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

Mihaela Echols3 Comments

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

Mihaela Echols4 Comments

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.

We Are Homeschooling!

Mihaela Echols12 Comments

We are homeschooling! We officially started in June when Jason finished up preschool at his private school. 

I started in January only doing twice a week dipping my feet in the water helping us get in the routine on Jason’s home days. That way I could figure out the kinks of when we started official full-time homeschool. 

This helped a lot the first week, because both boys knew what to expect. 

Our days for school are very simple. We have our morning routine and then they get an hour of free play that gives me time to work on my morning chores and set up anything for school. Then we meet in the playroom and we do our circle time. In that time we are counting, going over our alphabet, going over the calendar, and reading one story. Then we go into the dining area and do the lesson or sometimes we just do the lesson right on the playroom floor. The lesson usually is a game, something I find on Pinterest, a workbook (they do as many pages as they feel), or they use fun materials like a puzzle. I personally love reusable things. So we don’t have a lot of supplies. The school days are only 30 minutes long. The rest of the day is filled with playing, a play date, or going somewhere. So far I have loved the breathing space that homeschooling has allowed. It also has given me the privilege to be on the front lines of their learning. I love seeing them connect and figure things out.

I originally was on the fence with the idea and thought it over for about six months. There was apart of me that was craving flexibility for our family and not a strict structure. We thrive on routine and flow. I didn’t want our calendar to be over filled and miss connecting with my children. I wanted to be in charge of our calendar. At first I was hesitant as we were figuring out how give our extroverted son the much needed time with friends. Peter said he would bring them to Awana giving them consistency throughout the school year. They could do recreational sports, a co-op and of course play dates. We have taken both our skills and combined them. I am more organized and love figuring out creative ways for them to learn something and Peter is also an extrovert and isn’t too tired to go out at night.

We are doing homeschool year around giving them breaks for when we go on trips and for events so we can keep the routine making it more smooth on all of us. That way we don’t have the feeling of starting over. Instead going with the flow of the next step.

This is the beauty of homeschool. We get to do what works for our family. Live a slower paced intentional life where we can grasp the lessons with our children and grow along side them.

Creative Mission

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Things like VBS and Awana programs are amazing opportunities for evangelism for both children and families. They can be over looked as just fun things for children but in reality there is so much more then what is on the surface. These are souls we are fighting for. They are crucial ways of planting seeds in hearts. 

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe-as the Lord has assigned each task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have only one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

When children are dropped off at these activities they go home repeating what they learn through songs, sharing the stories and showing what they’ve made. It then can branch out into something beautiful. These stories do happen. Most importantly these times might be the only time some children hear about God.

I love that there are so many gifts the body of Christ has and their isn’t one way to teach about God. Crafts are hands on ways to teach a lesson. Songs are lighthearted ways to engrain truth in their hearts. Games are great for connecting with everyone. These are wonderful ways to connect and teach just as the Lord wants us to connect and learn about him. 

1 Corinthians’s 12:14-20 

Now the body is not made of one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” It would not be for this reason to cease to be a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where was the sense of hearing be? It’s a body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, everyone of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all at one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.




We invite, donate, participate and share. They then have the opportunity to hear, choose, and hopefully receive. This isn’t lighthearted. It’s impactful.

More on my sense of urgency and encouragement for children here.

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It’s Mine To Tell

Mihaela Echols1 Comment

Be careful who you tell are the words of wisdom I hold close when I have news to share. I’m learning my process is mine not everyone else’s. My healing journey is fragile. Therefore, so is my heart and mind. My heart shouldn’t have to be defensive when I share pieces of it. I shouldn’t have to plead or explain my wounds. My pace is where it needs to be. Over time I’m learning the people who have been here for the past four years behind the scenes of my counseling journey truly want me to expose the darkness that rests in my bones and walk in abundant life in Christ.

Slow Summer

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As I walk into this Summer I don’t want it look back on it as something I just filled my calendar with and was exhausted the whole time. I want to look back at this Summer as a time I enjoyed with my children by just playing with them and letting them take the lead. I want room for them to take Summer in in their own way with their simple play.  I want slow days exploring the beaches. The running barefoot in the cool green grass. The sweet taste of fruit and popsicles. The splash of a pool or sprinkler. I want to dig in the dirt with them, pick wildflowers, catch bugs, roast marshmallows, make simple meals so we get more outside time. Summer isn’t meant to be rushed by the beauty it holds.