Is there a Wrong Way to Pray?

Last summer, a friend from Hoboken Grace sent me a copy of With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. I started it a while ago, but it’s the kind of book where each chapter is so rich, your mind feels overloaded by just one chapter. Since starting my new job, I’ve taken to reading about two chapters a day on my commute back and forth into the city.

Chapter 5, “The Certain Answer to Prayer” (based off Matthew 7:7-8 and James 4:3) completely bowled me over this week, and I have been mulling it over ever since. Here are the main passages that stuck out to me:

Prayer accomplishes a great deal. Ask and you shall receive; everyone who asks receives. This is the eternal law of the Kingdom. If you ask and receive not, it must be because there is something wrong or missing in the prayer. But do not lose the confidence He wants to give you, that everyone who asks, receives. (p.40)

By His Word and Spirit, God will teach those who are teachable and who give Him time, whether their request be according to His will or not. Withdraw the request if it is not according to God’s will or persevere until the answer comes. Prayer is supposed to have an answer. It is in prayer and its answer that the interchange of love between the Father and His child takes place. (p.42)

Your words are faithful and true. It must be because I am not praying correctly that my experience of answered prayer is small. It must be because I live too little in the Spirit that my prayer is too little in the Spirit, and my power for the prayer of faith is lacking. (p.44)

I was struck by the idea that maybe over the past year, my prayers were misdirected. While Christianese tends to include cliches like, “there’s no wrong way to pray,” James 4:3 reminds me that somebody probably made that up because it sounds good. That’s not biblical truth – and as far as my recent prayer life goes, I have been doing it wrong.

It’s not that God will not listen to me when I am praying somewhat haphazardly, listing off the things I want Him to do, the people I want him to take care of, and to grant me that elusive perfect job. God delights in giving his children good gifts, but His greatest desire is that that I would live my live by the Spirit, completely trusting in and depending on him.

While I made progress in this by leaps and bounds from 2008 – 2010, I felt like I majorly backpedaled when I moved here. I don’t know why it became harder to trust God. I had experienced his love and grace and blessing in such richness, but somehow my heart seized up, unable to believe that He would truly meet me here.

I will venture to say my experience of God last year was most likely limited by my unwillingness to communicate with him after my prayers were not answered. I think I can point out a handful of occasions where I know He directly answered a prayer, whereas during my time in Tennessee, answered prayer was my weekly reality – not only in my life, but in so many of the lives around me. That had become the norm, so I was hoping that somehow, that would continue. But I found that it didn’t. So I largely ignored him. I barely opened my bible last year. I became a former version of myself that I hated – the one that would run to him only in my desperate need. I have not been living the majority of my life “in the Spirit,” and instead have allowed myself to be ruled by anxiety.

At Hoboken Grace, we’re two weeks in to a conversation about being “Fearless.” This past Sunday we talked about what it looks like to fear God, and I think it ties in well with what I am wrestling through this week. We were given 1 John 4:18 as a memory verse: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

My view of God as of late has been too small. I know in my mind that He is all powerful, but I want to experience that again. I want to regain my trust in Him. I do not want to live my life by making the “safest” or most practical decisions. Running from him is an act of fear. He is my Father and has only His best in mind for me. I want my faith to grow to the point where I am living out of that reality every day. Spewing my anxieties heavenward isn’t going to make that much of a difference in my life. It is more important for me to be in synch with God in prayer and asking him to teach me how to pray, and what is on His heart, than it is for me to just unload what is on mine.

What do you think about the concept that there is a right and wrong way to pray? How did you come to that conclusion? When have you seen your prayers answered most blatantly? What do you do when it seems like your prayers are not being answered?

Resolution: Embrace Failure

In case you haven’t heard me say it before, I’m an ENFP. I love new beginnings and projects, and will take any opportunity to embrace them: A new year? A new age? A new city? A new apartment? A new stage in life? A new job? WOO HOO! The problem is that I’m terrible at practicing discipline and following these things through to completion. After the initial excitement has worn off, I am easily pulled down by the every day demands and stresses of life. I choose to give up rather than follow through. Once I start failing at a goal, I usually lack the courage to pick myself up and try again. I am too easily discouraged.

