(in)Motherhood Link Up: Introduce Yourself!

Hey everyone! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be partnering with Mary Beth at New Life Steward as your "(in)Motherhood" team! I'm probably going to use entirely too many exclamation points in this blog post, so y'all will have to show this mama a little grace. This opportunity from the (in)courage team to be an (in)courager to new (and expecting!) moms is an answer to prayer, so I'm ... well... excited :D If you're seeing this info for the first time, here's some more about our group:

Between piles of dirty clothes, diapers, toys, carseats, feedings, sleepless nights, child care options, trying to maintain a home and work (in some form or another) – we get “new moms!” We are blessed to feel called to encourage you! We’re going to keep it real as we share honestly about the highs and lows of motherhood, where God has called us to be, and how we are drawn to our knees daily to lift up our families – because the only perfect parent is our Father. We aren’t experts, but we’ve been there – we ARE there, and we pray that we would be (in)couragers to new (and expectant!) moms as you walk through this season. We’re already praying for you & focusing on Joshua 1:9 as our theme verse!  


We're so excited to have you join our (in)Motherhood blog link up! Here's the schedule if you'd like to plan ahead:


10/9: Introduce yourself
10/23: A Letter to your child(ren)
11/6: Embarrassing stories from motherhood
11/20: Unexpected moments in parenting
12/4: Keeping it Real/A Day in the Life

The Rules
The rules are simple: Just write an introductory post about yourself. Tell us about yourself, your family, and your blog. What you like to do. Maybe link a few of your favorite posts. Then come back here and submit the permalink to your actual post (not your blog!) below! Be sure to take a few minutes and visit a few of the other ladies in our group too! Everyone loves a comment!

This is a Blog Hop, so you can get the code below (click “get the code here” which appears under the link-up) and post it into the HTML of your post and the link-up will appear on your page as well! Then we can just “hop” from blog to blog! (If that makes no sense, just ask me or don’t worry about it!)

Introduce Yourself

I'm married to my high school sweetheart Matt (celebrating 12 years together, 6 years of marriage this year) and mom to a feisty, happy 11 month old little girl named Madison Sophia. We live in south central PA (in the same town were we both grew up). I left our little town for 5 years to attend Villanova University & left with a Bachelors in English and a Masters in Liberal Studies as well as a new found love for Jesus, social justice, and working with students. Currently I work full time at a local bank as a marketing officer where I manage our advertising & social media campaigns. Hubs teaches 3rd grade and I also manage Matt's worship band, Stars Burn Down (he plays bass). Random things about me: I'm an identical twin, giraffes are my love language, and I have never eaten a corndog and have no desire to ever do so, thankyouverymuch! You can check out these posts if you'd like to get to know more about me, and my family:

Madi at 10 Months

Revolution

Pursuit

Through New Eyes

Becoming a mother was not a life long dream of mine, but becoming Madi's mom has turned my life on its head in so many ways that I couldn't possibly imagine anything else. This motherhood thing is not easy, and I have been blessed so deeply by the encouragement of other moms that I simply have to do the same. I'm not an expert. I fail more than I succeed. My daughter isn't perfect, we are not perfect parents, we second guess our decisions, and in the end, fall flat on our faces before our Father in awe of the grace He pours over us to have another day to try it all again.

But at the end of the day becoming a mother was exactly what God knew I needed. Could I use a nap? Every day, all day, yes please may I have another. But would I trade it for life as we used to know it? Not for a million dollars or an endless supply of naptimes.

Interested in joining (in)Motherhood?

Our prayer is that this group will be there to (in)courage you when you stumble upon some of those "why did no one tell me THAT was going to happen?!" moments - because we've been there. You've been there. And this isn't just about what Mary Beth and I have to say, it's about the community of new moms coming together to pray survival over one another when the child. will. not. go. to sleep. 

So if you haven't run away screaming yet, here's the description of our group: 

If this resonates with you at all and you'd like to join our group, we'd love to have you! We'll be meeting on our private Facebook page (private so we can share openly, offer to pray for one another, share photos of your littles, etc.) and checking in occasionally on Twitter with the hastag #(in)motherhood. Also, if you'll be at Allume this year, we'd love to plan a face-to-face meet up with our group so we can give you big hugs (and probably chocolate. There will be chocolate). 

To join, just email either myself at crystal{dot}stine{at}gmail{dot}com or Mary Beth at newlifesteward{at}gmail{dot}com and we'll send you all the details you need. We can't wait to start (in)couraging you! (and don't feel badly if our group doesn't fit where you are - you can check out the complete list of groups at (in)courage to find one that meets your needs!)