My husband Joshua and I just celebrated our fourth (!) wedding anniversary! This week, I’ve been feeling sentimental about our relationship and our marriage, remembering just how much we’ve overcome and how God truly gave us one another. To be honest, Joshua and I have so much to celebrate because there were times our marriage neary fell apart, and I personally wanted to call it quits.
As a woman and mother to two girls, I believe that girls everywhere should be treated equally, empowered, and safe. This belief is deeply held, both for personal and biblical reasons. As such, I champion gender equality everyday and especially today, International Day of the Girl 2020. The theme for this day is “My voice,…
Happy Sunday ❤️ Enjoying ours with these beauties turned besties. Even with their 7 year age gap, these two love each other so much it’s insane. I’m thankful God covered our family with grace. ❤️
Happy New Year! We’re headed into 2022 full of hope!
This year was about resting, repenting, and restarting. Each year I ask the Lord to show me His word or phrase for the year, as a way to lean into His vision, not my own. 2021 was “return,” and that’s what we did. Our family returned to the basics and to what really matters — it was so beautiful, and represented an aggressive tilling of some soil. I am full of hope for what’s to come in 2022 and extremely grateful for every moment from 2021.
I am taking some needed time off from work for the holidays. One of the most precious parts of my time off sincerely far was today — I took my oldest girl out for a mommy daughter date! We were so overdue. When I was a single mom, I worked really hard at having a close relationship with Raegan. Now that our family has grown, I don’t want her to feel lost in the sauce. Today was just what we needed — girl talk, shopping, a movie date, and tacos. As she grows up, I want our relationship to remain just as strong. #AlwaysBeMyBaby #RaeganGrace
Merry Christmas to you all!
I hope you’ve had a wonderful restful Christmas, celebrating Jesus. For those of you home like us (helping our youngest recover from a non-COVID virus), celebrating in a way you didn’t imagine, I feel you. Today was totally unexpected.
And yet, today was beautiful. With no plans, we found rest from what normally can be a stressful day. It was genuinely restful, wonderful, and loving, even with illness.
That’s so like Jesus, to come in the darkness and offer rest, hope, and joy in the midst of a weary world.
Through disrupted plans, I hope you felt the love of Jesus today and remembered that today, all He asks for is our adoration, not extravagant plans.
Warmest wishes for a blessed Christmas from The Jordans!
Friends, if you haven’t had a moment, be sure to take it today — get to the feet of Jesus today. Sit and process that pain with Him.
The sting of rejection by closest friends.
The gall of bitterness in taking care of a child alone when it took two to make the child.
The sadness and grief of a life that could have been.
Shock. Grief. Regret. Gut-wrenching loss.
Heart-shattering experiences too painful to think about.
These things taste terrible, and if we aren’t careful they’ll metastasize into bitterness and envy and hardened hearts, impermeable and too stiff, too hardened to let anything in.
Sit with Jesus. Exchange the bitterness of the pain, and instead taste and see that the Lord is good. Cry, process, be honest, be vulnerable with Him. He can handle all of the pain, He promises.
Don’t let painful bitterness claim anything else. Don’t let it rule your life. Give Him the pain and let God’s goodness rule your life.
““For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
I’m so excited to celebrate and worship Jesus this week! Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
We spent this weekend celebrating Christmas with our friends @_faithelyse! Christmas jammies (for the parents and our kids) + Christmas movies + making garlands + exchanging gifts + charcuterie by yours truly = a full heart.
The girls ❤️ Random fun fact: Raegan was born exactly 3 weeks after my birthday and Honor was born exactly 1 week after Joshua’s birthday (and, the girls are exactly 7 years and 4 months apart). It’s incredible how God put our family together ❤️
Weekend photo dump: San Diego + Ice Skating + Gingerbread House. Creating and sticking with annual family holiday traditions like these has really helped us bond and become a stronger family unit. Plus, seeing the holidays through our children’s eyes is honestly the best part of it all. So happy my family grew from just Raegan and me, to now Raegan, me, Joshua, and Honor. Now, we can all share in Christmas memories together.
Spent the night seeing Zoo lights near Palm Springs with my family tonight. Moments like these really mean the world to me — in a world that pushes us to prioritize working, striving, and busyness over everything, I’m choosing to prioritize these folks, my family. I’ve always had the perspective that when I reach the end of my days, I will long for my family. Not one more dollar. Not one more trial won. Not one more accomplishment. That future day shapes my present focus — Jesus + my family over everything.
