We started a Podcast! | Thrive Around the Table Ep. 1

We started a podcast! As many of you know for the past 3 (almost 4) years, I have been a part of an incredible ministry called Thrive. It’s a women’s ministry that gather’s once a month to share the love of Jesus to those in our community. You do not have to attend our church to join in. In fact, you don’t have to go to any church to come! You just show up as you are! I’ve seen women show up with friends on either arm and I’ve seen women show up alone and leave with new friend’s phone numbers! It’s been an incredible journey to witness for others and an incredible journey for me personally!

This season of Thrive does look a little different. We are gathering every other month instead of every month. Also, God put it on the heart of Katelyn, one of our Thrive leaders and my good friend, to start sharing a round table discussion on pressing issues that we all face as we learn how to live in COMMUNITY! Episode One is below! The subject of community has come up at almost every single Thrive event for the past FOUR years! In fact our mission statement is straight from scripture:

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

So, what does it look like to thrive around the table? It’s messy. I mean sometimes it can be pretty but for the most part it’s messy. There is laughter and there are tears. There is overwhelm that is shared by some and there is joy and celebration when the overwhelm is OVERCOME together! No burden is felt alone and they are carried by all.

How do you find a table to Thrive around? I’d say the very best way to find a table is to invite people around your OWN table and start there. Sound intimidating??? Don’t let your head get in the way of what your soul needs! You NEED a table to belong to and scripture tells us this! Start with inviting over your neighbor, or a friend you have met at work or the friend you chatted with at the playground while your kids played. Please, please, please do not wait for the invitation to come from someone else. While, okay yes, there is a chance that could happen for you - Do not wait for it! It should truly be a priority and not looked at as a treat.

When is the next Thrive gathering? Our next Thrive gathering is Friendsgiving!! It’s one of my most favorite of the season! We will meet on Tuesday, November 15th, 2022 at 6:30pm. Please come. Even if you come alone. It’s an opportunity to show up and to create a friendship that you might not have anywhere else. It’s an opportunity to hear the Word of God and to spend time in worship and praise alongside your sisters.

The Challenge: Please don’t wait for someone to invite you over for a cup of coffee. Be the one. Even if it’s not your nature or personality to extend an invitation. We are giving you a table that you can show up to. It’s time to take the opportunity that the Lord has placed in front of you and use it for His glory by showing up and opening up the part of you that you have shut down for so long.

Now go listen to our very first podcast episode!

The Robbins Halloween | October 2022

Our sweet, sweet babies! I can’t even handle how much I love them and how much I LOVE being their mother! I love how each of them loves the Lord. I love how they (mostly) love each other (sibling rivalry yo’!). I love how thoughtful they are when it comes to making decisions: Watching them pick out their costumes and discussing pros and cons: Is this costume appropriate? Will I be too hot or too cold?

Olivia found the most beautiful medieval princess costume. It was so perfect for her! While we were trick-or-treating she kept asking for her chariot to come and pick her up. Her legs were tired! She then asked for an Uber!

Rocco was a member of the SWAT team. I love all his poses and actions during his photo shoot! What a ham!! He even tried to scale the wall to “catch the bad guys”!

RyAnne and her friend Magan decided to dress as hippies. Some quotes from her while she was in her hippie outfit, “Nature is my favorite color.” “Let’s go sit on the side of the road in our peace van, sip some tea and play the bongos.” Where do my kids get this stuff from?!

I love how their brains WORK! It’s fascinating to observe.

Our homeschool lesson on Halloween, Monday, October 31, 2022, was all Halloween themed. We first watched a video on the history of Halloween and this lead us to some very cool discussions! Their biggest concern and question: Is this pleasing to God?! From there we discussed plants that we harvest and learned the difference between a vegetable and a fruit. We dissected a pumpkin, harvested the seeds and roasted them and ate them too! And, then we carved out the pumpkin and gave it a sweet face to greet our trick-or-treaters!

