The Family Order

03/05/2023

I’m am so thankful for our “slow start” mornings. Before we made our life-changing family decisions 3 years ago, mornings were crazy at our house. Rushing to get ready for an office, prepping dinner, school drop off, the list goes on. Now, we are able to use our mornings for a more “gentle” start. Ben and I are able to have meaningful discussions, plan out our day with purpose, and set goals for productivity.

This is all very possible because of the encouragement we give to one another. We could’ve easily thrown in the towel multiple times and gone back to what was familiar. The encouragement and prayers that we’ve received for our family, friends, clients, and colleagues has kept us motivated that we are doing the right thing for our family.

I have regretted not saying something to someone. I probably didn’t know what to say, but felt like I could have said something. Encouraging someone can have a significant impact on their attitude, lifting them out of a dark place and providing them with hope and determination to persevere through difficult times. It's important to never let encouragement go unsaid, and to generously uplift and support those around us.

02/05/2023

This was not the first thing that I thought about when I woke up today. It's actually been pretty normal with morning routine and Tuesday errands with the kiddos. I knew today was coming around again and have been preparing my heart for the reality that a 2nd year has passed.

There's a lot of days that I'll randomly unpack a memory or a thought of Bret. These past few months have been a little harder with 3 of the 6 Smith cousins getting married in a very short amount of time. Big life events remind me that he isn't here. I also think about what it would be like if he was here for those things. How would he have reacted to Maci's wedding cake falling and being obliterated with champagne flute glass? Would I have woken up on the morning of Taylor's wedding with both Uncle Don and Bret passed out on the couch from a night out in Nashville with Ben? I know he would've totally rocked a light up cowboy hat at the reception! And would my brother have him standing next to him at his own wedding later this month?

I'm overcome with sadness at all the good things he missed. We are literally bombarded everyday with all this ugliness, corruption, and lies. We are more "connected" than in any other time in history, yet we have to realize that we are actually more isolated. We work from home sitting at a computer, we commute for hours a day just to close our office door, we shuttle our kids to activities not engaging with anyone while we're there, we walk around buried in phones, we have project lists for miles that consume our weekends, and more than ever we have no spiritual foundation. We are hurting, our kids are hurting, our communities are hurting, our schools are hurting, our church is hurting.

I'm not going to unpack all of this right now, but we need prayer.
We need to pray for light in darkness-John 8:12
We need to pray for strength in our Faith-2 Corinthians 4: 8-9
We need to pray for God's healing hand on our world-Isaiah 59:13-15
We need to reach out to our brothers and sisters before it's too late-Psalms 69:20

We miss you so much Bret Michael! 💙

22/03/2023

We haven’t recorded in over a year, but we are still getting new downloads daily. Our mission and vision still remain the same. The family unit is still in crisis. We are still being called to discuss these topics. Should we RELAUNCH the podcast? 🤔

17/05/2022

Finished off our 5-Day Quarantine by putting together our patio sets! Can’t wait to entertain back here.

This whole backyard will get a facelift in the future, but these little sectionals were a great price on Wayfair to give us seating for now!

15/05/2022

11/05/2022

Do you ever make a plan and then the universe is like “Nope” and knocks you on your ass?

May is Mental Health Awareness month and we wanted to get in here a lot more to raise awareness around this taboo topic. Then the Bilyeu’s got sick! 😷 (No, it isn’t that, it’s allergies because we live in Kansas where the pollen is as thick as molasses right now.)

Anyways, I’ve been wanting to share this song for awhile now. “You’re Gonna Be Okay” by Brian and Jenn Johnson popped up on my Pandora station for the first time ever a few months ago when I needed it most. (Literally in the middle of an anxiety attack) By the end of the song I was in full blown tears on my knees. It isn’t often that I’m thrown into a spiral like that, but it was one of the worst and this song woke me back up.

https://youtu.be/LjF9IqvXDjY

We hope having these conversations this month will help people self-assess their well-being and make changes if needed. Check on the people you love, have a real conversation, and be a resource for help and support.

Click the link in our bio for all podcast episodes.




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03/05/2022

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we plan to continue to use our voices for the purpose of raising awareness. We have been on a longer hiatus from the Podcast than what was originally intended in part due to Aly’s fight with anxiety and depression. This podcast is a platform to raise thought-provoking questions plaguing the family unit today and all aspects of Mental Health are intertwined in this crisis.

Sleep (CONSISTENT sleep) is a huge trigger for Aly’s depression. It seems like no matter the season of life we are in, there is always a reason that we slip up on this.

1️⃣ Turn off those phones! We don’t have TVs in bedrooms, but we are terrible about being on our phones in bed.

2️⃣ Wake up at the same time everyday and go to bed at the same time everyday. It’s hard on the RARE occasion that we get a Snoozy Sunday, but we have to fight the urge to sleep in!

3️⃣ Get your list done! Don’t go to bed with your todos hanging over your head. Pick 3-5 things that are non-negotiable and get them done so you can sleep with a clear mind.

4️⃣ The magic number for Aly is 4 hours uninterrupted. She needs 8-10 hours a night to function, but if 4 of those hours aren’t completely uninterrupted by the baby monitor or insomnia, she can slump into depressive thoughts.

We hope hanging these conversations this month will help people self-assess their well-being and make changes if needed. Check on the people you love, have a real conversation, and be a resource for help and support.

Click the link in our bio for all podcast episodes.
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Aly Bilyeu Benjamin Bilyeu

02/05/2022

One year ago, we lost an amazing man to the struggles of this world. Your infectious smile, laugh, and humor have been greatly missed this past year and the room feels empty at family gatherings.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and there is no illness closer to our hearts and family than this struggle. We have been on a longer hiatus from the Podcast than what was originally intended in part due to Aly’s fight with anxiety and depression. This podcast is a platform to raise thought-provoking questions and awareness plaguing the family unit today. All aspects of Mental Health are intertwined in this crisis and we plan to continue to use our voices for this purpose.

We recorded this episode in May 2021, a few weeks after Bret’s passing. It is very raw, emotional, and very real for us still today. A fight with Mental Health should not be taboo. Check on the people you love, have a real conversation, and be a resource for help and support.

Click the link in our bio for all podcast episodes.
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