The Dwell & Delight Devotional - April 15, 2026

a weekly newsletter where I share what God is teaching me and small ways you can bring more presence & playfulness into your life as a mom

Hey sweet friend,

Welcome to the very first installation of the Dwell & Delight devotional!

As a busy mom of 2 and an external processor, I love sending voice messages to my friends (especially my mom friends; sometimes it feels like a playdate without being a playdate!).

My hope is that these weekly letters will feel like receiving a sweet voice message or text from a friend who is letting you know about fun things she is doing with her family, what has been helping her improve her life in small and effective ways, and what God is teaching her. And just as you would listen to a message from your friend, I’m sure you would reply to her with messages of your own struggles, lessons, encouragement, and growth. As you read these letters, my desire is that you also share with me and others what God is doing in your life, whether you implemented an idea from a letter and how it went, or any advice you may be able to give if you have walked through a similar season.

Each week, I will share at least one way you can “dwell” or sit intentionally in your faith and motherhood based on things I have done or want to do, one way you can “delight” or find magic and beauty in your faith and motherhood, and one verse and application that God has shown me that week.

With that, let’s dive in!

One thing I love about Substack moms is so many of us seem to share the same desire to live more intentionally and be more present and figuring that out in the constraints of a hectic external world and chaotic internal world (my mind feels like I am playing a game of dodgeball but they are all being thrown at once and and instead of dodging them, I am trying to catch and corral them all lol!).

So one way I have been trying to “dwell well” and be more present with God, with my family, and with myself is to look at the clouds. Yes, clouds.

I live in Texas, and one thing I have always loved is the big, open sky and how it can get decorated with fluffy white cotton-ball clouds.

Whenever I am driving my kids to and from school, I like to bring their attention to the clouds. Sometimes we try to guess what animals they remind us of, and sometimes we talk about how God made the clouds, and my oldest will usually make some dreamy comment about wanting to sleep on the clouds or something along those lines.

Something about fluffy white clouds brings me back to childhood and laying in the grass or on a friend’s trampoline and watching them roll slowly by.

Many people feel a sense of awe and peace when taking in a scene of mountains or the ocean. But for many of us, mountains and oceans are not accessible in daily life.

So this week, look at the clouds.

I became a mom in the middle of personal burnout and a brutal pandemic. So even though I wanted to have plants, I joked that was all I could do to keep myself and my kid alive, and there was no way I could also keep a plant alive. Thus, fake plants became a part of my interior design.

However, now my kids are 5 and 2, and we have much more stability, and my girls are kind and keen big helpers. We are spending a lot more time outdoors, so one way I am delighting in life more is by caring for and keeping plants.

Depending on your capacity, start small by displaying some cheap bouquets from Trader Joe’s or Costco. We also like to use the petals for crafts when they start wilting!

I recently picked up a few vegetable plants from Costco, and I have my kids help me water them. I have also replaced a few decorative plants with real ones from The Home Depot AND I even scored a beautiful fiddle tree from our local Buy Nothing Group. Basically, I am trying to make my home into a greenhouse lol.

We also have some very neglected garden beds filled with rocks and weeds that I have had my kids help me till and dig up so we can replace them with fresh soil, and since they have been spending so much time outside after school, it is has been a great bonding experience to work side by side with them and they have LOVED getting to dig.

So this week, try to find ways to bring nature indoors and allow your kids to take part in its care and keeping. Even if they die, the journey accounts for half the delight and opens great opportunities to talk about God’s power in creation and the responsibility of caring for something beyond ourselves.

And nature is just super pretty :)

I won’t always use a Substack note for the devotional section, but for this week, I think this note perfectly sums up my heart for this publication and the delight that God has for us and the subsequent delight He invites us to have with Him in return. I can’t think of anything more beautiful than that :).

Thank you for taking the time to be here for this first installation of the Dwell & Delight Devotional! May the Lord bless you and keep you and may His face shine upon you always, sweet friend.

Love,

*If you’ve been encouraged by this and want to support my writing, I have set up a “buy me a coffee” link to make a one-time donation. This honors the time and resources that go into me creating gentle, faith-filled content. While it is greatly appreciated, it is not expected. I am deeply thankful to simply have your presence here!

You can also support me by checking out my growing digital resource library. It’s designed to be a calm, one-stop companion to the ideas I share here—something you can revisit whenever life feels heavy or overwhelming. This resource is optional, offered with pay-what-you-want pricing, and includes lifetime access as new tools and reflections are added over time.