Heartbroken...

Separation & Divorce are nasty words. Ones that roll off the tongues of society way to easily. An option far too easily. From celebs in the news, family & friends, and recently, people I look up to for Christian marriage encouragement.

Prayer is all I can offer. My marriage has been through distinct highs and lows. We have pulled through, rode the roller coaster, circled around got back in line, and have enjoyed the ups and down many times over in our almost 12 married years.

As I get back in the blogging mode, I write this for my own children. I write to encourage them in their future marriages that they would recognize that real life, real marriages aren't perfect fairy tales. With God's divine mercy and grace, their daddy and I love each other, make each other laugh and have a genuine commitment to this family-even through, no wait, especially through our failures and imperfections.

What I realize: No marriage is "safe". Please keep your spouse in your daily prayers, be their best friend, the one who romances them, their #1 cheerleader in life. Wake up each morning with a renewed devotion to keeping your marriage a priority.

We Have a Winner For Dinner

Dinnertime around here can really be emotional. Sounds strange? With my family of 5, it's close to impossible to keep everyone happy at meal time. I'm not so picky...the others....well they are! There can be some frowns, pouting, cheers and even tears.

Tonight though was a big night. I thought for sure it would be a 3star night...get it, only 3 of 5 of us would like it...but not the case at all. I'm thrilled to say that everyone enjoyed dinner tonight. It was our first venison steaks of the year. And it rocked!

I will do this from now on. McCormick makes this Brown Sugar Bourbon marinade. Use it. Love it. Marinaded the steaks for a couple hours, then, oh then, I wrapped the steak medallions in bacon. The grill was hot and ready for the marinaded, bacon wrapped, skewered pieces of venison.

Tim, Cayley, & Travis were all digging in before I could even sit down. I was so happy! Adam, well is the pickiest of them all and after some coaxing, he actually tried some. He said he really liked it!!! My heart overflowed.

Tonight was a winner and a complete success. Feeling pretty great tonight.

Not By a Long Shot

My refrigerator door is a reminder of the good things going on in my home, well usually. Being a mother of three means good grades, gold star work, and 100s on spelling tests all hang proudly on the fridge door with random magnets collected over the years. The writing assignment of my 8 year old son was no different, for everyone else anyway. You see, it was based on a biographical interview he did of me, his 32 year old stay at home mom. Seems fine, right? I’m pretty comfortable in my role as a child care provider from my home and I’m able to be with my own children as much as possible. What’s wrong with that? There’s honor in caring for your family, right?

 Here’s “The Life of Sarah Lett (my mom)” by Travis Lett

 My mom was born with her parents. Her mom Debbie was born in Florida. And her dad Robert Chetwood was born in Texas. Her mom Debbie was a home maker. And Robert worked at a police apartment. Her mom had 4 children and Sarah was the oldest. She had a happy life and her childhood was pretty busy. She remembered she was cooking as a girl. She grew up in a city. She liked school and her friends and her teachers.

 ***All pretty normal stuff here so far***

Sarah wanted to be a counselor when she grew up. She ended up being a babysitter. She likes watching movies and reading books.

 ***That is when I wanted to break down and cry. Is that what my life can be summed up as? Maybe it’s the phrase “ended up”. My life isn’t over, not by a long shot. I had to remember that this was written by my 8 year old and this is what he sees every day. I had to hold on to some hope that this would get better, and it sure did.***

She is very proud of her children and her husband for being a hard worker and providing for the family. She has learned over her lifetime to pray and help others.
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Those last words are the absolute truth. Maybe I don’t have a completed college degree, or career to really speak of, but if I can be an example of prayer and service to my husband, children, family, friends, and the children I care for, then I’m more than “ok” with where I have ended up. Don’t get me wrong, I know there’s going to be another season of my life where I will want to work outside my home, but right now I will bloom where I am planted. I will try and live up to the Godly wife and mother role model set for us in Proverbs 31. This is my goal, my career, my investment.

And blogging, where does that fit in? Let's just say, there will be no giveaways, book reviews for companies, or posts just to post. I want to take my blog back to be a place of record keeping for my family, and if something I share evokes a feeling or comment from someone, then cool. I'm going old school and doing this for me. Welcome back.