Stories with the Strickland's

A friend asked me recently what I do to develop a connection with my spirit children and with God (thank you, Mckenna, for inspiring this post!) and it made me pause and ponder a bit! So I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.      I honestly don't consider myself to be incredibly in-tune with the Spirit or closer to the Lord than most, but I am grateful that I've started finding more ways to be close to Him in recent years. I take a lot of inspiration from scripture, close friends, devout members of other Christian denominations, and from the promptings of the spirit. I have only felt like I could actually  hear and  listen  to the Lord in the last year, though. Before that, I often felt like I was talking without many clear responses, and only in hindsight did I see God's hand working in my life.      But now, I'm blessed to recognize the thoughts He puts into my head as Him speaking to me. I see Him actively guiding, blessing, and strengt...

I have been feeling a pull on my heart that our next child is going to be arriving sooner than we had planned. With my baby girl, I knew in my soul that I was getting pregnant within the upcoming 2 months—and sure enough, as the second month came, I became pregnant with her. I also knew in my soul that she was going to be born at the end of May, even though she was due in June. And so, I know to trust my intuition when it comes to my children's timing. So, according to my sense, I will be becoming pregnant again in the next year. Which is so exciting, but also terrifying! My next child has also picked their name already—but I don't plan to share it publicly for their privacy and will be picking a pseudonym for them when they come.      We had planned to wait until our baby was at least 15 months old to start trying for our second. However, even if we try to aim for that, I feel in my bones that our next baby will be coming much sooner. So 2 under 2 is going to be somethin...

 I went to church for the first time in many months and it was lovely. With my difficult pregnancy and being freshly postpartum, it has probably been about 8 months since I've been able to attend church (in person, at least). It was so good to be able to partake of the sacrament, hear the thoughts and lessons shared, and meet new people—since this was also the first time in our new area since moving when our baby was 3 weeks old.      The lesson was meant to be about being mindful of each other, finding God in all of our experiences, and seeing how He uses our lives and circumstances to bring us closer to Him—and we did talk about that—but I also noticed how so many things shared were about parenting. It was the perfect lesson to return to, since my whole life now revolves around my parenthood. A sister shared that parenting is often hard and overwhelming, until she remembers that these little children are God's, not just hers, and they were placed with her so she c...

 Since becoming a mom, I have noticed a lot of new strength in myself. Not just physically either! I now believe that "mom strength" is wrapped into every part of this new being one has become when they become a mother. I noticed shifting and changing in myself throughout my pregnancy—I wrote about it in my other post What's My Favorite Color? —but I didn't know where it was taking me. I think I'm starting to figure it out more now.      Mom Strength starts developing, physically, as soon as you start having contractions. It was the workout of my entire life! I have never pushed myself so hard, been so exhausted and sore, and felt so powerful before. It then continues as you do constant exercise by carrying your ever growing baby all day. Holding my little girl is a back and arm workout. Bouncing and walking with her is great cardio. Even today, my quads are so sore because I was wearing her on my chest and squatting down to change the bed sheets and clean around ...