Trust the Steps

Picture by Brigette Billups Outfit Details: a TAD More Faith

You always want your kids to advance on to the next skill. When they are teeny tiny you want them to roll over. Next you need them to hold up their own head. Then you want them sitting up. Then crawling. And then of course walking. Putting one foot in front of the other. 

Lampley has started taking some steps in the recent weeks. Because she rolled over at 3 weeks and is already climbing on furniture, (something her older sister never did at this age) I kind of assumed that walking would come easy to her once she decided to give it a try.

But she’s been more timid about committing to walking than anything else she does. The girl will climb a whole flight of stairs with ease but will crumble to the ground after taking a couple of steps. When I get her back up to try again, she just stands there, strong and screaming because she does not want to walk. 

As a second time mom, I’m in no rush for her to walk. But as her mom I don’t want her to be scared to try. Especially when it is something I know she will be good at doing. 

The other day I tried to hold her hand to walk outside and she wouldn’t have it. She wouldn’t hold it. Wouldn’t try. Instead just pulled away and crawled off. I was offering her a trusting hand, a guide, a way to let her know she didn’t have to go at it alone and even still she didn’t want to try. And it got me thinking. 

I wonder how many times God has tried to do that with me. 

I can see all that Lampley will be able to do once she starts walking. I know she will no longer get frustrated because it takes her twice as long to crawl with a toy in her hand then it would to walk. But Lampley doesn’t know that yet. She will, at some point, but not right now. 

God can see all that will happen if I just trust Him with the next step. But I can’t. I can’t right now. One day I will, at some point, but not right now. 

Taking the next step, in your career, your mental health, your relationships, your job, your dream - it doesn’t always feel like you are taking a step on sturdy ground. In fact it feels more like stepping on a wobbly rock at the top of a mountain you’re not totally sure how you climbed up in the first place. But that wobbly rock doesn’t feel as shaky underneath as long as you are holding tightly to something else. 

And what’s that something else going to be. Your fear? Or your Faith. 

In this next year, I want to, I need to, get better at grabbing the hand of God instead of the hand of “what if”. Because no matter what step I take, He’s holding my hand. Even if I head in the wrong direction, He’s still there holding my hand and pulling me back towards Him. God knows our steps. He want us to trust Him. He wants to be apart of them. 

So I pray that whatever next step you are taking as this year starts off that you grab His hand as you begin along. And I pray that He provides you with the security to know which steps are the right ones to take. Trust the steps He leads you on. 

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps” - Proverbs 16:9

Top Five Pregnancy Needs

*Something I am learning about being a mom and a writer is I find lots of unfinished material hidden away in my computer. This for example is one of them. I wrote this post about one week before Lampley was born. I think I had plans to finally talk about her pregnancy and all that came with it. This post was supposed to be a follow up to that one. But guess what. Neither got published. Here is the beauty about this particular topic. There are women everywhere getting pregnant (praise God) and might want to know some things they need for their journey to the next stage of motherhood. So these are my top 5 things I used while being pregnant with Lampley.

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Pregnancy your second time around is very interesting. A part of you expects it to be exactly the same. You’ve done this once, so this time should be no different. But let me tell you that has not been the case. First, this pregnancy was much scarier in the beginning. But also, my body is different! My day to day is different. And being pregnant with a toddler, well, you can forget all about just needing to take a moment to sit and rest your feet. So I’ve rounded up 5 things that have gotten me through my second pregnancy.

1. Zella Leggings

For me, a pair of leggings might as well be considered another body part to my everyday makeup. I am in leggings as often as I possibly can be. When it is time for me to put on “regular clothes” I almost always wish I could just be underdressed and wear my leggings instead. This pair has been awesome. They are easy to clean and have grown with me throughout the whole pregnancy. I also think investing in a pair of decent maternity leggings is important because you will still want to wear them for several weeks after baby. **Note: I did wear these a lot while I was recovering.

