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For the past month, I've been doing a bible study called Stuck by Jennie Allen with some of the women in my church. It is the places we all get stuck in life - anger, fear, brokenness, discontentment - and how we can find freedom.

Every week has been great. But there was one chapter that caused my hands to sweat and heart to pound as soon as I read the title.

Chapter 3: Discontent

You see, I am leading a table of women. Not in any spiritually-superior way, but I guide the discussion, offer insight and testimony when needed. When I read the title of this chapter, I just knew that I would be sitting there in a puddle, the weakest of the bunch, humbly admitting my struggle.

And I was. But you know what else? Something funny happened. As soon as I opened my mouth and admitted that I get discontent every time I look in the mirror, the entire table echoed in agreement. The entire table.

So why am I blogging about Being Content for 31 days? Because I know I'm not alone.

And while there are many things that I could write about that inspire and excite me, I'm taking off the mask and writing about an area of my life that I really need to find freedom in. And maybe you're sitting there thinking that you are the only one with a poor self image, poor bank account, poor this and poor that. Well hopefully, through this series, you will find freedom too.

"Here is the problem with us: we don't go to war with our invisible, soul-sickening sin. We deal with the big, showy, obvious sin that everyone sees, but the invisible stuff is trickier, sneakier, deadlier. Discontentment in the form of jealousy, comparison, and greed is making us sick. It washes over our minds constantly and yet we are so accustomed to it, we have become numb - stuck. The more the word is tossed in my head, the angrier I become. I am angry at the devil, at myself, at this world. I am angry that such small and insignificant dreams bind us so tightly that we live disappointed and paralyzed. - Stuck by Jennie Allen"

This post is part of a series I’m writing for the month of October entitled “31 Days of Being Content.”  See all other posts in this series by clicking here. Or enter your email address in the sidebar on the right to subscribe to this blog and receive posts straight to your inbox!

There was a time in my life when I was fairly certain that blogging every day was impossible. Actually, that time was yesterday. And five minutes ago.

Tonight, after picking up a pile of toys and finding myself with an hour before I needed to put Micah to bed, I got inspired. An hour of free time people, this is what inspires me. I decided to take a leap of faith and jump in on The Nester's 31 day blogging challenge for the month of October.

The only kicker... we are supposed to choose one topic to blog on for the whole month.

I struggled for like... 10 seconds, then I remembered a blog post I started last week and literally quit writing because I couldn't condense it to just one area of my life. This is more than just a topic for me. It is an attempt at reminding myself every day, for the next 31 days, of the need for contentment in my life.

In my home. In my marriage. In my relationships. In my finances. In my abilities. In my day to day life of being a stay-at-home mom.

I can't promise it won't be messy. I can't promise that I won't be hiding in a corner afraid to share the real-life dirt that is going on in my heart. But I promise you this - I will do my best. Because I believe that God has a purpose for every story. And in 31 days, hopefully you will see the purpose in mine.

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>>> I will list every day's post here as it goes live. <<<

Day 1: Taking off the Mask Day 2: In the Hard Things Day 3: When Mess Becomes Worth Day 4: Just Staying HomeDay 5: I Must DecreaseDay 6: What I'm Called to Do Day 7: One Week of Blogging Day 8: Seeing the Magic through a Child's Eyes Day 9: The Lie that I Believe Day 10Day 11: One Thing that Matters Day 12: Getting to Know God Day 13: Praying for a Pumpkin Day 14: My Little Onion (18 Weeks) Day 15: There Will Always Be Someone Better Than You Day 16: Knowing too Much Day 17: Choosing a Baby Name Day 18: A Little Self-Promotion Day 19: My Prayer Song Day 20: Speak What is True Day 21: No Friendship Will Ever Be the Same Day 22: The Refining Process of Parenting Day 23: When Plans Fail Day 24: Will My House Ever Be Clean?! Day 25: Spending a Day in Rest Day 26: When I Need Grace Day 27: When You Smile, I Smile Day 28: What I learned from watching, "The Walking Dead." Day 29: Touched By An AngelDay 30: The Costume I Wear Everyday Day 31: The End of the Journey, but not the Battle

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It's been almost a month since we celebrated Micah's 1st birthday and I'm still working on sending out thank you cards to everyone who came and made his day so special! I am so thankful for how many people we have in our lives who truly love us and our little boy! :)

On to the details...

Micah b-day invite blog

Date and Time: Sunday, Sept. 1st from 2:00-4:00pm

Location: We decided on having it at our house. I knew the time of the party was right in the middle of nap time, so I wanted to be home to sneak in some quiet time before, during and after the party, if needed. Also, I wanted the environment to be as comfortable as possible for Micah. Can't say an 1800 square foot house is the most ideal place to have 50+ people, but we made it work! ;)

Theme: I settled on an "ocean theme" once I realized that having a theme actually made life easier and not harder. The colors were blue, light blue and gold,  and ended up being pretty similar to his nursery (I feel like he's too old for me to call it that now... :( ).

Food: Since we did an after-lunch party, we just had finger foods and cake. I searched google and pinterest like crazy to find ocean-themed food ideas and to my joy, there were some very cute and creative things out there! We had seashell pasta salad, peanut butter and jelly-fish sandwiches, tuna fish sandwiches, multi-colored (and flavored!) goldfish, "foreign fish" (swedish fish candy), "bait" (gummy worms), "pearls" (yogurt raisins), "seaweed" (spinach) dip, and "crab legs" (carrot sticks). I think this was probably my favorite part about doing a themed party. Cute food. :)

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Gifts: We spent a good half hour opening gifts in front of everyone. Micah was more interested in entertaining his guests than opening his gifts, though. He sure has enjoyed playing with all of them since!

Cake Smash: This was definitely the highlight of the party! We set up a tent outside (to shield as many as possible from the scorching Florida sun) and placed his high chair under it. Then we gathered around and sang "Happy Birthday" before letting Micah devour and destroy every piece of his sugary, buttercream-frosted cake! He definitely had fun with it! (Thanks to everyone capturing photos and video, we still get a kick out of watching it now!)

Favors: In light of the theme, we had ocean "bubbles" to send home with the kids.

I am so glad we were able to celebrate this special day with so many of our friends and family! And even though Micah won't remember, it was an exciting day for Josh and I to experience together as new parents.

I am so thankful for you, Micah Jordan. You are loved more than you could ever know and more than I could have ever imagined! Looking forward to many more birthdays with you, sweet boy. :)

Watch highlights from his party below!

Shots captured by Justin Robinson Video compiled by my lovely husband. Obviously, "Little One" is his favorite song to use in almost every video. I'm not complaining. :)

>>> My advice to any other new parent planning a first birthday party:

1. Invite people who mean a lot to you and have invested in your child, not just acquaintances who have other small children. There will come a day when they get to choose their guest list. For now, help them by choosing people they are comfortable and familiar with.

2. Make sure it'll be a fun day for you too!