I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happened in our world since I started this blog. How much my life has changed and how I had no idea what was in store for us when I made my first post in January 2014. I began that year believing that God was going to give us a great story to live and He did. And He’s still giving us one today. After a year of writing, filming and sharing scenes from my life, I find myself in awe of where we’ve been and excited to learn where this journey will lead us next.
Lately Joey has been teaching Indiana to tell us how old she is. She asks “how old are you Indy?” and Indiana puts her little hand in the air and raises one finger.
It’s just precious.
For Indiana, it was her first breath, her first coo, her first smile, her first laugh, her first kiss… and ultimately, her first birthday.
For Joey, it was her first pregnancy, her first home-birth, her first baby and a thousand other firsts for her daily since then. It was her first feeling of motherhood – of truly giving herself totally to someone else. Her first feeling of knowing what life is really all about. And it was also a last for Joey… her last baby. She loves being a mommy so much that after Indy was born, she wondered and prayed, if we could or should have more children – and God answered. It may have came in the form of cancer, but it was really just a clear “no, my child…this is the life I have planned for you”. And what a life it is!
And as for me… it was my first time to be in the room to watch a life being born and a few months in another room watching another life pass away right in front of my eyes. To see someone I love not only stop breathing and die, but also to see her truly live each and every day like there is no tomorrow. My mother’s courage in her last months, weeks and days was inspiration to me and to everyone around her.
I want THISLIFE I LIVE to matter. To not look back and wish that I had done something different. To dream incredible dreams and risk being a fool for something that I believe in. To say something or create something that can make a difference in someone’s life, including mine.
So, we all spent Easter this year in Virginia. We’re still here as a matter of fact. Making a movie. Josephine. Another first. We’ll be here for the next 6 weeks – daring greatly – as a family.