I am SO not that mom that makes messes with my kids. Eek! I’m so not in to gooey stuff, doughy stuff, painty stuff. My kids beg me all the time to do fun projects that include all this. . .stuff. I finally caved and got a carving kit and let the kids pick out ONE pumpkin. I can only handle so much gooey at a time. ;) They had the best time!

To back track a smidge. . .the Saturday before Halloween we went to the Friendship Festival. It’s my absolute fave festival! We go for the food and friends! We found my great niece there, HattieMae, along with her momma and daddy, Jason and Shanna. Isn’t she the cutest?

Also, because I couldn’t resist documenting it, I have included our Halloween decor! It was so much fun decorating our new home for the first time! And, now, bring on Christmas!!!!

Soul Rest | St. George Island, Florida

Why do I feel like I can breath better here? Why is it when we start driving away that I feel this insane pull to be placed right back on that sand? Why does every sunrise take my breath away and instinctually make me praise the Lord?

How can I breath better and my breath be taken away all at the same time???

When those answers appear to me I will let you know, too!

This has been a vacation that my soul needed. Our entire family needed! My only responsibilities were making food for my family and making sure we all had sunscreen on - that was it! My brain needed a breather and my body needed the rest - my soul was there praising the Lord and soaking it all in to prepare for this next and final quarter of 2022. It’s been an incredible and exhausting year so far. But, more on that in another blog post!

Let’s talk sunsets, sand and adventures!

Every morning I woke up between 6:00am and 6:30am. I would first make coffee, then open all the curtains, sit at the table and read, peering over the pages of my Bible waiting on the orange glow to start creeping up over the edge of the earth. I almost posted a photo from every single sunrise I witnessed! They were all just spectacular and completely different.

Our first few days were chilly but the water was perfectly clear and the waves were so gentle. The kids didn’t seem to mind the temperature of the water at all! While standing on the beach RyAnne looked into the sky to find a pair of Bald Eagles! They were stunning just gliding through the air in their domain enjoying the views just like us.

After enjoying the sand and surf a few days, we decided to head to Eastpoint, Fl to go to the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve and Nature Center. It’s just over the bridge from St. George Island. There we enjoyed the exhibits and nature trails. The kids loved how hands on they could be at the Nature Center. They explored the tanks filled with life, put their hands on loads of dead things in jars, held 600 year old pottery from the islands, learned about sea life and peered through microscopes. We all somehow grew hungry after this and made our way to downtown Aplalachicola to The Owl Cafe that overlooks the beautiful bay. Olivia grabbed my camera off the table and took a few snaps of me.

Another gorgeous sunrise and we headed back to the beach to find our beach neighbors fishing lines bent over with a massive fish tugging their line. If my research is correct, say hello to the bull shark (or a blacktip or maybe it was a lemon - I dunno!) that we were all swimming with! They pulled in several that day and the day before along with an eight foot long hammer head shark too! I’ve never seen a shark this large let along it be on the beach in front of me. What an awesome sight it was! It was fascinating to watch this family. They would hop in their kayak with a baited hook, paddle just over the sand bar and drop the line in the water, paddle back and wait. It didn’t take too long before all six of their young boys and some help from one of their momma’s, were cranking in the sharks!

That night we headed to The Blue Parrot for our fair share of seafood: Snow Crab Legs that needed NO butter and popped right out of their hard shells, crab cakes, hush puppies, cheese grits, Gulf shrimps. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The views are also spectacular. We watched the dolphins frolic while we indulged and yet there was another gorgeous, show stopping sunset for us. Delish dinner and entertainment, I give it 5 Stars!

The only photo I have all of the kids together are of them getting Rocco ready to jump in the pool without his floaty. Our big boy decided he wanted to learn to swim! Now that he’s tall enough to stand in the shallow end he has enough courage to take off the floats. With the help and encouragement of his big sisters, he lifted his feet off the ground and dove under the water. He did so good!! He even attempted to swim in the deep end too!!!

We ended up extending our stay on St. Georgia Island by five extra days in a different house and that still wasn’t enough. Two days before our trip came to an end, Olivia said, “I’m sad to leave this place but I miss my friends. Can we just put our house and our friends here?” It has become our favorite place to make memories in the sand! And, yes, it’s very hard to leave but I agree with Olivia, I miss my people too!

