14 years together

Oh, we had no idea the adventures to come ... 

Greg bought me a new dishwasher for our anniversary.

That statement alone sounds like we have a rather boring life. But, really, I’m craving some normal after an adventurous summer. And what screams everyday normal more than a dishwasher?

My husband’s let’s-live-in-the-country dream came true when we moved in June. And I’m loving that his dream because part of our family’s story. Since moving, we’ve been on three trips – four nights in Buffalo, three nights in St. Louis, and now we are in the midst of a week with my family at Hilton Head.

Our summer has been full of packing and unpacking, getting settled enough before the next adventure, while tending to our everyday responsibilities. And our summer pretty much epitomizes our marriage.

It’s been 14 years since we said “I do” and then started sweating as soon as we walked outside. (August, people.) It’s been 14 years since we started journeying through the everyday moments between big adventures ... together.

We’ve fought and negotiated. We’ve learned to communicate better and have a rhythm that works for us. Like so many other parts of life, the best comes on the heels of the hard. I’ve liked {our} marriage more and more the longer we’ve been together.

We repeat the same jokes and usually laugh at them. We like to adventure away from home and in our back yard. Parenting has strengthened our marriage, even in the messes and noise. And we like to be together.

This is our recipe for life: Take some adventure and then mix in some normal moments. {Tweet that.} And, you know, sometimes he even unloads the dishwasher for me.

Happy anniversary, husband. Here’s to many other adventures, but let’s have some nights at home too.
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Want to read other anniversary posts? Five years. Six years. Seven years. Nine years. Ten years. Eleven years. Twelve years. Thirteen years.
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An InLinkz Link-up

Our Father's Faithfulness {and Rachel @ 9 months}

When I looked at the calendar and saw Rachel would be 9 months on Father’s Day, I invited Greg to the blog to share about fatherhood and our youngest daughter. If you’d like a peek into his life as a dad these past nine years, feel free to watch the video I made him. I’m grateful for Greg’s word here today, and, more importantly, the way he loves and serves our family. There’s nobody else I’d want to have beside me on this adventure!

Every year when Father’s Day rolls around, I am reminded that our God is faithful. It’s a time for me to look back and reflect on His goodness and grace in my life. I am so undeserving, and yet He has blessed me with three small souls to love and lead.

In looking back, I can tell you that He uses my children to change me daily. The Holy Spirit convicts me of my own shortcomings through the questions and conversations had with my two older inquisitive children. As we live life with them, I hope that they can hear and see the reality of God’s grace through my attitudes and actions.

My own father passed away in 2010, and I can tell you that I learned how to follow God by watching him. He followed God with his whole heart and was the example for me and my brothers on how to lead our families.

Hopefully, Kristin and I have learned a few things about parenting over the first 9-plus years with Cate and then 6 ½ years with Ben. Mostly, I think we’ve learned that the children need to see Kristin and I mess up, and see what it means to ask for and receive forgiveness from each other and God.

This year, in reflecting on Father’s Day, it is amazing to think about how last April, we had no idea that Rachel was even on the horizon. We had felt the Lord calling us to adopt again back in 2012 and looked into several options, but never had the right situation.

Kristin and I were disappointed and frustrated, but eventually we just realized that we had already been amazingly blessed by the Lord to have our 2 children. And so we mostly gave up our hope of adopting a third child. Our hearts were still pulled toward adopting a third child, but we finally had the grateful perspective that we needed. We learned a bit about being content in any situation and then, when we least expected it, we got a phone call from Rachel’s birth mom.

Rachel was born last September, and she been such an amazingly sweet addition to our family. Ben and Cate were immediately taken with their new sister, and she has responded in kind. Rachel has an engaging smile that she flashes to almost everyone.

At 9 months, she now gets around by crawling and she loves to grab, touch and taste everything she comes in contact with. We are so blessed to have her with us. We probably are a lot more laid back with her than we were with Cate, but hey, now we have a 9-year-old and 6-year-old to help us with little things around the house.

And the best part is that Rachel has two older siblings to look up to and learn from. I love watching her interact with them every day. So on this Father’s Day, I am going to reflect on the goodness of our Heavenly Father and rejoice in His provision in my life. I pray you can do the same.
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Other monthly update notes from momma :: This girl is fun. She’s into everything and curious about all the details in her world. I forgot how exhausting this phase can be, but it’s fun to watch her discover. Speaking of discovering, she loves the pool. Good thing because my big kids and I prefer to spend our afternoons there. Funny thing, she still doesn’t like her baths.

She’s crawling at fast speeds, pulling up quickly and thinking about letting go, and climbing the steps. She still loves to eat whatever and whenever we are eating and is taking {very} small drinks from her sippy cups. She takes usually four 8-ounce bottles a day, although I can tell she’s cutting back. Oh and she’s wearing 12-month clothes, except pajamas, shorts and bathing suits, which she requires 18-month size, but each day I had another garment to the pile of stuff she’s outgrown. Girl is growing, obviously.

Look back on Rachel’s growth :: One month. Two months. Three months. Four months. Five months. Six months. Seven months. Eight months.

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Let's be adventurers!

For months, Greg and I knew we were going to Nashville on April 24. He bought me Rend Collective concert tickets for Christmas and I secured my mother-in-law to watch the kids. We planned to have a date day leading up to the concert.

And then Sunday morning came and we still had no idea how we were going to spend our day. I thought about how I was so glad the date was marked off on our calendars because we wouldn’t have gone otherwise. We had a busy weekend and there is a lot happening in our daily life.

But marking off the date reserved it for us.

About an hour into our trip – just as we were getting ready to eat lunch – Greg said, “This has been a good day so far.”

Y’all know we don’t get away by ourselves much when he said that after the first hour in the car. Yes, our conversations were good and we finally had a loose plan for our day. Obviously, we needed that kind of day, and it had just begun.

After lunch, we headed to Nashville’s flea market, where we shopped a little, browsed a lot, and talked about all kinds of things. I kept seeing quotes about adventure on wooden signs and pillows and wall art …

“Oh darling, let’s be adventures together.”

