Whew! What a YEAR!

I wasn’t sure how to begin.

Whew….

WHEW!

WOW.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

I’ll let you read and decide. There are plenty of reasons and/or excuses for not writing more often this year or doing more Facebook Lives but mostly life offline has been full.

Dec 12 2019,  HIP HIP HOORAY it’s ADOPTION Day for JAXSON DANIEL SMITH gosh, who knew love could be so deep and so wide in such a short time.  We praise the Lord every. single. day for choosing us for this little joy boy!  He means much to many. Adoption is beautiful, hard and worth every nanosecond!

Dec 19 Our twin sets moved in. Let me clarify just a bit because those words tend to confuse some.  We have two bio boys: Tuck (age 12 at the time) and Jake (age 10)

One week after Jaxson’s adoption decree we welcomed home two more boys: David (age 12) and his younger brother Ayden (age 10) See?  Two sets of twins: two twelves and two tens just six days before Christmas and seven days after adopting a baby because why not?  I’d love to share more details of our first Christmas together as Smith party of seven except that I can’t because it truly was a blur!  I remember being blessed beyond measure by our community.  I remember lots of smiles and tears because it was a heck of a transition but gosh, looking back helps us to see how far we’ve come! David turned 13 at the end of the Dec. making us parents of a TEEN!  I see more smiles now than then and was recently asked if it’s okay if he calls me “mom.”  Wow. What a year.

January 1 We gathered with the extended family for our annual New Year woodcutting session.  More hands made lighter work for all! woohoo

Jan 19 We’re off to the Smokies with the whole gang.  Mom, dad, both of my sisters, spouses and all the children=18 people and a dog named Waylon inside one LOUD cabin for an unforgettable weekend.  Whew!  What a year.

February 2 #DEMODAY for our back porch renovation project compliments of Vintage Pickin’ Passion Project!!!

April Wilks and many of the amazing Vintage Pickin’ fans, family and friends gave their time and hard-earned money to bless our socks off! Josh Miller and his construction crew transformed our back porch into a living space and loft area where two of the boys could sleep meaning baby Jax (who had been sleeping in a pack-n-play in my closet) could MOVE OUT! Woohoo!! What a year!

March the cowboy turned a whopping 44!

April  Baby Jax turned 1!  and Tucker Wayne is 13! What?! Two teens?  This is getting good.  Also, in April because I was certain I’ve been wasting my time and yours talking so much about the book I’ve been writing for fo-ever  I went to one-more-writing retreat so Suzie Eller could tell me to forget it but instead, she said “Your book baby is way overdue. Submit the proposal is ready.”   I haven’t. I’m still scared which is funny because the book has much to say about fear.  Another reason to write it -to read it.  whew.  what a year.

May is May is May.. the wackiest month of the year for you, your friends and us every day and at the feed store. Flowers. Gardens and Mother’s Day which is the day we dedicated baby J to the Lord, hosted a family picnic and I headed to Oklahoma to speak at a Mastermind Conference hosted by Danna Larson, the mastermind behind Rural Revival.  My topic: How to Keep Going When You Want to Quit!  I made a few new forever friends and visited the Pioneer Woman’s lodge.  While in OK I decided I want to be Ree when I grow up!  WHOA! WHOA!  What a year!

June 17th I turned 42, steeped out of denial and into the optometrist office where the Dr. prescribed bifocals (cue eye roll) but that’s small potatoes compared to the happenings that shook down on

June 27th when we stood before the judge, family and friends to ADOPT & decree DAVID & AYDEN a forever home!  Thank you, Lord, for the beauty and brokenness of adoption!  WOW! WHAT A YEAR!

July the boy I begged God for oh-so-many years ago and I headed to Brooklyn, NY to serve alongside a great group of kids at a local church. He and the team of teens served well.  I had the great honor and privilege to speak at the local church where our youth served and to a sister church of Chinese women via a translator.  WOW! What a year!

August we brought in two toddlers to foster for a couple of months making us Smith party of nine for a time.  Three toddlers, two pre-teens and 2 teens had us considering starting a reality show because you can’t make this stuff up any more than I could have made up the details God worked out so I could fly back to Oklahoma for a day to meet friends and pray for our gritty gal, Brooke.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer the-very-day-she-gave-birth-to-her-first baby, Elsie James. Read more of her story at Rural Gone Urban.  Whoa! What a year!

September meant soccer was in full swing and the fair came to town which was great but not as great as a farm the cowboy convinced me to “just ride out and see.”

The farm God moved us to make an offer that was accepted.

The farm that prompted us to list our home-sweet-home-farm in real estate.

October 5th we celebrated twenty-three years of love and matrimony.

A week later Jake, (our youngest bio boy) and I flew south with a group from church to the Dominican Republic. I spoke to women at a marriage conference via Heidy, the sweetest translator on the planet, experienced the most gracious hospitality and coffee- strong & delicious.

Thank you, Father, for your love and matchless grace. Thank you for the faces I cannot forget as well as the privilege of serving along side our boy and the medical team.  You are worthy.

November the month of Thanksgiving.  The month spent thanking God for so many good years here on our farm on Lookout Mountain.  The month of Thanksgiving for the countless people He’s sent our way, the innumerable prayers prayed and answered within these walls. The month spent cleaning and showing and cleaning out. Whoa. Whoa. What a year.

December 12 brings us back to where we started a year ago as we celebrated GOTCHA DAY fro baby J! A whole year of loving +laughing and training baby Jax and

Dec. 13th

WE CLOSED ON the NEW FARM which means

WE ARE MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are packing and moving in faith because God is going to sell this farm to a couple or person, or family who will cherish it as much or more than we have.  I wish we could sit on the porch and share with you the many and varied details God has orchestrated in closing this all out because it’s simply supernatural. He IS faithful.  We give Him every.ounce of GLORY! Truly.

So, aside from a few wacky stories from my sister, Lily, who has also started fostering,  Tuck’s really-bad-terrible case of poison ivy, our camping trip to the beach where the boys saw a gator, the roller coaster of small business, the many and varied called family meetings because parenting prepubescent teen boys is hard, the two times we’ve called nurse Katie to make sure Jason wasn’t having heart attacks that turned out to be pain from the shoulder he had surgery on five days before Christmas I think we’re caught up.

Oh, except that we are selling the feed store (which I will share more about SOON) and I am starting a NEW JOB teaching second grade at Cornerstone Christian Academy in Jan.

CHEERS friends, to ONE HECK-OF-A YEAR and the NEW YEAR to come!

One more quick thing before we go. Lean in.  This is for you.

This isn’t dress rehearsal!

As we turn the corner and head into a fresh decade I challenge you to get on your knees or on your face before God.  Praise Him for who He is!  Sing to Him for ALL He has done around you, in you and through so many of you this year and then, beg Him to tell you how you can GLORIFY Him in the up and coming year!

When He tells you..and He will.

Get out there and get after it!! Maybe he wants you to stay put? or just maybe He wants you to move to a new land? to foster? adopt? to sing? to give? save? GO? to write? paint? pray? serve? teach? stay home and mother the kids you begged Him for? marry? serve Him in singleness?  I don’t know and maybe you don’t> but He does!

God is FAITHFUL Even if we’re scared!

Happiest of NEW YEARS to you and yours!!!

P.S. Yes,  I am still speaking.  I will post dates soon and would be thrilled if you would grab your favorite gal pal and join us!