::its now how much we do, but how much we love::

one of our great hopes as parents is to teach our children to love and serve others through watching us love and serve others.


one way to bless others is to feed them. so we baked a big batch of banana bread, added a little note and headed out to bless those around us.

eisley was the spokesperson. she carried each loaf of banana bread and presented it to each neighbor saying something along the lines of, "thank you for being a good neighbor!" durgin followed behind and would chime in somewhere around "neighbor."  doesn't he look super enthused? he really was into by the end, showing off his trucks and chatting away.

our children were able to chat and interact with our neighbors and see the smiles that this small act of kindness brought to their faces. i'm hopeful that this will encourage many more acts of service and love initiated by the little ones.

"love begins at home, and it is not how much we do....

but how much love we put in that action"

- mother teresa

:friendly friday [on tuesday]:

months ago my husband and decided we wanted to intentionally reach out to others and build relationships. this thought process gave birth to...

{{friendly fridays}}

on fridays, or whatever day of the week works best, we invite a family over for dinner or dessert. it is never anything fancy just something simple, since food and decor are not our focus. though, if the truth be known i do run to pinterest for new recipes and inspiration.

our guests come over and we serve them and love them through food and conversation. our children are present and encouraged to interact as well. eisley is forever more trying to steal away our guests to play in her room. she gets as excited as we do about having company.

this week we hung out with some of our old youth, that are grown and newly married, that we now call friends. we caught up on life and shared laughs and words of encouragement. as i sat on the couch, tea in hand, my heart swelled with contentment. peace. breathing in this moment of blessing, of fellowship, of jesus with skin on.

i am one of those people that really really really wants my house to be clean as a whistle in order when company is coming. however, through this simple act of service, i am slowly but surely letting go and becoming okay with imperfection and just enjoying people that have been placed in our lives.

"love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put into that action"   -mother teresa