For Unto Us
It’s that wonderful time of year again!!!!!!!!!!! Hah..ha…h… …is it just me or does December always seem to bring with it a heightened level of stress? And scrambling? Every year I promise to slow down. To enjoy the season. To focus on the point of it all. Yet every year I find myself panicked over forgetting Dad’s stocking stuffer. Or wondering if my sister-in-law actually liked her present. Or stressing about how much money I end up spending on “just one more little thing”. I wanted this year to be different for our family. I armed myself with an Advent study an activity-filled countdown calendar and plenty of grace because small children. And…
But when we do…Jesus.
In normal 3 year old fashion, Beckett was climbing under the coffee table and jostled it, spilling my best friend coffee. I flipped out. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?! DO NOT MOVE THE TABLE. WHY WOULD YOU MOVE THE TABLE? WHO MOVES TABLES??” Unfazed by my obvious overreaction and ridiculous line of questioning (who moves tables, really?), he crawled out and went to find something else to play with. A few minutes later, out dump 3,258 of our Hoarder’s Edition® Matchbox cars all over the floor. “DUDE. WHY. WHY ARE YOU DUMPING ALL OF THOSE OUT? I LITERALLY JUST PUT ALL THOSE AWAY.” He looked over at me and started picking them up before I even…
So Many Feels, So Little Words
Every time I sit down to blog, I am at a loss. I have a lot of feels these days and can’t land on one to talk about. I have the happy feels because Beckett is stinkin hilarious these days, like tonight when he waited for upwards of 5 minutes inside a closed box on the front porch for the mailman to “ship him somewhere”. And happy feels that I have a 5 month old linebacker punkin who is made of steel and gummy smiles. And that this handsome fella is our gentle, sneaky-funny main man. Lots of joy. But I also have a serious case of the exhausted feels.…
Pre-Planned Encouragement
My new go-to phrase when meeting someone with both kids in tow is “We’re comin in hot.” I often use it as a warning, like, “Yes, we’re almost to your house but both kids are screaming bloody murder and I have to pee immediately upon entering your home.” A few weeks ago, we “came in hot” to Bath & Body Works. It dawned on me that it was the last day of preschool and I hadn’t done anything for Beckett’s teachers. Despite my better judgment, I unloaded both kids into a store with thousands upon thousands of brightly colored toddler magnets. We were only in the store for about 5…
Even When I’m Tired
I spent the past week and a half visiting my parents, partly so Beckett could ringbear the heck out of Miss Taylor Brooks’ wedding (yes, two Taylor Brooks. It’s been awesomely confusing over the years.) … (My apologies to the families of those who perished after viewing the photo of that breathtaking gentleman above.) …but also so I could have a mom break. Regroup, if you will. I’m finding that the more tiny humans that enter our house, the more self-focused our life becomes. Not out of selfish desires, but rather out of necessity. At any given moment, one of two small children need me. They can’t eat, potty, bathe,…
Changing my Answer
This is a post I wrote recently for our church’s upcoming Renew Weekend, a weekend set aside to support organizations that fight injustice and hunger and loneliness. So why am I sharing it here? Because I love my church, I believe in Renew Weekend, and I want you to join the rebellion in your own city. And also because my child continues to amaze (and humble) me so I look for any and all opportunity to talk about him. My husband and I went to a benefit dinner last week for an organization fighting human trafficking. As I was getting ready, our almost-3-year-old boy came in the bathroom. “Where are…
Moving (into a Flatulent-Friendly Home)
(See title. When will I ever stop saying awkwardly inappropriate things? I hope never. Along those same lines, I just peed a little when I sneezed, if you want to know how 36 weeks pregnant is going.) I can’t tell you much about the past few weeks other than that they happened. So there’s that. Moving Day’s Eve was pretty much the worst ever, but actual moving went swimmingly aside from a few hormonal outbursts (from Taylor, of course). We honestly couldn’t have managed without the help of my brother and my parents, who were in town for 5 years 2 weeks. We painted and decorated and unpacked our little…
Christmas: the most wonder{stress}ful time of the year!
Rule 1 of church attending: Never ever, ever, ever skip potluck day. It’s way too delicious to miss. (Can I get an amen?) A few weeks ago, some young couple friends of ours broke this rule. They skipped the brunch potluck we had during class and came straight to the worship service afterwards. I saw them across the room and walked over to give them a hard time. “Skipping, on POTLUCK DAY? What were you thinking?!” I said. My friend laughed and said, “I know…we knew it was a brunch today, but we couldn’t afford to bring anything so we just stayed home!” The part of the conversation that caught…
Why We Left Church in College
Gen Y’s and church. It’s all the rage. My mom called the other day and asked if I stopped attending church in college for any length of time and why. I did, as did my brother. (Two preacher’s kid, mind you.) And my husband. And a lot of my friends. But I couldn’t really pinpoint the why. Part of it was because we went to a Christian university that had chapel every single day and Bible classes most days. That’s a lot of textbook Jesus. By the time Sunday rolled around, honestly, we were tired of hearing about it all. It was another lecture in less comfortable seats. But, regardless…
In the spirit of authenticity…
I had a post written about being authentic/cutting the crap that is spiritual pleasantries and a whole host of other stuff I may get to at a later date. (Because, really, it’s a struggle…especially for Christians. Christian women are the worst. See Vine below for my thoughts on that matter.) Women’s Bible study voice requirement. I love women’s ministry but this makes me die a little inside. https://t.co/0P681yoCBL— Sarah Brooks (@sarahbrooks13) June 10, 2013 [Note: It’s not that Christian women aren’t authentic, because many, many are. It’s just when the voice comes out... I’m skeptical.] But let’s skip the dramatic reading and go to a fun exercise in authenticity everyone should do: Make…
