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Category: family

2012/2018/Adoption/Baby Gray/dealing/death/faith/family/grief/loss/Mr. Gray/prayer/promises/restoration

Full Circle Faith

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Jolie / 0 Comment

I shared on social media a few weeks ago that we had taken a step in a new direction regarding our impending adoption. View this post on Instagram   So, th...

2017/Adoption/Baby Gray/boy mama/calling/change/country life/family

When Words Escape

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Jolie / 1 Comment

This place has been a safe haven for over six years. Sometimes I share a little, sometimes a lot. I don’t aspire to be the next Dickens or Tolstoy, only t...

2016/Adoption/faith/family/gather/goals/God

Reflect: Gather

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Jolie / 0 Comment

2016 was the year of gather. So many times, it was affirmed that this word truly was meant to be my word this year. I ended the post at the start of this year w...

2016/family/friends/gather

Friends & Kids

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Jolie / 0 Comment

We were the first in a few of our circles to have a baby. So ours was the only one for a bit. It was always impressive to me how easily our friends loved him. I...

date/date night/faith/family/marriage/Marriage Matters/Mr. Gray

Intentional Marriage

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Jolie / 2 Comments

I’ve never been in a bad marriage. I’ve been in a fun marriage; a loving marriage; a loud marriage; an easy marriage (some days); and a hard marriag...

faith/family/love/prayer/speak up/step out

Say Something

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Mrs Gray / 0 Comment

One thing I generally have no trouble with is speaking my mind. When something is wrong, I say it’s wrong. When something is good, I say it’s good. ...

#mailthatmatters/2015/Baby Gray/family/fun/Mr. Gray/Purpose Box/summer/travel

A Bit of a Recap

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Mrs Gray / 0 Comment

Y’all, what a summer. It has been a whirlwind of emotions, coordination at the new house, plans that changed, changed back, and changed again. It’s ...

faith/family/grief/growth/loss/suicide awareness

That Tuesday in August

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Mrs Gray / 0 Comment

About mid-July, my subconscious starts to remind the rest of my being that the beginning of August is approaching. Scriptures, memories, timing, it all starts b...

#buildingthegrayhouse/date night/family

Forsaking All Responsibilities

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Mrs Gray / 1 Comment

You know how sometimes it just seems best to forsake all responsibility, drop everything, and just be? That was the case Saturday. We had quite a lot on tap at ...

change/faith/family/reflection

Chickity China the Chinese Chicken

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Mrs Gray / 0 Comment

At least I’m pretty sure that’s what the song says…  One weekSeven days One hundred sixty-eight hoursTen thousand, eighty minutes So much...

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Hi, I’m Jolie…

jolie-gray
Wife to Josh, mama to Hays (7), hopeful adoptive mama, and Jesus lover. I founded Purpose Box in July of 2014. I'm all about open sunroofs and coffee dates. Welcome to my space; have a click around. I hope you feel loved, encouraged, and empowered.

Texas forever.

Purpose Box

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Allow me to introduce {our}selves: I’m Jolie. Allow me to introduce {our}selves: 

I’m Jolie. Wife, mama, teacher, friend, daughter, Aggie, writer, encourager, reader, letter writer. 

That’s the boy. LEGO builder, author, advocate, fundraiser, creative, friend, Type One butt-kicker. 

That that’s Mr. Gray. Husband, father, friend, role model, coach, teacher, leaner, discerner. 

This is us! (Except now Mr. Gray cut his hair. 😭😭😭) Sometimes we match when we go out. Sometimes we laugh too loud. Sometimes we overreact. We love and forgive each other. We work together to help others and make the world around us better. 

Who are you? How are you? 👇🏻
So, I didn’t tell y’all, but when I posted yes So, I didn’t tell y’all, but when I posted yesterday, I also challenged myself. I challenged myself to show up. For seven days. Or ten. Or twenty-one. Or thirty. I’m not sure how long yet, but I’ll be here. For some consecutive days. 

I want to show up here in laughter or tears in such a way that you can take a little nugget, stick it in your pocket, and save it for a rainy day. 

Sometimes you just have to laugh. Laugh at yourself. Laugh with your spouse. Send your ridiculousness to your friends. Take a moss to dinner. Embarrass your husband. Don’t take it all so seriously. Step back a bit and step out of the deep. Smile. Breathe.
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, I wro Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, I wrote every single day. If I were going to be gone, I wrote ahead of time and scheduled it to post. In a more recent place in time, I jumped online each Friday and discussed the week via Facebook live. In an even more recent realm, I started a weekly newsletter in an effort to get back to some writing roots and offer up another form of sharing ideas and tips. 

Then I stopped. All of it. 

Everything around me began to just sound like noise, and I didn’t want to contribute to that. I wanted to be sure what I bring to the table has some value (even if sometimes that value is that it’ll show up in my @chatbooks later).

Mostly, though, I want what I share to be thoughtful and representative of a safe space in this big ol’ (sometimes mean) internet world. I want people to peek in—to any of my spaces—and see something that saves them time, a way to give back, a reminder that Jesus loves them, a family working on getting back to the basics and focusing on each other.

I want to be a brand and make an impact and be something bigger, but not in such a way that I blend in with the noise. I want to make you think and challenge you and offer up ways to make your life and systems simpler and work for you. I want to be a resource and an encourager.

So, I’m getting back in the game. And I’m starting with this little space. 

*laces up shoes and jogs onto the court*
State testing. ⭐️ When he was in second grade State testing. ⭐️

When he was in second grade, I heard my first account of a child with Type One whose test had been taken due to a monitor not knowing that the Dexcom receiver (not even a communication device of any kind) on the child’s desk was for medical care and taking the test without allowing the child to finish. 

I quickly emailed our counselor (whose campus we were not even on yet) and asked for a plan. She sprang into action and had gotten back with me in less than 24 hours. Plan in place, I felt much better—and we were still a year away. 

Enter the pandemic, and we still haven’t faced a testing day. Until now. While I did a little coaching on a good night’s sleep and how well I knew he would do, my focus was mostly on his medical plan. What to do—mostly proceed like normal. What not to do—anything a monitor questioned. And what to do if the plan broke down. I drilled him with contingency plans and ways to proceed should something go awry. 

Mornings like these, I am so grateful that he does not have any kind of test anxiety or anything to add into the mix.

His campus team does an incredible job day in and day out. I have no doubt today will be no different, but I know their tensions are high, too. It’s not a regular day for them, either. So we’ll face today like we always do and adjust after, if needed.
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