I both love and hate making resolutions. Every year I know I will love making them and hate myself when I break them. The reality is, I need to practice more discipline this year. This is where I thank God again for my plans and systems oriented ESTJ husband. One of the things that has really started to sink in is that in 2012, I am turning 27, and I don’t want to look back at the end of this year and see that I’ve only made inches of progress. For one thing, my obnoxious biological clock is in fact ticking. There are a lot of things I want to do before I enter that next huge stage of my life. And if I can’t live the life I want to live now, how am I ever going to be disciplined enough to do those things when I have kids to take care of? I don’t want to be that kind of example for my future kids either – that mom who is so busy just trying to get through each day that she ends up slowly losing herself along the way.

So this year’s resolutions will be a little more practical and detailed. They are baby steps (NO puns intended). So here we go…

1. Write more. While I would love to say I am going to write every day, I know that probably isn’t realistic given my blogging track record shows a whopping twelve posts in 2011. So I’m starting out with the simple goal to write four times a week, and blog two times a week. If what I write isn’t “blog-worthy,” every time, that’s ok, because practicing and the act of creating itself is important in getting where I want to be. I am a perfectionist by nature, and perfectionism is a vicious enemy of success. I was encouraged by other creatives, through a variety of mediums, to let myself fail this year. If you struggle with this too, I highly recommend Jon Acuff’s book Quitter and Ira Glass’s thoughts on the creative process. As corny as it sounds, keeping a collection of motivational typographic posters has been also been fantastic reminder for me to press on. I have bigger goals too, of pitching to magazines and getting published this year, but I know I need to start small first. Even if I can manage 2 posts a week, that will be 104 for the year, and 92 more than last year!

2. Become more active. This currently translates into: start working out again at least 2 times per week. I don’t know if it was the cupcakes, BC hormones, or marriage or a combination of all three, but somehow I managed to pack on about 15 lbs. since I first moved to NJ in July of 2010! I’m back up to my “freshman 15″ weight and not fitting into my skinny jeans is annoying. While buying a new wardrobe sounds fantastic, it’s not as much fun two sizes too big, and would also have an adverse affect on my financial goals… which leads me to goal number three.

3. Reach our next financial goals. Specifically, save 3-6 months of expenses to start our emergency fund, and then put dedicated effort towards eliminating college debt. Nick and I spent all of 2011 choosing to be “broke” (aka sacrificing a lot of our former single life indulgences) and attacking the credit card debt we incurred during our wedding planning and unexpected significant expenses the first four months after marriage. It looks like by the end of this month we will have finally knocked it out.

4. See new cities. Nick and I spend many of our date nights talking about where we want to visit next. Charleston, SC keeps coming to the top of that list, so we hope to check that city off in 2012. If we rent a car, we can spend some quality time with my Daddy Will’s side of the family in Greenville and kill two birds with one stone! Nick also has a cousin getting married in the California wine country next summer, so we’re hoping to be able to extend that trip and turn it into a full-blown adventure.

5. Remain baby-free. We’ve almost gotten through a year of marriage, so I might finally be less anxious about this one, but it would still be preferable. This would also aid in achieving our financial goals much faster! I’m still a little worried that whatever they put in the Hoboken water might be contagious

There are plenty more goals floating around in my head for 2012, but this is where I’m starting. Now this is where you, dear reader, come in. Especially when it comes to goal #1. I want you all to keep me accountable to these things I’ve mentioned. If I haven’t blogged in a while, call me on it. Let me know which posts inspired you and your honest feedback. What topic could you see becoming a magazine article? What was our last conversation topic that should be delved into deeper? I know this year will include failure – probably a lot of it. But that’s ok, the point is not to reach 2013 having done these things perfectly. I want to be stretched this year – better and stronger than when I began – and I’m grateful you’re coming along on with me on the journey.

2011: On Purpose, In Waiting

image by sarah jane studios

Now that I’ve shared with you the highlights of my year, I want to get real with you: this year was hard. Let’s be honest, every year seems to have its significant struggles now that we’re getting older.  Relationship dynamics become more complicated. People we love break our hearts or move away and sometimes they die. Hard things are always bound to happen… I just didn’t expect my first year of marriage to coincide with an extremely frustrating year of coming to a standstill in my career. I was so happy in one aspect of life, while deeply broken in another. For most of the year, I wasn’t able to move much past the place where I found myself stuck in April.

