home from our soon-to-be home

It's been quiet in this little space since two huge, life-altering announcements, and I think I'm ready to really talk now.
It's been a whirlwind on all fronts and my emotions have been many. We just returned home from 13 days in St. Kitts-- our last youth mission trip, our first to the island knowing it's our soon-to-be home. We listed our house while we were gone, had six showings while we were gone. We got home at 11:30pm Saturday night and threw a birthday party for Corban on Sunday. We slept in this morning and then spent a glorious few hours creek stomping with some dear friends and I feel like I'm finally beginning to let go of that breath I've been holding for months now, finally beginning to process all of this that is our life.

I'd like to pretend that I've got only excitement and am running full steam ahead with anticipation for what is to come, but that isn't the reality. Being in St. Kitts was a huge reality check: this is going to be hard. Oh, it'll be sweet and good, I am sure of that, but it is not going to be easy. As we exited the plane and breathed in the humid air, I fought tears-- not even knowing what I was feeling. I don't know if I've ever felt more colliding emotions at once. We walked through the days and the trip was really sweet, but I saw it all through a different lens this time: this is my new home.

It was good to be there and be with the Grayson's and get a glimpse of the ministries we will be a part of and see how and where we may fit in. There's definitely an excitement to plug in and get to work. But there's going to be a season of adjustment... To a new place, a new culture, to being away from our families and all that we currently know as comfortable and familiar. I was so thankful to be able to sit in the evenings before bed and talk it out with Jordan- for him to let me process and laugh and cry and then to sit and pray. This new season of stepping out is doing sweet, sweet things for our marriage and I am so thankful to be walking through it with Jordan by my side. I can't wait to get down there with our kiddos-- to watch them see the island for the first time, to play pick up soccer, to watch the little girls grab Cate's light brown curls and for her to be equally enthralled with their beaded braids. They talk about tasting fresh mangos and snorkeling and exploring and it is going to be so sweet to see the island through their eyes, you know? I am looking forward to a new start, for a season of 'new', even in the midst of the hard, to learn and grow together. It will be so good to be doing ministry with Brandon and Wendi again-- just the simple likemindedness is so sweet, to have hearts united and the same vision and burden and I really look forward to us all being a team again. I have no doubt that the Lord has big plans for this tiny island... and I really AM excited to be a part of whatever He has in store. 

It's just a lot to take in, how new and different it all will really be. Currency conversions, a language that is the same but sounds so different, homeschooling, new foods, driving, etc. etc. etc. Little things, certainly, but still different. And the biggest, hardest... just being away. I know that in this the Lord will stretch us and grow us and there will be a sweetness to relationships despite the distance, perhaps even BECAUSE of the distance, but all these things have me doing a whole lot of processing. 

So from here, things get really real. The mission trip was my far-off point that was my marker for time remaining. After the trip comes 'buckle down and get serious' time, and well, that time is here. I think that's why I've been such a mess of emotions-- it's just all becoming very very real. We would LOVE for you to be praying for us... for our house to sell, for our time remaining with the youth, for our kids and families as we prepare for the move, for prayer team and support raising, for the little baby growing inside of me, for all the little details between here and there. It is very easy for me to become overwhelmed by 'all the things' but we are praying to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, to walk rightly in the midst of it all, that our focus wouldn't be on our circumstances-- we would definitely love for you to join in with us.

On that note, I'm sorry for saying 'sweet' nine million times and being too brain dead to come up with a different adjective. :) I'm off to enjoy getting groceries at Super Target while I still can, then put groceries away in our house while it's still our home. All of the normal daily things feel a little different now, knowing that the time left doing them is limited. I hope to be doing more writing now that our busyness is shifting and we begin to transition to all of the 'new'. Have a great day!

when God says, "Go!"

If I would have written this post two and a half years ago, it would have been entitled, "when God says 'stay'." We had just survived the hardest year of our lives; enduring the death of my little brother and the immense grief that followed. We had a new baby (our third!). Our best friends and partners in youth ministry had just moved out of the country. Ministry felt lonely. The season was difficult. I ached for fresh. New. Exciting. But what the Lord spoke over and over was that we were to stay. We were to stay and serve, to 'bury our bones', that our 'mission' was this little suburb we live in, these youths surrounding us, this church we had grown to love.
There was a long period of seemingly hard, but what came afterwards was the sweetest season of serving in ministry that we've ever had. Relationships grew. Roots went deep, deep, deep. Though I knew it wouldn't be, I dreamed of staying exactly where we are, doing exactly what we're doing for the rest of our lives.
Funny how the heart can change, huh?

