Author: Mihaela Echols

As we are on this crazy journey of life together we see how God has been faithful to us. I write on our family journey through parenthood and adoption.

Trusting God’s Timeline

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As I dig into the story of Joseph in the Bible (Genesis 37-47) I reflect on the concept of the timeline of this story. Not the time in history but the length that only God knew about. I dove into chapter 39 when he was thrown into prison for being accused for something he didn’t do for two years. Joseph had no idea how long he would be in prison. God gave him the dreams in chapter 37 but God never told him when they would happen. So in that time of prison Joseph didn’t know it would only be two years. All Joseph know was to trust God. He knew God was with him. I sometimes forget this important piece, because I’m on the outside looking in. I get to see how the story ends and Joseph only knew of his dreams. He lived this life and his story is an example of trusting God’s timeline.

Genesis 39:2 “The LORD was with Joseph…..”

Genesis 39:21 “The LORD was with him;”

Genesis 39:23 “Because the LORD was with Joseph.”

I sit in gratitude with the mana God has chosen to pour down on my family recently that he doesn’t have to pour (Bible reference Exodus 16 referring to providing). It could have taken Peter longer to find a job, and us a home, but we trusted God’s timeline. Often I see believers idolizing to hit certain milestones forgetting the story of Joseph and other faithful believers in history and forgetting that these people are real. They too served God with a timeline they didn’t know of (Hebrews 11). Christian sing the song that says “take me deeper then my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior”, but stepping back into reality is this our truth? The creator of time knows better then the timeline we create. What beautiful relief this is.

Speak Flowers

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Let our words be flowers to the moms who are in the swings of the hard parts motherhood brings. The ones who have hard pregnancies. The moms who had to fight to even gain the title mom. The moms who are sleep deprived to the point where their eyes sting most days. The moms who are learning boundaries with friends and family. The potty training and gently being consistent in discipline, and most of all the moms who are doing all this while tending to childhood wounds. The moms who are reliving and learning to clean their wounds so they don’t spill over to their loved ones. Their hearts are tender, because they too want to be good moms and didn’t have a clear compass. Their minds are learning to shift and speak gently to themselves as they do to their children. They are unlearning and doing motherhood for the first time. The only difference is they came into it hurting, and are finding pain they didn’t know existed. If no one is encouraging you in the thick of it right now I’m here to say God sees your work. He entrusted you with your child and with his strength you can have victory over the wounds that keep hitting the surfaces.

Arriving Safe

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We arrived safely to our new home November seventh and we are so thankful for how smooth everything went. We decided to make the most of this trip and turn it into a family vacation along the way. We had a system planned out making the trip as smooth as it could be.

Each day I had a little something new for the kids. They got new sticker books and activity books and they would get them in the mornings after checking out of the hotels. After our afternoon stop we’d let them watch a movie. For our stays we pre booked and pre planned making sure each place would have a pool and breakfast. 

For food we stopped at restaurants for lunch and whatever they didn’t eat we reheated in the microwave for dinner. I had hotdogs and apples and things in my on the go cooler for dinners in case they ate most of their lunches.  At each Restaurant we would do potty breaks and tidy up the car a little bit with toys they have dropped along the way.

Peter and I had a game plan. Depending on when we would check into hotels. Some nights we would let the kids go swimming. For mornings we would do breakfast there then go back and start loading up the car. I would fill mine and the kids water bottles with fresh water. The nights before I would lay out mine and the kids clothes so we could collect our bags faster. I would also reheat food from restaurants for dinner and unload the cold food in the fridge while they would be swimming. 

On the first day we drove straight to Idaho and stopped for gas and had a picnic from food I packed. Then my sister in law got us pizza and we met up at their house to take the kids trick or treating. It was so fun! The hotel was ten minutes from their place and we skipped swimming.


The next day we drove to the first restaurant for lunch and then went to the potato museum. Afterward we headed on the road for a long stretch to Wyoming and the kids got to go swimming that night. Wyoming was beautiful. After checking out the next morning we headed to a beautiful botanic garden and a really nice restaurant for lunch that had the best food and atmosphere for families.


The next day was a longer drive to Colorado and we took a break the day after. We knew with being on the road for a few days we wanted to make sure we were having fun and taking a break in the middle of the trip. We decided to do an adventure day in Denver, Colorado. We did the children’s museum and lunch at the aquarium and the aquarium after lunch. I highly recommend the aquarium. It was amazing! After the adventures we headed to our next hotel that was only an hour away. 


The last stretch to Texas was our driving day we didn’t do much. We just got to our hotel to swim and went to a play ground. We booked a hotel near our new home and stayed there for two nights giving us time to get there in case something happened along the way. The day we moved in was really fun! We went to a play ground then out for lunch at Olive Garden. The kids loved it! Then we unloaded and did leftovers for lunch.

After being here for six weeks we are seeing more each day that this big life change has been a great fit for our family.


Christmas Letter 2023

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This year was the year of change for the better. With big sacrifices and choices we have made we are thankful we took the big step. 

