Happy Birthday to the Best Dad Ever!

Today is my Dad’s birthday.  

But he lives a couple hours away from us.

I can’t bake him his favorite cake.

I can’t give him a hug.

I can’t wash his car.

I can’t take him to the movies.

So I will just write about him.

My Dad is one of my heroes.  

There is no way to accurately portray in words the impact he has had on my life.

My Dad is one of the strongest men I know.  In fact, my Mom is also one of the strongest women I know.  They have endured many hardships.  Job transfers, job changes, multiple moves, cancer, crazy commutes for work (whether weeks at a time or months at a time to different states or countries), a complete career change, sicknesses and surgeries and everything else have not made my Dad slow down or lose his faith.

He keeps going.  He keeps persevering.  He keeps pressing on.

And in the midst of it all, he has continued to work extremely hard.  My Dad is by far the hardest worker I know.  He instilled in me his hard work ethic.  We have trouble slowing down, taking it easy, and resting.  But when it comes to seeing what needs to be done, doing it, and doing it well, we have that covered!  No matter what the task is, my Dad pours his heart into it and works so incredibly hard.  He gives everything his all.  I’m so grateful for him teaching me that by example.

My Dad loves his family more than anything.  Family has always been his top priority.  Every job he took was to better provide for us.  Every hardship we went through brought us closer together as a family.  He (and my mom) has sacrificed so much in order to make sure we were provided for.

My Dad has always been our biggest fan, especially when it comes to sports…even if that meant showing up to a game right after a surgery, still slightly out of it from anesthesia and hunched over from pain, so he didn’t have to miss it.  He never wanted to miss a game, concert, play.  And if he had to, he always called to let us know he was thinking about us and wishing he could be there.

The older I get, the more I appreciate all he has done for our family.  And the more I realize how much he truly cares for all of us and deeply loves us.  As we begin to grow our family I can better appreciate the sacrifices he had to make for his own.

My Dad is hilarious.  Really.  He has always made us smile and laugh.  I treasure the funny stories he tells us and I always look forward to seeing him laugh.  He has taught me to work hard but also to play hard.  Life is too short to not have fun.

He has taught me to be generous.  My Dad has always been a generous man.  He has helped neighbors, given of his time, and shared his resources.  If someone needs help, he just helps them.

I gained a love for traveling and experiencing other cultures early on from him.  We’ve been able to see and experience so much.  And I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunities he has allowed me to embark upon.  He gave me a love for the water.  And I began to realize it a little while after moving from Florida.  There is just something about being on the water that reenergizes us.

Obviously, this all goes hand in hand with traits of my Mom.  They are the best.  They’ve persevered, had incredible strength, and always prioritized family.

My family has been through a lot through the years.  But the Mitchels have always stuck together and grown from it all.  We walked through valleys and climbed over mountains, metaphorically and literally.  We don’t give up.  We just press on and love each other.

I could say a lot more about my dear Daddy.  I will always cherish our relationship.  I’m so grateful for the sweet moments we shared at Spencer and I’s wedding last June.  And now as we prepare for our baby girl, I am just beyond excited that our little girl gets to have my Dad has her grandfather.  She is already so blessed.

I love you, Dad.  Happy Birthday!

Baby C is a….

GIRL!!!

An Honest Look at the Budget

We just worked on our budget.

We worked through the numbers, sifted through receipts, and stared at the computer screen adjusting and reconfiguring.  You’d think our solemn expressions afterwards meant we had just been involved with something devastating or tragic.  Yet, it was just the budget.

But in all reality, it can be a scary thing to review finances and look at the budget.

 

How can we be the wisest we can be with our money?

What can we change so that we can put more into savings?

Will we be able to make ends meet this month?

 

Every month we’ve asked similar questions.

Every month we’ve wondered how it will all work out.  

And every month the Lord has provided.

 

We so often hear about marriages being torn apart because of finances.  We refuse to be in the majority that don’t talk about money, don’t communicate in order to be on the same page, or live in an ignorant way that doesn’t reflect their actual income.

It is so easy to worry, stress, argue, or even ignore things related to finances.

But we refuse to.

 

For a quick minute after reviewing our budget, we both had the “oh my gracious” moment of wondering how it will work out.  But then we erased those thoughts and breathed in the peace of God’s continued faithfulness.

He has taken care of us and sustained us every step of the way.

Our Lord has provided in incredible ways throughout our marriage.

And today, we choose to trust Him again.

 

We cannot fear with Him beside us, behind us, and in front of us.

We cannot worry when our Savior has conquered the grave and sits enthroned in heaven.

May we as believers live differently than the world.  May we not get entangled in the traps of materialism and living beyond our means.  May we not outdo one another in material gain but in love and service.  May what we do with our money point the world to Christ.