Identity and Contentment
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1
I knew the transition to my first season of life on the road as a newlywed would be hard. I assumed all of the packing and moving and lack of permanence would be stressful. What I didn’t expect was the mini identity crisis what would come with transitioning from a busy college life to the “stay at home wife” role. I found myself bored, lonely, and feeling useless and insignificant.
But then I started to realize what a blessing this season of life is. I have a unique ability to shine God’s light in this lifestyle.
As a Christian, my greatest priority is to know God more and to spend my time and effort growing closer to Him, and to help other people to do that as well. 1 Timothy 5:10 talks about biblical womanhood, it says that a Christian woman should be "…well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lords people, helping those in trouble, and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds." Having so much free time right now really frees me up to do that. I love that I have the schedule flexibility to listen to podcasts, take part in different activities with a local church, volunteer, and just spend time building relationships with the people around me. One day I will have kids, and then having all kinds of time to spend doing bible study or ministering to other people will be a luxury and not just part of my regular routine. I am learning to cherish all the free time I have right now!
I'm learning to be confident in who I am and in my role as a traveling baseball wife. I am learning to remind myself that a job doesn't define my worth. The fact that I travel around with my husband doesn't make me any less smart or driven. Being my husbands #1 support is an important role in this crazy baseball life, and I'm glad I am able to be that. I am not any less valuable to society because my role isn't in the workplace. I am valuable because I am a child of God, and He loves me and created me to be in this role!
Prayer: Lord, help me to see that my identity is in You, no matter where I am or what stage of life I am in. Help me to see how I can be an instrument of your will each day.
Suggested Reading: 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Timothy 6:6
Written in May of 2015
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018
Devotionals
If you know me, you may or may not know that I really enjoy writing and teaching. In the baseball world there is a wonderful ministry called Baseball Chapel that, among other things, provides a daily devotional for women. Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to write several, and I thought I might as well start sharing them here to add in with the rest of my "digital scrapbook." Hope you enjoy!
......
Always & For Everything
Ephesians 5:19-20 “Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Lord has really been teaching me to take control of my own attitude and emotions over the past year or so. At the end of the day, I and I alone can control how I feel- I can’t control my circumstances, so why should they be allowed to control my day??
It is so easy to slip into an attitude of selfishness and get wrapped up in how we feel about a situation rather than staying firmly in a place of thankfulness. We are instructed to give thanks to the Lord always and for everything. For me, this requires an intentional perspective shift towards having a grateful, positive heart and attitude. When I step back, I can see that God is truly at work in every single little detail of my life, and that is a reason to rejoice!
There are a few things I do that help me to stay rooted in a place of thankfulness and joy. I love telling my little Alexa speaker (seriously great little device haha) to play praise and worship music. Making a melody to the lord with your heart sure is easy when you are literally singing praises! I have a few playlists I like to alternate between, but my current favorite is to shuffle all songs by Christy Nockels. Another thing I do is to start and end the day praying specific thanks for God’s presence and sovereignty in my life and in that day. I know that it sounds simple and obvious, but making it very habitual to do these things each day does make a big difference for me. Finally, when I find myself slipping into a bad or selfish attitude, I have a few dear friends I can call to tell me to snap out of it. There are few things more valuable than friends who will lovingly tell you that you are being ridiculous ;)
God is so good and faithful to meet our every need, abundantly more than we could even ask for, we when are living according to His word. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to live each day with joy and thankfulness despite any circumstance that we may face, what a blessing!
......
Always & For Everything
Ephesians 5:19-20 “Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Lord has really been teaching me to take control of my own attitude and emotions over the past year or so. At the end of the day, I and I alone can control how I feel- I can’t control my circumstances, so why should they be allowed to control my day??
It is so easy to slip into an attitude of selfishness and get wrapped up in how we feel about a situation rather than staying firmly in a place of thankfulness. We are instructed to give thanks to the Lord always and for everything. For me, this requires an intentional perspective shift towards having a grateful, positive heart and attitude. When I step back, I can see that God is truly at work in every single little detail of my life, and that is a reason to rejoice!
There are a few things I do that help me to stay rooted in a place of thankfulness and joy. I love telling my little Alexa speaker (seriously great little device haha) to play praise and worship music. Making a melody to the lord with your heart sure is easy when you are literally singing praises! I have a few playlists I like to alternate between, but my current favorite is to shuffle all songs by Christy Nockels. Another thing I do is to start and end the day praying specific thanks for God’s presence and sovereignty in my life and in that day. I know that it sounds simple and obvious, but making it very habitual to do these things each day does make a big difference for me. Finally, when I find myself slipping into a bad or selfish attitude, I have a few dear friends I can call to tell me to snap out of it. There are few things more valuable than friends who will lovingly tell you that you are being ridiculous ;)
God is so good and faithful to meet our every need, abundantly more than we could even ask for, we when are living according to His word. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to live each day with joy and thankfulness despite any circumstance that we may face, what a blessing!
