New Seasons

The Hall family has been through MANY new seasons in the last year. We have had so many changes; both for better and for worse. We’ve experienced the stress of home renovations, the loss of beloved family members, we’ve had family members facing significant challenges and health problems. We’ve had promotions and new job offers to consider, we’ve had new vehicles, new school changes (hello, homeschooling!), we’ve had sadness…and joy, we’ve had fun, we’ve had chaos and rest, and through it all I’m grateful that these are my people.

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Do you find that with each new season you can directly see growth and progression? You can see what has been nourished and flourishing, and what needs attention. You can see where changes have been made, and how those changes affect the things around them. Each new season brings with it new adventures, new past-times, new beauty, and new needs for life of all kinds. Each season is distinctly different than the one before, and each beautiful in its own way.

The most adventurous newness for our family is embarking on the journey of homeschooling. We are absolutely loving this decision for our family. We chose this about two years ago, and almost changed our plans last minute when I was offered quite literally my dream job (in the last month of summer)! It was such a difficult decision to make. Ultimately, I chose to continue with the commitment of homeschooling for our family. Right now, in this year, this is absolutely perfect. We have finished one full week of school, and already Addisyn has astonished me with how quickly she is picking up on reading, site words, Bible and so much more. Josiah cannot be outdone by his sister, so his PK-3 year has largely been comprised of him sitting right beside us, doing exactly what his sister is doing. His focus and attention has amazed me (because he’s my wild child). I could not be more proud of them both, or more grateful for this journey. There’s always going to be more seasons, and hopefully the dream job will still be there, but for now, we are LOVING this season.

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Our past seasons this year have been busy, chaotic, and draining. My love language is serving others (and boy have I had the opportunity to do that this year)! I truly love it. It’s who I am, it’s in my nature, it brings me joy and I have a deep obligation (primarily to myself) to ensure that the needs of others are met. But this is also very draining. I am terrible at prioritizing my own needs; I am terrible at giving attention to myself when I see opportunities to serve and bless others. It’s the essence of motherhood to prioritize other’s needs above your own; and I take this stance with most every relationship in my life. This summer we spent more time traveling and serving others (or serving some purpose or task in our life) that my heart was deeply craving stillness…quietness…and ease. The reality is, we can spend time serving tasks and to-do list and be just as exhausted (or even more so) than when we are serving people. For that reason, Justin and I have vowed that this season we are going into will be filled with less. Less commitments, less to-do lists, less projects, less busyness. And more routine, more rest, more relaxing, more peace, more fun!

Simple ways that I bring more “less” into my own life is making more time for me. Some stillness in the morning with a cup of coffee and the Word or my devotional, a commitment to show up for myself for Yoga and working out. Refusing to compromise and feel like my schedule is too busy to listen to my own needs for rest and restoration makes a big difference in my priorities. Making more time for simply playing with my children instead of worrying about the endless lists of chores and tasks. Cuddling on the couch with my people and soaking in their sweet little features brings much joy to my heart. Oddly, taking things OFF your plate sometimes requires you to be just as intentional as adding things to your schedule. The best thing about seasons is that they continually come and go. There’s always hope in the new season to come.

May this season find you blessed and less stressed, with lots of joy and sunshine!

XOXO,

Kristy