“I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen.” ― A.A. Milne in “Winnie the Pooh”

And here we were, two people who met in college and are now somehow in our late 30s, adventuring through the day – and life – together. I had just written in Greg’s birthday card two days earlier how I was looking forward to whatever adventures come next.

Our Rend Collective tickets got us into a pre-concert event with the band, whose members answered questions and shared some of their stories. They were funny and spoke truth my heart needed to hear – and the concert hadn’t even started.

Urban Rescue opened for Rend Collective. I especially loved its song “Wild Heart.”

“Into the great unknown

No matter where You go

We'll follow You, we'll follow You

After Your wild heart

We want to be where You are

We'll follow You, follow You …”

{Hear the whole thing here.} 

Then Rend Collective took the stage – and shot out confetti during its first song. That’s joy, y’all. And it kept coming. There were bubbles and dancing (okay, so, not really by me, at least not on the outside) and clapping and singing and praising.

Among the songs, the band members shared about how the Great Commission was given to us all – not just the outgoing people who like to speak in front of a crowd. We are all called to go and share the stories of what God has done in our lives, but we’re made for family too. The name of Rend Collective’s latest album is “As A Family We Go” – and it echoes what God is teaching me in my own life.

As a family we go to soccer practice for one kid and horse riding lessons for another.

As a family we go to church and friends’ houses.

As a family we go to the kitchen table, our new land, and to the Bible.

As a family we go to whatever else God has for us.

As we go through life together, I’m realizing I have things to learn from my kids while I’m trying to teach them. I need to be more like my boy, who embraces life and is free to run. My big girl is always observing and has more hobbies than anyone I know. My baby girl embodies joy.

During the concert, while I thought about my people, Rend Collective led worship in a way that united adventurers. And that stirred my heart to embrace what God is doing right here – in my family and through our adventures.

So, darlings, let’s be adventurers together. Who’s in? {Tweet that.}
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An InLinkz Link-up

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Surprise Snow Day! {aka Happy early Valentine's Day to me!}

I woke up, realized my son was sound asleep cuddling with me after waking up much too early, and glanced at my iPhone clock: 7:09.

“Ben, I’m going to have to take you to school because we’re going to miss the bus!” I said as I bolted out of bed.

I heard the shower running, so I opened the door and asked Greg, “Did my alarm not go off?” It was a weird question to ask because it’s set to “boing” at 6:30 a.m. each weekday. I’ve been known to forget to turn off the automatic setting when we have a planned day off from school.

Turns out, my husband, who was up with teething Rachel at 5:20 a.m., realized other area schools were cancelled and my kids’ small private school would probably cancel too. So he took my phone and silenced the alarm, just as the “Snow day!” text came in from the school principal. I guess he put the phone back beside my bed before he got in the shower.

I slept through it all.

Well, I heard Rachel at 5:20 a.m. and thought I would have to take over the early-morning feeding because Greg usually has Bible study at 6 a.m. While I slept, he cancelled that too.

Greg has known me for 18 years. We dated for 4 ½ years and have been married for 13 ½ years. (There were the times during those early years of dating that I broke up with him, generally because of my own insecurities, but we don’t need to discuss that saga right now. BUT you can read about our first meeting and our first-date day.)

He knows me.

He knows I like flowers, but I really love when he gifts me tickets to a concert so we can go together.

He knows I like to ask questions, but I really do like surprises too.

He knows I value sleep, and he definitely knows I’m not a morning person.

So, happy early Valentine’s Day – which we affectionately like to call First-Date Day – to me because I got a surprise snow day! As a momma, especially one with a newborn, this kind of surprise is rare, but I’m so grateful Greg and I are a team in this life.
_____________________ ‘Tis the season for love! But yesterday I also was reading through “Team Us” by Ashleigh Slater before I packaged it with another marriage book – “A Lifelong Love” by Gary Thomas – to mail to a newlywed friend. In the note I included, I told her marriage is hard, especially in the early years, but it gets better with time. With a baker’s dozen of years, I can say that a mean it. We’ve had hard times, and I’ve done more than my share of crying and yelling. But I’m a better person because of my marriage, and I’m grateful we’re not the same people we were when we met or when we said “I do.”

Read reviews of some of two books :: “Team Us” // “A Lifelong Love”
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Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

His View :: ESV Men's Devotional Bible

In full disclosure, sometimes buying gifts for my husband is hard. This fact frustrates me because he’s my favorite human and gift giving is my love language. (Well, one of them, you know, depending on the circumstances.) With that said, I actually already have his Christmas present for this year and I’m determined to keep it a secret.

Maybe you’re like me and have a hard time finding a gift for your man. If that’s the case, Greg is here to share his thoughts on the new "ESV Men’s Devotional Bible." AND read on because we’re giving one a way. Maybe you could gift it to that hard-to-buy-for man in your life.

(And, no, the free copy of this Bible we received from FlyBy Promotions/Propeller Consulting in exchange for this review is NOT his Christmas gift.)
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"ESV Men's Devotional Bible" offers a convenient daily devotion for men who want to have a consistent quiet time. The devotions are broken into 365 days with a short commentary on the scripture reading. I really enjoyed the insights of the various authors who contributed. The devotions are tailored to be relevant to men in our generation, and address many of the challenges which American men face. The authors provide solid insight into Biblical application on issues ranging from pornography to our identity as children of God, and practically every topic in between.

For anyone new to Bible study, there are some helpful summaries at the beginning of each book that orient the reader to the place, time and context of the Scripture. These are good reminders even for people who have read the Bible through many times, and provide firm ground for the new believer.

Normally I prefer the NIV translation, but I liked reading this ESV Bible, which will be a good resource for my own study. If you are a man who would like to read through the Bible in a year, this would be a good place to start. I am glad to have this Bible to add to my library, and look forward to reading through this Bible in the years to come.

