Hannah Morrison

One Year Down

Wow, so it’s officially been one year since I decided to make the move and step into silent ownership of my company as we did a slow roll off entirely over the months to follow. While I don’t at all believe this is the right choice for everybody, I had to do it. The stress and pressure I felt at all times was physically and emotionally withering me away. I wasn’t being the wife or mom I wanted to be, and we knew something had to change. The timing felt ridiculous to back out but we felt the hit we would take personally was worth it for my well-being. And, wow, am I so very glad I did. I stepped away from everything I built and I have never been happier. Because I am built with a business mind (it’s both a blessing and a curse lol) I have found some other outlets to continue providing an income for my family but it just had to look so much different for me. As my company grew, so did I. I began to understand how I was specifically designed, and while others might still thrive as a mom and wife while balancing the pressure of a company and payroll and pleasing clients at all hours of the day, I sure as heck was not. I realized that although I can cast vision and manage a team, it is not what I should operate in primarily. And I built something (on accident) that literally was not good for me and was killing my joy in all areas of life. I have shared this journey openly not because I think women shouldn’t work. No, not what I have said or am I remotely implying. Instead, I have shared my journey because I want to encourage you to say “no” to something if it’s robbing your joy. It is ok to eject from something you even started or have invested so much into if it’s eroding your capacity to pour into what matters the absolute most. I had to submit to humility and accept that I was not doing well in the very thing I had created for myself. No matter how seemingly “good” something is, it’s not worth it if it’s robbing you of your time to pour into your family, your kids, your faith.

So what have I done with my extra time? Well, a whole lot less of a what I thought this year would include, to be honest. I genuinely thought I would be finishing my book I had started with Tyndale about a year and a half ago in this time. But, God closed that door for the time being. I was really frustrated about it. I felt hurt, but I feel so called to the specific book God has laid on my heart. I didn’t want to change what I felt a vision for because it didn’t fit their need. And I am ok with that! And I am certain my 30 page thesis and pitch will be picked up but he right person. I am really grateful for the opportunity that was presented to me and it stretched me. And now, I have something ready to go when the right publisher comes along.

I coached my son’s soccer team. I don’t wanna brag… but we started from the bottom and we ended with games 13-2 hehe. These are the things I can hang my hat on now and I am not mad about it. Just call me “Coach Hannah.” 😉

I gained a new perspective on what matters. I am just genuinely happy to pay my bills, have healthy kids, and have a home with a roof and lights. I know that sounds so dumb and basic, but it genuinely was something I came to be so thankful for over the last year.

I can play on the floor with my kids without having to check my email for a client’s concerns or frustrations.

I can film content and write when I feel a desire to, not when I am pressure-prompted. I thought I would focus so much on my blog again over the last year, but I didn’t. I have hardly touched it. I thought I would do monthly photoshoots again and create content for my email list… but I didn’t. I didn’t do any of that. I just was… mom. And honestly, it was so nice. A bit stretching and at times a slight identity crisis. But in general, so so good.

I have been extra picky about partnerships and collaborations. I say no even if it would be nice to have that money. But it’s not worth the work if it doesn’t align perfectly with the vision I have for my kids and my home.

I have poured my heart and soul into the women of Cadence and had the chance to plan events that fill my cup. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter… I love to throw a good party and to see people find community. This will be the joy of my life alongside my babies for the rest of my life.

All this to say, I feel I have lived such an open book life for y’all through every season of my life. And this one has been something so notable but less shared about. Not for any particular reason other than… I have been MIA here on the blog side of things and that’s where I feel I could share more openly about it. Here’s to a year of blooming in motherhood and to many more years of it to come.

Some fun life updates:

  • Knox graduates from PreK Monday and I am already weeping.
  • I was just named the face of Snuggle Me Organic for the next 6 months and am genuinely still like… “are you sure you reached out to the right person?” but I am so honored and excited. It’s such a fun and creative outlet for me!
  • We have sabbatical for the next 4 weeks starting Monday and we are so excited! This means Paul won’t be preaching for four weeks and we will be spending tons of family time together. We will do this every summer to get vision for the church for the upcoming year as well as some needed rest! There will be some of our favorite people preaching those Sundays and I cannot wait for our people to get poured into by them!!

