My dad is a worship leader.

Growing up, my family was that one that was into classic musicals, sang the Doxology in harmony at the dinner table, and my dad would play his guitar and sing to my sisters and me before bed. I have memories of being at church as a little girl, standing next to my dad, worshipping Jesus. He has no trouble clapping, raising his hands, moving to the music, singing with his whole heart, with his whole heart. 

What I love about my dad and his worship leading is that my memories of him worshiping Jesus is not just in the four walls of the church building, but he has a deep love and reverence, an awareness for God wherever he is. 

Memories come to mind of when we've been camping, and my dad will be so giddy and funny and burst out into song, joy spilling out of him. Or in my adult years how during every phone conversation, every family vacation, he reiterates and verbalizes how thankful he is, how blessed we are. 

Jesus, pass this generational blessing onto me and my children, and their children's children, this love for You, this devotion, this gratitude. Joy overflowing because of who You are.

Glory to Jesus

Recently AJ's parents were over at our house and AJ was playing guitar and we were singing a song ("House of God Forever" by Jon Foreman, if you're curious). It's one of Ransom's favorites. There's a part in the song that is sung by a girl, and AJ always has me sing that part. After the song was over, AJ's dad complimented me and said I should sing more often. I responded, jokingly/seriously that I do. I sing every day for the kids. (Although I think his meaning was in the area of being on a worship team in church.)

That got me thinking. I haven't sang on a worship team much if at all since becoming a mom. It's not because of lack of interest, but practically, it doesn't work right now with the needs our young children have. Also, when you're married to the worship pastor, who's going to watch the kids during early morning worship practice?

But I am a worship leader. To our kids. They are watching me, observing how I respond to situations, what my attitudes are, how I handle frustrations and joys. 

This blogging on the topic of Worship in Real Life hasn't gone where I thought it would and I don't have a grandiose conclusion. It didn't turn out to be 31 days long; I missed some days. But I see that in my real life I am a worship leader and I know I want to be one who directs the focus to where it should be. I want to feel so contentedly tucked under the grace blanket of Jesus that I can rest in security knowing his grace is sufficient, he is my God, and when I worship him, he gets the glory.

31 Days of Worship in Real Life

I've been wanting to be a more intentional blogger in order to have a record of cool/sweet/funny/memorable doings in our family but haven't been sure how to jump in. Then I heard about this blogger challenge the Nester blog does every October. The idea is to blog every day for the month of October on one topic.

The topic I've chosen to write about is "Worship in Real Life." I'll use my 31 days to talk about how worshiping Jesus can look in the life of an ordinary ministry wife/stay at home mom. Thrilling, eh? Blockbuster fodder, I assure you! :)

It is my hope to learn as I share, to draw from sources other than my experience, and to invite Jesus to use this process to change me. You can invite Him to do the same for you, too, if you like.

Following will be the links for each of October's 31 posts, which I'll update every day. Thanks for reading. It'll be fun! 

Day 1: 

http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-dad-is-worship-leader.html?m=1

Day 2:

http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/mama-worship-leader-too.html?m=1

Day 3: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/gratitude-harvest-i-didn-sow.html?m=1

Day 4: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/spontaneous-worship.html?m=1

Day 5: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/eyes-fixed-upon.html?m=1

Day 6: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/back-to-worship-in-real-real-life.html?m=1

Day 7: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/sing.html?m=1

Day 8: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/gratitude-order.html?m=1

Day 9: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/cover-your-walls-with-worship.html?m=1

Day 10: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/some-favorite-worship-albums.html?m=1

Day 11: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/married-to-worship-leader.html?m=1

Day 12: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/worship-links.html?m=1

Day 13: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/making-space.html?m=1

Day 14: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/hosanna.html?m=1

Day 15: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-pep-talk-to-myself.html?m=1

Day 16: 

http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/little-worship-leader.html?m=1

Day 17: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/watch-this.html?m=1

Day 18: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/taking-step-of-faith.html?m=1

Day 19: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/feasting.html?m=1

Day 20: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/dedicated.html

Day 21: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/accepting-advice-from-spurgeoun.html?m=1

Day 22: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/connecting-dots-makes-me-worship.html?m=1

Day 23: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/take-him-at-his-word.html?m=1

Day 24: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/gratitude-lots-of-things.html?m=1

Day 25: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/gratitude-siblings.html

Day 26: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/10/grace-blanket.html?m=1

Day 27: http://bravingthebeauty.blogspot.com/2013/09/glory-to-jesus.html?m=1

A bit of Beauty: baby silhouette

This is not a photo of a couch! :) 

The photo's blurry, but her silhouette is so sweet. It had to be shared. 

It's been awhile since I've posted "a bit of Beauty" picture, even though there's been lots of it. Here's to easing back into sharing some of the things that awaken my awareness of the Beauty around here. 

these moccasins were made for mothering

Do you have a favorite pair of shoes? Mine are here immortalized:

I rescued them from a free bin. The fact that they were moccasins and made me feel a little like Tiger Lily won me over. Since then they've molded to fit my feet; once too tight, now they fit perfectly. 

They were worn on long walks with my son in the umbrella stroller as I walked the neighborhood around our apartment, walked to the post office, walked to the grocery store, walked to just kill time till AJ came home. 

I wore them to the coast this summer and brought my weeks old daughter with me for a high school girls beach day. Newborns and beaches don't necessarily go together and sometimes you need to apply sunscreen twice, yes, even though you don't think to because you're holding a baby. 

If you look closely at the left moccasin, there's a little smudge of Blue Zircon paint from this week when we painted Ransom's new/used/big boy/toddler bed.

I sense our family is in a season in which one day we'll say "Those were some golden years." We're in the happily chaotic time of parenting a toddler and a baby. A close friend lives with us, providing important community and an occasional babysitter for scoffed quick coffee dates when AJ and I need to hear only the other's voice. We're renting a house now and working on paying off debt. On account of that I'm becoming resourceful to a fault or maybe a hippie.

Looking at the wear on these moccasins makes me remember these times. When I see them I recall the story of how God provides, how surely His goodness and unfailing love is pursuing our family. We aren't fabulously wealthy, but we are. They are my thankful shoes. 

I had a baby girl

Lately I've been asking myself, "Is this really happening?" The reason is I feel so blessed, so rich, when I see my handsome husband and know I'm his and he's mine, when I observe Ransom playing King David or Mowgli or Joseph in Egypt, when I say "Hi Hosanna" and get a toothless grin in return. Oh the toothless grin, how it slays me! (In the best way.) 

Baby girl Hosanna is almost 4 months, she's a delight, loves & lives to cuddle, is enthralled with her big brother, and she lights up when you lock eyes with her and sing or talk to her. Ransom is a great big brother, always wanting to know where Hosanna is when she's not in the room, giving her a role like Baloo (Jungle Book) or Pooh/Roo (Hundred Acre Wood)*, even trying to comfort her when she's crying. I'm teaching him to pray for her too.

Time's going so fast and I needed to record a few of these things. They are important, and I don't want to forget what now feels like.

*In Jungle book play I'm usually Bagheera and AJ's Shere Khan; in the Hundred Acre Wood, AJ's Tigger & I'm Kanga. 

A bit of Beauty: family

My in-laws live in town now! Also, Christopher, my bro-in-law came to help them move & to visit us. I snapped this picture last night, wanting to remember how Ransom has quickly taken to having family around. It is so sweet to my spirit to be living moments like this.