Logan turned three in May and we did a zoo trip with his friends to celebrate. He is our funny, sweet, adventurous one. 

Jason turned five in October and we took him to Great Wolf Lodge for a day trip to celebrate. He is our hilarious, energetic, friendly, creative one. Jason finished his second year at his preschool and we made the transition to full year around homeschool in June. 

Both boys are thriving with homeschool life and Jason says he doesn’t want to go back to other school. 

This Summer we put our house on the market and made the big move out of state. We were also able to visit my family in Minnesota and Peter’s in Montana before the move. 

So far we are loving our new place and are hoping to find a home soon. We love being able to be outside most days, and being able to meet up with friends who live here too. 

We are extremely thankful to those who have been so supportive along the way. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New year, 

The Echols Family

Operation Christmas Child

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My boys got to experience putting together an Operation Christmas child box for a child their age. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do with them for a while now because how my grandma Pearl impacted me with this tradition of hers. She would have a huge stack of boxes filled every year. Each box goes to a child across the world giving them a special Christmas. It brought me so much joy having my oldest share what we were doing with strangers in the line at Hobby Lobby. Weeks later we moved and the Church we were trying out were having a packing party. They provided everything. All we had to do was come and help pack. Eight boxes packed later my kids got the opportunity to make Christmas special for other children around the world again.

Content in Change

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I’m excited about our little tree! 🎄

This tree brings me so much joy as I’m teaching our children no matter what season we are in we can make the most of it. Thanksgiving and Christmas will look different this year but it can still be special. Moving was life changing in the best way for all of us. We have already been getting a lot of outside time and started making friends. We are still in our first week here adjusting and settling in.

Renting has been uncomfortable for me but necessary for our season. I’m learning I need to have a fan always going when I cook. 

That I just need to deal with the constant broken things of this new home and wait on the landlord to fix it. Thankfully they are fast to fixing the problem. That this space is only ours to borrow. Sometimes what is needed is uncomfortable and this is one of those times. I want to look back on this season thankful for the memories we made and how we chose to spend our time here. This means learning to be content where we’re at and look at the blessings through it all.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Sandy Feet

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Today was powerful. My feet hit the sand that they once touched 13 years ago. 

I exhale and take in the moment of the blessings before my eyes. 

My family. 

The ripple effects of my life came in full circle today. My children walked on the sand that I once walked and prayed on. The sand where me and my roommate Alex from Ecola Bible school met. We now send voice clips from afar maintaining a friendship that is held by faith and consistency from our efforts. This trip reminded how important each step we take effects our lives and why it’s so important to ask ourselves will this will bring glory to God?
Sandy feet. The sound of the ocean and my children playing. The warm sun. The smell of the beach. Today’s visit was a gift.

Cannon Beach Rain

Small Impactful Church

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Philippians 1:3-6 “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Now saying goodbye after eleven years this verse comes to my mind when I think of my Washington church. Westsound  took a broken chaotic Mihaela time and time again extended undeserved grace, encouraged me to grow spiritually, embraced my children, and I know if I ever need someone from this Church someone will be there. Westsound is interwoven in my life through strong biblical teaching, through my now husband, and the beginning of our therapy journey. They taught me what a biblical Church  looks like as I feared raising my children in the Church, because I long to give them both faith and community. I know because of how biblically-based, how well my children are treated, and how strong this churches faith is, the standard is set high for us as we look for a new Church. Members of Westsound you are forever our Washington Church. 

Moving Day

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Boxes are packed.
Rooms are looking bare.

My house is an awkward maze.

My heart is full.

I’ve craved this move for years. Today it’s now  a reality. I’m so thankful we were here for God’s timing and chose to work on our foundation of our home before moving. As we worked through parenthood, trusting one another, and learning what it really means to have a Christian home, I was humbled. If we didn’t work on our foundation in Christ it would not have mattered where we lived, because then our foundation would  have been on sinking sand. Had we rushed our move we would’ve missed healing.

Matthew 7:24-27

Sometimes I Forget

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Sometimes I forget my husband has trauma, and is still healing from his childhood wounds, because of how well regulated he is in our day-to-day life. When I see him struggling or at a fork at the end of the road I can lack compassion and wonder why he has certain struggles. I’m not talking about how there’s room for growth for everyone. I’m talking about how he faces extra obstacles because of how deep his wounds are and how it causes him to struggle. We can collide if I don’t slow down and make room for him to process and grieve.

We at times have had what I call this ping-pong effect where we are in a state of fear or discomfort in our backgrounds spring to the surface and we go back-and-forth with the old tools we had before therapy if we don’t slow down. We then create a division and break fellowship with one another, because I forget.

When I slow down, stay in my lane, and work with my personal growth I’m able to see our stories are different, and we are on our own journey. I need to create a safe space for his heart too. When we married we created space to be vulnerable . I have dismissed and forgotten that space of vulnerability is also trust and comfort. As we now hit our eighth year of marriage I pray I can recreate space of safety for him. When he struggles and falls that I can get down with him and pray, and let God do the work in him.