☀️ Sunscreen, sprinting toddlers, and settledness

“If you cannot act right and treat each other with kindness and RESPECT within the walls of this house, then I am for sure not taking you anywhere else so you can act foolishly. We can just stay home—all day, every day. Mom is just fine sitting out in the yard all summer reading a book”

Listen, I hope to possess the gentleness of Christ as a fruit of the Spirit, but a “gentle parent” I am not. I wasn’t yelling when I said this, but I for sure had on my firm “teacher voice”. (To the real teachers, I salute you.)

I also do a really cool thing when I’m lecturing and raise my eyebrows up as HIGH as I can to show exactly how serious I am.

It’s an art form really.

Sometimes I wish I could grab the whole world (and a few choice people in it) by its shoulders and give everyone this speech.

Act. Right. Stop being foolish, stop running your mouth, stop provoking. Don’t you realize getting along serves everyone better than constant arguing?

My Grandpa grew up Old Order Amish, and his parents always said this phrase to them when they left the house: “mach nichts Dummes”. It means “don’t do anything stupid.” It was their final reminder to their kids as they went over the doorframe out into the world to remember who they were and whose they were. It was the Amish version of “act right”.

Their plain clothes, buggies, and hats might as well have been neon signs saying “these people are different!” Their actions reflected not just on them, but on their family, their whole community, their way of life.

In the same way Paul, gives this reminder to the believers at Thessalonica.

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you.

-1 Thessalonians 4:1

Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

-1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

When I first read these verses as a teen, I thought what an absolute boring ambition. My ambition was to live a BIG life—for Jesus, of course. I read missionary biographies and thought about what it would be like to sacrifice everything for God—like Jim Elliot or Gladys Alyward.

Something so simple couldn’t surely be what God wanted.

A quiet life? Living with love? Not meddling?

Just pleasing God and going to work a regular-schmegular job? Getting along with people? Being kind?

It doesn’t feel big enough or hard enough.

And yet.

Living like Jesus. Loving like Jesus. It’s the biggest, hardest thing we will dedicate our lives to.

Going to the park, driving, working, cleaning up after dinner, changing diapers, pumping gas—whatever it is we’re doing—remembering who we are and whose we are.

“But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.”

-1 Thessalonians 5:8

I did end up taking my kids out of the house—to a beach that’s close by and we love. I doled out snacks and rubbed in sunscreen. I chased (literally sprinted after) my toddler as she actively tried to abandon her family for a free-wheeling life.

As I splashed with my kids, lifting our little one higher and higher in the sparkling Michigan lakewater, I felt this truth settle into my soul. You don’t have to live a big dramatic life to matter.

What matters most is the way I love on my quiet, ordinary Thursdays. Just like Jesus.

Father, keep me asking “what would Jesus do?” In my most boring moments may I be found faithful to love like I have been loved. Help me to remember my identity is settled as your beloved daughter—fully loved and chosen. And from that settledness I can live and love like You lived for and loved me. Amen.

💖 Off the Record — I’m really loving historical fiction set in different time periods than I normally read (aka NOT WW2 or the 1800s) and this book set in the 60s is adorably delightful. An aspiring journalist tries to get out of the typing pool, solve a mystery, and maybe even fall in love.

💖 My Fav Retinol — On sale for 25% off!

💖 21 Back to School Prayers for Moms of Every Age + Stage — This was a joy to write! You can also grab these as printable prayer cards on Etsy or I’m offering them as a paid subscriber benefit for the month of August here on Substack!

💖 Pearl earrings — I snagged these cute earrings from Target for our family photos, I was sure they were a winner, BUT they irritated my sensitive earholes. womp, womp. This tried and true pair have yet to let me down. (I just want one that has a silver base!)

💖 I’m No Longer Mourning My Capacity — “Our God is limitless. We are not.” A great essay that I deeply relate to.

✨keep chasing vibrance,

Katie