It's A Lifestyle

3 hours ago
7 min read

Life lately has been so full, in a good way! Yes, I have three kids. Yes, I’m tired. Yes, it’s a little chaotic sometimes. Yes, my husband works two jobs. Yes, we are still figuring out how to plant, run, and grow a church. Yes, there are lots of hard times. But more importantly, yes, God is still good.

I don’t usually pick a word for the year as some people do. But the word that was on my heart a lot as we rang in 2026 was “Intentional.” I wanted to be more intentional about encouraging my husband, about being present for my kids and intentional about raising them to love Jesus. I also wanted to be intentional about new and old relationships and having an intentional prayer life.

Well it is now mid-February and that word is not the word of the year anymore! Hence why I don’t pick a word each year.

Nick and I have recently been chatting a lot about the mundane things of life. It feels like life is going faster and faster with every day that goes by. We are in the toddlerhood trenches. And every week (pssshhh more like every night) we feel like we survived or made it. Only to realize a new day is coming tomorrow and then Monday comes again and we have to do it all over, week after week.

As a mom, sometimes it is difficult to find joy with doing the same thing each day. Personally, I’m pretty good at staying busy and scheduled each week for this reason, but sometimes it still hits me. I have to cook dinner again, laundry keeps piling up, the bathroom needs to be wiped down again, and I swear, the moment I clean some toys up, the kids have dumped out three new boxes. (And then there is also church website or social media updates, let alone writing a new blog post. - not mundane..but extra things on my list).

I know many people feel this way, whether they are working or not working, have kids or don’t have kids. Life keeps going. But then I realized. That’s just it. This. Is. Life. It keeps going, so what are we waiting for? What are we striving for? Life is too short to spend it complaining or waiting for the next chapter. We need to live. But not just live, let go. Live a life full of surrender.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 12:1

We are called, as Christians, to surrender our life over to Christ, allowing Him to be Lord of our life. That means: surrender our wills, our desires, our purposes, and be sold out to His will, His desires, and His purposes. It means picking up our cross daily and dying to ourselves again and again (and a few more agains if you’re a mama) to love and serve others.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25

There have been many moments where I have surrendered a specific situation to the Lord. But I’m realizing lately that I don’t know if I have ever fully lived a surrendered lifestyle. Do I really surrender to what the Bible says? Submitting and respecting my husband? Giving up any desires I may have of relaxing and dedicating most of my time and energy to raising my children. Accepting the role God has called me to at our church. In my main three areas of life God is calling me to holiness through a fully surrendered life.

I remember my mom sharing a story with me about a time God transformed her heart and mind in regards to her children. Teaching her to surrender to motherhood. Her purpose in sharing this with me was to encourage me to also surrender to motherhood. And every time she shared this with me I felt like a teenager again, rolling my eyes internally and thinking to myself, what does that even mean? I am surrendered to being a mom. I mean, I'm doing it, doesn’t that count?! And then I had my third child. And that was the beginning of it all starting to make sense.

I am pretty type A and enjoy being in control, having a schedule, a clean house, obedient children, and, you know, the normal stuff. And basically the opposite of living life with my hands wide open allowing the providence of God to run it. Baby 3 has slowed me down in a good way. I see firsthand how fleeting time is so I prayed a lot before having Riah that I would soak up the baby phase. The Lord answered that prayer and I truly did enjoy the newborn phase this time around. What I didn’t realize was that I needed a heart change in regards to my other children. While nursing I was able to soak up the sweet precious voices of my older two, got to watch them grow into older siblings, and learn to be more independent and work together.

When Riah turned three months things became a little more challenging. She had an opinion of her own, started the usual sleep regression developments, and the older ones went through their normal developments of pushing boundaries and testing mama. My day to day became busier and I was no longer able to manage all the things in my daily life. Nick comes home from work and I feel like I got nothing done but the bare minimum. I was hopeful that I would get to my list tomorrow…but then again I didn’t and another day kept coming.

I have learned to let go and be more flexible. That there are seasons of life where things aren’t always as put together and to trust the Lord with the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4) It is super difficult but I know if I can constantly reshape my mindset and set my mind on what the Lord has for me each day then life will be good!

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33

I think in a lot of ways surrender and trust go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. As the Lord brought to mind this new form of daily surrender and soaking up the blessings and growing in the trials I started to ponder this past year. And that’s when I realized God has been calling me to trust Him all year! He has given me SO many different ways that I can live a surrendered lifestyle. There have been different challenges that I have been faced with in this church planting process. Trials and temptations where I need to truly humble myself, swallow my pride, shut my mouth, trust others, pick up my cross, and die to myself again and again and again. He has used Riah, who really is a good, easy baby, to shape me and cause me to let go of all things that I wanted control over. He has taught me through different personal circumstances, as well as other people's circumstances, that I want to be a model of a supportive and respectful wife who trusts in my husband. (Proverbs 31:11)

I’ll be honest. I have not fully mastered all of this, nor do I think I ever will this side of heaven. But I can say that I am determined to wake up every day ready to serve, surrender, and submit to what the Lord calls me to that day. And in the midst of it all, right when I sit down to eat or start a task and I hear that baby wake up I will take a deep breath and die to myself and my agenda and say, “Yes Lord, I trust You.” (I’m laughing because even as I am writing this I have been interrupted so many times and I am really getting to practice firsthand what I am writing!)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

I hope as we embark on this new year you too will embrace your day to day life. Not rush through it or worry about the details but simply live and enjoy where God has you. I pray you will be more introspective and pay attention to the prompting that the Holy Spirit puts on your heart. I pray that you will search your heart and find those areas that you need to surrender to the Lord. I pray you will be dedicated to His Word spending more time pondering the deep things of God and His Word instead of wasting time finishing your checklist or on your phone scrolling social media. Ask yourself: “Am I really sold out and living a life that is fully trusting the Lord that no matter what I am faced with, no matter what emotion I am feeling, and no matter what season I am in, I say ‘Yes Lord, I surrender my day to You.’?”

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:17