Our little man was surrounded by so much love this weekend! I am overwhelmed by the family + friends who rearranged schedules, jumped on planes, drove across state lines (or across DFW which – let’s be honest – is basically the same), secretly coordinated with Clark to surprise me + spent their time celebrating this miracle of life with us. There are so many beautiful faces I got to see this weekend that are missing from these pictures, but please know that your presence meant the world to me!
.
Clark + I can’t thank these incredible women enough for making our family feel so loved + for hosting this sweet shower – Shanna, Val, Katie, Amy, Sara. Your thoughtfulness + generosity is unmatched + I am truly blessed to know each of you. THANK YOU! You have been amazing friends to me for many, many years, + although I don’t deserve your unwavering friendship, I thank God for your love + grace more often than you know.
.
Lauren – THANK YOU for flying in to spend time with us this weekend. Seeing you was such a gift to me + I still can’t believe you made the trip…but actually I can, because you are one of the most loyal + intentional people I have ever known. I hope you know how grateful I am for you + how wonderful you are!
.
Aunt Sharon, Jessiqua, Yaya – Still speechless that you were here + pulled off the best surprise ever! THANK YOU! My heart is still so full + it is an honor to not only call you family, but to call you friends. I love you + appreciate you so much!
.
In John 15, Jesus says that greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. The older I get, the more I realize how immeasurably valuable time is with the ones I love, how significant it is to spend money and effort on a gift for someone + what an immense gesture it can be to send a text, make a call, or show up for others when life is busy + schedules are full.
.
Clark + I pray that our son will grow into a man who knows the sacrificial love of our Savior + we thank God today that this new life is already surrounded by tangible examples of what it looks like to joyfully lay aside priorities, preferences + plans for the good of another. GRATEFUL isn’t a strong enough word.
I went skydiving for the first time 12 years ago. I signed up for my second jump almost as soon as my feet were back on the ground.
▫️
My dad was pretty into skydiving when I was a kid. We watched countless videos of people jumping into the clouds, grabbing onto one another and free falling together in formation: colorful, kaleidoscopic, carefree.
▫️
I got to sit in the co-pilot seat of the tiny plane as one of his buddies guided us from the certainty of the dirt to the certain danger of high altitude. The pilot would tell me jokes through the headset while my dad sat on the floor behind us.
▫️
We would climb to about 13,000 feet and then my dad would leap out of the open door. I’d watch him fly through the sky until he faded into the landscape below. I would hold my breath for the next minute or so and wait for the sudden pop of bright red or yellow parachute to let me know he was okay; floating, not falling.
▫️
I used to do things my dad loved to feel closer to him after he died, to see if I could somehow still get to know him. From jumping out of planes to taking shots of whiskey, I longed for a connection with my dad that never fully existed in our time on earth together.
▫️
It was quite selfish, really. I thought knowing my dad would help me to better understand myself. After all, he was half of me, right? There had to be answers to my identity and purpose hidden within the ashes of who my father once was. It breaks my heart to think that I missed him not always because I loved him, but sometimes because I was trying to find reasons to love myself.
▫️
And alas, here I sit with the same selfish heart over a decade later. I often seek connection with my Heavenly Father not to know Him and enjoy Him, but instead as a way to better understand myself. The answers about my worth are there, YES! But there is so, so much more.
▫️
JESUS, lift my gaze so l see beyond myself! Your Holy Spirit testifies with my spirit that I am indeed a child of God. It is settled! I am known. I am loved. Now let me lose myself completely as I sit in the beauty of your Presence! Wash away any need for validation. Fill me with wonder and worship. You alone are worthy of my meditation!
Sweet @gennycarsten, it was such a joy to celebrate baby Brielle with you! 💕 So thankful to be on this crazy journey with you! You and @ccarsten11 will be the most incredible parents to this beautiful baby girl. Like you said today, she has been destined for your family since the beginning! I sooo can’t wait to meet her! ✨ I love you, gorgeous mama! Rejoicing with you over this wonderful blessing and thanking God for the gift of new life today
#32weeks #16weeks #truthsetto
.
.
.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” - Psalm 139: 13-17
Happy, Happy Birthday to this stunning sister! It has been an honor and a blessing to be a part of your life these last 6 years. Your loyal friendship, timely wisdom, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and effortless ability to bring people together has inspired me more than you know. Watching you become an incredible wife to Chris, celebrating with you both as you made your first house a home (and welcomed your sweet pup into the family!), and now eagerly awaiting your precious baby girl to come into the world... what a gift it is to rejoice with you in every season! I am so, so grateful you were born and I can’t wait to see you as a mama! You were made for this. ❤️ Cheers to you, @gennycarsten ! This will undoubtedly be your best year yet! I love you so much! #truthsetto
Mother’s Day 2019 ✨ Goose, Sister, Jane - It is so very easy to celebrate you. Thank you for carrying life and speaking life. You are each truly love-in-action for your families, and it is a privilege to learn from you. I appreciate you more than you know. I love you!
💕
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. Her children stand and call her blessed...” {Proverbs 31:25-28}
Journal entry dated Wednesday, July 6th, 2005 // Written in Colombo, Sri Lanka: “Our last day here... plane leaves tonight. I don’t want to leave. I miss my family, but I want them to come here! I’ve grown so close to so many people... I feel like I have 50 brothers + sisters... How wonderful + glorious Heaven must be if the fallen earth that I stand on is so full of beauty + life! Even still, there IS darkness in the world...Satan is here. For the first time, my heart breaks + I understand the necessity of missions and the freedom the Truth brings... I believe that all people can be saved through Jesus Christ... PRAY! In every situation, PRAY!” // Praying for our brothers + sisters in Sri Lanka today. The Lord has not forgotten you, and neither have I.
▫️
📷: Photos taken in 2005 by the talented @david.eckmier of @davidandkaraweddings — devastation captured here is from the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004
“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves...” ✨ a brave + beautiful prayer!
▫️
Our God is so much bigger than we think! His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts! 🙌🏻
▫️
The LORD is so worthy of our trust and praise! Do you believe it today? Set sail! 🙏🏻 JESUS, let us experience the depths of your perfect LOVE that cannot be found near the shore! Your dreams for us are so much better than what we dream for ourselves.
PART II: Today, 20 years after my dad passed away, my Heavenly Father is more than someone I cry out to when my heart aches: it is He who gives me life and breath and everything else. And my Father has a name, a name that carries unprecedented authority and limitless love, a name that makes the darkness tremble and brings me to my knees, a name that pours forth from my lips and brings peace that surpasses understanding: Jesus Christ! My Lord, Savior, King, Friend, and Hope!
▫️
His presence reminds me that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. He holds me close and catches my tears as I mourn again the loss of my dad tonight, and He will wake me up tomorrow with new mercy and morning joy. His kindness is unmatched and unending! Oh, how I long to spend forever praising the One who knows me fully and loves me still! And I sure hope my dad is there, too, free of the weight of this world and filled with a love he had heard about but had not yet experienced.
▫️
Until that glorious day, may the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
▫️
📷: Photos captured of my mom and dad in their early 20’s. It is weird to think that my dad didn’t know his life on earth was halfway completed when these were taken. What an incredible reminder to live each moment walking in prayerful and passionate purpose... if you’ve been waiting to see if God is real, the time is now. Cry out to Him tonight. He will answer. Your God is near. He loves you more than you know, dear friend!
