Sunday Sermon #3

I think the idea of adoption is always on my heart, and I sob when I see videos like this. 
They move me in a way I cannot adequately describe. 

Working with children with special needs is a gift I feel I posses, and is ultimately what I decided to get an education in....
but since having my own children, I have not put in to practice what I got a degree in. 

My own children are my priority now, but I can't help but feel drawn to the idea of adoption,
because of my education,
because of the feelings I have in my heart for these precious ones,
and because it may just be part of the grand plan for the Wilkins Family. 

Our life right now is so uncertain, it would not be in the cards for us today, but I can't help but feel it could be a possibility.

I do not know what the future holds, and I feel the utmost respect and love for families like these. 

They are my heroes.



Happy Sunday!

Sunday Sermon #2

“We all pretend for a while or for a lifetime. But pretending is not living...I believe that God meant for life to take our breath away, sometimes because of the sheer joy of it all and sometimes because of the severe pain. To choose living over pretending means that we will know both.”
― Angela Thomas

Being thankful for my friends is easy....
telling them how much they mean to me is a bit trickier.
Here goes nothing...

I have so many wonderful friends.
I have a few hard-core sister/friends who have stuck by me
through years, COUNTLESS moves, time apart, arguments,
skinny, not-so-skinny, good, bad, and ugly.
There is something scary about letting someone in to your life,
so closely that there is no pretending.
And we all know how great girls are at pretending.
We spend our whole childhood doing it, and mastering it.
Heck, we pretended EVERYTHING.

Then we grow older, and realize that pretending takes a lot of work.
Figuring out who you really are takes a lot of hard work,
and can get a little messy in the friend department.

Being lucky enough to have friends next to you
when you come out the other side is a gift that cannot be described.

To those friends:

Lindsay
Cory
Sarah Jane
Jamie
Kacie
Laura

I appreciate you for loving me, and supporting me.



There are many honorary mentions from Spokane who know who they are...
(ok..want me to name names?? cindi, julie, melissa, ashley, jessica, sian, jacquie, lauren, jana, kelly, rachel, and more...)
They kept me company for weeks and weeks,
They shared their children, and their recipes, and their talents,
They took care of me when I was sick, sad, and post partum,
They taught me so much about what it means to me a military spouse.

I appreciate you for loving your spouses, and supporting me and mine.
I appreciate you for treating me like family, even when we were strangers.

Thank you for loving the pretend me,
AND the real me....
I am forever grateful for your love.

What would the world be without friendship?
xo, Ariel

Sunday sermon

(two years ago...)
(two months ago)

I have seen this quote around lately, and I feel it is worth posting...
not in a churchy-type-way,
because you all know that isn't my style.
But, I wanted share it here because this is pretty much what I think is wrong with folks in general.
We teach our kids to worry about themselves...
and adults need to do the same...
especially the "churchy" ones!
Let's be nice.

"One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting every one else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons--marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who use them, he has taken the wrong turning."- C.S. Lewis

Amen Brother Lewis.

This concludes our Sunday sermon.
xo- A