Growing

My little baby isn't such a little baby anymore.

Well, he actually hasn't been that "little" 

since he was like 2 weeks old, ha!

But I feel like his haircut added 6 months.

That and his ever-increasing babbling,

as if he is actually saying anything:)

YOU Were Meant To Be

JOURNEY GIRLS BREAKOUT CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 5th 8:30 -  2pm Cost $5 to include lunch    General Sessions by Beverly Carroll and the release of her new book, "From Glimpses to Glory." As well as a few breakout sessions targeted to help YOU become all that you Were Meant to Be. RSVP and PAY LATER

I'll be leading in worship with the rest of the Journey Girl Band.  Come on out and join us for a wonderful day as we soak in the glory of God together!

Fun Facts For Friday

I am exhausted this morning!

Physically
As grateful as we are that the flu bug is no longer lingering around our house, we are now battling this sinus, congestion, I've-never-had-so-much-snot, cold stuff.  Because of it's effects, you know, coughing your lungs out and snorting like it's sexy, I've been taking some medicine.  The night time ones have left me sleeping all night, but waking up from crazy dreams ranging from deaths in the family that seem so real that I wake up with that burden that lasts the rest of the day, and then other's that leave me laughing out loud in my sleep, waking up both Josh and myself.  Therefore, I think I'm done with those meds, ha!  So, sorry if you've been trying to call, I've been left without a voice for most of the week.

Emotionally
I had another niece born yesterday afternoon.  As I rejoice over the new life God brought into this world, I am faced with the equally strong emotion of grief for another who lost their baby 2 days ago, which only brings back a flood of emotion from our loss that we experienced just 7 short weeks ago.

As a parent
Feelings of inadequacy and defeat.  Just to sum it all up, as Areyna and I were bantering about an issue I tried to get to the heart of it by asking, "Areyna, why is this so hard for you?  Why do you HAVE to do ____________?"  which led to her response, "But if I don't I won't feel like a grownup."  Oh boy... She's not even 6 ya'll and she's already wanting to be grown up and feel like an adult!  I'm not ready for this.  I'm not sure which battles to choose and how to respond.

On a brighter note, Josh and I went on an amazing date this past Wednesday!  We did our usual: eat out for dinner (somewhere we had a gift card for, of course:).  We have a new date strategy.  You ready?  We split our entree.  It left more money on our gift card, so we got an appetizer, and it left more room in our stomachs for dessert!  We are SO doing this from now on.  I'm not sure why I feel like I have to stuff myself full, just because we're on a date, ha!  Then we went to get some coffee and walk around Barnes-N-Noble, which used to be one of our favorite dates before kids.

While we were in there I remembered that my journal was on it's last few pages and I figured I pick one up while we were out.  And maybe it's me, but I have the hardest time picking out a journal!  I mean, all the options...spiral or spine, hard or soft back, multiple color schemes or plain (I mean, you have to get one that matches the room it sits in, right?!  Ok, maybe that's just me...), leather or plastic, thick or thin, lines or no lines, and then the price...sheesh!

Then, we were left asking the age-old question, "What do normal people DO on dates besides dinner coffee and movies?" and you better believe we weren't going home before 10:)

So, we thought, since it felt oh so nice outside, to go downtown and walk around.  We ended up on Fayettville street.  We had a blast, prancing around, well, Josh didn't prance, but whatever.  We walked past this place called Sono Sushi Restaurant.  Now, the only thing Josh and I can think of is the nasty sushi we had when we were in Japan...slimy, sticky, raw, ewww

But it didn't take me long to persuade him to go in with me, just for fun, and try some.  I mean, when do we ever act so spontaneously?!

Surprisingly it was pretty good.  The experience was so fun and I'd say we'd probably go again.

So, it really has been a good week, but I am thankful that it's Friday!

Any big plans for anybody?  We're staying right here, anxious to worship at our home church together this weekend.

Happy Friday ya'll!

Lessons From The Classroom - Together

Last week was a new adventure.

Micaiah now lives in the land of "One-Nap-A-Day"

He's been working on it for a while

but there is no turning back now, I'm afraid:)

It makes it difficult to try to find a time for school

Afternoons are OK, but for any of you with children,

you know that a fresh mind in the morning is the best time

to get the kids to cooperate with you.

So, we've been doing school altogether

at the kitchen table after breakfast.

I pull out some manipulatives, 

or marbles in this picture,

which work GREAT as a choking hazard

OR

keeping a 1 1/2 year old occupied.