Hello + Proverbs

Hello, friend! I hope you had the best February and feel the same giddy butterflies I feel for spring marching in. The sunshine peeking through, the green grass popping up, and the colors beginning to revive themselves after months of a lifeless appearance. There’s something so good for my soul that happens every spring. It’s like a refresh to my vision and perspective. I love this time of year!

What am I dreaming about for the next couple of months? I want to buy a plant box for my back porch for starters. I am determined to become a gardener… lol. Ok, more realistic: To plant some herbs and flowers that don’t die. I also have a DIY plan (dream) to paint my back porch a checkered look. Stay tuned. Highly likely to not happen because I am 0% a DIYer… but I actually think I could do this one. So, here’s hoping… hehe. Anybody else like me in this!?

A Word from Proverbs:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1: 7

The fear of God is actually saying “I fear being anywhere you’re not because you’re so perfect and great- give me wisdom to hear your voice and walk in your ways.” Remember that as you navigate your days and find yourself praying for something. God, we want your WISDOM that sometimes even means NO for something we desire or is seemingly good. Ask for WISDOM and he will give it to you, friend.

I think the general essence of Proverbs, the sincere care for us with direct instruction, is an encouragement for the way we parent our babies, lead our homes, lead in our workplace… whatever you’re in charge of. Wisdom is direct. It’s setting gracious boundary lines to allow for freedom within the safety of wisdom.

A few things I am DIGGIN’ these days:

  1. The new Morgan Wallen album. O M G. The perfect springtime album driving with the windows down and a Sonic cherry limeade.
  2. Target’s spring selections. I LOVE ALL THE COLOR. They did such a great job with all their lines this season! I needed a couple pairs of pants for Sundays and found two great ones for under $30 each. SO GOOD. I linked those and a couple other favorite finds here.
  3. Our Playhouse [here]! Y’all, I dreamed and hoped the boys would use this thing as much as they do. It’s been a game changer around our home to be able to say “Y’all go outside and play” and they actually want to. It’s given me a slice of peace inside throughout the day to get a couple things done. The price point is incomparable and it feels sturdy. It did endure hurricane winds and a tornado that barely missed our home last week… So I can confirm it is indeed a quality buy to withstand the weather. 😉

Exact Buys from Target:

Other Fun Finds:

Hello, 2023 & Purpose

As I sit here in my daughter’s room, watching her snooze for the first time in her own crib (fingers crossed we move up here for night time sleep soon!) and hear my sons giggling in the playroom just down the hallway, I am filled to the brim with gratitude. The absolute purest form of it. 2022 taught me, if I am honest, some of the basics all over again. I spent my 20’s working hard, losing sleep at night worrying about things like baseline numbers and employees, building companies, and running different businesses. And at the drop of a hat, I said “no more”… I want basic. We are talking like, shelter, food, basic needs met kind of basic. Sometimes, life makes you just abundantly grateful for the littlest, most basic things like baby cheeks that squish into your lips when you kiss them and food on the table that you planned and prepared, and a home we love and have the joy of living in. I will never view anything the same after my late 20’s and all that life dished at us, and my goodness I am thankful for that. After a series of events that put life perspective more clear than ever for me, I chose to sell my company to be home more and grieved a lot of “how it was.” Don’t read that just as financially or anything like that, although we did have to make some massive changes with this initial move in my job title. But I grieved “how it was” relationally with people I once did life with, “how it was” as I turned the big 30, “how it was” as my season of birthing babies came to a close. “How it was” before kids vs now as I navigate rediscovering Hannah, the mommy. I could go on and on about what “how it was” means to me as the chapter pages have turned to “how it is.”

