A Trip to Pennsylvania, A Pause in Blogging, and Some Honest Reflections - BLOG

The kids and I had the opportunity to go visit my family in Pennsylvania this past week, and I’m so incredibly glad we did.

We’ve been trying to schedule a trip up there for ages, and it just never seemed to work out. There was always something — a launch, a deadline, a busy season, a reason to push it off. Finally, we picked a time that worked… except Jason was just too busy to take off work.

So the kids and I went anyway.

And I’m so, so glad we did.

With the older boys getting so much older, it was actually such a fun and easy trip. An 8–9 hour drive used to feel monumental, but for us seasoned travelers, it felt like no big deal. We packed snacks, queued up audiobooks, and just went.

We stayed at my aunt’s house and spent sweet time with cousins and my grandfather, who lives with them. We haven’t been back to Pennsylvania since my grandmother passed away two years ago this month, so being there felt tender in a way I didn’t fully expect.

There was so much snow, the kind we just don’t get here in North Carolina, and the kids probably spent a dozen hours outside sledding. It was pure joy. Rosy cheeks, soaked mittens, frozen fingers, and so much fun!

We made our obligatory stop at Hershey and did the free Chocolate World tour (a must if you’re ever in town), swam in their indoor pool while it snowed outside, and watched the Olympics together in the evenings. It was simple, cozy, memory-making kind of days.

And because we live on the East Coast now, this isn’t a once-every-few-years kind of trip anymore. We’re already talking about a summer visit!

It was exactly the kind of time away that makes you grateful… and then oddly excited to come home and settle back into your routines. It was exactly what I needed as I turn my attention to the Spring and big work and home projects.

The Blogging Goal I Didn’t Hit

At the beginning of this year, I set a goal to blog at least three times per week.

I love blogging. I love long-form writing. I love the space to think clearly and share deeply.

And then the past two weeks? I didn’t blog at all.

Not once.

Part of that is simply because of this trip. But the bigger reason is that we’ve been working on a massive system overhaul for our business. We’ve been moving every single one of our old products into a new system so that customers can access them easily and beautifully. It has been such a good project — the kind that blesses people long-term — but it has taken nearly all of my available work time in January and February.

Evenings. Weekends. Every spare hour. And I wasn't expecting it to be quite so large of a task.

I’m thrilled about it being finished. (And keep an eye out — we’ll have a special sale this week connected to it.) But in the middle of it all, something deeper has been stirring in my heart.

What Is My Time For?

I have been praying a lot lately about my time.

My work hours are limited. I am first a wife. First a mother. My home and children and marriage are not side projects, they are my primary calling.

And yet our business matters too. It supports our family. It serves thousands of women. It is not frivolous.

But where does blogging fit?
Where does social media fit?
Where does marketing fit?
Where does being “consistent” fit?

I’ve increasingly felt like social media is destroying our society.

Yes, there is good to be argued for. Yes, it connects people. Yes, it can be used for truth and encouragement. But it is also fracturing our attention, shortening our focus, amplifying outrage, and shaping our thinking in ways we don’t even realize.

I don’t want to feel fractured.

I don’t want outside voices constantly shaping the tone of our home.

I don’t want my brain trained to live in 30-second bursts of noise.

And yet… I also know how hard it is when the good voices disappear. I know how lonely it can feel when encouragement dries up.

So I find myself in this tension.

If I’m honest, I would delete social media tomorrow and never look back — except that our family relies on it. It’s part of how we reach women. It’s part of how we sustain the business God has entrusted to us.

So I am prayerfully evaluating.

Not in a dramatic way.
Not in a “big announcement” way.
But in a quiet, steady, Lord-what-would-You-have-me-do kind of way.

What is essential?
What is noise?
What builds fruit that lasts?
What simply feeds the machine?

If You Feel Behind…

Maybe you set goals this year too.

Maybe you were going to be more consistent. More disciplined. More productive. More organized.

And maybe the past two weeks (or two months) didn’t look how you imagined.

I want you to know something: falling behind on a goal is not the same thing as failing in your calling.

Sometimes faithfulness looks like sledding in the snow with your children.
Sometimes it looks like sitting with your grandfather.
Sometimes it looks like moving systems quietly behind the scenes.
Sometimes it looks like not posting.
And also sometimes, it's recognizing that God is calling you to be self-disciplined in an area you don't want to be. (Hi, that's me!)

God is not impressed by our output.
He is concerned with our obedience.

For me, right now, that means evaluating where my limited work time goes. It means asking whether my energy is being poured into what will matter five years from now, but also for the short term when there are bills to be paid and a business to be run.

I don’t have all the answers yet.

But I do know this: I want my days to glorify God.
I want my home to feel peaceful.
I want my children to remember warmth and presence.
And I want whatever work I do to flow from those priorities — not compete with them.

So this is just a little life update.
A little peek behind the curtain.
A gentle reset.

I’m excited to be home.
Excited to be back in routines.
Excited to keep building good things.
And prayerfully considering what that building should look like moving forward.

Thank you for being here.
Truly.

We’ll see what the Lord does next.