From the Front Row

I started this blog years ago mainly for family who lived far away. It was right when blogging was big on the scene and it was a way to keep people updated with life. Well life has gone on for several years since I last posted. And now I'd love to use this space to write a little bit of my heart. As a mom, as a wife, as a wife of someone in full time ministry. To share my thoughts and feelings and my life from where I sit in the front row.

Making Circles

We've lived in Texas nearly 3 years. I can't believe how the time has flown by. We have a great life here. A great church, a great family, a great home. It really feels like home to us. That's saying a lot for us having lived in 4 different states since we've been married!

When we moved here, our church was 3 years old. It was still considered a church plant. It felt like a church plant and looked like a church plant. Our church is undeniably the most unique church I've ever been to or been a part of. There is so much to love. These past 3 years have also presented some of the hardest times that we've been through. There have been many moments of saying, "should we be here?" But time and time again, we are affirmed that we were called here and God has us here for a reason. He's grown us and stretched us and taught us a lot.

In December our church found a home.



This is a big deal for a young church, and a church that has met in many different locations, a church that's had to load and unload trailers and trucks week after week. A church that hasn't had a place to really call "home." Our church bought the building you see above. It's an office building that has offices in it. Our church renovated part of it for the churches use, a worship center, a children's wing, and offices. The other parts are leased out to businesses: a dentist, dermatologist, insurance agent, cleaning company, etc. It was the only way a church like ours could afford a permanent space by creating the income to pay the mortgage. It's a super unique situation and so cool to partner with so many businesses.

So, while we've been elated to have this "home" and to put our roots down, it's super scary. It's a financial leap of faith and a huge burden on Brian as he will lead his first capital campaign. A few weeks ago, my Mom's Bible Study that I lead started reading a book called, The Circle Maker, by Mark Batterson. This book has been so transformational in my life. It's challenged me beyond measure in my prayer life. It's help me to see God in a new light, and to learn things about myself. It's whole premise is about praying circles around things in your life. Praying boldly to a God who can do more than we can think or imagine. It's been amazing as I've circled our church in prayer to feel the anticipation of how God will answer our prayers. As a pastor's wife, I carry of lot of burdens for what happens at our church and this journey we're on is pretty scary. But, I'm learning so much about how God provides and how he wants us to approach him. I'd encourage you to read the book and dive into it.

I'm so grateful to be in this place for such a time as this, and will continue to make circles in prayer around many things in my life.

Catching up

I have not posted all summer! I think I'll blame it on the fact that it's been way to hot. Too hot for anything! Our Texas summer was brutal and I've been bitter about it, pretty much up until now. So here we are in October already! My favorite time of year with so much to look forward to. Brian and I just got back from a vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was simply perfect and amazing! Our sweet church gave this trip to us as a gift for Brian finishing his doctorate. Super cool, right? When they told us, we were speechless and humbled and super grateful. So we went for 7 days to paradise. Our friends Nate and Lindsey from Michigan met us there for the week. We did nothing but relax, laugh, eat, play, relax, sleep, shop, relax, sleep, laugh, and relax some more. We 100 percent enjoyed every second of our time away It was so thoughtful of our church to give us a gift we could share together after many many hours of work that Brian put in on his doctorate away from our family. We will never forget this trip or the gift from Horizons Church. We feel so loved!






Here are a few other pictures of our summer. We enjoyed visits from my mom and another from my brother. We tried to stay as wet or as cool as possible!!






My little girls are growing up. Lily is quickly approaching 2, and Halle started preschool this fall!

Big girl

My sweet Halle Anne turned 4 this past weekend! Everyone says how fast time flies and it really does. Let me tell you a little bit about Halle.

Halle is 100% girl! She got some lip gloss for her birthday and has applied it pretty much every 5 minutes since then. She loves to play dress up, and play with jewelry, and things most things are "so beautiful!" She is into princesses and princes, and of course, marrying her daddy. Halle is totally organized, and anal. She likes things in their place, where they belong. You can imagine how this plays out with a little sister whose nickname is "the destroyer." Halle asks for a snack at least 6 times a day, along with watching a movie. She is a very smart little girl, who knows all of her letters and numbers. She can write most of them, and knows how to spell mom, dad, Halle, and Lily. She really enjoys coloring and being creative. Halle is her daddy's girl! She has a very sweet demeanor and is my cuddler. I can always count on her to say "I love you Mommy," accompanied with a sweet hug and kiss. She also likes to run the show. She interprets Lily's babbles and lets me know what Lily wants. She also loves to tell Lily what to do. I think I could pretty much leave running the house up to her! :) Brian and I are constantly amazed at what a polite little girl she is. She loves to say prayers and talk about heaven. She's a curious little one who hardly ever stops talking! We had a great time celebrating her birthday at the beach with her friends! We love you sweet Halle Anne!

Dr. Brian Bradford

This weekend, Reverend Brian Bradford became Dr. Brian Bradford! We made the 14 hour road trip (in 2 days) to Wilmore, Kentucky for Brian's graduation. It was a wonderful reunion with Brian's classmates. Our time in Wilmore was very special. 10 families moved from all over the country for one year for our husbands to study. We lived like we did in college- our townhomes were all next to each other, we were all poor, our kids played with each other every day. We shared so much together. It was very fun to be reunited with all of the husbands, wives, and kiddos. Since we moved away, there are 3 more kiddos in the mix. It was fun to have them all together again. The women I met there are very special to me. As a pastor's wife, you have a unique role that many do not fully grasp, so it's great that we all have that in common. We are friends for life. I'm so proud of my husband for having ambition, having follow-through, and the ability to better himself for our family and for those he ministers to.

Four score and 3 years ago...

3 years ago, Brian and I were getting ready to embark on a new phase in our lives. 3 years ago, we said goodbye to our friends, our church, our ministry, and our teeny tiny house in Marion, Indiana for Brian to pursue his doctorate ministry. We loved our lives in Marion and often refer back to the easy days in our lives. We had a great, growing ministry. We both loved investing in college students. Our Halle girl was born there and it was the only home she had known. We had a great church, and what I miss most, was our wonderful friends. (You know who you are! :)) We really were not in a place where we wanted to move. But Brian was invited into a program we just could not refuse. He was honored to receive a full scholarship for his doctorate work in an accelerated 3 year program. In 3 years, Brian has traveled all over the world, studied countless hours, written many papers, read many books, taken leadership of an entire church, welcomed a new little girl into his life, moved twice, and managed to remain the most amazing husband! Sounds exhausting doesn't it?!

Well, I'm happy to announce that yesterday Brian passed his dissertation defense hearing with flying colors! This means that in just a few weeks, he will graduate with his Doctorate in Ministry. I could not be more proud of him! The past 3 years have been amazing and hard at the same time. We've tried to be faithful to God's leading and will continue to do so. We are so blessed to have been on this journey that God has clearly marked out for us. We are thankful for our time in KY, and for our church now in TX. We still miss our lives in Marion, and are thankful for our fond memories of our time there. And a huge part of me feels that maybe God will lead us back there someday.

But for now, we will celebrate Brian's accomplishment, and now I can call him DR! Congratulations Hunny!

Bluebonnets

So, I guess we are officially Texans. The bluebonnets bloom at this time of year for a few short weeks and many people get their kids out there for some beautiful wildflower pictures. Well I'm cheap and took the pictures myself- Halle has the biggest fake smile, and Lily wouldn't smile for the life of me. So we went, we did, we saw, and here's what we got!














I do love my sweet girls!!

Going Deeper

In this picture are 41 women from my church. Our church is pretty tiny considering churches we've been a part of in the past- and 41 women on a retreat is pretty amazing! I'm a part of the leadership team for our women's ministry and helped plan this year's retreat. Our church is super diverse- the youngest woman that came was 18 and the oldest was 78, I believe. I've never been a part of a church like Horizons. Horizons is made up of so many different people, that truly work together, and fellowship with one another despite age, race, past, and stage of life. I could not be more proud to be a part of the team that leads them. Our theme was Going Deeper. Our speaker did a great job teaching us about the next steps that we need to take in our relationship with God. It was a time where I was just able to take in the teaching and mull over it. I still need to go back through my notes and really think about what things I need to change in my life.
Retreats are so needed, and are a great time to get away! Us young mom's really appreciate this time! But most of all, this retreat was fun! Other than being their "Pastor's Wife," I'm also known as the one that makes them play crazy games! Oh my- I've never laughed so hard. My favorite game this year was when they were all blindfolded into 2 long lines, and they had to pass a raw biscuit from the front of the line to the back. Talk about hilarious! We had so much fun- they are such good sports!
Our time in Texas has had it's ups and downs. I could not have come back from this weekend more proud of our women. I'm so grateful to be a part of a church where I've been stretched to be friends with those I normally wouldn't have approached. I'm grateful to see racial barriers being broken. I'm grateful for women older than me who have loved on me and taken me under their wing. I'm grateful for goofy friends that I can laugh with. I'm grateful for the spirit of worship that is crafted when 41 women seek God in one accord. I'm thankful for God meeting us where we're at, and always waiting for us to come to him. I'm thankful for a husband who encourages times like this in my life. I'm excited for the future- for the plans God has for our little church, and for the plans he has for me and the woman he's shaping me to become.

Dallas Blooms

I absolutely LOVE living by a big city. It has so much to offer and we don't have to go far to do some really cool things. This week is spring break and even though we are not in school, I think we still deserve to do some fun stuff! Yesterday I took the girls to the Dallas Arboretum with some friends and their kiddos. It was so beautiful to see all the flowers in bloom. They had fairy tale houses all over the place that we searched for to find. Halle was so excited to see Bell's castle and the Little Mermaids house and so on. It was a little chilly in the morning but warmed up as the day went on. Halle got her face painted for the first time and thought it was so cool. Lily was a trooper on the long day. As you can see, she fell on the sidewalk and has a battle wound to show for it! Here's some pics of our day...

Party time!

Valentine's Day has come and gone, and we celebrated in style one week after the big day. I wasn't feeling well on V-day so we postponed our little party until this week. I tried to get a few pictures of the girls in their attire, unfortunately couldn't get them both looking and smiling!






We had a fun lunch of heart-shaped PB & J, fruit salad, and a few other things for the grown ups. Of course there were games- you can see them on their heart hunt and playing pass the heart balloon. And of course, we frosted our own sugar cookies!







And here are a few other pictures from around the house lately- as you can see the girls love their daddy!