Stay at Home April is complete and we’re so excited that North Carolina is leveling up to Phase One on Friday! 🙂 Tracking state’s reopening has taken the place of sports for me haha.

I was sending that meme to friends during week 4 and 5 …. haha it’s so funny…. but really all is well with the Rookies and we can’t complain. God is good… all the time! We continue with school and work in our daily routines and we’re SO thankful the beach is open for walking again.

As we enter Phase 1 (imagine trying to explain what all these new phrases and words mean to yourself in 2019 — your 2019 self would think you’d gone off your rocker) here are some more reflections on the 6 weeks of stay at home:

• I truly love my people so much. It’s the best mission ever to love them and be with them!
• I love how much reading we’ve done these 6 weeks!
• Dinners together, dance parties, beach walks, date walks, bike rides, board games without tears or fighting (miracles do happen!), cleaning and wiping down – that’s how I’ll remember this precious time.
• The thankfulness of having a house still hasn’t worn off. We are enjoying it so much and all the little blessings! When we prayed to be in a house after our road trip, we didn’t mean we wanted to be in that house ALL.the.time hahaha but that’s okay . It’s been a blessing
• I did have a really hard day last week – I think mentally I’d just had enough of trying to process this all. I was facing the disappointment of not being back in community like we had yearned for on the road. It’s very hard to be off social media when most of my friends are on it and stay connected that way. (But I really want to stick to my conviction to stay off for 2020 or forever!) And I wasn’t doing a good job protecting myself mentally. I was engaging in conversations that weren’t helpful or encouraging, was reading and listening to the news too much, feeling useless and unproductive, and was so disheartened over how much hatred and impatience there is in society right now…. so all of that got me in a negative place and I let myself spiral… basically I got distracted from my mission!
• But the Lord used it for good!!! I remembered the lessons He taught me about my worth, it led to amazing conversations and breakthroughs in our marriage, and it really made me realize that I can choose where I invest my heart and time!
• It’s pretty incredible that the more time I’ve been away from people…. the less people I want to invest in. I’d rather give my best to a few than give lots of unreciprocated care to many. There have been many seasons where the Lord asks me to pour into many…. but then I have to listen to His lead… and know that I can also move on when that season is over!

Here’s a glimpse of some of our adventures from the past weeks:

RR’s Stay at Home hair cut!!! We’ve never cut his hair before but have always gone to Great Clips. He’s also never had it cut like this! I haven’t seen the back of his head or ears since he was about 18 months old! Great job Daddy (it’s already grown back a lot!). What a cutie:

Before a friend sent us masks… I asked B if this would work haha. It’s the only thing I had to cover my face and this was the only way to get it to stay over my nose. (There’s only one store here that requires them. And most people on the island don’t wear one) :

We’ve done a little gardening and painted some pots. Look at E’s first strawberry!!!

Around the house fun:

E found a new fave dinner! Bbq chicken:

And I’m always trying to delegate my work load so I’m so excited the girls love to cook!!

A is really catching E:

Sweet princesses:

E has grown with the Lord so much the last few months!!! It has touched my heart and been such an encouragement to us. He is really teaching and woo-ing her! She loves to read her Bible, journal, share what she’s hearing, and pray each night:

A is a joyful monkey:

R is like an old man in many ways:

We’re grateful for technology to stay connected with friends:

Soo thankful it’s getting warmer every week!

They’ve all been working on their sibling handshakes:

We’ve loved being in the sun! And I pray our Jersey family and friends can get warm sunshine soon. RR kills me in running now. It’s like a gazelle vs a dachshund. Not even close:

And while the beach was closed we enjoyed exploring the island. The girls’ fave spot is a little island in the middle of the marsh area. They brought a friend there to explore with them as well. They had a huge story line as we walked but I can’t even begin to describe who they were and what was going on haha:

As things started to open up we started to hang with friends again which was much needed!

Alligator skull?

We loved visiting a friend’s new farmland and the kids can’t wait to go back!

And we had such a great day with friends down the road kayaking and swimming and playing!

Look at the heron I caught flying over them:

Somebody was giving away free pavers so the boys went and got them and fixed up this outdoor hose area for us. It was exactly the right number of bricks – amazing! We’re almost all ready for summer and visitors:

And the beach !!! Truly my fave place in the world. I’m so thankful to live here. I’ve spent so many hours walking on the beach already since we’ve moved here:

Look at this shell – a pin shell apparently!

Hey I could be wrong…but I think we can socially distance here:

This week they did add “swimming” on the list of things we were allowed to do at the beach…. but you can’t bring towels. Well, apparently I’m a rebel. I brought towels AND a bag (gasp) and we had a great time in the tidal pools:

All the walks and slower pace has made me find beauty in many places I normally overlook. Jellyfish carcasses never seemed beautiful to me… but now I can’t stop looking at them as I meander. This one looks so much like an owl stuck in a jellyfish. Or baby Yoda!?

Beautiful ?

So after traveling 10,000+ miles last year….. this year we have barely left the island haha… actually the last 6 weeks I think we’ve barely left a 5 mile radius! What an amazing place to be “stuck”. We’re so grateful!