"If you could go back and change one thing...what would it be?"

This is a question both my husband and I have been asked several times by different people now that we're on the other side of foster care. And the truth is, if you had asked me in the midst of it, I'd have given you quite the lengthy list. I wanted to change all of it.

How many kids we took in.
Their ages.
Their pain.
The timing.
More support.
Our struggle.
My attitude.
My husbands attitude.
My kids attitudes.
The list would have gone on and on and on.

And yet looking back now, I know for certain that I wouldn't change a single thing.

Beauty captures me.

For as long as I can remember, I've been in this constant place of noticing, longing and even striving for some aspect of what beauty entails.

I'll admit, at some points in my life, what I was reaching for - and even living - ended up not being as beautiful as it first seemed. And yet, at other times, I experienced such incredible beauty birthed from moments and situations that I never would have expected - had I not paid attention to Gods beauty in them.

Sometimes life is not quite what we make plans for it to be.

Sometimes we do all that we can, and put what we feel is our very last ounce of effort and energy into making our life look a certain way, and then quite shockingly...the rug is pulled out from beneath us, and life has other plans.

We're now about half way through the summer (nooo!!!!), and it's usually about this time that we're feeling the full effects of all that the heat and summer weather can bring. Which is why I wanted to share with you all my must have summer beauty essentials. All the products I think you guys need to have, and all the products I make sure I have, as we head into the remaining summer months!

While I jokingly refer to my bangs as my "natural botox," the truth is I am borderline obsessed (in a totally healthy way, I promise) with finding as many options for "natural botox" as I possibly can when it comes to skin care products. The more I research, the more excited I get, and the more my vanity of goodies grows. 

I'm sure I'm not the only mama out there has often heard the statement, "But mom! So and so is allowed to do it!" Or, "Everyone else has one..." Or, "Why can't we just be like everyone else???"

And what do we always say in return?

"You are not so and so, and I am not so and so's mom, and our family has their own way of doing things."

And while we might hear this more clearly from our children and have a strong reaction against it, what about all the times we have a similar dialogue within our own hearts and minds?