The biggest reminder I think I walked away with in 2011 is that I am made for more than my job. Even though our society’s values tell me otherwise, my job does not actually define my worth. We walked through a series on Purpose at Hoboken Grace this fall, and yes, you guessed it, we read through Purpose Driven Life together as a church. When I first heard that we were doing this series, I thought: Meh, whatever. I did this book in 2004, but maybe it will be a good refresher course. As I began reading and having this discussion about purpose in my dinner group, it struck me that while I may have already known the content, it was still completely relevant to my life in 2011. My struggles are different, but still very much the same.

The first time I read the book as a freshman in college, I saw endless possibilities lying just ahead. I had the world at my feet. I was figuring out what I wanted to pursue as a career, and hopeful about finding someone who might be worth spending my future with.  These two things – my future profession (but even more so) the thought of my future husband – claimed almost all my waking energy. I would spend hours daydreaming and journaling and praying about my future. I wanted to know so badly how my story turned out.

As I read PDL this fall, the reality of how much energy I had poured into dating and trying to decipher who was “the one” for at least 10 years dawned on me.  I got engaged right before I turned 24, and married this past year. Now that God, in his infinite mercy and love allowed the question of who my spouse is to be answered, I realize what I have been struggling with since the end of all things wedding has been this deep nagging question: what now?

Where do I pour my thoughts and hopes and dreams? The natural progression was to pour myself wholeheartedly into my goal of landing an editorial job. After all, that is what I moved to the NYC area to do. I got the love story and amazing guy I had been waiting for, and it seemed high time I got the job. But life doesn’t always work that way. God doesn’t often lay our next great life milestones out on a silver platter. And with each passing month working a retail job and spending less and less time pursuing my passions, I became more and more bitter. I can’t tell you how many times I broke down in tears, wondering if God was ignoring me or just being spiteful. I wondered why he brought me to NYC just to leave me hanging. I do not truly believe that is his character, but that is often how I felt.

One of the simplest but most profound discussions I had this year was with a dear friend and mentor from my home church in PA over Thanksgiving. She asked me if I was still working at the cupcake shop, and answered, shamefully, that yes, I was. Her response was, “That’s ok! You’ve been building a marriage!” It was so freeing to hear her speak those words. I knew she was right. Maybe God’s priority for me this year was to focus on learning to love Nick and build a home. I still don’t know yet why God had me spend 14 months serving cupcakes, but maybe I don’t have to know. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

In a somewhat crazy turn of events and connection through a friend, I interviewed for a part time office management job in December, was offered the job soon after, and I started this week! It is only part time, so I won’t be making all that much more than I was  at the bake shop, and it still is not editorial, but the fantastic blessing out of this is that it provides me with the time to do what I love. I write because it is what I am compelled to do, and as I write, the truth of what I’m sharing sinks deeper in to my own soul. The work of writing might be unpaid right now, but it is still important.

As I consider God’s purposes for me and what role I will play in telling a broken world about the one who binds up my wounds, I know He has got much bigger things in store. I have a growing desire to make a tangible difference in the world, to become less self-absorbed in my own pain and unfilled dreams and help others begin to heal reach for their own goals. I don’t know how that is going to play out, but He knows what He is doing, even when I don’t. This is an exercise in faith. This year I am going to cling so tightly to this truth David shared in Psalm 138:8, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” I am only 26. There are still many stories to tell and chapters left to be written. He is not finished and I know He will be faithful to complete the good work He started in me (Phil 3:6).

The Lenzis’ Top 11 Memories of 2011

As we begin 2012, I wanted share some of my favorite memories from 2011. These are more chronological than in a countdown order… except for #1 of course

1. We got married on January twenty-first! After 9 long months of planning, we were humbled and overjoyed to spend our day with about 150 close friends and family. I can’t tell you how much it meant to have so many people we love in one place all at once.  I don’t know that my heart has ever been so full as it was that day – I honestly felt as if I might burst with joy!

2. Wedding night. ‘Nuf said

3. Honeymooning in Uvita, Costa Rica at Oxygen Jungle Villas. Despite the crazy trek through the mountains in the dark in an SUV and arriving three hours later than we had planned at the resort, the minute we arrived we realized it was worth it. We ate surprise four-course meals every night, zip-lined, saw waterfalls and wild animals, whale-watched, visited and really relaxed. We even managed to find a Steeler Bar called Jolly Roger which made the most incredible wings we have EVER had. Who knew that would happen Costa Rica?! Our friend Ana told us to go all out for our honeymoon because of this logic: when will we ever have this kind of opportunity again? She was right. It was incredible.

