In 2015, I started this blog…the very one you are reading today.
I started it as a way to share my journey through a foreclosure renovation we were doing and to share the diy projects and decorating I was doing along the way..but in time, it grew to be so much more, not just for me but for many of you.
You see, in 2016/2017, we moved onto our farm that we purchased…and Facebook did something crazy. They created LIVE VIDEO streaming! Because of this, I started going live and sharing my journey with you in a new way. Before this time, all you had was my written content. I would share stories, projects, devotions, etc in written form…and I connected that way- but THIS was a real game changer! I would soon get to know each of you in a whole new way, more intimately than ever before…and you would start to see into my life in a whole new way that I never expected.
I could have never guessed what would take place these next few years as we journeyed together through my years in the single wide while we built our home. You laughed with me, cried with me, watched the Re-Fabbed Boutique come into fruition, watched my kids grow, watched me progress as a business woman and watched my business change drastically during the last 10 years.
I let you in on so many parts of my life as we built our home and our business, but what I never expected was the toll it could possibly one day take on me as a person.
Let me explain…
I would not change anything about my life in the online space, but what I would change is the boundaries that I feel I didn’t set as well as I should have. While you only see a very tiny portion of my life, I know many of you have become very invested, and I completely get that and feel as though so many of you are some of my dearest friends. Friendship in the online space is VERY REAL, and many of you have gotten me through some of the hardest times in my life with your encouragement and prayers. I have gotten gifts, cards, emails, private messages, comments, etc through the years simply lifting me up and showing me your love and I could never say thank you enough.
The problem is, when change happened, such as my recent move to Tennessee, I noticed that somehow a boundary had not been set as to my private life and the decisions we make as a family that are completely OURS to make on our own. I realized that over the past few years of sharing, some have began to feel like my life is perhaps not even my own anymore…that it is somehow theirs and is theirs to decide what is best. I began to see that my life was more critiqued and judged and gone over with a fine tooth comb than I had ever truly realized.
While I had always done the same things each day, in the same places each day…nobody understood that our family also had plans and other ideas in our life that I never bring to the public, LOTS more. We pray and talk and share and do things that are not always conventional or understood, but we always do what we believe is best for US and OUR FAMILY.
We made that move to Tennessee after MONTHS and MONTHS of prayer and consideration…and at that point in time, we believed fully that it was God’s will. We still believe it was, although we had to make the hard decision to move back to Kentucky, which is where we are now (and no, not back to our same house). We never expected to come back at all, especially this soon…but nothing catches God by surprise.
There ended up just being way too much going on back in Kentucky for us to be down in Tennessee. We just didn’t know how much we would truly need to be there. We had obviously taken all of that into lots of prayerful consideration, but you never truly know how something will be until you do it. We LOVED TENNESSEE. We loved the school. We loved the people. We made friends. The kids made friends. Our short time there was impactful to say the least.
You see, sometimes I believe God just wants our obedience. He wants to know we are willing. We were. We did what we felt called to do, as scary as it was. We heard all the talk, but guess what?
We simply were following what we truly believed God was telling us to do. End of story. And one day, we will know why…and even if we don’t, it was still for good. That doesn’t make it less hard.
I hope our kids see our faith in the unknown and scary and still choose to obey. I hope they see that God is in all the details, even when they can’t understand. I hope they see that the truth is always the truth, even when lies spread. I hope they see. And I hope they know.
And I hope that you know…
I hope you know that I am just a 40 year old woman who started a blog 10 years ago and followed her heart and God’s calling…and it led to more than she could ever dream. It also led to a life that gets looked at through a microscope that I never wanted, yet I welcome to a degree because it comes with the territory…but not to the detrimation of my family or my kids.
I love to share with you. I am vulverable. I am as real as they come.
I love to decorate. I love to craft. I love to share thoughts and stories and devotions. But, I do not have to justify or even share every intimate detail of my life or my families lives and decisions, no matter what that is. That is not fair, and that is a boundary I will can’t allow to be crossed. It has to be held with the utmost respect and privacy, and it has to have peace attached to it. When it affects my kids and family, it is too much. It is actually too much even when it affects me like it has.
I can’t say thank you enough for being here along my journey and welcoming me into your homes. I hope I have always done the same for you. I will never take this platform for granted, and I will never take your support for granted. It has blessed me in ways I could never imagine.
As we journey through this next stage of life, I am excited for the days ahead…and I can’t wait to take you along for the ride! I hope you will continue to join me.
Last Updated on October 24, 2024
Leave a Reply