It's okay, baby girl.

Sometimes, I can really stress myself out. Most of the time for no reason. I come from a long line of stresser-outers. And since I'm so prone to stress, staying at home with my 2-year-old can sometimes drive me to drinkin' (obviously, that statement was false. My dad used to always say it and I'm more like him than I want to admit sometimes!). As much as I love being home and knowing I'm the one taking care of her, it can weigh pretty heavily on me from time to time. I'm definitely an extrovert/people person so if I don't get a good amount of time talking to adults, I get a little crazy. And a few days ago, I'd had it. I didn't want to think about dishes and laundry and potty mishaps. I didn't want to clean another room or wonder what to cook. I wanted to sit and watch Netflix. And drink a Dr. Pepper. I knew I couldn't do those things, however, so I just sat and wallowed for a minute. And of course, before I got too deep into wallowing, I heard a thud. I sat up and waited for the cry. The one that would tell me if she was okay, or if I needed to prepare myself for an ER visit. She cried the "Hey I fell, and I'm going to live but I could really use a hug or something" cry so I went in, grabbed her up and kissed her, but it didn't help. She just kept sobbing and it broke my heart. I started to sing the song I've sang for her often since we brought her home from the hospital. Just a simple song I came up with in the middle of one of those sleepless nights. She got totally silent, just listening and snuggling. We moved to the couch and I let her watch a little TV. After we had been there a few minutes she asked "Mommy, what did you sing for me?" I told her it was the song I always sing when she's upset. She said "I really love that song. I love you, mommy." Oh boy, talk about melting this momma's heart.

I love that God gives us moments like that. Little, almost insignificant moments that refresh our souls and nurture our spirits. On a day when I felt like I could run away and be declared insane, God used a precious little moment to remind me of why I stay home. Why I want to spend my days pouring into the soul of that little girl. So she can one day grow up and understand what it's like to be loved unconditionally by her mommy and daddy. So she can have the confidence and courage to live out the will God has for her life. What a blessing these days are.

Hello 21st century!

Why hello, blog world! We are officially out of the dark ages here in the Chastain home - we have internet again after...wait for it...4 YEARS! Though our youth group thinks we're absolutely archaic for not having the World Wide Web, it's really been a blessing for our family. Not just financially, though obviously that helped! It's sort of been freeing not knowing much about the happenings of the world around us. We've now completely cut out cable and though I didn't think I could make it, it's now been almost 5 months and I don't miss it! Don't even want it back. My husband can be pretty smart when he wants to be :)

Just for updating purposes, we bought our first home back in November. Our precious girl will be 3 years old this summer (impossible!) and the hubby is still the youth minister at our church. And because apparently I just love to torture myself, I am also performing in a musical at our local university in 3 weeks! Good gravy, I need another 2 months to prepare for that! Anyway, blog world, I hope we can be friends and continue to be in each others lives. Maybe now that we've joined the 21st century again, that won't be a problem!

I posted this verse on my Facebook earlier, but it has just stuck in my heart so much that I'll post here too :)

"Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy." Zephaniah 3:17
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