4. Being introduced to The Civil Wars incredible harmonies live in January at Rockwood Music Hall, a teeny tiny music venue on the Lower East Side. Our friend Charley Baker clued us in to this duo in 2010 and we had been listening to their Live at Eddie’s Attic album nonstop (download it here for free). Charley’s fiance (now wife) Lauren and I got to talk with John Paul White and take a photo with him after the show! And yes, he really resembles another talented celebrity in the entertainment industry.

5. Hoboken Grace’s first annual Easter egg hunt. It was a freezing cold cloudy April day, but 1,000 people from the community came out to join us despite the anti-Easter weather! As I’ve said, Hoboken is pretty much Babyville, so hosting an event for kids was a great way to love our community. It was such a blast to see 100 volunteers and all these kids enjoying the day together. Click here to see the event in action, and fast forward to 1:57 if you just want to see the kids go nuts

6. Between the two of us, witnessing six other weddings of our dear friends from childhood, college, and Hoboken and one family wedding too! From April to September, we traveled to 3 different states besides our own, including Michigan, which was a new one for me. Each wedding was unique and fun and perfectly reflected our friends and their relationships. It was such a year of celebration.

7. Experiencing The Dirty Guv’nahs, my favorite band from Knoxville, play their first SOLD OUT show in NYC as we both celebrated turning 26 in May. It was so awesome to watch my Hoboken friends dance and rock out to a band they had never heard of. It is proof that the Guvs’ rock ‘n’ roll magic works not only in the south, but wherever people appreciate great music!

8. My sister visting NYC with her boyfriend, Matt, for my birthday weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend weather-wise as we wandered around Central Park, visited the Top of the Rock (my first time seeing that ridiculous view) and got to spend quality time together. Now that college is over for both of us and Kelly and I live six hours apart, each time we get to see each other is a visit for which we are incredibly grateful.

9. Seeing Brooklyn’s finest, Zach Williams and The Bellow open for The Civil Wars at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in July. Both groups were on point that night and the proceeds went to a great cause. In the middle of the show, Nick leaned over and whispered to me, “this is going to be the hands-down best show we see all year.” If you didn’t know, The Civil Wars have been nominated for multiple Grammys and we are so excited for them and glad we got to see them twice this year playing tiny venues.

photo by Mama Brew.

10. Collaboratively cooking and consuming our first Thanksgiving dinner in West Chester. Nick mastered the art of cooking a 16 lb. turkey, I successfully cooked Alex Guarnachelli’s orange cranberry sauce (with some skilled stirring abilities from my little brother Luke), not-so-successfully attempted my first pumpkin roll, and mom was a cooking fiend who covered the rest. It was a small Thanksgiving compared to the extended family I am used to being with in Virginia (it was just Mom, Dad, Luke, Nick and me), but still a very good one.

11. Celebrating a great year with lots of friends from our Hoboken Grace church family at Quays for our 3rd annual Hoboken Holiday Formal. In true Lenzi party form, we had yummy appetizers, great company, and capped off the night with a dance party. Growing up, I dreamed of hosting the go-to Christmas party, and while its grown too big for us to have it in our house, it is actually a great problem to have!

What were your favorite memories from 2011?

Concert Recap: MUTEMATH’s Odd Soul Pre-Tour

One of the best perks of living in the greater New York City area is that when music artists go on tour, they almost always make a stop here. Nick and I are huge fans of live music, so this is a fantastic place for us to live considering this is probably our favorite shared pastime. We’ve been to quite a few concerts this year, so I thought I would try to start sharing this love with you all!

Almost two weeks ago, we went to see MUTEMATH at the Mercury Lounge. We’ve become quite familiar with the Mercury Lounge over the past year – we’ve also seen Dave Barnes and The Dirty Guv’nahs there, and we are starting to feel like regulars. The Mercury Lounge is an intimate venue for NYC, with a maximum capacity of 250, so tickets sell extremely quickly. We were two out of five of our friends who actually managed to snag tickets before the show sold out after two minutes! My husband is a Ticketmaster ninja.

