Feeding My Family // Feed the Soul

In this beautiful crazy thing we call our lives our day to day is consumed with tasks and making it all run. But if we are totally consumed with the tasks we miss out, we miss it. The soul tending is the important stuff, and we make time for what is important to us. The whole month of October I’ve been writing about feeding our family. It is a thing. A thing I do every day to nourish my people. But there is more we do each day to feed our souls. Each of these boys, and this beautiful man I call mine have these spirits that need tending. Benjamin and I work hard to know our boys as individuals. To pay attention to them and to love them each for who they are and where they are. There are a few things we do to help feed their souls. And there are some things we do to feed our souls. I would be remiss if I didn’t address this important part of feeding my family this month as it is just if not more important than the actual feeding of our bodies.

Cashel works along side us. His needs are often met doing a project, accomplishing something and telling you all about his latest plan.
Camper likes to snuggle, to sit and create, and to tell you a story.
Corban wants to get outside, get moving, and wants you to do it with him and he wants your full eye contact as you chat with him.
Our sweet Cope just needs our voices, our sweet words of love and affirmation whispered over him with pats to the back and snuggles to his perfect little ears.

As a family we do some things to feed our souls.

1. Take walks.
2. Visit the beach.
3. Read books.
4. Family movie and popcorn nights.
5. Go to Nona and Dandad’s house.
6. Cook and bake with all hands on deck.
7. We care for animals.
8. Walk to get the mail.
9. We talk about our days around the dinner table.
10. We take them on individual dates, one on one and two on one, with both parents.
11. We play the ‘color game,’ sing songs, and ask each other questions while we drive to and from our home and outings.
12. We make things for others, and deliver them to their porches.
13. We say thank you and i love you – all the time.

“One of the best parts of being human is other humans. It’s true, because life is hard; but people get to show up for one another, as God told us to, and we remember we are loved and seen and God is here and we are not alone. We can’t deliver folks from their pits, but we can sure get in there with them until God does.”- Jen Hatmaker

“If the home is a body, the table is the heart, the beating center, the sustainer of life and health.” – Shauna Niequist

This is why we work to get around our table, to sit the people we love together as we share, listen, love, and learn. We look each other in the eyes and as we model this for our boys they learn to value themselves and each other. The table for us is not just about feeding our bodies but also feeding our souls.

For Ben and I we do things individually and together to feed our souls.

As for me

1. I journal in my Bible.
2. I cook and bake.
3. I volunteer in my community.
4. I read and keep a blog.
5. I have monthly girls nights.
6. I have a glass of wine with my Mom and Aunt.

For Ben

1. He plays his guitar and the piano.
2. He watches football and shows with his brothers.
3. He laughs, cries, and communes with his sister. (sometimes I think they are two parts to the same whole)
4. He attends concerts with friends.
5. He plays with our boys – building, creating, and dreaming.
6. He loves on and cares for our animals.
7. He walks and beach combs and he goes crabbing.

And together we

1. Go on dates to fun new restaurants, trying new Pho places in every town we visit.
2. We go away every year on our anniversary.
3. We travel.
4. We watch shows and eat popcorn and junk food.
5. We text throughout our entire day.
6. We cook together and bake cakes together.
7. We dream about our future, making plans and doing renovations to our home.

Feeding your soul is essential. What things do you do to feed your soul? To feed your relationships?

“I think preparing food and feeding people brings nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits. Feeding people is a way of loving them, in the same way that feeding ourselves is a way of honoring our own createdness and fragility.”  – Shauna Niequist

Thank you Whitney Coudray Photography for capturing our family. You work magic capturing us in our adventures and in the in between moments.