As we enter into this new year, I hear “purpose” loud and clear for me to pursue. The calling, as a mom, wife, and leader in our church. Purpose as a writer and as I navigate what I love so much about this space and community I spent so much of my 20s building. It all looks new and different, and I am so excited. There is something thrilling and giddy bubbling under the surface as I turn this chapter. Paul and I have said a lot over the last two months “we will just never be the same” in the most beautiful and life-changing ways. All positive things even when it took some painful pruning and plowing to get to the basics. I picture a field that’s been plowed down to the very best soil. The dirt was so full of dozens of seeds that had been tested over the years that alone, these seeds worked. But after time and years of seasons and growth… some of the seeds just didn’t work alongside each other anymore. They were choking each other out, and the only way to fix it was to plow it all down. We had to plow down to the purest, cleanest version of the field to start new growth. We had to decide what we would intentionally plant and what holds purpose for our family moving forward. I had too many seeds growing in one field, and they just couldn’t co-exist anymore. I had to decide which ones were done seasonally and which ones were done for good. It was difficult, but it has brought forth more life than ever before.

Purpose.

I am excited about 2023. I am ready to tackle goals and things I have put on the back burner for 5 years. I am ready to rediscover Hannah this year. A Hannah who has lost some things but gained so much. Hannah who meets the needs of 3 little faces every day, but also has her own she wants to give attention to again. I am excited. I am ready to show up here again, and I mean really show up. I am excited to get reacquainted.

So, hey. I am Hannah. I am 30. I have 3 babies on this side of heaven and one angel girl. I have the best husband. I have gained a few wrinkles and pounds over the last five years as I have birthed my babies and shared about it all here as I was able to. I lead a church alongside my husband in Frisco, TX. It is the greatest joy and journey of our lives. An absolute privilege. I love life. I love good food. I love a quality pair of shoes and a fun, colorful closet. I love being the closet friends ask to peruse for an event they have. I love cooking and I LOVE being mommy. I believe in forgiving quickly and recognizing people are all just doing their best. Cheers to 2023. Cheers to my 30’s. Cheers to the best ahead.

xoxo,

Hannah

If You Love Them, Let Them Go?

You’ve heard that before, right? “If you love them, let them go.” Based off my understanding of it, I always have deduced it down to meaning simply sometimes the best thing for somebody else isn’t you. Easy enough, I suppose. In my quiet time the other day, though, I came to the story of the Israelites and God when He all but literally says “I love them, so I will let them go. Let’s see how this goes for them.” It brought a whole new depth to this line to me, but it also brought a whole new depth of understanding of God’s love for us. Can you imagine how so very difficult it would be to say “I love you so much that I will let you go and ruin your lives so that you can finally see just HOW MUCH I really do love you”? Like, as a mother, I can’t even imagine letting my sons go make horrible choices with the hope they’d see in their self-inflicted destruction that they actually were so deeply loved by me all along. But that’s exactly what God did in Deuteronomy 32 for the Israelites, and it’s an act of deep deep love. It says “They [the Israelites] made light of the Rock of their Salvation”, offering sacrifices to demons and other worldly things, and “neglected the Rock who had fathered [them].” So God says, “I will abandon them, then see what becomes of them. For they are a twisted generation, children without integrity.”

OUCH. If we read this without a full understanding of God’s character, it feels cruel. If God is so all-knowing and sovereign, why couldn’t he just force the Israelites away from sin? Well, because love can’t exist without choice. It isn’t love if there isn’t a decision to do so. In God’s full comprehension of perfect love, He also knows we cannot be forced to love Him or there’s no true communion between us and our Creator. God’s character is for all things to work for our good, though, and for His glory. Our feelings of abandonment from God is simply the sacrificial removal of his hand on our lives. Yes, sacrificial because it certainly grieves Him. But He is ALWAYS present. He is always near. Sometimes love, as shown by God here in scripture, is to let go for a bit. By the removal of His protection, we can no doubt feel a gap between us and our Creator whether we recognize what [or who] that gap is between or not. When we aren’t living in a connection to our Father, we feel a brokenness, an emptiness, and a void that we can attempt to fill with earthly idols and tangibles… but they will never satisfy our needs. God fills every gap, every void, every ache.