Brooks Grier | Monroe, Ga.

The Robbins Mini Fall Festival 2022 | Social Circle, Ga.

On Saturday, I asked Trey, my husband, if he would mind if I hosted a Mini Fall Festival in our backyard the upcoming week. . .and, he said he didn’t mind! So by Tuesday, we were in full planning mode and by Friday we were in our backyard having a blast with loads of our friends and their sweet children!

I am so very proud of our babes for all of their help with making our backyard magical for our friends! RyAnne prepared caramel apple dip and pumpkin spice cream cheese iced cookies. Rocco and RyAnne made sure we had plenty of firewood and Olivia and Rocco cleaned up the backyard. RyAnne helped me design and set up the photo booth. She did get pretty stressed when she realized how long her treats were taking to finish. Although everything was done well before everyone arrived, she was in a tizzy. Deep breaths, a little pep talk and after she finished making her last dish, finished loading the dish washer and cleaning up the countertops, she turned and asked me, “Momma, how would you like the house straightened up before everyone arrives?” Oh my sweet baby girl!!! The teamwork I got to see our babes put forth the day of our festival - they served their family and friends really well!

All week long the kids have been telling Trey and I how excited they were for our fall festival. And I have been too! Since I was a little girl I have dreamed of filling our home/backyard with dear friends and enjoying all things fall!

My friend, Jessica, came over and helped me set up tables and decor while our kids played in the yard. And, my friend Carmen, brought over all the yard games. God painted the trees with shades of yellow and orange and gave us the most glorious fall weather! It was such perfection and yet so simple too.

So, the thing I was the most excited about, was the donuts on a rope! I was seriously so excited for our littles to get to play this! They all loved it and it was so adorable to see their littles faces when they realized just how funny it was! Some of them were literally running circles around their donut while trying to take a bite. This got them giggling!!

Putting on a Mini Fall Festival may seem like a duanting task. But, don’t let the name of the event fool you! This was a beautiful group effort! I served hot dogs, apple cider and made a s’mores tray. We built a fire and asked all our friends to bring a side dish. We borrowed yard games and asked friends to help us. We got our children involved. Several of our friends stayed after the event was over and helped us clean up the yard and bring in dishes. We didn’t do any of this on our own. That is what made this so special!

In Genesis 2:18, it reads, “The Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone...” God created us to live in community. And, Jesus showed us how! He shows us in Luke how when we widen the invitation, the house will be full!! My backyard was FULL and so is my heart!!

Y’all friendship hasn’t always come easy for me. I’ve always looked at the ladies that have known each other since middle school and are now grown with children, still doing life together and thought, “I want that SO bad!” I’ve always thought I wouldn’t get to experience that because I moved too much when I was young, never staying in one place long enough to have those types of friendships and that it was too late for me to get to establish that in my life now that I’m in my late 30’s. That is a LIE.

It was a lie I told myself and it may be a lie that you have told yourself too. It’s not too late! But, also, let me just warn you. . .it’s work. Friendship is work. Beautiful work - but still, it’s a team effort that not one person can do on their own. You will have to make sacrifices and you will have to go out of your way even at the most inconvenient times. This is what Jesus did over and over with His never ending, never giving up love He has for us.

The Lord has truly answered my prayers! He had a greater plan for me than I did. He is showing me what it means to live in community. To allow others to show up for me in my times of need and to do the same for them in their times of need.

Before we went to bed, I asked Olivia what her favorite part of the Mini Fall Festival was, with a huge smile on her face she replied, “Having all my friends over and the campfire!” It’s like my sweet girl has read all the books I’ve been reading!! Find Your People and Get Out of Your Head by Jenny Allen or Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt, or the video study Table Talks with Bianca Olthoff!

So, is this a new tradition? Should I go ahead and put The Robbins Mini Fall Festival on the books for next year??? I’m down if you are Mr. Robbins! ;)

P.S. Check out that last photo of my sweet Rocco Koi trying to chomp his donut!!! He cracks me up!!!