Christmastime is Here Again!

The Christmas season is upon us! Even though it starts trickling in well before Thanksgiving, I typically don't get too involved in Christmas-type things until the day after Thanksgiving.
This year we kicked off the season with a visit from my mom, step-dad, and grandma who joined us in an array of fun Christmas events. It started on Saturday with a trip to Jacksonville to enjoy the decorations, then we headed out again in the evening for the tree lighting in downtown Medford, which included an unsuccessful visit with Santa. Then after church on Sunday, we journeyed to our favorite tree farm in search for the perfect tree to cut down. What a wonderfully full weekend we had!

Anger For Patience

A couple weeks ago our church held a Ladies Retreat, located on site so that as many women as possible would be able to attend. They did this last year as well, and both years were very successful. It was a wonderfully fulfilling weekend, and the Lord used it to speak many truths into my life and used many ladies to do so. One of the people he used was the amazing Jan Elkins. In our last session together she was sharing about communion and explained to us that communion was so much more than just taking a representation of the body and the blood of Jesus. She said that God wants to use communion to make an exchange with us. We give Him something and we get something in return. Jan had us call out things that we have given to Jesus and what He has mercifully replaced that with, such as: Pain for Healing, Darkness for Light, Fear for Peace, Despair for Hope, and the list goes on. During that time the Lord said to me "Anger for Patience". That was the exchange He wanted to work out in my life.

Now, I am not an angry person, but there are things that can really set me off and I can react in an angry way. But I don't want to behave that way. It isn't okay, nor is it something that God wants for my life. So, I have decided exchanged anger for patience and have asked the Lord to show me why I get angry, where that actually stems from, and to take it from me, receiving patience from Him in return. And just this week I have experienced some situations that would normally cause me to react in an angry way, and I have instead reacted in a patient way. Seriously SO amazing!!!

So I would like to encourage you to seek out one thing that you no longer want to define you and exchange that for something better. And the next time you take communion, make that exchange with the Lord and invite great results to be manifested in your life!

Fun Times This Fall

The Connolly Clan has had some fun during this recent Fall season. I love the change in weather all around and that it brings along with it beautiful color in this valley. I love that we get to go on exciting adventures that only come around once a year. And I love spending time with Sean and the kids, as we experience all that this time of year has to offer.

Here are the activities we have enjoyed:


Apple Picking with our friends (and consuming pumpkin muffins & cookies)

Scarecrow Festival @ Hanley Farm (pumpkin painting and a hay ride)

Harvest Festival @ Pheasant Fields (another hay ride and picking out pumpkins)

Making Hot Chocolate (and drinking it while we watched the rain fall outside)

7 Oaks Pumpkin Patch (more pumpkins and a pony ride)

Playing at a nearby playground on a gorgeous fall day

Dressing up for Halloween

Visiting Family in CA for my brother's wedding

Making A yummy treat called Scarecrow Crunch

Taking pictures as we played in the fall leaves

Making warm caramel apple cider

Early Thanksgiving with our friends

Making pancakes into the shape of turkey's complete with eyes, beak, and the little gobbler

Regular Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law's



What a jam-packed, fun-filled season it has been!

The Same Outfit

When I was pregnant with Declan my aunt Barbara gave me a couple of gender neutral outfits for one of my baby shower's. They were 18-24 month sizes and I remember thinking when I opened them, "Will my baby EVER fit into these clothes??" ... Well, my first baby eventually did and now my second baby does as well.

It's really sweet to see Inara wearing something that Declan once did. Since we had a boy then a girl, I haven't had the chance to reuse baby clothes, so it warms my heart to see something used twice on two of my kids. I just love baby clothes and I especially love the clothes that my babies have worn.

Inara @ 17 months

Declan @ 19 months 

The Adorableness That Is My Children

This may be a post that most people read and think "Oh my gosh! Barf. Would you please stop BRAGGING about your children???!!!" And if that is you, I apologize AND give you permission to stop reading NOW. Don't even hesitate. But if you don't mind my bragging, then please continue.

I often look at this blog as a way for me to journal/document the special times in life, and, I felt like it was time to "jot down" the adorable things that my two babies have been doing lately. I love having a place that I can reference and remember these times of life. It also serves as a place for family and friends to participate in our adventures, if they so choose.

