Better By Bekah

Some peace for your feed. I know mine could use some!
The world feels heavy. Of course it does. We were not designed to carry this load. We were never meant to bear the mess of the whole world. Jesus was. Let Him. I encourage you to unplug this weekend and seek out Peace.

As much as I love flowers and gardens, I haven’t had time or inspiration to deal with the blank slate that is our new yard. We are on a preserve lot, so that helps. I can look out and see the woods and I’m not rushed by creating privacy.

So I tried a little low-maintenance, low-effort chaos gardening at the edge of the woods. Probably 10 packets of seeds went down. And all I have to show for it are zinnias. It’s a little disappointing, but the ones that came up are beautiful and thriving! The butterflies and dragonflies love them.

It’ll definitely do for now!

Forever grateful 🇺🇸

Look at those kids! Pretty sure I’m 19 in this picture. Today, we’ve been married 19 years 🤯
I met my husband at 16, dated through college, then married at 23. Here’s some of the “advice” we busted and why I would encourage my kids to follow our lead…

1. “Go have fun, see the world before you settle down.” He is my best friend and favorite person. Every adventure, every experience (and there have been a lot!) was better by doing it together. There was definitely no setting down for us!

2. “You need to date/experience other people and other relationships before you commit to 1 person for the rest of your life.” Our history is shared and makes us closer. I’m so grateful we don’t have relationship baggage to manage.

3. “You’re too young/aren’t mature enough for that kind of relationship.” I’d challenge that with, “what kind of relationship are you mature enough for?” What’s the point of dating anyone if you aren’t looking to the future? It’s self-serving, not relationship serving. We chose to commit. Period. Plus, we got to grow up together.

The truth is, we have had to choose us over and over again. We’ve each had to sacrifice “me” in favor of “us.” We’ve embraced a biblical marriage of service over self, of 1 unit over 2 individuals. And those truths hold at any age!

I love you, babe

“Somehow or other, it came just the same.”

Moving over Thanksgiving really got in the way of my Christmasing this year. Usually it’s my favorite, but this year it has just been a blip. Most of our traditions stayed in boxes. The decor was modest since we are still unpacking everyday stuff. The shopping was modest since we opted for an experience Christmas. The activities were modest with the condensed season and James traveling earlier in the month.

Even still, Christmas Day will be all in. Full of giving and joy and gratitude. It will be the reminder and recalibration of what really matters. The ultimate gift that doesn’t need special PJs or cookies, movies or lights. The gift of a Savior. 👼🏼🌟

I’m grateful we had the opportunity to visit the 9/11 museum and memorial last fall, and take my children. They aren’t that little anymore and can begin to understand the gravity of what happened. It was powerful. Thinking about that day still brings tears to my eyes. And I hope it always does 🇺🇸

A whole different kind of beautiful…
Summertime in Florida

The early summer yard is looking fabulous! I hope the next caretakers actually take care of it.

From our visit to Arlington earlier this spring. I’m glad we made the time to go and take our kids. It’s important. Even on that cool, rainy day.

Happy Turkey Day!!

We are enjoying the the most epic of Thanksgivings in NYC! Hope you’re having a great one too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I may not have gotten this guy finished in time to sell and ship before the big day, but he was a special request by my son. I wasn’t sure I could pull it off, but he’s pretty cute 😊 At least my son thinks so!

Scroll to peek that little tail 🪶🦃

“They just need the space.”

We had friends in town this weekend. Some of those unicorn friends that have kids the same ages and sexes as ours. The girls are friends, the boys are friends, and the parents are friends. The time we spent at the house, the kids wanted to watch a movie, or play video games, or bicker boys vs girls.

But Sunday we got out. Went to a nearby National Park. And they were playing. Playing tag, playing floor is lava as they climbed in the rocks. They were exploring, “can we go down there? Can we go that way?”

The kids aren’t the problem. It’s the environment they are in. They will happily still be just kids. They just need the space to do so.

betteroutside