Hi there! I hope you’ll stay and find value here

Welcome,

It is a joy to have you here! My name is Yessi, pronounced Yes and Si and I'm bilingual so that's kind of fun. My full name is Yesenia, but I was only called that when I was in trouble, anyone else get their first, middle and last names too? I know my kids do.

I am wife to my high school sweetheart and Mama to five. It is my sincerest desire to encourage you on this beautiful and sometimes painful road. As I share transparently about my life and what brings me gladness, the yummy from scratch meals we're enjoying, sourdough bread, and how to live more slowly and intentionally. I pray like me you will find hope for today, not in isolation but in the person of Jesus, because as you'll see, He is hope enough. Come along for the ride, it's bumpy but I promise to always point us back to Him and in the process help us to live more fully.

In this blog you will receive hope for today, tangible and applicable hope that you can implement right away, sometimes a step by step because life is hard but hope in Christ gives us life and helps us to keep showing up. I love simple foods from scratch. I have a large family I love to feed quality ingredients. I am a stay at home Mama with a very hard working husband, I want to honor him also in the way we spend our money. And slow family living tips. For me slow living doesn't mean we just stop everything and become a recluse. Quite the opposite it is an invitation to live your life fully. To be present where your feet are. To not rush from place to place. Event to event. To spend quality time with the ones we love. Sometimes we think we are spending time together because we are in the same room, but I hope to share with you some practical steps to help you deepen the relationships God has given you, starting with Him.

As a believer of Jesus Christ I fully believe we can live a life that is full of peace and joy, regardless of the difficulties we are facing. Life is full of disappointments, pits twists and turns, but it is also very beautiful. It is not lost on me that Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” I hold on tightly to these words. Everything in the world yells, "God has forgotten you... or if He was real then...". We have got to stay anchored to The One who saves our souls. I am convinced that the more we choose to spend time in His presence the more we will feel His nearness, love and approval of us and the more we will be transformed from the inside out. Everything we seek is found in Him.

So I spend my days drinking tea, setting up tea parties, playing with barbies, reading a lot of very sweet and quaint stories with my three little girls. Working through Latin with one of my teens and listening to the philosophical thoughts of my teenage daughter. These children are precious. Truly, a gift from The Lord and they need their Mama to stay rooted in God so that I can best lead them and guide them in wisdom, love and truth.

I have gone through a great deal of loss in my life, and if there is one thing I am certain of it is this, The Lord Jesus can save, heal and deliver! If He has done it for me, I know He can do it for you! I love the brain, like really love the brain! I believe it is such a gift to us, I mean not just because we need it to live, but because it really is so incredible, and it will believe what we tell it, and also shut down when we've gone through too much. I experienced this as a young girl, I can now see in my late 30's what a gift it was that my brain shut down for a time to protect me, from all of the hard I was experiencing. Throughout my years I've had my fair share of therapy and I'm so thankful for this. I will share with you, what has helped me that I am now sharing with my children to, because the enemy doesn't play fair, and he is after our families.

 I am not afraid to enter into dark places, because I have walked through the Valley of the Shadow of death and it did not consume me. I know that if we stay rooted and grounded in God, you too will not be consumed by the painful things we walk through.

If you are walking through a dark season, I want you to know there is hope, and it is found in the person of Jesus. Together we will seek to find Him and find, He has been here all along.

This Winnie the Pooh quote is my absolute favorite. Would you believe the very first time I heard it was from my Spanish speaking daddy, I can guarantee you, he didn't get it from Pooh Bear. I was sitting upstairs in my room feeling sad and lonely about not having any friends. My daddy heard me, walked upstairs and asked me what was the matter. I told him. He comforted me, yes, but he did more than that, as a good father, and one of the sweetest memories I have with my daddy who suffered from much darkness in his mind and didn't know The Lord, he said, "Aye Yessi, you keep waiting in here when there are friends to be made out there, do not stay in your little corner hoping people will come to you, sometimes you have to go to them, go outside, go make a friend." How I hold these words to tightly in my heart. He's been gone now for almost four years, I miss him and I am so thankful The Lord found him and redeemed his life, so that the last twelve years of his life they were beautiful and he truly was one of my very close friends. His words would impact me for decades to come. I'm 37 years old and I still fully believe God has made us for one another. There are no lone rangers in the Kingdom of God, we need friends to do life with, and because of his encouragement I no longer sit in corners waiting for friends to come to me. I prayed and asked God to make me the friend I needed, the friend I wanted. Living my life by the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is transformational. God has your people. You can find my post on friendships here .

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes" A.A. Milne

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you'll keep coming back for your hope for today, yummy food from scratch and slow family living.

Many blessings and love!

You can find me on Facebook.

@yessiargabright