ABOUT THE BOOK :: With 365 theologically rich and gospel-centered devotions drawn directly from the Bible, this all-new resource was created under the editorial oversight of Dr. Sam Storms with contributions from more than fifty Christian leaders. Introductions orient men to each book of the Bible, exploring its unique contribution to a man's walk with God.

Hard cover. Published by Crossway (Oct. 30, 2015). Retails for $34.99, although it’s been cheaper on Amazon.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER :: The purpose of Crossway has been, from its founding as a not-for-profit ministry in 1938, to publish gospel-centered, Bible-centered content that will honor our Savior and serve his Church. They seek to help people understand the massive implications of the gospel and the truth of God's Word, for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God.

Follow Crossway on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

GIVEAWAY :: And there's a copy for one of you! Use the Rafflecopter widget below for entries. The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents. A winner will be randomly selected on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Many thanks to Propeller Consulting/FlyBy Promotions for providing Greg with a copy of this Bible to review as well as the additional Bible for one of you! If you have won a prize from Propeller/FlyBy in the last 30 days or have won this same book from another blog, you’re not eligible to win.

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

On Saying Yes {a guest post}

I've been asking my husband to write a post about our Guatemala trip. I know, you've heard my stories and perspective, but I wanted him to share too. And then when he did, I cried and wanted to go back. We're grateful for our Guatemala experience and how it's changed our family. And I'm excited you get a chance to hear more about that from Greg. 

How many of us actually like the idea of a God who calls us to submit our whole lives to Him? Isn’t that radical? Isn’t Him asking that of us crazy?

And how many of us Christians actually submit our will to His on a daily basis? I know I haven’t, not really, at least not on a daily basis.

Yet I do see examples in the lives of my friends and family – people submitted to the Lord and daily taking up their cross and following Him. These people are ministering to those around them, meeting physical and spiritual needs, and taking Jesus’s love into this dark and dying world even when it seems crazy to do so.

Last fall, I clearly felt the call of the Holy Spirit to look into this Guatemala mission trip with Bethel Ministries. I couldn’t escape the thought that God was calling us to this experience at this time. And despite so many failures in the past to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, this time I said yes.

As Christians, we follow a God who loves to shake things up and turn our world upside down. He called Gideon while he was threshing wheat in hiding, He called Moses while shepherding in Midian, and He called Elisha while plowing in the field.

If you are serving a God who never humbles you, never disrupts your world, and never calls you to do things outside your comfort zone, you are probably serving your idea of God, not the Lord of the universe. When He calls you, don’t expect Him to ask for anything less than your whole heart.

The cool thing about how He works is He doesn’t ask us to use our willpower to change our hearts or give us a long list of things to do in order to get an “A” at being a Christian. He simply asks us to be obedient and submit to Him when He calls. He asks us to say yes when our selfish flesh would say no. And as we submit one choice at a time, He then changes our heart and transforms our mind, spirit and attitude. He is the one doing the work, all we have to do is say yes. {Tweet that.}

The powerful thing about what the Lord did through our team in Guatemala is that He took us and transformed us for His purposes that week. For the nine adults and four children who answered the call, we left our normal selfish selves in the USA and became a unified team with one purpose of serving the Guatemalan families we met.

So as our team got together to go to Guatemala, you may have looked at us from the outside and said that we looked like a bunch of imperfect people, not really suited to do real ministry. And you’d be right. But the truth is He had a specific plan for us to meet with families and children in Guatemala and bring glory to His name. The families we met with didn’t ask us about what sins we were struggling with or how many times we had let God down. They simply saw the love of God in the food that we brought, the wheelchairs we distributed, and the houses that we built.

And through that, God changed not only the families we served in Guatemala, but He changed us. My daughter, Cate, experienced poverty on a level that she had never seen before. Yet she also experienced the joy of the Lord in a new way, as she played with and smiled with those children who trusted God despite their circumstances.

She experienced what it was like to say yes to God, and the radical, crazy, amazing love of Jesus became a little more real to her that week. The day before we came home, she talked with Kristin and I about baptism and what that meant. We prayed with her and sensed that she felt God was calling her to submit to Him and that she wanted to say yes. I had the privilege of baptizing her at our home church with our family and friends a few weeks later. She felt the call of God, and said yes. And I am so thankful that she did.

Our trip to Guatemala reminded me in a new and fresh way that Jesus is the only source of contentment and joy. No matter what our circumstances, we can take joy in knowing Him, and remembering that this life is fleeting and eternity awaits. Nothing else matters when we are confronted by His relentless grace. {Tweet that.} I am so looking forward to what He has planned next.
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Read my other Guatemala-related posts here :: 

Mission to Guatemala

God said GO

Building a foundation & threading love

God makes us new

What, why, how?

What I learned in Guatemala 

With Faith Like a Child
Eyes on Guatemala

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An InLinkz Link-up

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Team Taylor welcomes Rachel!

My husband and I were wearing matching Team Taylor T-shirts the day our daughter was born. And we didn’t even plan it.

Well, we planned to wear the Team Taylor shirts because we were going to be part of some Hazel Day festivities and they advertise Greg’s business. Our kids were even wearing theirs too. The shirts were actually left over from a 5K race Greg’s law practice helped sponsor a couple years ago.

And, yes, clearly I feel the need to continue to explain why we were matching when Rachel Elizabeth was born on Sept. 19. I explained to people at the hospital. And then I explained on social media.

At first I thought it was a dorky coincidence. But then I saw the beauty in the detail.

Team Taylor. 

We’re so grateful our family grew by one this past weekend. The actual adoption proceedings are underway, but our girl is in our house and already dearly loved.

After having an ultrasound and being monitored for a while Friday afternoon, birth mom Stacy and the doctor made a plan for her to be induced early Wednesday morning. Although she had been sick that morning with a stomach bug, Stacy was disappointed she was sent home Friday after talk of a possible induction because she was ready.

Apparently Rachel was ready too.