2. Piko Shirts

Bless this sweet brand for the creation of these flowly shirts. Not only have I lived in them pregnant, but ALL THE TIME. They are the perfect shirt to throw on with jeans, leggings, anything. I had several before I got pregnant and had no problem buying some more because I knew they would still get lots of wear time regardless of the size of my belly. You can now buy them on amazon so I’ve linked up a couple of my favorite styles below.

3. Body Butter

For whatever reason I have had much drier skin this time around. To the point where I was applying lotion over and over again all throughout the day and night. So it was time to get some of the good stuff and I went with this particular body butter. One reason is because I am clearly a huge fan of this brand. The other main reason is because I knew it was safe for me and for my growing baby. I didn’t have to worry or research the chemicals I might be putting on my body and how it would affect the baby. I was just able to buy it, use it, and finally feel relief from my seriously dry skin. *This worked great after delivery too. My skin took a while to get back to normal.

4. Pregnancy Pillow

This guy became apart of my sleep routine a whole lot quicker this time around. I can’t say enough about needing a pregnancy pillow to help with sleeping. I also love the way this particular brand curves around my back and I still have a space to roll out (literally) when a trip to relieve this extra small bladder is needed. A lot of people recommend this style also but I have not personally tried it.

5. My Bible

Probably not the first thing you would think of when being pregnant as something you need, but for me, pregnant or not, its a must. This pregnancy came on the heels of two miscarriages and, it wasn’t the easiest start. So turning in the word every night was important and needed in order to keep me grounded in the truth. I am a huge fan of She Reads Truth so of course I love this bible. But I also love the way it is set up, the reading plans it provides, and the fact that there are studies on the app to go with it. My husband also has the He Reads Truth version.

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3rd Birthday Golf Party: It's a Par-Three

Our girl turned three last week and I still can’t believe it! I really feel like the older she gets the quicker the year goes. I got lost in a folder of old videos from when she had just turned two and it was amazing to see how much her voice has changed! I don’t think I even realized it was happening. I just can’t get over how big she is and I am so proud of her.

After she dressed up as a golfer for Halloween I knew I wanted her 3rd birthday party to be a golf theme. My mother-in-law threw a golf theme wedding shower for Adam’s cousin and it was so much fun. So we found a way to recreate it in a 3rd birthday party setting…while also social distancing.

To keep everyone as safe as possible, we figured the best way to celebrate Jane Taylor was to have her party outside. We kept it small and social distanced by having “tee-times” set for each family to come play some putt-putt.

I found a golf themed invitation on Etsy that I was able to edit right after purchasing. It was less than $10 and I love that I could text out a cute little invite to her friends. I sent the invite graphic along with a Signup Genius - it was so easy to use and free to create! There was even a golf theme templet which made it all the more fun. Families could sign up for different tee times throughout the party. I kept it to around 3 or 4 families for each tee time. I did this so that everyone wouldn’t show up at once to play the same 9-holes and to keep everyone at a safe distance.

We used Games to Go for the putt-putt course and they were awesome to work with! Tony came about an hour before the party and dropped the course off and set it all up. It was so fun to have a putt-putt course right in our backyard!

My mother-in-law is the party decorating gurio (last year she turned the entire food table into a bus to go with Jane Taylor’s bus themed birthday party), so she created all the displays such as the golf bag centerpiece and the banner. She also came up with the idea of a leader board and it was a huge hit with the adults and kids! I particularly enjoyed having my name up there with the lowest score (this never happens when I play putt-putt so I have to document this somehow)!!

I put together little bags that had scorecards and these adorable golf pencils for each family to grab when they arrived. My sister-in-law made up the scorecards using a templet she found on Etsy. We also had a large supply of Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer so that golf clubs and golf balls could be wiped down before & after each use.

To make it an official party, by kids standards, we handed out popsicles. Because of the “big bad sickness” I didn’t feel comfortable serving food of any sort like we normally would at a party. It all turned out great and the kids (plus some adults) were happy!

Overall it was a sweet little party! We loved getting the chance to celebrate our girl with the group of neighborhood friends we are blessed to do life with.