I’ve seen MUTEMATH twice before, both times during college in Philadelphia. I had heard from another fellow music loving friend how phenomenal they were, and decided I had to go check them out. The reason you have to see MUTEMATH in concert is because the quality of their performance is so phenomenal. The level of energy they put out is almost unparalleled, and I have seen a lot of shows. Paul Meany, the lead singer, sets the tone with his unique vocals and crazy dance moves. And when Darren King plays the drums, you find yourself mesmerized by his talent. He almost goes into a trance, playing with his eyes shut, letting the music carry him through the song.

MUTEMATH surprised everyone by kicking off the show by marching through the crowd from the back of the room and onto the stage. I was really excited to hear their new music from their upcoming album, and was pleased to hear them breaking their own previously indescribable mold and incorporating even funkier electronic sounds and on some tracks more of a stronger southern rock vibe. I was a little disappointed that because it was such a small venue, Paul couldn’t dance and run around the stage quite as much as he usually does, but he still managed his trademark keyboard hand stands – twice. There was also some obnoxious person standing right in front of me insisting on holding his large camera above his head the entire show, therefore blocking my view and tainting my experience.

Here are a few examples why I love MUTEMATH live:

“Reset” – a fan favorite

“Prytania” – a stand-out new song (recorded at a previous show)

“Blood Pressure” – new song and acoustic performance

MUTEMATH is now officially on their Odd Soul Introduction Tour now through October, and if they are coming to your city and you love live music, you need to check them out.

What shows did you attend this summer? What are your favorite bands right now? Who do we need to add to our “must see live” list?

Apparel, Apartments, and Excess: Anthropologie on its Way

My lovely apron from Anthropologie.

HUGE news for the females of Hoboken: word on the street is that Anthropologie is planting itself smack-dab in the middle of the shopping hub of Hoboken. Like most twenty-something caucasian females, I adore Anthropologie. Out of all my friends getting married this year, items from this retailer has been at the top of so many of their bridal wish lists. I don’t really even know how this Philly-based company existence snuck its way into my consciousness a few years ago (most likely my blog surfing habit), but ever since I have found myself drooling over their vintage-inspired romantic clothing, accessories, and housewares… and then choking on the price tags. In the entirety of my wardrobe, the Anthropologie section extends only to a belt (bought on clearance!) and an apron, which was a gift from my husband.

But the arrival of this retail store is fantastic news for Hoboken, where the median household income is $82K a year, according to cnn.com. We currently have many Hoboken clothing boutiques around the same price-point as Anthropologie, but since most retail spaces are small, they don’t carry a diverse clothing stock. We really only have one other popular clothing retailer, American Apparel, which carries great basics but doesn’t hold the same kind of overall appeal.

The impending arrival of “Anthro” (as it is nicknamed) here both excites and devastates me. Since I am a part-time retail employee, Nick and I do not fall into the median Hoboken household range. In our first year of marriage, we are also being responsible and paying down our debt. So the chances of me being able to shop anything but the clearance rack (and even then, that might be a stretch) at Anthropologie until those factors change is extremely slim.

Then there’s also my conscience. My sister and I recently had a discussion where I was expressing my frustration over still being without a full-time job, a year after moving to Hoboken. I told her I hate not being able to have the luxury of updating my closet with some new items every few months. Even when I first started babysitting in middle school, all the money I made went directly to my wardrobe. She reminded me that although I live in a city culture that is absolutely all about keeping up with the Joneses (and therefore most likely living beyond its means), I should always be aiming to live more simply. There is beauty and dignity in being able to get by on what you need, and not having everything you want. I am continually learning this lesson, but I often feel terrible about it. I say to myself: “But I need more stuff to put my stuff in/on!” When reality is… I probably have too much stuff. I want to live simply and practically, but I also want my little apartment to reflect me and Nick and to feel like home.

Hobokenite ladies, what are your thoughts on Anthropologie coming to town? Are you excited? Concerned? Do you have any tips or experiences on how to live simply but fully in this materially obsessed city? No matter where you live, how do you update your closet and make your dwellings feel like home while on a strict budget?

No Babies ’til 2015*

Proof that the future Lenzi children will be pretty freakin' adorable.