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Offseason.. Where did you go?!
Holy cow, it is already January and we have left our offseason home in Alaska and are getting ready for spring training! I say this every year, but it seems like the offseason goes by faster and faster.
Okay so lets rewind. Towards the end of last season Cy was promoted to the Astros AAA team, the Fresno Grizzles. They spent most of the last month of the season on the road, so I just lived out of my suitcase and met up with Cy on road trips, and then spent the time in between split between my grandparents and in laws. It was a super fun whirlwind, but I was definitely excited to be DONE for awhile after so much travel haha!
Our offseason in Alaska was wonderful and all too short, as usual. We love our time and community there. A few highlights:
- My best friend gave birth to her perfect baby girl!
- We completed our first round of Whole30 and oh my gosh it was a game changer!
- Cy spent lots and LOTS of time in the mountains hunting. The boy loves him some nature.
- I spent lots of quality time with my quilting ladies and finished several quilts! We had a wonderful time at our quilters retreat at the Second Star in Homer.
- My mom and I had so many fun lunch dates
- I accomplished some projects for my business!
- Our family came to visit!!! Cy's mom, stepdad, brother, and my sister in law all came up and spent Thanksgiving with us. It was so fun and special to have them!
- We celebrated our 3 year anniversary!
- I teamed up with my sweet friends Becky and Carol to have a booth at our local craft fairs leading up to Christmas! We had so much fun together. We have some great ideas for next year, get excited ;)
- Cy took a trip to Idaho to hunt with his dad, brother, and grandpa
- We made a trip to Texas for some of our best friends weddings! We don't get to spend nearly as much time with all of them as we would like, so we treasure the time together.
- My mom, sister Hope, and I binged watched the first season of Stranger Things together (I love to binge watch. Mom does not. LOL)
All in all, it was so full of great things and we wish it wasn't over just yet! But baseball never stops ;)
Currently we are in Idaho for a few weeks visiting my in laws and for Cy to work out and throw in preparation for spring training. After this, we will head to Dallas for a bit and then it is off to Florida for spring training!
One of my intentions for this year is to get back to more regular posts here. I love looking back on my old posts, it is like a scrapbook of sorts for me. I need to get better about documenting these memories.
Thanks for reading!
xo, Han
Okay so lets rewind. Towards the end of last season Cy was promoted to the Astros AAA team, the Fresno Grizzles. They spent most of the last month of the season on the road, so I just lived out of my suitcase and met up with Cy on road trips, and then spent the time in between split between my grandparents and in laws. It was a super fun whirlwind, but I was definitely excited to be DONE for awhile after so much travel haha!
Our offseason in Alaska was wonderful and all too short, as usual. We love our time and community there. A few highlights:
- My best friend gave birth to her perfect baby girl!
- We completed our first round of Whole30 and oh my gosh it was a game changer!
- Cy spent lots and LOTS of time in the mountains hunting. The boy loves him some nature.
- I spent lots of quality time with my quilting ladies and finished several quilts! We had a wonderful time at our quilters retreat at the Second Star in Homer.
- My mom and I had so many fun lunch dates
- I accomplished some projects for my business!
- Our family came to visit!!! Cy's mom, stepdad, brother, and my sister in law all came up and spent Thanksgiving with us. It was so fun and special to have them!
- We celebrated our 3 year anniversary!
- I teamed up with my sweet friends Becky and Carol to have a booth at our local craft fairs leading up to Christmas! We had so much fun together. We have some great ideas for next year, get excited ;)
- Cy took a trip to Idaho to hunt with his dad, brother, and grandpa
- We made a trip to Texas for some of our best friends weddings! We don't get to spend nearly as much time with all of them as we would like, so we treasure the time together.
- My mom, sister Hope, and I binged watched the first season of Stranger Things together (I love to binge watch. Mom does not. LOL)
All in all, it was so full of great things and we wish it wasn't over just yet! But baseball never stops ;)
Currently we are in Idaho for a few weeks visiting my in laws and for Cy to work out and throw in preparation for spring training. After this, we will head to Dallas for a bit and then it is off to Florida for spring training!
One of my intentions for this year is to get back to more regular posts here. I love looking back on my old posts, it is like a scrapbook of sorts for me. I need to get better about documenting these memories.
Thanks for reading!
xo, Han
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
