So.  God had me shut my mouth for a 2-month break. 

On June 21st my man said, “You are taking a 2-month break from blogging.”  He (truly) rarely does something in that I’m-putting-my-foot-down way.  I sensed God behind it and His protection and my man’s desire to protect me and needed growth for our family, my character, some rest, and other things only He knows.  I also felt pulled away from media. 

It was soooo good.  Not a bunch of blogs or Facebook or even Pinterest (well, for a few things like recipes but not just zoning out). 

I did a lot of reading.  Books, you know.

Dan and I did communication training in couples counseling in the spring/summer.  It was a little hard on my Communication Degree Ego, but you can know a lot of things without applying them well. 

Anyway, we have some tools now for our heated discussions.  The best ones?  Echo and Disarm.  Restate what they’ve said until you say it back to them in a way they are satisfied that you understood the heart behind it.  Then, say something like, “That makes sense”  or  “I can see how you would think that.”

Amazing, right?  The most important part for me was this is not saying, “Yeah, you’re right.  You win.” 

Especially if I don’t agree. 

This Echoing/Disarming is simply putting in the work to see the other’s point of view and then validating it. 

It does just what it says it will: disarm.  When someone does that to you, you want to put down your fists.  You no longer want to take up arms and defend your point of view.  And, even more miraculously, you feel so validated you want to hear their point of view and validate it as well. 

I recommend it.  They really will know we are His by how we love each other.

What else?  Kids Kamp at our church plus VBS at a friend’s church.  A spontaneous Garage Sale when we realized the two houses at the end of our street were having one and we wanted to benefit from the traffic.  We got rid of the majority of our baby stuff.  But I don’t want to talk about that.

We did the Library Summer Reading Program, which I cannot recommend highly enough.  Such great incentive to read with all those coupons awaiting you.  Both the boys were incredibly proud.  

It was a summer for weddings, too.  Our dear friends married and the boys were ring bearers.  They were so regal and proud walking down the outdoor aisle.  Here they are with their Flower Girl friends:



Aaannnddd… a little strung out at the dance around 10 pm

We attended a wedding of Dan’s co-worker who is connected with some of our Emporia friends from college days.  What fun to see that group again! 

We of course had some family fun.  Here are The Cousins.  Camp Grandma was a Road Show this year.  She stayed in a hotel here in Wichita and they had a grand ole time staying with her, seeing the sights, and swimming in the hotel pool.

We also visited both sets of Grandparents and did things like meet our California niece/cousin and shoot fireworks and eat all the food.

Itsy Bitsy Spider




We swam no less than 2 times a week all summer.  We hit the outdoor water parks at the different Ys with friends, the indoor pool at my gym, and several times at others’ private pools.  We were made for fun in the sun.



The obligatory foot shot

We also made some trips.  To see friends and hear about the church plant in which they’re investing.  Plus, I went (alone!) to KC to see my sissy.  She bought a Spa Package Groupon for the two of us because she likes to buy my love. 

And, finally, our garden grew!  Zucchini and Squash didn’t survive the bugs.  But green beans, tomatoes and cucumbers held strong.  And carrots, but they weren’t as big as we’re used to.  But we were proud of them all the same!

Those tall things are sunflowers.  Also, Caden made a bird feeder at 4-H camp.  Dan whipped out that bird feeder holder from scraps of wood like it was nothin.

Overall?  Fabulous summer. 

Now about that new blog…

I was wrong.  A new, professional blog is not the direction God is leading.  Moreover, after talking with people who know me/us really well, we agreed it had the potential to really confuse me as to who my audience is.  Which is ironic because that was the training process I was referring to in my last post: the ability to write what I need to even if I sense that others don’t completely approve. 

He is my Audience.  The only way I could have the audacity to write things to others that seem to be coming from Him is to know that I know I’m writing out of obedience to Him.   

So.  I’m excited to continue to share lessons He teaches me on this little blog. 

If you want, you can comment.  Just be kind, please.  My heart is as vulnerable as yours. 

Can we just be kind?

I hope you had a great summer, too!