Don't worry, I don't leave him unattended;)

Cai LOVES to put them in and out

in and out...

in and out...

Zeke gets his Spiderman computer which

is helping me teach him his letters.

Areyna gets "sort of" one-on-one time with me

to do her reading, which she is doing excellent at, BTW.

So, this is what a one-room-classroom must have been like.

Story In Pictures - Stretch

I always wonder what happens

 to the neck of all of Josh's T-shirts

 They are always SO stretched out.

Well, I don't have to wonder anymore;)

What We're Having - Tortellini Soup and Monster Cookies

We had a killer dinner last night for small group, thanks to The Pioneer Women.

Main Dish:  Tortellini Soup
It was super easy. I forgot to add the spinach, I told you I always forget stuff at dinner, and I cooked mine all afternoon in the crockpot.  It was delish.

Dessert: Monster Cookies
The kids love these!  Well, let me rephrase that, Zeke and Cai love these.  Areyna...not so much;)  At least she is consistently picky with every food group!

Love And Freedom - A Talk On Total Submission - Part 2

If you missed yesterday's post click here to get caught up.


QUESTION #3-

Why are you so scared to “Totally Submit”?  What is keeping you from letting that guard down?

For me, I am afraid to allow myself to be vulnerable. What if it happens again? I am afraid of what I will find out about myself.  I am afraid of failure.  I am afraid that people will see a woman who doesn’t have it all together.  I woman who struggles through life.

I’ve said this so many times…we can appear to have a perfect life for a few hours at church, or out with friends and even with a few keystrokes on the computer, but if we are honest with ourselves and others we will see that we are all the same.

But isn’t that truth?  Isn’t that honesty? Isn’t that why we are so affected by comparison?  We see one person’s perfection and want it, when in reality their lives are just as messy as ours.

Let me read a verse that the Lord has really laid on my heart a lot lately:

“He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, and with all your mind.  

This is the greatest and most important commandment.  

The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  

All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-39

It doesn’t have any but’s in there or “Unless ______________has happened to you.”  NO!  No matter what your circumstances are, love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul, mind and strength.  You must love others, even the ones who have hurt you, or the ones who always get everything you have ever wanted, or the ones who have a husband that brings them flowers everyday, or the ones who have the most well-behaved children, or the ones with your dream house or the ones who are hard to love…

If there is resentment, whether it comes from bitterness, judgment or jealousy,  then you cannot love the Lord in TOTAL SUBMISSION!

Let’s see what the Lord says about love:

The Lord speaks so much about love.  It is the greatest commandment, it is so much more than a “feeling”.  See, everything in our Christian walk rests in this…LOVE.

If you look at Galatians 5:22-23, what is the very first outflow of a believer?  That’s right…LOVE.

This is how other’s will see that we are different.

Let’s dig a little deeper.  What IS Love?

1Chorinthians 13 lays it all out.

Love is:

Patient – takes forever to get anything accomplished with kids AMEN? But if I show no patience for them, how can I expect them to show patience for each other?

Kind

Does NOT envy – my best friend is a natural interior designer. Has a beautiful house. Sometimes I catch myself beginning to get jealous of what she has.  This doesn’t prove my love to her, nor does it show the Lord that I trust that He knows what is best for Me!

Not boastful – we should boast in NOTHING but Christ

Not conceited/proud – this is selfish and begging for gratification from other’s which is not fulfilling AT ALL.

Not Rude

Not selfish

Not provoked/easily angered

Does not keep a record of wrongs – sometimes when I get frustrated with my husband I hold it inside until all of a sudden all the little things make me upset and I have kept a list of all the wrong.

Finds NO joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth – rejoice when others find the truth or blessed, not resentment because they are now getting attention.

Bears all things/Protects

Believes all things/Trusts – Instead of waiting for someone to mess up…trust them.

Hopes

Endures all things

Question #4-

What can you do when these circumstances arise?

My husband does this thing called “bouncing his eyes”.  Men are visual.  So, when there is a bad commercial on TV, he changes the channel.  When he sees an underwear add, he hands it to me to rip out and throw away.  He has installed Covenant Eyes on our computers to be proactive about the temptations that come up on the internet.  Being proactive, having a plan and not lingering is what he should and does do.

For us women, who are prone to playing the comparison game, or replaying every conversation over and over in your head until it is so blown so out of proportion that you don't know what is right from wrong, we need to "bounce our thoughts".  Turn away from it.  Refuse to linger in those thoughts.