Stacy called me Saturday morning at 7:59 a.m. to tell me she was having regular contractions and needed to go to the hospital. Greg and I – along with Cate and Ben – had just pulled into his office driveway in Hazel, a little town just south of Murray. Our family – along with many other Taylors were going to be the grand marshals in the parade – and then we were going to host an activity at his new office.

Turns out, that’s what the other Taylors did.

We hung out at the hospital in matching shirts and greeted our daughter just after she was born at 1:09 p.m. She was 7 pounds 3 ounces and 19 inches.

This adoption is open like our other two, but each experience has been different. We’ve brought home three babies as newborn – two from our local hospital. But each time God shows me something new as he orchestrates these unique bonds between our family, our children, and their birth moms.

I’m going to share more about that, but I’m going to have to spread out these stories or you’re going to be here all day reading!

I stayed at the hospital Saturday night with Rachel and then she was discharged at 25 hours old. Although the kids had met her at the hospital, coming home and having my family of five under the same roof was exactly where I wanted to be – dorky matching shirts included.
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Just last week, I wrote about how Team Taylor isn't going to win any tennis titles. But, hey, we have matching shirts!

If you're new here, I change the birth moms' names when I share stories because some details are meant to be private. 

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Dear Murray State freshmen

Dear Murray State freshmen –

I realize some of you grew up here. But I know many of you didn’t. So, welcome to Murray, Kentucky.

Throughout the years, this town has earned recognition as being a top retirement destination, a great place for kids, and one of the friendliest U.S. cities. Regardless, this town is different when the college students are here. The traffic is thicker, the restaurants have longer waits, and the stores are more crowded, but there also is a proud blue and gold spirit that runs deeply.

I came to Murray State 18 years ago. I say that and still wonder how half of my life – literally, another 18 years! – has been lived since I walked into my Clark College dorm room that I shared with a high school friend. Of course, that Clark College has been demolished. A newer one – which at this point is nearly a decade old – is down the street and another new dorm is planned for the vacant ground I once called home.

At that time, Murray seemed so very far from my Oldham County home. Four hours that separated my old life from my new life was exciting and terrifying. Now, the Louisville area is a weekend destination.

I lived in the dorms for four years – and loved it. I walked to classes, many of which were in Wilson Hall. Some of those days seem like yesterday, but, y’all so much has happened since. In recent days, as I’ve seen trucks loaded with your belongings turn toward campus, I’ve been reminiscing.

I came into college with a plan: Earn a print journalism degree and write for a big-city newspaper. I saw myself living in Louisville or maybe another Midwestern city. What I didn’t factor into the equation was falling in love – with my college boyfriend who is now my husband or more deeply with God.

I earned that degree, but, really, otherwise, my life looks nothing like I planned. I did move to Louisville for a year, and then to Lexington for a year after Greg and I married. But then we came back here a dozen year ago.

And you know what? I wouldn’t change my small-town life with my entrepreneur husband. I tell our family’s adoption story over and over because my kids – who they are and how God made us a family – is full of faith and surprise. In so many ways, I’m more adventurous now than I ever was on Murray State’s campus.

What I would change goes back to those college years. I would have slowed down and taken more pictures.

(I know, that’s easier now. I had a cell phone I only used to call my mom because the Louisville-based number made it cheaper than long distance on the landline. Yes, the landline. Come on, this was 1997, the same year I got my first email address, which I checked once a day from a computer lab on campus. And speaking of pictures, please notice I’m holding a Kodak disposable camera on my graduation day. That’s May 2001, y’all.)

I wish I could tell my 18-year-old self to relax and notice God more. I would have stressed less and realized education is important but so little of it actually comes from the classroom. Listen to and learn from those around you. Hold tightly to your people, but hold loosely to most everything else. Yes, work toward your degree. Make plans, but remember that God may have an even better life awaiting you.

Yes, these may be some of the best years of your life, but, honestly, it gets even better.

Love,
A 2001 Murray State grad who never thought she’d call this town home but does so happily
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I'm linking this post with the Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood Gathering. 

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Three Word Wednesday :: Our Salvation Comes

Cate was baptized this past Sunday – about three weeks after she decided to on the shores of a foreign country to follow Jesus with this gesture. Greg had the honor of baptizing her in front of our best friends and some family members in our church, where Cate has heard so much about this God we prayed for her to believe in.

We celebrated afterward by singing “Days of Elijah,” a praise song she chose. Honestly, I thought it was unusual song to celebrate a baptism, but as we were singing it, I realized it was perfect:

“Out of Zion’s hills salvation comes ... There's no God like Jehovah.”

We came back to our house and shared a taco lunch with the people closest to us. They’re the ones who do life with us on a nearly daily basis. They’re the ones who have helped us teach our kids about Jesus.

Many times, people can pinpoint the moment they decided to follow Jesus and recall where they were when they decided to get baptized. But, really, salvation comes as a process.

I think about my own story. Like any high schooler, I was searching for identity and trying to make sense of life. The questions abounded, leading the conversations with friends. Then God led me to Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

It was not long afterward, when I was away from my friends and family at a Chrysalis weekend that I took that first step toward really following Jesus. That was more than 19 years ago. First steps are important. But the ones that follow become our stories. {Tweet that.}

Likewise, God had been working on Cate’s heart long before we got to Guatemala, but it was there God wove together all he had been doing and made her need for Jesus clear. Her decision to be baptized was the perfect ending to our mission trip. Her actual baptism was a moment that will be etched in her story forever. But all of that was just the beginning to what else God has for her.
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An InLinkz Link-up

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

13 Songs for 13 Years

Like a baker’s dozen, Greg and I have been married 13 years. Something about THIRTEEN seems big and monumental. Of course, we’re the same couple that went on a big anniversary trip to Mexico for our 11th anniversary. Apparently we don’t mark milestones like everyone else.

But we’re in this life – the ordinary moments and the milestones – together.

And that’s what matters.

Marriage was hard in the beginning. I brought so much emotional baggage. I was naïve and controlling – except I couldn’t control Greg or our relationship, even though I tried. I resisted change and dug in my heels. I blamed him for things – so many things – that weren’t his fault. I fought internally with trying to forgive people and let go of things that happened long before I became Mrs. Taylor yet continued to seep into my marriage.

And then we tried to conceive a baby and couldn’t – and not because we didn’t try. In trying, my emotions splattered all over the place. Our marriage was tense again.

But then we let go of trying. In that moment, the peace that passes our understanding came. We ended up holding our daughter less than nine months later, thanks to adoption. And we ended up adopting again 30 months later. Now we’re in the midst of another adoption process.

Our family has grown in ways only God could orchestrate. And in that journey, my faith grew and my marriage found itself settling on a firmer foundation than before. I knew Jesus when I said “I do” on Aug. 3, 2002, but I still hadn’t let the savior of the world into some of the deepest places in my soul.

My faith is a work in progress, but God promises to finish this thing he’s started in me. Really, I feel the same about my marriage. What began as two stubborn, first-born people trying to merge their lives has become a testimony of the God who unifies.

Greg and I like adventures together – and I like to be in charge of the radio and playlists as we go. We laugh often and fight less these days. We’ve bungy jumped while tethered together. We’ve sat together in roller coasters, airplanes, minivans, and an Amtrak car. We’ve traveled around the country and even across the ocean. We’ve seen the blue seas and ancient ruins in Greece, experienced New Zealand, and served together in Guatemala. We have plans and dreams and plenty of inside jokes.

This is our life – the one that looks nothing like I expected but has surprised me in the best ways. That’s adventure for you. And marriage is certainly an adventure. I’m grateful for where we are, how we got here, and where we’re going – together.
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To celebrate, here are 13 songs that take me back through our years together.

1. "The Sign" by Ace of Base :: This one is all Greg. Perhaps one of the most surprising things I learned about him early on was his love of this song.

2. "Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden :: "When you feel all alone and the world has turned its back on you, give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart. Let me be the one you call. If you jump I'll break your fall, lift you up and fly away with you into the night. If you need to fall apart, I can mend a broken heart. If you need to crash then crash and burn, you're not alone."

3. "A Page is Turned" by Bebo Norman :: Our friends played this song in our wedding. I still love it. "Where the God of second chance will pick them up and he'll let them dance through a world that is not kind. And all this time, they're sharing with the one that holds them up when they come undone, beneath the storm, beneath the sun. And once again, here you stand.”

4. "When You Say Nothing At All" by Alison Krauss :: We danced to this at our wedding. And I use the word “dance” lightly. I don’t really do much of that. Okay, none at all, really.

5. "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson :: This was in our road trip playlist for a while because Greg really likes it. Okay, so I do too. But it’s funnier he does.

6. "I Don't Wanna Wait" by Paula Cole :: Um, "Dawson’s Creek." Enough said. Oh, and for the record, I liked that Joey chose Pacey but Greg is still wishing she ended up with Dawson.

7. "Dancing in the Minefields" by Andrew Peterson :: “We went dancing in the minefields. We went sailing in the storm. And it was harder than we dreamed, but I believe that's what the promise is for. ‘I do’ are the two most famous last words. The beginning of the end. But to lose your life for another I've heard is a good place to begin. 'Cause the only way to find your life is to lay your own life down. And I believe it's an easy price for the life that we have found.”

8. "Some Nights" by Fun. :: This song reminds us of the Cardinals winning the World Series in 2011. Watching sports is certainly something we like to do together.

9. "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland :: Greg doesn’t like when white women rap. Again, this is straight from the road trip playlist at some point.

10. "Multiplied" by NEEDTOBREATHE :: I liked NEEDTOBREATHE for a year before Greg decided to jump on board. But then we went to a concert together in Nashville in September 2014 and it was amazing. We particularly loved this song, although I could have picked from several. And then NEEDTOBREATHE released a new album THAT WAS A RECORDING OF THE CONCERT. Such a sweet gift to us. Then we saw the band again this summer in St. Louis.

11. "Sometimes By Step" by Rich Mullins :: This was the theme song of the weekend in 1996 when I accepted Christ in my life. And now Greg sometimes sings it to our kids at bedtime. Sweet memories.

12. "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly Parton :: Greg’s dad passed away unexpectedly in April 2010 and this was on the songs at his funeral. That season was hard in many ways, but grieving also taught me about community. So many people came alongside us.

13. "Only Hope I've Got" by Ellie Holcomb :: Again, like with NEEDTOBREATHE, Greg became a fan well after I told him he’d like her. “I don’t want to tell some arrogant story or let myself believe I'm you. I don't want to be a thief who's stealing Your glory. Will You help remind me of what is true? The only hope I've got, it's You …”

You can listen to the playlist on Spotify ...


Do you mark your life with songs? I'd love to hear about some meaningful ones.
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Want to read other anniversary posts? Five years. Six years. Seven years. Nine years. Ten years. Eleven years. Twelve years.

I'm linking up at the weekly Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood Gathering. 

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

What I Learned in Guatemala

“O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past — stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.”

{Psalm 78:1-4 NLT}

I answered some questions last week about our mission trip to Guatemala. After I had that post drafted, my friend Kayse messaged me. Among the catch up was this: “I’d love to hear more about Guatemala! What did you learn?” Well, now that’s a question!

The whole trip was a step out of my comfort zone. With travel and logistics, I ended up being away from Ben for nine days – the longest I’d ever been away from either of the kids. I spent the week in a country whose language I didn’t speak. So, of course, I learned some things. I saw new things and experienced moments unique to that time and place.

But one thing that surprised me and taught me was the way our team served each other.

There were 13 of us from five different churches Murray area and four others who live there and work for Bethel Ministries International. Very few of us had relationships before preparing for this trip. Sure, our local group had meetings since January, when we all committed to go. And we did some fundraisers together.

But seeing God work within our group – in our conversations, prayers, laughter and service – was something I want to hold onto. Before Guatemala, God had been showing me how relationships come – and sometimes go, unfortunately – with seasons. My natural instinct is to huddle all my people together – around the table or in my Facebook newsfeed – and never let go.

Serving together for a week will build connections – and those connections won’t look like other friendships. {Tweet that.} While building houses, we had conversations that mattered about our lives back home. We talked about what God’s doing in our jobs and with our families. We trusted each other with pieces of our stories.

One of my favorite moments from the week came in the hotel parking lot. The whole team had just gotten back from eating together when one of the guys shared with Greg and me about a hard conversation he and his fiancée were having across the miles that separated them. They’re farther apart than Greg and I ever were, but we remember how hard distance can be on a relationship. We shared some things from our own 17 years of knowing each other. Like a dose of reality mixed with hope, we told him how building a relationship that lasts is hard work but how it’s worth it. And then Greg got a chance to pray with him.

Those are the moments that bond people and build a foundation for what God wants to do.

I had other encouraging conversations throughout the week. I shared about our current adoption plan and pieces of my faith testimony. I heard about other people’s dreams of new jobs, ministry opportunities, and schooling decisions. {Read more about how we spent the week in Guatemala.}

One night when we were reflecting on our day, one of the guys said, “We were listening to all these worship songs that make you want to do something. And here we are doing something.” It’s true – together we worked and worshipped. God was there and he moved throughout the week with us. And I believe he’s going to do more because of that week together in Guatemala.

I was reminded how service can happen wherever you are. {Tweet that.}

Sure, it's easy to serve in Guatemala, where the needs are so obvious. People don't have enough food and clothing. One family we had met had never heard about Jesus. Another family had but gave their lives to Christ for the first time.

But needs still exist wherever we are – in a hotel parking lot with a new friend, while we’re sharing a meal with friends we’ve known for years, when I pick up our daughter’s birth mom for a prenatal doctor’s appointment, when we work in our ordinary lives, and down the street from our home that lacks for nothing. God wants to use us – and our stories – to meet those needs. 

I don’t want to unsee what God showed me in Guatemala so I can be sure to see what he has for me here.
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In other another moment in Guatemala earlier this month, I also learned Cate wants to be baptized. This was such a sweet surprise to end our week in Guatemala. And it’s happening SUNDAY! {Obviously, there will be more to come on that!}
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I'm linking up with Emily Freeman for my favorite monthly recaps. Read other Things I Learned posts :: {From 2013} June. July. August. September. October. November. {From 2014} January. February. March. April. May. June. July. August. September. October. November. December. {From 2015} January. February. March. April. May. June.

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

God said GO {on going to Guatemala for the week}

It’s Independence Day weekend … and in the morning we’re leaving our comfortable surroundings for a week-long mission trip in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. This time, “we” means Greg, Cate and me. Ben is splitting his week between two grandmas.

Honestly, not traveling as a family of four was my biggest hesitation in committing to this trip in January. But I kept hearing God say, “Go.”

So that’s what we’re doing. When we step out in faith, we don’t always see the whole picture. Five months ago, I wasn’t sure why God was telling us to go now. But then in his goodness, I got to see a glimpse of the master plan. We’re preparing to bring a baby home this fall. I won’t be available to go to Guatemala for the next several years.

God knew this.

I know there could be a thousand other reasons we’re supposed to go now. We may even get to see some of those reasons this week. Or we may have to wait. Regardless, we believe God has called us to do this.

I’m most looking forward to experiencing this mission trip with my husband and my 8-year-old daughter. None of us have done anything like this before, so to do it together is especially exciting. I’m eager to see Cate interact with the other kids in our group and the ones who call Guatemala home.

We’re taking 50-pound suitcases packed with clothes, school supplies, soccer balls, and toiletries to donate. We’re carrying-on our own stuff in smaller suitcases and filling our backpacks with things we think we’ll need throughout the week. But no expectations are packed.

I don’t know what to expect, but I want to be open to whatever and whoever God has for us there.

In recent months, I’ve emailed with Katie, who works for Compassion International as a donor relations manager. This trip to Guatemala isn’t a Compassion trip, which is a thing. Katie and I initially connected in December when Greg and I made a donation and she called to thank me. I emailed her again a few months ago when I was trying to make meeting our Compassion-sponsored girl Roselyn, who lives in Guatemala, happen while we’re there. Sadly, that wouldn’t work out with our mission trip schedule and Compassion’s travel guidelines.

But Katie has been praying for my family as we prepare to go to a country she loves. And she emailed earlier this week to check in. The encouragement and sincerity in her words was so good for me. To know someone I’ve never met in person has invested themselves in our trip has reminded me how God’s Kingdom works.

And then she said this:

“When we are able to approach life and the opportunities the Lord gives us with open hands rather than tight-fisted, he fills those anxious places with so much joy and peace in His presence. It is certainly not an accident that you all will be on this trip, and I know He will work in and through you.”

Y’all, that is my prayer and hope. If you think about us this week, please join us in prayers for our family, for Ben and his time with grandmas, for the people we’ll meet and serve, for the missionaries who live there full time and have given their lives to this, and for traveling mercies.

People have asked what we’ll be doing. We’re going to build three houses, distribute clothes and food, and help with the ministry’s wheelchair distribution program. If you want to join us in specific prayers, below is information about the families for whom we’ll build houses.

I’m looking forward to bringing home stories to share with you. Thanks for being on this journey with us.
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Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Seven Things About This Season Called Summer

God’s been teaching me about seasons. I’ve been thinking about the natural ones, the ones associated with weather, and I’m learning to embrace them all. Summer’s still my favorite. But without winter, I may not love summer as much. I also love the anticipation of the new season coming – admitting that is coming along way from avoiding change like I’ve been known to do.

And there are life’s seasons – the ones when the kids grow up before my eyes, the ones with friends, the ones in marriage, the ones with my hobbies and dreams, the ones for which we prepare, and the ones that surprise us.

I wanted to document a little bit about this season in our lives – the one happening as we settle into summer and the one that involves having an 8-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy.

1. This is my ninth summer as a mom – and the first one during which nobody naps and nobody needs a Puddle Jumper at the pool. I’m still getting used to both.

2. This is my sixth summer with two kids. For the first time, they’re on completely different schedules. Ben still goes to bed in the 7 o’clock hour most nights and is up around 6 a.m. (And, yes, even if he stays up later, he’s still usually up at 6 a.m. I don’t understand.) Meanwhile, Cate has been staying up later and sleeping later – like 10 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.

3. My kids aren’t doing all the fun and good camps offered around here – Robotics Camp, Basketball Camp, Young Authors Camp. It started out as a scheduling thing, and then our schedule changed. But I was still glad we weren’t committed to much like that. Cate is taking horse riding lessons – like one every three weeks – and will go to a two-night, three-day church camp later this month.

4. We haven’t gone yet, but I know our upcoming mission trip to Guatemala will mark this summer. I don’t know what God is going to do there, but I know I will want to remember it.

5. We have much going on in our personal lives. I’m building a relationship with our baby’s birth mom. We closed (yesterday!) on a new-to-use lake house. Kentucky Lake quiets my soul and we love spending time there with our friends. Greg’s been busy at work, which has been a blessing for our family but also kept his calendar filled.

6. I’ve shared our adoption story and that part of my faith journey with two groups already this month. Neither speaking opportunity looked like I expected, but I know God showed up at both the women’s conference and the Methodist women’s group. (Some of those sweet ladies even gifted me my first-ever money as a speaker.)

7. The pool is our happy place. My kids are like fish. I like seeing them play games with each other, make new friends, connect with friends we may not see other places, embrace adventure, and not ask to watch or play any kind of screen – all of which happens at the pool.

I may say I’m taking them to the pool, but it’s for me too. I grew up swimming nearly every summer day as a kid and was a lifeguard the summer I was 16. I like talking with my friends, reading fiction books, and getting in the water with my kids – all of which happens around the pool too.

What’s your season of summer look like?
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Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

I wanted to marry a mechanic

Long ago, I wanted to marry a guy who could change my vehicle’s oil in the driveway and deal with car problems. This was when I drove a 1987 Ford Mustang that overheated more than once. It’s when I wanted someone else to keep up with when the oil needed to be changed and tires rotated.

Really, it’s just such a weak area of mine that I wanted someone to come alongside me.

Turns out, my husband of 12 years doesn’t know much about vehicles either. I sold the Mustang when I was still in college, but brought the subsequent 1996 Geo Prism into our marriage. I loved that little car, but years later replaced it with a Oldsmobile Alero from a more recent decade. I’ve loved minivans ever since.

The auto problems haven’t stopped, but, really, do they ever? Yet I married into a family that is willing to help. I’ve managed to get the oil changed at the proper time and usually tend to other maintenance issues as required. I have multiple in-laws who are car dealers and have service departments readily available. I’ve borrowed vehicles to drive when I needed to and bought more than one minivan from people who share my last name.

And guess what? My husband has come alongside me in so many things that actually matter. Many of those things don’t have anything to do with transportation or vehicle maintenance, although I do assume he’ll drive every time we get in the minivan together.

He’s given me so much grace as I’ve spent years working through perfectionism that was so tied up in my childhood. He’s loved me when I’ve been hard to love. He’s supported my dreams and let me in his. He’s shown me what healthy, Biblical leadership looks like in a home as we raise our two kids together and manage to take some risks along the way.

In more than a dozen years or marriage, he’s shown up alongside me again and again.

Good thing I let go of wanting to marry a mechanic. Turns out vehicle issues weren’t my only weaknesses that have been made stronger with companionship.
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Tell me about your first car and what trait was/is at the top of your list. Share in the comments below or join the discussion on Facebook. 

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Joy to the World (Vol. 3)

Happy weekend, friends!

Today I've officially known Greg half of my life. We met 17 years ago through a mutual acquaintance and then went on a date the next week, on Valentine's Day. Ah, how romantic! I suppose, but, really it was about logistics of going on a date the next Saturday. It was my freshman year of college people, I wasn't looking for marriage. My how time flies ... and most of it's been fun! 

Life with Greg also been a bunch of real life that looks nothing like I expected. I mean that in a nice way. Really, that's the theme of my life ... 

We had a little blimp in our normal routine this weekend when both kids came home from school at lunchtime Wednesday with fevers. Cate also complained of her throat and stomach hurting, so I ended up taking them to the pediatricians' office to get swabbed for strep. Positive!

This was Ben's fifth strep diagnosis since late April 2014 and third since Christmas. It's Cate's second time in less than a month. Talking about health and medicine always prompts a good Facebook thread ... 

But they're better now. Hopefully for good. Or at least the rest of this winter.

Meanwhile, I've been posting things I'm loving over at Instagram, so I'd love to have you connect with me there. Here are some snapshots of #choosingJOY the past couple of weeks ::

1. "Experiencing Joy" by Jeannie Cunnion :: Joy seems to be a theme on the internet right now. At first I thought, well, isn't my focus this year cliche? And then I realized it just means there are that many more resources out there. Like this article.

"What produces JOY is first remembering the good news of God’s grace and then letting it flow through us to one another." {Jeannie Cunnion}

2. Extra! Extra! board game :: Even though I haven't played this game yet, it's making my list. Here's the back story: Greg and I have played Settlers of Catan regularly with our best friends since February 2007. In May 2007, we started an perpetual scoreboard that we still tally wins. We sit in the same order around the table.

I haven't been wanting a new game. I'm still happily addicted to Settlers of Catan, but then I read about this one. By the makers of Settlers! Before I was a mom, I was a reporter. So, yeah, this game seems perfect for me.

3. Road trips with friends that involve stops at good restaurants and our favorite college basketball team :: This has happened once with our friends the Gachokas. And it's happening again today and next Saturday. I love basketball season. And my friends.