Maybe you feel that disconnect yourself right now from your Father God. Or maybe you connect with the Israelites in this story. You can feel He’s lifted His hand some. Or, maybe you’ve had to step into the painful position of removing yourself from somebody you love with the hopes they’ll return, recognizing how much you truly loved them all along. You loved them so deeply but needed to let them go for whatever the reason. I am not sure what your story is. But, I do know there is a God who is near and present. A God who loves you so much and wants to meet you in your gap. I hope above all that as we celebrate a month ahead of us devoted to love, you can see first and foremost the love of God in and ON your life.

When Things Feel Out of Control

Yeah, I get it. From being worn thin and overbooked schedules or just feeling irritable because I don’t seem to get a second to myself – I know what it feels like to feel out of control. I see you, mom who says she going to the bathroom but it’s really to just sit alone for 10 minutes on the floor of the toilet room.

I recently felt so overwhelmed by the things I once loved that I strongly considered quitting everything. Like, sell the company and be simply a mom who has time to actually make homemade pies and play dough. That’s a thing, right? But, after some serious soul searching and rewiring of priorities, I realized my job and the things I once loved aren’t what was stressing me out. It was my priorities and stewardship of time to them. So, though being a mom who bakes pies and makes homemade play dough truly sounds so fun [despite the fact I am actually a not so great baker or DIY-er], it’s just not who God designed ME specifically to be in this season. However I do want to become a better baker and attempt a DIY now and then… perhaps 2022. But my priorities, regardless of my passions, should be my calling. And my calling on this earth is to leave a legacy behind and children who love God. My kids don’t experience God if I am frazzled and working all the time. They don’t experience God if I don’t have time to stop and play or hug their dad. I want to be the mom who DOES have time to stop and play for an hour on the floor, and that means knowing I can close the laptop throughout the day. Everything won’t burn to the ground if I play Spiderman with Knox for an hour. Know what I mean? But, there was a season I thought it would. I genuinely felt if I stopped, so would the blessings on my work and our life that was seemingly “awesome.” In that tight grip of false control, I found myself so anxious and awake at night thinking of more things I need to do and, well, long story short something needed to change. Was it selling my company? Was it letting go of leadership and taking a back seat? Was it staying as is and sucking it up? I didn’t know. I genuinely didn’t. But I realized I just needed a priority shift. I needed to rearrange some things and reorder the way I do some stuff. I needed to pitch some bad habits and I needed to let go of some things for a season. So I did. And know what? I feel creative again. I feel refueled. I sleep at night again. I am more patient. I speak kinder. I can stay calm when my almost 4 year old is telling me he doesn’t want to do something for the 10th time this morning. I AM being the mom I want to be, but it came differently than I thought! I thought I had to quit everything and lay all my passions aside in order to walk in my calling. But, truth is that God gives us passions for a purpose. But our passions cant be purposefully executed if we forget our ultimate calling. What’s your calling? LOVE GOD. LOVE PEOPLE. TELL PEOPLE ABOUT GOD. From that, you can decipher what your calling looks like in your life. For example, mine specifically is: LOVE GOD, LOVE MY HUSBAND, LOVE MY KIDS, LOVE OUR CHURCH, SHARE THE GOSPEL ON ALL PLATFORMS GOD HAS GIVEN ME. Make sense?

We can get so hung up in passions that we forget the purpose and our ultimate calling. Passions must fit within healthy boundaries of our calling or it’s not Godly. Passions are good – but like all “good” things on this Earth, aside from Jesus, when we don’t healthily approach them we can find ourselves quickly not good. When our priorities are whacked up so is our heart. Our soul was designed to worship, but if it’s worshipping work rather than God… then you’re going to see the ramifications of that in your life. For me, it’s anxiety and shame. What is it for you? What can you pinpoint as a potential ramification for getting your priorities out of order?

I hope you can take a step back and assess your current situation. What if it isn’t WHAT you do but rather HOW you’re doing it that’s causing you distress lately?

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