So tonight, I ran. If you were around Stadium District, I was the one wearing soccer pants from 10th grade, pushing a non-running stroller, in crappy running shoes, with a light teal jacket that fit perfectly while 9 months pregnant, next to a dog WALKING at a brisk pace. As I ran, an almost 7-month-old little girl stared at me with perfect non-judgmental eyes whose mile-long eyelashes blinked with approval every time I took a step. Her gaze told me “I see what you’re doing. You can do this.”

Usually, on walks with Blayke, I get frustrated that every sidewalk does not have a curb ramp – but tonight… I was beyond thankful. Curbs offered me tiny pieces of relief on my heavy breathing, first run in 1.5 year, journey around Tacoma. Gotta find joy in the little things right?

Blayke has been around for almost 7 glorious months. 7 months people! That is so crazy. In those seven months, I can’t say I’ve done anything amazing (outside of birth a human and keep her alive). Side note – I’m legitimately measuring our parenting skills based on a simple question. “Is she alive?” As long as the answer is always yes, we’re doing great! We’ve now settled into a semi-routine with work, dinner, home care, relationships with each other & friends, and spending time with Blayke.

When it comes to doing something new, it’s easy to move things to the bottom of our priority list and use the excuse, ‘the timing isn’t right’ or ‘what if…’ or ‘let’s just wait’ or ‘I can’t do XXX perfectly right now’ (you fill in the blank). We miss out on so much that way! Here’s just a few things I’ve missed out on because of the above excuses:

• A sweet VW Westfalia a.k.a. Vanagon
• Multiple pets
• Camping with friends
• A boat
• Fun travel trips
• Dance lessons
• New furniture & Roomba
• Playing keyboard for a youth group
• Auditioning for a mascot role (Rhubarb the Reindeer – mascot of the Tacoma Rainiers)

I can make excuses all day long but I miss out on so much that way. The same goes for the way we parent Blayke. We don’t want her to miss out because we were afraid of “how she MIGHT respond”. I want her to find excitement and joy in what might seem mundane AND the invigorating adventures. So let’s do it.

Everything we do doesn’t have to be a big & amazing production. God doesn’t ask us to part the Red Sea every day. He just asks us to do something. It’s pretty simple – Live by the gospel and for the gospel, scatter throughout your community and serve, and gather together to celebrate what He’s done/doing in our lives. Love him, Love others – not that hard or elaborate.

Honestly, sometimes the fear of failure, defeat, judgement from other parents (which I’m learning can be crazy), can be crippling. But ya know what, screw it. I’m not meant to bear that burden. I believe in a God who willingly and lovingly bears that burden for me so I can be free from the debilitating pressure in order to be good family, a servant, and missionary to those around me and the ones I love.

Tonight, did I run the fastest? No. Did I do something great or amazing? No. God doesn’t call us to do the most amazing thing in the world every time we do something, He just calls us to DO SOMETHING.

So tonight, I ran.

Girl fell asleep on our run lol 🙂 🙂 LUCKY!

*Full disclosure – I started writing this on Monday night, but then got distracted playing with Blayke before bedtime 😉

*Also – If you’re curious about what we believe – which is our entire motivator for not being really really REALLY crappy people – click here to learn more.