I am really, really loving the ages of my kids right now. Declan turned three at the end of August and Inara will be 18 months in two weeks. They are both extremely curious about the world around them. Declan is talking non stop and Inara's vocabulary is increasing by the day it seems. I love watching them discover new things and being delighted by stuff that most adults take for granted. Declan is constantly asking questions and Inara will sit and manipulate a toy for the longest time.

Declan loves trains, tractors, trucks, cars, boats, and basically anything that moves. He loves having books read to him and always asks me to read to him at the most inopportune times. He adores his sister, and is learning to be a very obedient, helpful, and honest boy. He is so funny and will make up songs that make no sense at all, knowing that it will make us laugh.

Inara is SO STINKIN' CUTE. Seriously. I am so delighted by her. Mind you, she is a pill a lot of the time. She loves to be held which is frustrating when I am trying to get stuff done around the house. She would have me hold her all day long if she a choice. She loves her baby dolls, wearing sunglasses, putting on clothes by herself (or trying to), playing with Declan, singing, dancing, and reading books.

Now, if I'm being honest, some days are really tough. I don't want to paint this rosy picture that is inaccurate. Some days I want to bash my head into a wall. But I'd have to say that most days are delightful. I have REALLY good, REALLY sweet kids. I love taking them out with me on errands and to story time at the library and to play with friends and to the park. Sean and I are blessed, and so very thankful for them and for the personalities God has given them.

Declan playing with trains & train tracks

Walking hand in hand

Doing art work

Riding in the wagon in our back yard

Inara the Fashionista

Let Go My Soul And Trust In Him

I have been hesitant to write this post for several weeks now. I know that I need to do it, but it is challenging because in it I will have to be real, honest, open, and vulnerable. And that is a little scary. However, by writing it, it will give me a chance to process what I've been going through, and hopefully a chance to minister to others.

I guess this all began back in July when I attended a 5 week class at my church called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. During those five weeks, my world was rocked as I learned things I had never been taught before and was hit hard with truths that my heart had been longing for, but I didn't even know it. There was so much ground that the enemy had a hold of in my life that I was beginning to take from him and give to Jesus.

Then, a couple months ago I was awoken by a nightmare in the middle of the night. It really shook me up and scared me. I internalized the feelings from the dream, and continued to struggle with them for weeks after that. I started to allow fear and anxiety to take over my thoughts, my daily activities, my hopes and my dreams for the future. And because of that, I was weak, and the enemy took it as an opportunity to attack. For several weeks I was continually hit by intense spiritual warfare, and it was brutal. I felt paralyzed by fear. I felt like I was in a cave of darkness and couldn't see light anywhere around me. I felt like I never going to recover.

I have struggled with some anxieties off and on for most of my life, so I was wasn't understanding why this particular experience was proving to be so difficult for me. In the past I would feel anxious about something, and after a couple days at the most, it would dissipate, I would feel better, and then move on with my life. WHY was this time different? I struggled with that question for several weeks, and then it finally hit me: What would I do without the fear and anxiety? It had become such a part of my life that I didn't know how to function without it. And THAT scared me.

But I don't want to be scared anymore. I don't want to live in fear. I don't want to be afraid of going after the hard things. I want to be a woman of power and confidence because that is who God designed me to be. I want to trust and believe in a God who is bigger than my circumstances. I want to stand on the promise that He is in complete control and knows what He is doing. I want to believe without a shadow of a doubt that "The goodness of God endures continually" Psalm 52:1.

There is a song that I have been listening to over and over again lately because of it's powerful lyrics and music, and because it brings me comfort and courage. It's called 'It Is Well', by Bethel Music & Kristene DiMarco. The chorus is on repeat in my brain: Let go my soul and trust in Him, the waves and wind still know His name. May I continually let go and trust in the Mighty One who's goodness endures continually.

Declan Turns 3!

Last Wednesday, August 27th, my baby boy turned THREE years old! We did a couple little things that day to celebrate him (special birthday doughnut, he chose what we did that day) but the big celebration was the following Saturday when we had a Construction Theme Birthday Party! It was a huge success and much fun was had by all who attended.