Happy Thanksgiving from us! Today we’re relaxing at home, resting from Disney, reflecting on so much (swipe to see our first family Disney trip!). We’ve been working hard to build our family identity these past few years — it’s no joke trying to build unity, but it can be done.
We started out as a blended family. I was a single mom for about five years. Joshua and I got married and then Joshua adopted Raegan in our first year of marriage. We’ve come a long way, but it’s been hard. It was tough to transition to a family unit, but it’s also been a beautiful journey.
For those who have walked through single parenthood to married parenthood, we see you, especially today. Be determined to erase lines that divide, and work towards unity. Holidays like today can be stressful, especially if you had existing family traditions before becoming a blended families. But, holidays present an opportunity to create and gather around new traditions, not ignoring the past but honoring it, and then choosing to focus on the future. For us, once Joshua adopted Raegan, we did not ignore the season of single parenthood. We honored it. Then, we choose to no longer describe our family as blended or adopted. We are a family, period.
Today may be hard, but you can do it. Be determined to be a healthy family, period. Use today to honor each other and build something new, as a family.
Surprised the birthday girl with a trip to Disneyland! This was Honor’s first time at Disneyland, and she was suspicious of all the people. She eventually warmed up though!
It’s my beautiful girl’s birthday! It’s so fitting that her birthday always falls on or near Thanksgiving — my heart is full with thankfulness for her life. She’s truly a Rae of sunshine, the brightest one there is, in every way — she’s the friend you want in your life, funny, encouraging, sweet, thoughtful, intelligence and wisdom beyond her years, the list goes on! Her life has been such a gift to our entire family and to everyone she meets. Raegan, little Queen, you are adored and loved. Happy birthday baby, we love you!
Thank you all for the birthday wishes! Growing older is truly amazing.
Happy birthday to me! I love this picture, and I love myself because
I’m genuinely happy.
I’m more secure.
I’m unapologetic.
I’m enough and I know it.
My values have shifted.
I have clarity.
I’m more grounded.
I speak from a healed place.
I’m calmer.
I treat myself with the love and respect I’ve given others.
I am Melonie by the grace of God.
I feel like I’m standing on the edge of a beautiful season, and I’m so ready to walk into it. If you haven’t heard, your 30’s are everything. My 31st year will be my best yet!
About last night: my heart needed that! It was so good to get out of the house and just have a couples night, with the babies at home! From belly laughs, to goal setting, marriage talk, it did my heart good to just relax, talk, and be with some of my dearest friends.
I love all of y’all. Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for celebrating life with me.
cc: @_faithelyse @heatherllove @thisiscornelius
My husband always spoils me. From day one. My husband decided to surprise me with a celebration of my upcoming birthday. A trip to the Getty Museum, and then a trip to Beverly Hills for my favorite lunch ever, a facial and couples massage, and dinner with friends. All planned by Joshua and kids free! 🙌🏾 Happy Early Birthday to me! 💗
I became a single mom in my last year of undergrad. Even though it was hard, I took my baby girl with me to law school. Now, I’m a married mom of two and practicing law.
In all those seasons, the question I consistently receive is, “How do you do it?”
Just posted a video sharing practical tips on how I make it work as a lawyer + wife + mom, especially while working from home. Link in bio + stories!
Happy Sunday ❤️ Enjoying ours with these beauties turned besties. Even with their 7 year age gap, these two love each other so much it’s insane. I’m thankful God covered our family with grace. ❤️
Happy New Year! We’re headed into 2022 full of hope!
This year was about resting, repenting, and restarting. Each year I ask the Lord to show me His word or phrase for the year, as a way to lean into His vision, not my own. 2021 was “return,” and that’s what we did. Our family returned to the basics and to what really matters — it was so beautiful, and represented an aggressive tilling of some soil. I am full of hope for what’s to come in 2022 and extremely grateful for every moment from 2021.
I am taking some needed time off from work for the holidays. One of the most precious parts of my time off sincerely far was today — I took my oldest girl out for a mommy daughter date! We were so overdue. When I was a single mom, I worked really hard at having a close relationship with Raegan. Now that our family has grown, I don’t want her to feel lost in the sauce. Today was just what we needed — girl talk, shopping, a movie date, and tacos. As she grows up, I want our relationship to remain just as strong. #AlwaysBeMyBaby #RaeganGrace