This isn’t only a suggestion, it is a command!

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 

whatever is commendable-if there is any moral excellence 

and if there is any praise-dwell on these things.”

Philippians 4:8

Question #5-

So now what?  Get practical and think of some things that you can do.  Better yet, what do you need to ask the Lord to do IN YOU, because, let’s be honest, it sounds really nice to just “bounce your thoughts” and “think only on those things that  are pure”, but we cannot do that in our own strength.  The Lord has to do that and we have to TOTALLY SUBMIT these things to Him in order to give Him freedom…to give us FREEDOM!

Music To My Ears - Shelly Moore Band

It's really kind of crazy how Shelly and I met.  She was moving to Charlotte while we were moving from Charlotte.  We had a ton of mutual friends and we ended up connecting at Ridge Church one Sunday.  She is so down to earth and humble.  She is very creative and eager to collaborate with other musicians to make the most out of her music.  She is beautiful inside and out.

You can go HERE and see what she's all about, then take a listen HERE, and since I know you'll love her stuff, you can go get the music HERE:)

Love And Freedom - A Talk On Total Submission - Part 1

I was asked to share the notes from my talk I gave to the Ladies group in Henderson a couple of weeks ago.  I've tried to chop it down just a little bit, but hopefully you'll get the point of what I feel like the Lord laid on my heart to share.

LOVE AND FREEDOM

Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.  And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”

I began by telling a story of a girl I often saw on the seminary campus.  She was beautiful.  She seemed to have the perfect life, lots of friends, smart.  I remember walking onto the basketball court to with my team ready to play our first intramural game and seeing her.  She had bright red tennis shoes.  She became "the girl with the red shoes" to me.  I was automatically intimidated by her.  Even before we had even ever spoken.  I had already made a list full assumptions about her in my mind.

Now, if you let the story play out several months you'd see that we eventually became friends.  Such good friends that now I consider her one of my dearest friends!  Even though she lives in GA, we get to minister with them about once a year and we keep up in the blogosphere with each other's families.  If I would have let those preconceived thoughts rule over I would have missed out on the godly influence and great impact that this girl has had on my life!

At first, I allowed my own thoughts about Lindsey be how I made her out to be in my mind.  But that was my own insecurities playing out.  I was judgmental, envious, and even jealous...of what?  My own ideas of who she was.

QUESTION #1 –

What are some areas in your life that you struggle with comparison and that keep you from having freedom in Christ?

For me it comes most often in the form of money, my house, my kids, life experience, things my husband does, or doesn’t do, ha!

The problem with this is that we become bitter and negative.  We lose sight of the blessings that God has given us.  We have our OWN story!  Our own blessings!  And if we lose sight of that we cannot tear down the wall of comparison in our own lives to live freely in Christ and who He has made you to be.

Ephesians 5:20 says, “giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Even in the things that don’t necessarily go your way.

This can be a career path that didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, a pregnancy that ended in loss, or not being able to get pregnant in the first place, health issues that arise, marriage issues.  What about when you have been hurt deeply by others.  The list can go on and on.

But we are called to "give thanks always for everything".

Questions #2 –

So, How can you come to a point of “Total Submission”?

For me, I have had to give up my control, as if I actually had any in the first place, for growing our family.  It is the Lord’s to give, not mine.  I’ve had to intentionally involve myself in others pregnancies and find ways to love on them and help them through this time.

As far as when other people have hurt me.  I can choose to stay bitter and unforgiving.  I can choose to resent when something good happens to them and their families or lives.  I can choose to live behind the fear of that circumstance so I won’t get hurt like that again.

OR

I can trust in the Lord.  Because He works everything out for the good of those who love him.  Right?

In the hardest season of our lives, Josh and I got hit from every side.  We had just added a new baby to our family, we had bought our first house, finances were unstable, he ended up losing his job, his health had failed, our marriage could have fallen a part.  

But...we grew so much during that season!

He gave us a wonderful ministry.  He strengthened our marriage.  He has ALWAYS provided for us in every way.  He restored my husband’s health, you know, unless he doesn’t get enough sleep and then he starts talking crazy again, ha!  We have learned how to work through conflict, because let’s face it, life is messy and people are people, no matter who they are!

We all have a choice to make.  Live in the bitterness of comparison, as if the Lord has no special plan for your life, or embrace everything the Lord gives you, in the good AND the bad, choosing to grow through that season and blossom where the Lord has planted you.

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow.