2026 MAR

The Kids

March felt like the beginning of a new era for our family.

After a long season of uncertainty, we finally have more rhythm, structure, and a better sense of what life is going to look like moving forward. There is a growing feeling of peace and stability that has been missing for a while.

The kids are settling into this new rhythm well. My hope is that they can thrive wherever they are, feel loved, and know that they do not have to carry the weight of adult problems.

We can simply enjoy each other. We laugh, work, play, drive, eat, explore, and spend time together. There is a lot of peace in the simple moments, and I am grateful for that.

Austin is back in school, along with the rest of the kids, and his first comments about it are sweet. When asked if he made any friends he said "yeah, basically the whole class".

This month felt like a small shift into something new but familiar and stable.

Hikes and Worship

We got to kick off the month with a hike in the Smokies to a really awesome campground that I definitely plan to come back to this summer.

Later, we had the chance to see Elevation Worship, which was my first big worship event outside of church.

It was great.

The sound was crystal clear, and the mix was perfect. Every instrument, every frequency, and every level felt perfectly placed and carved out in space. It was one of those rare times where the music sounded so good that you could notice every little detail without it feeling overwhelming. Elevation has a ton of great songs, and while the production was over the top and a bit too much for me, the experience was phenomenal.

And the company was even better.

Chickens

The chickens are really thriving now.

They take very little effort at this point. The little door to their coop opens automatically when daylight comes and shuts again at dusk. They know the routine and return every evening on their own.

Their territory keeps expanding too, well into the neighbor’s yard, and there isnt much I can do but let them roam. They spend their days wandering around, scratching up the ground, eating bugs, and exploring wherever they can get away with.

Neighbor Bob recently discovered more than 30 eggs hidden in his barn. So while we already thought we were getting more eggs than we could eat from the coop, apparently they have been producing even more than we realized. A real life easter egg hunt.

The chickens seem to think the whole neighborhood belongs to them.

Working at the Cabin

The boys love helping around the cabin. Actually, Josslyn will help too, but in a different way.

I give them a task list, and they work through it with the expectation of getting paid by the hour. They seem to be more motivated when there is something they are trying to aquire. I am not sure what each of them wants exactly, but there was a deeper motivation this month.

A few projects kicked off. We repainted some rough sections of the cabin, chopped up trees and brush, and rebuilt the flower bed out front. The yard is starting to grow again, which means the lawnmower came back out for the season. Unfortunately, so did the poison ivy.

Somehow, I managed to get into it yet again. At this point, it is starting to feel less like bad luck and more like a tradition.

Harold and Hank

Hank and Harold are not a gay couple. They are cousins.

These 19th cousins have become another connection point, an invisible bridge. A little portal back and forth. Over time, there have been a surprising number of these shared connections: coffee mugs, plants, flowers, sweaters, and even pope candles.

This is a kind of inside thing, so I dont expect others to get it. It one that has slowly grown into something bigger and more fun that I would have anticipated.

Creative

The kids love to create. Josslyn and Christian will sit together and paint or draw for hours. The boys are always creating something at church.

I got to play lap steel on the worship team this month, which was both new and awesome. It is fun to learn something different and use it in worship.

We also found what looked like a tiny ecosystem in a bottle out in the yard. Somehow, God had created this little self-contained world full of plants, moisture, and life, all inside an old bottle that had been left outside.

Christian wanted to work out in the shed at night building a guitar pedal.

Playing Outside

Having all the kids together at my house is such a joy, Especially on the first day when everyone is excited to be here together.

Christian and Josslyn have been really good about wanting to interact with the younger boys and play with them. Throwing the ball around in the backyard and playing flashlight tag are two activities they seem to genuinely enjoy together.

I love watching them interact and love one another in these moments. There is something special about seeing all four of them laughing, running around, and just being kids together. I love that they have each other.

This time, I went out with the camera instead of the normal iphone to try to capture some of the action.

Fire

There was prescribed burning happening in Cades Cove this month, just over the mountain from home, and an area that is visible from my commute over the mountain every day.

At first, I saw smoke rising in the distance and assumed it was part of the planned burn in that direction. It turned out it was not. It was the Rabbit Creek Fire, which burned around 50 acres and lasted about a week before it was fully contained.

It was strange and interesting to watch it unfold from my daily commute. On the darker mornings and evenings, I could see the orange glow of the fire in the hills. During the day, the smoke hung over the mountains and changed the look of the landscape.

O.H. I.O.

I somehow craved out just enough space and time for quick trip to Ohio with Leanne so she could meet some of my family (my mom and brother).

It was a fast trip with a quick turn around and a little exhausting, but it was absolutely worth it. I wanted the people closest to me to meet someone who has become very special to me.

She is calm, loving, kind, thoughtful, and beautiful in every way that matters most. She has a gentle spirit that brings peace wherever she goes. She is easy to be around, easy to talk to, and easy to care about.

I was proud to have her there with me. Proud for my family to see the kind of woman she is. Proud of the way she carries herself, the way she treats people, and the quiet strength she has.

Sometimes in life, there are people who simply feel like a gift. This trip reminded me that she is one of those people.

Braces

Josslyn has been insisting on braces, and honestly, it makes me really happy.

Not just because braces will help her teeth, but because they are part of a much bigger shift I have seen in her over the past few months. She has gone from feeling withdrawn and discouraged to being motivated to take care of herself and improve things around her.

She wants braces. She wants to dress nicer. She is decorating her room. She is being creative with art and learning. She is expanding her friend group significantly. It has been really encouraging to watch her grow and thrive.

This picture is a little underexposed, but it captures an important step in the process. She has completed the dental molds and already has the spacers installed. The brackets and braces will go on in April.

It may seem like a small thing, but to me it feels like a step in a really good direction for her.

Special Moments

I had lots of special moments this month, shared with my favorite people. I need to do better capturing the pictures, but I can honestly say that I am very blessed.

Around the Cabin

just some random shots from our time at home, my favorite place to be.

Standing Stones

Standing stones are physical reminders of something God has done.

One of the clearest examples is in Book of Joshua. After God stopped the Jordan River so the Israelites could cross into the Promised Land, He had them carry stones from the middle of the river and stack them together. The purpose was not decorative. It was meant to spark future conversations:

“When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them...” Joshua 4:6–7

The stones became a visible reminder that:

God was with them
God had made a way where there was no way
God had fulfilled His promise
Future generations should remember and trust Him too

There are other examples of memorial stones throughout Scripture:

Jacob set up a stone after dreaming of the ladder to heaven at Bethel.
Jacob and Laban built a heap of stones as a witness to a covenant between them.
Samuel set up a stone called Ebenezer, meaning, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
Joshua set up a stone under an oak tree as a witness to Israel’s covenant with God.

The broader biblical concept is that people are forgetful. We move on, get distracted, or lose sight of how God has carried us. Standing stones are a way of stopping and saying, “Remember what God did here.”

So I explained this to the boys as best I could, and we gathered stones from where the barn once stood. The same barn He hung a rainbow over when I first moved into the cabin.

The barn had to go, and God took it down in the funniest way possible with a runaway dump truck. It felt symbolic of the season, but also like a reminder of God’s sovereignty in my life. His plans are better than mine, and I want to align myself with His will.

Now, whenever we come home or leave, we are reminded that God is with us here, and He will always make a way.

Throwback

I am starting a concept this month, lets see if it sticks. I will pick a throwback picture and describe the nostaligia I feel about it. This month's photo is one of my favorites.

It is a picture of me and my grandfather sitting together at the table in my grandparents’ home. Their house was one of the safest places I could be. The story goes that he was making small movements with his hands and face, completely unaware that I was watching and copying him. When he realized what I was doing, someone grabbed the camera just as he put both hands on his face. Naturally, I did the same.

It is a simple picture, but it says a lot. Even today, years later, I still think of my grandfather as someone worth imitating. He was calm, patient, loving, and always willing to teach (directly and indirectly). He had a quiet steadiness about him that made it seem like the world could not shake him. I watched him go through hard times and easy times with the same steady demeanor. He never complained. He kept going, pressing on. He worked hard and never sat still, but there was never any anxious urgency in any of his projects and he always let me be a part of whatever he was working on around the house or camp.

He was also a man of deep faith. He was private about his relationship with God, but it was obvious that he was always seeking Him. You could see it in the way he lived, the way he loved, and the peace he carried with him.

Looking back at this picture, I realize I am still copying him in a lot of ways. And honestly, I hope I always am.

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