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10 Baby Products I Wish I Had As A First-Time Mom

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Our Family Vacation to Pagosa Springs, Colorado

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32 Incredible Small Businesses to Support This Christmas

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The Top 15 Foods to Try at Disneyworld: Epcot & Magic Kingdom

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A Review of Chesapeake Bay Candles + My Favorite Spaces in Our Home

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The Four Words That Changed My Perspective on Parenting

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Why I’m a Believer in Essential Oils

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Healthy Chicken Avocado Burritos: An Easy Weeknight Meal

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When Everyone Else Seems to Be ‘Doing Life’ Better Than You

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Quick and Easy Mini Cream Cheese Danishes 

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Sparrows & Lily

Lindsey is a lifestyle blogger based in Albuquerque, NM. She has a passion for God, people, food and fashion. She started Sparrows + Lily to openly share the raw & real parts of life with the goal of encouraging others.

lindsey.maestas
Instagram post 2243344124361181447_620927630 Tonight I want to share what I share every year before V-Day because it is much needed and seems to resonate with you guys! ⠀ ⠀ Here are a few reminders to help you fight feelings of discouragement or unmet expectations tomorrow:⠀ ⠀ 1. Expectations need to be communicated. As much as we wish our spouses could read our minds, they can’t! And if they should “just know”, then we are literally setting them up for failure. Keep it simple and voice your desires and expectations. Do you want to wake up with breakfast in bed? Tell him! Also, this life was never intended to be all about us. How can you intentionally place your family above yourself tomorrow?⠀ ⠀ 2. Everyone was raised differently. My parents bought me flowers and gifts for every holiday, every year. But my husband’s family isn’t the same way. When that isn’t part of their experiential or behavioral pattern, it is difficult to create a brand new habit. Don’t place that heavy expectation on your spouse. If you like to celebrate, go all out for them! And if they don’t do the same, go back up to number 1. ♥️ ⠀ ⠀ 3. The state of your relationship is not based on flowers, chocolates, diamonds or anything else that money can buy. Don’t allow yourself to place that stigma on your relationship. Throw that idea into the pit of hell, if you will 😂. Let’s say this louder for those in the back: If you don’t have a husband who is elaborate in gift-giving, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you! ♥️⠀ ⠀ 4. Everything is not what it seems. We don’t know what people actually have going on in their lives, so to assume based off of a cute photo of flowers (that they might have had sent to themselves 😉) that they have the perfect marriage is to lose sight of the joy in your own relationship. Comparison will always be the thief of joy. ⠀ ⠀ 5. There are people who are deeply struggling on this holiday. Take a second to stop and ask yourself: How can I love on someone who might be feeling lonely today? ⠀ ⠀ Friends, there are 365 days in a year. Let’s focus on the countless small gestures that our spouses do to show us their love throughout the year. ⠀ ⠀ Also...have sex with your husbands!!! 💋 ⠀ ⠀ Love you guys!
Instagram post 2242265395224392509_620927630 What does the word “home” make you feel?⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Home has always meant joy, peace and safety for me. It is a place of warmth, of growth and of treasured moments. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ...But there are also days when I walk through the door or wake up in the morning, weary and worn, not ready to handle whatever is in store for me. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ In this home, I spend a lot of my time cleaning dirty dishes, creating meals that don’t get eaten, correcting my boys, packing lunches and picking up toys & listening to both the joys and struggles of dear friends over hot cups of coffee. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ I have controlled, created, destroyed and built a life in my homes. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ There have been moments when I’ve broken down in tears on this floor. Days when I need the embrace of my husband because the world feels like it is caving in around me.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ And, for many of you, these moments⠀⠀ of mine are minuscule in comparison to your notion of “home”, which may not be one of safety, joy or peace at all. It is - or was in the past - one of discord, violence, loud voices or deafening silence.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ We all come from different backgrounds and live out different experiences, but we can build a NEW home with a NEW story. Because “every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is GOD.” Hebrews 3:4.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ You can begin re-building your home when you:⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ 🕊...spend intentional time abiding in His goodness, in spite of the painful, loud, deafening or difficult that may surround you.