Over the last year, I have watched a vision and a burden grow within my husband. I've watched him be faithful to pray, faithful to surrender, faithful to serve. I have seen the Lord working and stirring and I have resisted something fierce. The Lord has been so gracious and my husband so patient, and I felt (although terrified) prepared when it was all out on the table:

The Lord is moving us on, sending us out. Our time in Indianapolis is coming quickly to a close and we will be beginning a new chapter come January 2014, as we join our best friends on that teeny tiny little island of St. Kitts.

It's been a roller coaster of emotions as we have begun to take steps in making this huge life change. My initial response was a two-fold grieving process: grieving the close of a season, and what I've jokingly dubbed the death of the American Dream. Leaving home-- which has far more to do with the people than the place-- is what will undoubtedly be the hardest. Moving away from our families, our kiddos away from their grandparents and aunts and uncles... our friends, our children from their friends, etc. etc. HARD. On a more surface level, leaving the comfort and familiarity of America will be a huge adjustment, too.
But friends, more than all of that, more than all of the 'hard' is an excitement to obey, to go, to watch the Lord provide and work and move and grow. The vision is big: We want to see the face of a nation changed as they grab ahold of the truth of Scripture, as the gospel is continued to be taught and demonstrated, as rules and religion are put to death and a relationship with Jesus is put in its place. Our desire is to go be a part of making disciples who make disciples who make disciples... who are then sent out to do the same. We are so excited to be joining back up and serving alongside the Grayson's again. If there were ever hearts knitted together, it is ours. We have so missed our dear friends and have prayed since the day they left that the Lord would allow us to serve together again. (My plan was on US soil, but hey, what do I know?! haha). Just all the way around, a huge excitement and anticipation for what the Lord wants to do with this little 65 square mile rock.

So there it is. A new baby coming November, and a new season starting January. We would looooooove (and desperately need) prayer as we walk forward in this-- selling our house, preparing our kiddos for and walking in transition after transition, raising support, etc. There have been many moments of 'overwhelmed' but I keep going back to Romans 4:21-22... Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He promised, He was also able to perform. The Lord has undoubtedly set this move before us. There has been confirmation after confirmation and we are confident that this is the direction He is moving us, and if He is calling us, He is going to make a way for it to happen. Please pray that we will walk in faith, that we will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, that we will rest in His goodness and grace.

Lastly-- please check out our missions website/blog at mcgmissions.com. There's tons of info and details there about the island and what we will be doing and the logistics of it all. I'm planning on doing a "q&a" type post here in the next few days with the questions I seem to regularly be getting, so feel free to leave any questions you might have in the comments of this post!

We are excited, thankful, overwhelmed, full of anticipation. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus...

my favorite post I've written in awhile...

I'll just let the pictures do the talking. 

:)

Unbelievably, amazingly, overwhelmingly blessed!

Baby McG #4 will be joining our crew in November. 

We are praising God for this sweet, sweet gift!

nora james

Oh sweet, sweet, sweet Nora James. This picture captures so much about her right now-- so little and so big. So beautiful. Gentle and tender. I look at this and I see a little girl... no longer a baby- but still my baby, you know? I don't know how these transitions happen, but this quick capture makes my heart ache in a way that I have only known since being mama -- that tension of wanting to freeze time and keep them little but, oh, the excitement of seeing them grow. She's the most magnetic little girl; she crawls right up on your lap and wins you over with those big brown eyes. She loves people, loves hugs, loves to help. She is the sweetest little gift by way of two year old you could ever imagine and I praise God every day that He saw fit to entrust us with this little one. He is good, huh?

I have taken many more pictures this week, and I am remembering just how sweet it is to freeze frame these little moments of my sweet kiddos, just doing life in this season. I love these of Nora, though, and was just struck with emotion when I came across that first image. I wonder if I'll always feel that way when I see it... I wonder if I just happened to capture in a picture what I'm watching play out.. that quick little dance from baby to girl? Do you see how big she is in these? and how beautiful?!