I live in baby town. I don’t know what the number of pregnant women in our mile square is, but it is a LOT. No seriously, we even have an annual baby parade. I can’t go one day without seeing a pregnant woman in Hoboken, and while I’m at work, this number bumps (get it? bumps?) up to at least three in an eight-hour period. But somehow, the other day after a discussion about our managers adorable new baby, a coworker caught me completely off-guard when he asked, “When are you going to start having kids?”

My internal reaction was that of, “Who me?!” That might sound ridiculous, but Nick and I haven’t quite been married six months yet, so I am still getting used to the idea of being a wife. The idea of becoming a mommy at this current point in time is almost incomprehensible to me. This question is brand new to me, and doesn’t make me mad or feel like my personal space has been invaded, but it weirds me out a little (as I shared on Facebook).

I never thought the idea of becoming a parent would provide such a shock to my system. Growing up, I went through various career ambitions as a kid: pop star, architect, interior designer… but the only thing I knew for sure was that I was going to be a wife and a mother someday. I had always figured I would marry by 23 and begin having kids within a few years later. After all, that is what my mother did, and I saw her fulfill those quite wonderfully.

I struggled after high school to determine what I really wanted to do with my life. My ideal career path plan while at Bible College would have been to fall in love with a youth ministry major, and we would impact kids together. But things didn’t turn out that way. During my sophomore year of college, I finally figured out what I wanted to do: write. I had always loved to write and had outlets for it through high school with English and creative writing courses, but once those ready-made outlets were gone, I began to realize how much I missed it. By Christmas of my sophomore year, I knew what I had to do: transfer to Temple University in Philadelphia and pursue a degree in journalism.

I was sort of surprised to witness myself falling in love with this writing discipline. The study came easy, and I made A’s with grace. I received praise from my professors and good reviews from local editors to whose publications I pitched. With each passing semester, I could see my future more clearly, and my internship with Philadelphia Magazine solidified it: I was meant to work in magazine. I had figured out what I wanted to do with my life.

Each year I creeped closer to twenty-three, I understood that plan A for marriage and babies probably wasn’t going to work out. And by the time I hit twenty-three, I had developed so many commitment issues and career ambitions that I declared, “I’m not dating until I’m thirty!” I was determined to pursue my dream job and try not to let the frustration of operating under plan B distract me.

Well, we know well that worked out! This year, at twenty-five, I got married. As fate (or God’s divine providence) would have it, I married someone who lives and works in NYC, which is the Mecca for magazine journalism. So now that I am here, with my dreams within fingertips’ reach, the idea of getting pregnant somewhat terrifies me. I know that my gut reaction, if I was to find out tomorrow that I am pregnant, would be anger. It would be grief. I would feel as if I was watching my editing dreams circle down the drain. I would be angry with God for bringing me so close only to snatch it all away. I want to have the financial freedom to travel more, and check some things off my bucket list. I deeply identify with Rachel Held Evans when she says she’s afraid of motherhood.

Now I realize people can be moms and have a career, but I’ve also always pictured myself being at home once I have kids. Again, this is something my mother modeled for me, and I am eternally grateful for. She was my playmate, and eventually confidant and friend. Sending my kid to daycare is about the most unappealing idea in the world. The cost of living in NYC is absolutely unbelievable, so you have to be making gobs of money to be able to drop $30K a year on a nanny. My revised life plan in the past few years has become: get an editing job, make enough industry connections to build a substantial network, then freelance from home when you have kiddos. In that order.

But here’s the contradiction to all of the things I’ve previously said: I believe that regardless of what I accomplish in a professional career, I am almost positive that what I accomplish as a wife and a mother will be infinitely more important to me in the long run. And I know that I will absolutely fall head-over-heels seeing Nick as a father. He is great with kids, and this is one of the reasons I married him.

The growing popularity of “mommy blogs” gives me hope that regardless of what happens, I will still have a place for my voice, and an abounding amount of stories to tell. Blogs like Enjoying the Small Things absolutely make me beam. Kelle Hampton loves her girls and her life so fiercely, that every time I read it I immediately begin daydreaming about how incredible my own family will be one day. It makes me excited to meet my little ones yet to be created, to experience the world through their eyes, and for life to seem a little bit more magical.

So the answer to when we’ll start having kids is hopefully not for quite a few more years. For now I declare, “I’m not getting pregnant until I’m at least thirty!” But I will try to hold that loosely, because I know how well that declaration worked out last time.

 

*2015 subject to change