The blog

Well, as I've begun my new job as a stay at home mom (sahm) I have learned many new things. Each day, in fact, I learn several new things seems like. I wanted to start a blog about it and to my surprise I already had; when I was 39 weeks pregnant with miss Lillian Grace. (btw, Lilly ended up being 4 days overdo. Completely healthy- 7 lbs 13 oz, 19 1/2 in long; I labored for 7 hours, had her naturally, and fell in love with her the moment she was put on my chest. God is so good and answered so many prayers. She overcame the 2 vessel cord as she measures and weighs more than I did at her age.)

So life as a mommy and wife....I love it. It's stressful. It's fulfilling. It's tiring. It's, it's, it's wonderful really. I never pictured myself staying at home, but low and behold here I am. Rodney and I are thankful to even have the opportunity to pursue it and I think Lilly likes it quite a bit as well.

Lilly was born in Cincinnati which is where I started this blog. I had gone back to work after 6 weeks (which was crazy soon!) because I wanted to finish out the school and well, get my all of pay checks through the end of the summer. Rod and I had been praying about a change in jobs for him and God led us to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We had also talked about my possibly wanting to stay home. So...we got married in March of 2012, had a baby January 2013, and moved to a new state, no family and a 6 month old in July 2013. People have said to me, "Wow, no family and your first baby-that's hard." It is a bummer at times, to not have anyone around that you really "know," but we are actually enjoying our little family of three. We miss our families often, but luckily they enjoy coming down to visit.

So that's the background info. Here is what I would really like to focus on with this blog:

1. Being a sahm and self-esteem.
2. Being a sahm and identity.
3. Being a sahm and spending.
4. Being a sahm and a woman of God.

5. Being a sahm and being a mom.

I recently started something called BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). My mother-in-law and sister-in-law recommended I look into it since I just moved to a new city. "It's a great way to meet new people," they said. Well, little did I know how wonderful it actually would be. Therefore, many of my posts may relate to Matthew which is the book we're studying. Hopefully my posts will be led by the Holy Spirit. I really want to speak to a community of mothers (not just sahms) because I feel like we have the toughest job (especially working moms, which I plan to touch on quite a bit). I'm excited to share my thoughts with other mommies and I'm hoping to hear what other people feel as well. These five topics are things that I am currently experiencing and areas of life that I would like to work on as a person.

With that said, let the posting begin. I pray that God will use me to bless others and I look forward to growing from this experience as well.

Good night,
Katie Gray