Oh my heart. These photos just make me swoon with motherly love. I’ve been thinking so much lately about the relationship that Bella and Lucy have and how that relationship will continue to blossom and change throughout their lives.

Bella LOVES being the big sister. She loves to teach and help and encourage. She is so loving…sometimes a little TOO loving Lucy has now figured out that if she doesn’t want to be picked up by Bella, she can head butt, pinch, pull hair, bite…whatever it takes to get her to put her down. It’s actually quite humorous to observe. This is hard for Bella because all she wants to do is have a real live baby doll. Matt and I get so exasperated from repeating the phrase “Bella…please put her down” all day long. She can’t walk by Lucy without trying to pick her up!

Lucy wants to be big like Bella. It’s so hard when Bella has friends over to play…because Lucy wants to join in the fun! Unfortunately right now that means she will eat markers and tear papers, and pretty much drive them crazy. She begs to sit in Bella’s bunk…and when we finally put her up there, she sits super still and quiet…drinking in the moment.

Sometimes after Bella has an interaction with Lucy…she will share her thoughts with me. She whispers with a smile…

“I did that just like a mommy…”

And I wonder in my heart what “mommy ways” I have modeled for her that day. Often times, I am reminded of words spoken too harshly, concerns dismissed to quickly, or her repeated requests that went ignored because I was “busy”. I so desire to show her what gentleness, grace, and kindness look like in a real setting. And yet, I fail often.

Watching her act out my inadequacies is a hard wake up call. And something I am actively working on. Because she copies my actions. And Lucy copies her actions. So by controlling my own selfishness and/or impatience, I can affect the entire dynamic of our family. I have God-given power to mold the outcome of every situation by exchanging my knee jerk reactions with thoughtful, Christ-like reactions.

I cannot do this on my own. I do not believe that deep down I am a “GOOD” person and if I just focus on that, good things will come out of my heart. No, I believe that deep down, I am motivated by selfish desires. I’m motivated by my flesh. And acting in the flesh FEELS good at the time, but it’s not good.  I’m a sinner. Every day (sometimes every hour), I have to die to those desires. I want more of Jesus and less of me. I walk with Jesus by my side every day so that I can listen to Him whisper encouragement in my ears:

Life moves fast. And when you’re not intentionally slowing down and really SEEING every moment…you will miss something! With this in mind, every day for the past week my dear friend Alicia and I have been documenting our daily life (morning and evening) and sending them to each other via iPhone.

*holding hands

*togetherness

It has been such a sweet way for us to connect and feel closer to each other even when we’re miles apart. When I see her photos come in for the day, I am GIDDY with excitement! It’s been so fun to see each others lives in this way and it causes us to be mindful about catching all the little moments…our life “inspired”. Be sure to keep an eye on her blog as well…she’ll be posting some of her images too (and they’re amazing!).

*bliss

I will be sharing more of these photos with you…because they make me happy! And, more importantly…I am sharing them because I am trying to turn over a new leaf. Imperfect, pressure free blogging

*immersed

I’ve blogged before about how much I LOVE “phone photography”…and the gritty, unedited glimpses into life that they provide. I don’t have time right now to edit lots of photos, but I can do this! It takes me moments instead of hours…awesome.

I still love my “fancy” camera…but at this season of life, I’m loving the on-the-go, compact accessibility of my iPhone camera. I’ve never been a big scrapbooker/record keeper, but I do that with my photos. And someday, I will make a book of all of these photos for my kiddos to treasure.

I am also starting a Flickr group called Life Inspired and I would love if you would add photos of your own. See you there!

**apps used:
ShakeItPhoto
Hipstamatic

*sisterly