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ 🌱... lean into His rest and perfect promises that He offers to ALL who know Him when your family feels weary and burdened.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ 🖤 ... create space for those minutes that turn into hours in God’s word, with an open heart prepared to know Him deeper. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ...Friends, He welcomes you with open arms. Get up on that couch and allow His goodness and power to shift the trajectory of your home this morning.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Give opportunity for your children to see God as a priority as they witness the impact and heart change that comes from time spent with him. ⠀ ⠀ He loves us to the ends of the earth and He is with us in the midst of ALL of the mess and the chaos. 🖤⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ [Sofa, loveseat, coffee table and side table all from @americanhome505]
Instagram post 2235783218366382097_620927630 We‘re celebrating 8 years of marriage today! 🖤 To be honest, I never thought I‘d make it this far. I used to hear people say, “Once you reach seven years, you’re in the safe zone.” And so, being the runner that I am, I always assumed that I‘d only make it to six. ⠀ ⠀ The word ‘divorce’ has flown out of my mouth once in the past 8 years, and I cried immediately, because the primary piece of advice I’d been given was to never let that word be said in my home. But I failed, and I said it, and saw a look of shock on my husband’s face. And yet, God sustained us.⠀ ⠀ We have cried many tears of joy and of sadness, exchanged words that stung deeply and disagreed on parenting decisions. And yet, God sustained us. ⠀ ⠀ The ups and downs will continue. We don’t know what‘s to come. But God doesn’t shift or change. He remains solid and steadfast. He doesn’t falter. And He is always good, even when we‘re not. So when we want to have a sharp tongue, we remember His words, “love is kind”. When we want to sit in pride, we remember, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." When we want to hold a grudge, we remember to forgive “seventy times seven times”, just as He has forgiven us.⠀ ⠀ This morning, Jesse and I lay in bed together, cuddling and laughing and smiling over what the past 8 years have been. Because in spite of some hardship, the sweet, the joyful & the good has always won out. He and I are still here, living this life hand in hand.⠀ ⠀ Jesse is my safe place and my rock. He knows the deep depths of my heart and mind, like nobody else ever has. He knows what I need before I do and he calls on my friends before I even realize I’m lonely. He listens intently to my feelings and thoughts with intimate focus, holds me tightly when I want to hide from the world and he gives every piece of himself to our marriage. ⠀ ⠀ He‘s my very best friend. But the strength of our marriage wouldn’t be what it is without the trials, tears and hardship. We are one another’s rock because of the solid Rock upon which we have chosen to stand. Friends, God doesn’t falter or change. He is good. So hang on. And here’s to 80 more years. 🖤🥂 ⠀
Instagram post 2227374100924588125_620927630 I often say that a person’s behavior or response to something makes a lot less sense when idolatry is involved.⠀ ⠀ Mom guilt. Stay-at-home mom vs. working mom comparison. A child’s sickness. Lack of control over their choices. ⠀ ⠀ ...These emotions are heavy to carry. ⠀ ⠀ I spoke with a woman today who shared about the devastating loss of her toddler. She had another child on the verge of a leukemia diagnosis only a year later when she came to a point & told God, “Okay God. He’s yours. I’m giving him up to you. I trust you - either way.” ⠀ ⠀ Very honestly, I said to her, “I don’t think I could do that.” ⠀ ⠀ As we spoke, I realized my deep idolatry for my children. The way that my lack of control over Sutton’s asthma sends me into a dizzying emotional spin that affects my entire family. The way that my boys’ childlike decisions can create an embarrassment within me because that “isn’t how they are supposed to behave”. The tremendous amount of guilt and weight I feel after working for a few hours. It all displays a deeper need. ⠀ ⠀ ...When the fears in our hearts dig deeper and deeper, where do we run? When being underneath the covers with tears flowing feels like the only safe haven, where can we go from there?⠀ ⠀ Even in our idolatry, the God of the Bible does not look down and cast shame or guilt. He offers His help. His love. His restoration. He hasn’t ever promised that this world would be easy - that motherhood would be easy - but He promises a new hope and a new earth where tears and pain are no longer.⠀ ⠀ Yes, friends, we should love our children with a ferocious, deep love. Yes, we are bound to worry, to stress, to hide. But when the emotions stop making sense – when, again and again, they point back to US and our worry and our control and cause us to unhinge...we may have turned away from a necessary eternal perspective. ⠀ ⠀ What is it like to worship in the midst of bad news? What is it like to be free of unnecessary mom guilt and shame? It is to redirect the worship of our tiny little people to the worship of God - the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
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