4. Sharing my story at other websites :: Yesterday I has posts at both places I regularly contribute – God-sized Dreams website and Circles of Faith. The GSD post is about marriage and how I've known Greg half my life {officially, today is 17 years!} and at COF I'm sharing another excerpt from my book that talks about how God hears the desires of our heart. I'd love for you to join me at both places.

5. Reading a new cookbook like a novel :: I've been lacking meal planning inspiration. So I resubscribed to eMeals and ordered a new cookbook, recommended by my friend Kayse Pratt. I spent an hour Thursday reading "Dashing Dish" by Katie Farrell.

6. From my #choosingJOY list on my iPhone :: 63. Walking in the morning. 64. My time with Ben during the day and him saying, "We have a busy day, you and me." ... 67. LeeAnn Willet bringing me JOY stickers at a Racers game. 68. A meal with so few carbs {tilapia, green beans, salad, blackberries} I barely have to take insulin.

How have you been #choosingJOY lately? {Tweet that.}
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Read other JOY-related posts and Joy to the World (Vol. 1) and (Vol. 2).

Want more stories? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

On dreaming together

He asked me out for ice cream when I was 18, still a college freshman trying to find my footing in an independent life I was trying so hard to embrace. I soon realized I didn’t love ice cream like he did, but he could calm my perfectionist-driven heart.

That was 17 years ago this month. The boy who asked me out for ice cream became my boyfriend for most of my college years, took the brunt of my emotional growing pains, proposed marriage four years later, and has been my husband for more than a dozen years.

Greg has known me for half my life now. And when I say “know me,” he really does.
Marriage was really hard at the beginning. I don’t want to say it’s gotten easier – but God has changed us. We’re more in sync.

After all these years, we can dream together.

His dreams used to scare me because they were so unfamiliar to me. His entrepreneur spirit made me nervous. He’d suggest something that was different than what I had concocted in my head, so I’d reject his ways because mine seemed better. I wanted him to read my mind and was disappointed when he didn’t.

But God has shown me over and over how Greg has our family’s best interest in mind – even when he’s dreaming big. Maybe especially when he’s dreaming big.

{Join me at God-sized Dreams today for the rest of the story ... }
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Want more stories? Read about how Greg and I met each other. And then our first date. 

"Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

{Review & Giveaway} Team Us

It’s the month of love. Yes, according to Hallmark. But it’s true in my own story too.

Greg and I met on Feb. 7, 1998 and then went on our first date a week later. Do the math. Our first date was on Valentine’s Day. Ah, how romantic. Well, yeah, it was logistically what worked out when we met one Saturday through a mutual acquaintance and then made plans for a date the following Saturday after Greg called mid-week.

Y’all that’s 17 years ago. That’s half my life.

We really had no idea what we were doing then. Thankfully, now, we’ve settled into each other, come to understand love languages, survived some hard seasons, and become better equipped to deal with life together.

GO, TEAM TAYLOR!

It’s true that sometimes we – all four of us – put our hands in the middle of a pretend team huddle and then raise them up while saying, “Team Taylor!” We’re sports fans, so this somehow makes sense to us. After knowing (and mostly dating) Greg for the past 17 years, being married to him for more than a dozen years, and now spending the past 7 ½ years parenting our two kids together, we get each other, still like each other, and truly do life together.

It’s taken many conversations, tears, fights, road trips, hard decisions, game nights, and laughs to get us here. But there’s nobody else I’d rather be here with.

That’s the sentiment Ashleigh Slater expresses in “Team Us: Marriage Together.” She tells her story and encourages other married couples to do life together as if we were gathered around a table together. She’s real and honest – and funny.

The last three of the 10 chapters – “The Parent Trap,” “The Friendship Inventory,” and “Finishing Well” – were my favorites. I could relate to them. As she talked about her husband’s tendencies and how here natural response is different than hers reminded me of Greg and me. I was reminded how relying on a team approach brings grace and peace, diffusing selfishness and frustration.

I appreciated her pop culture references, found myself nodding in agreement, and was encouraged to keep doing what we’re doing here at Team Taylor. I also liked the “Ted Says” tidbits throughout, offering perspective from her husband. And I thanked God for the past 17 years – the good days and the hard days, the seasons I understood and the times that couldn’t pass quick enough, and certainly all the ways he’s changed us as individuals and as teammates.

“We want to finish well too. Someday we want our kids and grandkids to look back and remember how we honored those sacred words ‘I do’ and ‘I promise’ and ‘I will’ that we vowed before friends, family, and, most importantly, God. We want our story to point others to Christ’s dramatic story of steadfast commitment to us.”

{Ashleigh Slater in “Team Us”}

Greg and I want that too. We haven’t arrived, but we are in this adventure together. We want our imperfections to spur us onto God, who can unify even the most stubborn hearts.

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ABOUT THE BOOK :: “Team Us: Marriage Together” offers couples practical ways to cultivate and strengthen unity in their marriages. Author Ashleigh Slater shares from her own marriage as she presents couples with realistic ideas on how to foster cooperation, deepen commitment, and exercise grace on a daily basis. 176 pages. Paperback. Official website. Buy at Amazon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :: Ashleigh Slater is wife to Ted and mom to four girls. She’s a regular contributor for several popular websites and blogs and has had articles published in magazines including Focus on the Family’s “Thriving Family.” Learn more at her website or follow her on Twitter.

GIVEAWAY :: And there’s a copy for one you! Use the Rafflecopter below for multiple ways to enter to win. If you’re married, I’d love to hear about how you’ve gone from an individual outlook on life to a team approach. If you’re not married, share something you’ve witnessed in another marriage. A winner will be selected randomly on Monday, Feb. 9.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Many thanks to FlyBy Promotions/Propeller Consulting LLC for providing me a copy of "Team Us" as well as one to whomever wins this giveaway. I received the book in exchange for this review. My opinions are my own. If you've won this prize on another blog you're not eligible to win again. This post also contains an Amazon affiliate link. 

I'm also linking up with Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood's Gathering and Anne Dahlhauser's Front Porch Conversations. 

Want more stories? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."