Abby

This little girl is growing up lately. She'll be turning nine next month. She loves being in Girl Scouts. She asks every single day to have a friend over. She's preparing to sing "Trouble" by Taylor Swift for the upcoming talent show with her friend Jayla. She's growing out her hair for Locks of Love. She's talkative. She's helpful. She's joyful. She wants to take piano lessons in the fall. She doesn't keep her room very clean. She wants to wear high heels since she now fits into women's shoe sizes.  She loves babies and little kids. She's starting to enjoy reading. She likes school and loves her teachers. She wants to be an EMT or a singer when she grows up. She's always thinking of ways to get money. She loves riding her bike. She loves watching wedding shows and rating how much she likes them. She enjoys her brother. She's happy.

She gets more and more beautiful (inside and out) every day!

Week at a Glance (4/16/13)

Life has been going great lately, moving along faster than ever. I want to forever treasure the everyday moments that make up our life as a family, and this is it lately...

 -Dinner and Jackson's ball game with the other Powers family in New Braunfels on Tuesday night was a blast!

-I had Women's Retreat with our church as well as RCCC Central and River City New Braunfels, and it was a great time! As introverted as I may be, I enjoyed catching up with old friends and getting to know new ones. It was nice to have a little time to reflect and recharge as well. I have so much to be thankful for!

-While I was at Retreat, Aaron and the kids went to the lake with the Fox's! They, of course, had a blast.

-Saturday was a happy time of being all together again. We enjoyed pizza at Rome's together and talked and laughed. Another great week in the books! So thankful for our family!

Boys/Girls Night

Our kids are forever asking us for date nights and boy/girl nights, so a couple of weeks ago, we finally did it. The boys headed to a Rangers game that was in town at the Alamodome with some friends. They loved being able to see a Major League game in town and having a guys' night.

Abby and I stopped at Olive Garden and picked up some soup and breadsticks and then went and sat by the river at Pearl to eat. Afterwards we headed downtown to see a movie (The Great and Powerful Oz) at Rivercenter.

We all had a great time. We're so enjoying our kids and all the fun things we can do with them!

Easter 2013 [Part 2]

Last weekend, we took a whirlwind trip up north to celebrate Easter with my mom's family. We left early Friday morning and came back Saturday night. We spent the day Saturday at Grandma and Grandpa's house, where we kept up the tradition of roasting hot dogs over the fire, eating far too much of Grandma's potato salad, taking part in a fabulous treasure hunt, egg hunting, tractor riding, and just enjoying family.

Following Through

Since feeling the conviction to lay Powerhouse Studios to the side and let it go (for a while or permanently, I'm not sure) back in February, I have begun to walk it out -- canceling memberships and advertising, referring new clients out to other photographers, and vastly decreasing the number of hours in a week that I spend on my business. It was really strange at first. I cried the first couple of days as I typed emails to other photographers telling them I'd be sending clients their way or to would-be clients letting them know I was not accepting new business at this time. It was hard explaining my decision to other people, who just sat there gaping while saying, "You WHAT?!" It was painful. But then the strangest thing happened. I was at peace. And everything was fine. And I sat there and said to myself, well, that actually wasn't that hard after all.

I found great relief in shutting down that drivenness inside of me that's always pushing me--to think of the next great idea or to accomplish my next goal or solving the problem of the week. The past couple of months have allowed me to just be.

That's not to say I haven't been busy. I feel like my schedule is strangely fuller than ever, but I have the freedom to really look around and see what needs to be done. I've enjoyed spending a lot more time with Aaron. I spend a day or two a week up at the church with him planning, meeting, dreaming, praying, and filling in gaps where need be. I've had a lot of people ask me if I quit my business so that I could work at the church, and my answer is definitively no. However, I do feel like I need to step up in my role of being a support for Aaron, and not in a church staff sort of way. I didn't see that clearly when all of this began. In the past, I've always been a part of Aaron's ministry and have been involved in one capacity or another, but this is the first time I've truly felt like a partner--like this ministry is something we're doing together. And I want to clarify, it has never been because Aaron hasn't invited or encouraged it. There was just always something that held me back. Maybe it was just the phase of life we were in with young kids and busy lives. But maybe there was something more that didn't allow me to give that much of myself. I don't know.

I do know that the other day as I was driving to lunch with a friend, I was thinking and praying to God about why he would ask me to give up my business. I feel like he said to me pretty clearly, "You never would have truly committed yourself to this ministry otherwise." I'm not sure if that's the main idea of his whole plan or just a sub-text, but it was very eye-opening for me to realize.

I also know that now my weekends are free, and I'm able to enjoy Saturdays with my family--baseball games, Hill Country road trips, and days at home. It's so nice. And at least for the moment, I'm happy to not be spending my Saturdays shooting weddings and coming home at midnight. It feels really good.

I'm still in the process of unpacking the whole thing (like then whens and the whys, and I just realized that this is the first time in 15 years that I have not been earning an income... weird), and I know it may be years before I understand it all. But I continue to pray and take each step forward, trusting God and trying to have the courage to say, "I'll do anything you ask of me, Lord."