The Broughton Home

This post isn't about an answer to prayer... though I should post about those, and I shall... but THIS one?! I HAVE to share. I often answer my poor children with some sarcasm and humor when they ask me what I would consider silly questions. Not questions that would indicate they have something to learn... but obvious questions. Questions like: "what are the donuts for?" Really? In a spur of the moment, on the fly thinking, answer; "I'm making a donut garland" "what?!" "yeah, a donut garland. for the tree!" "no! why?!" "It'll be super fun, and pretty! It'll be way easier than cranberries and popcorn." "we can do sprinkle, cinnamon, powder, plain.. " I honestly didn't expect the girls to believe me... but even JON believed me! I was able to even get Adin on board.. she wanted to help me, and Jon found me some fishing line. In order to keep the deception going, I looked up an image on...

Since I'm working on recognizing answers to prayer, I should share this one. It's been about a week, so sharing is a little overdue. I've been praying for a job. I mean, I've had a job, and I loved my job, but it's seasonal. There's also the issue of daycare for Owen. I wouldn't bring home anything helpful if I put Owen in a daycare. So I've been praying for a job that would work with my schedule at home. I've applied to SO MANY places that have evening hours, or things I could do from home. In a moment of desperation, and late night sleep deprivation, I applied to Walmart. While I've been waiting on a response from a specific application, I just kept searching and praying.  I know God wouldn't bring us all the way here to let us fail, right? Not when he called us to be here... he has a plan. One night, I was lamenting to Jon, and wracking my brain for new ideas, and he piped up.. "why don't you check out Lakeshirts in DL?...

So.. my testimony is kind of a multi-leveled story. It's long, and not really boring, but not really a "wow! who knew?!" kind of story. It seems a little uninteresting to me.. but I lived it. If I'm going to live more obediently, and revel in God's answered prayers.. why not tell the story(ies) of ultimate answers?! When I "asked Jesus into my heart", I was 7. I knew what I was choosing, and I was excited! I was baptized, and I was the daughter of a deacon. Not quite a preacher's kid, but close enough. I didn't have a lot of rebellious tendencies, and I had a decently quiet teen-hood. Boring, in the way of stories. When I went to college, rather, when I moved away to live on my own. I wasn't overtly rebellious with my religion/beliefs.. I just didn't want to find a church. That, and I chose to "live in sin" rather than live near the boyfriend of my friend. That only lasted a little while since my (AMAZING) parents pleaded wi...

I went to bed ridiculously late. I knew it was a bad idea... I knew I would have a baby to care for in the morning. I just really wanted to get these photos edited so I could send them. Then the computer disk space was full, and I couldn't just finish my task. I spent so much time just researching, and deleting, and uploading files to the internet, and not getting anywhere. What a waste. To stay up that late, and only be halfway done.. if that. 2am.. that's what time I laid down in my bed. 4:40 is when I got up to help Jon with some things to get out the door, since he woke up late.. and 8:50 is when I finally gave in to my kicky baby boy. He wasn't nursing to sleep like he normally would. He was kicking me, and giggling, and babbling. SO SUPER CUTE.. but I was still sleepy. It occurred to me, I might need to get up, and do my journaling. I've started doing a prayer journal.. much like catching up on my blog has been a weird sort of obedience, so is the journal. I f...

I swear.. this is my final post today. Lately, I've been struggling with putting myself out there. Designing, photography, and even this blog. I have this thing, in my head.. that people don't care what I think is shareable.. or what I have to say. People may not actually care.. but how can I know that, unless I put it out there. How can I ask God to work through me, if I'm not willing to give Him the chance. Yesterday, I acted on faith, and the prompting of God. Something I'm trying to do more, despite my own discomfort. While I was in my car, having a ridiculous internal freak out.. a song played on my Pandora app.. before I called my mother. After calling my mom, and mentally acknowledging the song.. the interaction I was dreading went really well. It might turn out to be a good income for me while I also get to stay home and raise my son. I won't know right away, but it felt good to try, and let God do what he needed/wanted to do THROUGH me. On my way ...

Okay... post 3 in the same day.. I have a lot to unload. Including... CHRISTMAS LETTERS... cause I suck. I'm horrible about cards.. I can even get them done, and never send them... why? I don't actually know. I have stamps from last Christmas, still in my wallet. Not on cards... what is WRONG with me? Either way... I have written letters out, and just never sent them out. What a shame. I'm going to put them both here, from the last two Christmases. Sorry, not sorry. Enjoy! The Broughton Family    Christmas 2016! As most of you know, 2016 saw the Broughton’s move to Minnesota. Allow me to bore you with some of the details. :) In 2015 , we started telling friends and family that we were planning to move. There weren’t many believers, but the plan moved along. In January , Jon and I celebrated our 12 year anniversary by taking a trip to Minneapolis to check out the state in the winter. I was already determined to live here, so I would not be budged from that ...

I know! 2 posts in one day?! What is HAPPENING?! I couldn't make THIS post part of the LAST post. While they are connected, they're different stories. After Miya was born.. I decided I wanted one more. Jon did NOT.. since we were already 3 kids deep into the feminine life.. he was already feeling outnumbered, and not a fan of the idea of being SO surrounded. So we prevented.  In the time from then till now, God answered prayers. All kinds of prayers... some so small, I can't even remember the prayers, and others that were big at the time. Some public, some personal. All that time, I prayed for a change of heart for Jon, and a baby for me. I thought those two should go together. I wasn't going to get pregnant without Jon's consent, since that's what counseling fights are made of. Fast forward 10ish years.. We moved to a new state, lived at a lake, moved from the lake into a home that is closer to work for Jon, and LOADS closer to the church and friends. L...

I see it's been 4ish years since I last posted anything. I'm never sure if anyone wants to hear/read what I have to say/write... but Kera seemed interested when she found out I have a blog.. so really, what have I to lose? Nothing. I might have something to gain though, so I'll carry on. Anyways, there have been many changes in our lives since my last post.. this will be a catch up. In 2015, we took a trip that took lots of planning, and saving. A real family trip. Jon had told me, on many occasions, about spending a week at the lake in Minnesota once a year. It always sounded like fun... and like nothing I could relate to. He wanted the girls to experience it, at least once; and they seemed like the right age to make it happen. So he set that goal, and we met it. We were able to get a cabin at the same lake, in the same week as his parents. We made plans to see other touristy things along the way. JUST to make it a REAL family trip. We spent 15 days on vacation. Drove 5...