The Last Seven Takes
When we returned Stateside, I took my blogging in a new direction. I connected with other bloggers and found link-ups. I even had a few articles published (or re-published) on other websites. One of the bloggers I connected with is Kelly at This Ain’t the Lyceum, who hosts Seven Quick Takes. Today will be the last link-up she hosts. I’ve not been as consistent in my posting this year, but I wanted to go out with a celebration of the last seven-ish years of connection.
When I first “met” Kelly, our family was in the middle of transition. After entering the civilian world, it took six months for my husband to find employment, then it took two months after that to find housing. It was a challenging time, but we made it. We faced challenges with the movers and damages, new allergy issues, and making our new place “home.” The weekly review helped me frame all of those challenges with a positive outlook.
Over the years, I’ve done “lessons from…” posts often sharing them as seven quick takes. Seven is the Biblical number of completion, so it makes sense to me to have seven lessons in these posts. I include lessons from books we’re reading, movies we enjoy, and every day life.
I’ve shared our journey as we transitioned with civilian life, employment changes, grief, and ministering to others. I write the real life difficulties of homeschooling and having a business. I vulnerably share the tough stuff, the struggles of balancing in mom life, and the rewards of getting through the storms. There truly never is a dull moment!
Recently, I shared a tough day/week/month, where several things went wrong all at once. One of those things was that I dropped my external hard drive and the data is unrecoverable. Some of my previous content that I cleaned out of this blog is lost. Some of my pictures that aren’t posted anywhere else are also lost. However, the relationships and support I’ve found through this space, will continue.
The past several weeks, I’ve struggled when I sit down to share the week. Part of that has to do with October and part of it is not balancing my tasks and planning well. We all go through times like that. We have to be willing to give ourselves the grace to keep going and improve as we go.
The reality of our daily life is that not much happens, but those moments create extraordinary memories. From documenting funny things kids say to sharing what we learned that week, nothing really is the best something!
Seven quick takes as a link-up has been a big part of my blogging journey. As the official link up comes to a close, I am resolving to take the time to get back to writing. What started as a “newsletter” sort of format to keep family up to date has evolved into much more. Thank you for being a part of it!