If you've been neglecting the picture taking like I have been, let me encourage you: just do it! I have been keeping my camera on top of the refrigerator instead of packed away with all my other gear. It's out of the way and safe, but accessible, and I really DO use it when I know I can just grab it. I'm thinking of starting a weekly post with just snapshots from our week-- those little things happening just around our house. 

OH! one more thing--

Happy birthday to the most amazing man, husband, and father I've ever know! I am so grateful to spend my life with Jordan. He is a faithful, consistant, prayerful, diligent man who loves Jesus with his life and as a result loves me, our kiddos, and those around us so well. 

Hope you have an amazing day, my love!

upswing

True story: I've taken 28 pictures of my family this month. Over 700 of clients, but only 28 in my own house. I've got to break this 'only use my iphone' rut! So.. I'm challenging myself: At least a picture per day. And blog posts to document them. I realllllllly want to get back to regular posting, and picture taking of my family, so maybe this will help create a new habit. These two pictures were taken last week when we got nailed with a bunch of snow:

 (I think Cate looks so grown up in this picture.)

We have been passing around a slew of germs this last week--- coughs, fevers, double ear infections, pink eye, puking, etc. Super fun! ha. :) Anyway, I think we are all on the upswing and I look forward to resuming normal life.  I also should add that Nora is officially potty trained, that Cate and Corban weigh the exact same amount, and that Caters is in the 80th percentile for height and weight! I am starting a new Bible study with other women my age tomorrow and I SO excited for that. I have been cooking quite a bit, trying lots of new recipes, trying to incorporate way more real food and less processed junk. Because of the aforementioned stomach bug, I haven't had coffee (or really, food for that matter) for three days and I am still living, surprisingly enough. :) I also haven't cleaned my house, which means that I should probably do that, instead of this. ha! More posts to come soon!!

this week:

in instagram photos:

• We laid new flooring downstairs last week (which I LOVE) and had taken all of the trim off to do so. It needed to be re-painted, and I have far surpassed my trim-painting quota, so I passed it off to these eager helpers. :) Why, oh why, didn't we do it this way five years ago?!?
• Nora has been fighting a cold and has just wanted her mama to hold her. She keeps asking to 'ride sling on mama'.. and I am more than happy to oblige. :)
• I got to teach a class on the basics of photoshop for the influence network! I was crazy nervous, but it was really fun. A few hiccups, but all of the girls were so gracious. I loved it!
• We bought a new (to us) van! I am way more excited about this than you could ever understand. 
• The sun shone one time. So we played outside. This winter is beginning to feel a little never ending-- I am ready for some daylight in my life!
• Corban has been learning to play Settlers. I love that he loves to be a part of the things we like to do, you know? (any other Settlers fans out there?!)
• My girls are awesome. They were taking turns playing the drum while the other danced. Nora had chosen to wear her owl shirt with rainboots (on the wrong feet) and butterfly wings. 
• I don't like this winter, but Nora's wonder at the snow = priceless. 

not pictured: Potty training for days. Laundry piles from being a week without a dryer. sisters becoming friends. endless lego building and my little pony play. Pretend mario kart races between Corban and Cate in their bedroom during 'nap time'. piles of pictures strewn throughout the house from my kiddos who love to color.

a good end of February week!

five on friday

1. We laughed for twenty straight minutes taking silly pictures in photo booth today. Nothing better than the sound of my kiddos belly laughing... However, Nora was terrified. Kept closing her eyes or covering face, said we were scary. Corban and Cate look more alike than I ever realized. And my heart is overflowing, you know? How's that for a jumbled paragraph?!

2. Nora has been walking around singing and shouting, "Oh no! You never let go, through the calm and through the storm..." for weeks. Talk about blessing a mama's heart. Corban and Cate love '10,000 reasons' currently and my house is never lacking song. :)

3. Also Nora related, I think she sat quietly for a few months observing, and then decided it was time for her to start speaking up. She's suddenly speaking in sentences and it is bizarre to me that my baby is not a baby.

4. On Monday, I will be teaching a Photoshop 101 class! My first ever class with a network that I am SO excited to be a part of. Check it out on the Influence Network here. 

5. A few of my favorite things this week: grace. Coffee. Polka dots. the color peach. My almost live website. Instagram. All Sons and Daughters. a stylized photo session with one of my best friends. sleeping til almost 9 a.m. today. 

 Happy weekend!