident unharmed, with only some ex...

Lillian Cole,  Happy 3 months to our "happiest baby on the block!" Last month, we were thrilled to catch a glimpse of your very first sweet smiles, but this month you completely let loose and started smiling all.the.time. Your happiness is contagious, and it's impossible to look at you without smiling... You continue to be the sweetest snuggler and are an excellent sleeper! Your laid back personality makes it possible for you to go with the flow, wherever and wherever! Your energetic sisters think you're a real life baby doll, and I can only imagine the things you are already learning from watching them... At the end of three months, momma returned to work and left you in the care of our amazing tribe - your Mimi, Aunt Lauren, and a couple of awesome college girls.  It truly takes a village to raise our family, but I love that you are exposed to so many different people who love you! With no problems adj...