This past month has been a blur and yet simultaneously has sludged on a bit. New Years Eve seems ages ago, and yet my little boy's birthday is just next week. How did this all happen? I'm still sorting it out.
There's been a lot of really good things happening this month. We're gearing up to get to see my parents next month (which puts a pep in my step for sure!) and we're in the wake of the first Roll Out with Ben's work. Starting another year here seems optimistic, and this place feels like home.
Helsinki feels like our second home and the people have our hearts. We laugh at the seeming impossibility of that reality. It still feels weird to us on paper-us living here in a Scandinavian country. But now? We're reaching the stages of knowing the nooks and crannies of our place. God really has blessed us with a heart for this city.
There's been some new found grace in our parenting. We're chilling out a bit more on some things, and being more diligent about others. There's mostly been a whole lot of deciding whats good for our kids and not worrying to much about what other's might suggest is good for them. That sounds a bit off-putting, but when I often function in insecurity with my mothering, it's been a fresh breath to go ahead and do what we know is good, regardless of the external reactions. It's given me a lot of joy.
I got the opportunity to write a bit of a 6 month recap on the progress of our church plant. If you haven't read it, be sure to take a look at it. We're grateful we get to grow with our church. It's been a fun thing to notice our hearts change in the way we see our church. At first it was "yeah, we know some people who church plant; we help them out a bit..." and now it's morphed to ownership. It's our church plant. What a blessing to get to show up in the early stages and celebrate as we grow.
Ben and I are kicking off our 12 months of dates this weekend. I decided to give Ben 12 dates as a Christmas present last year-where he opens up an envelope at the start of each month, picks a day to go and I plan the rest. I intentionally picked things we wouldn't normally do which is making me all the more excited for him to open each envelope to see what they are. I'm mostly just excited to get to spend time with that guy sans kidlets.
Otherwise life looks pretty normal. Laundry days, meal planning, etc. I'm finishing up "For The Love" by Jen Hatmaker, and I am OBSESSED with this book. It sings to my heart. If you're wanting encouragement, especially regarding the christian community and just want a good laugh, this is a solid lead.
Highlights of this month so far? Elias is walking non-stop. I imagine by the time my parents see him he won't be tumbling anymore. He'll fall over and get right back up. Eowyn is all of a sudden 10X more hilarious than previous (how does that even happen?) All the reading to her (and letting her watch rando shows on youtube kids) is paying off. She's using wild adjectives, and making life way more exciting. We have feasts now instead of picnics, things are 'disgusting,' 'adorable,' 'amazing' and other really fun ways of describing things. She sings songs and tells stories of brave princess dragons who eat knights like 'a piece of corn.' I snort on my drink and food often. She's got this wit and if she could help it, life would always be 100% silly.
We found a pretty great babysitter for this upcoming year that I'm excited about. I found a few great new recipes thanks to my friends on the internet, I've discovered a organization called Revelation Wellness that I've known about for some time but just now am really getting to roll around in. There's just been a lot of good stuff.
I think one of my favorite things is the reality that we have people here. Like, people who see us parent and that crack jokes with us and that remind us who we are. It's a special point in relationships when they'll joke about how they know we'll react this way or that, because they know us. It's special to be able to rest with friends and be honest about the nitty gritty. I love the fact that Eowyn is able to see us as grown ups have people who are so easy to love, and to have women and men who love on her. It's an answer to prayer.
So, in the upcoming weeks we've got a date night, birthday bash, a plane ride to Funchal, Portugal and getting to rest and be with my fam. My heart is greatly looking forward to it.
In the meantime we'll be living life as usual-which is crazy to think that this life is now our 'usual.'
Stay warm, friends.
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