Thankful Thursday

I just found Sar's and Megan's blogs and I think her Thankful Thursday link up is such a great idea!    Being the month of Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season, this is the time of year when my gratitude for the normal every day things that are sometimes, often times, taken for granted shines through.    It's the season for family, worship, fellowship, gatherings, feasting, gift-giving, crafting... all those things warm my heart.   Today I'm thankful for...   ~ Jesus.  This year has been a whirlwind of growing in my faith and getting to know His love.   ~ my husband and my daughter Olivia.  They are the loves of my life.   ~ coffee - it is essential to make my morning run smoothly.   ~ a reliable car that's good in the snow.  We had our first (of probably many) snowfalls last night and this morning I didn't have to worry about making it to work on time and safely.   ~ a Church family that has welcomed me and my family with open arms.  The women I've met are so friendly and caring.  I foresee long-lasting relationships.   Of course I have many, many more things to be thankful for, my life has been very blessed.  Check back next week on Thursday for more!    

So What! Wednesday

It's Wednesday again which means I'm linking up with Shannon from Life After I Dew for her So What! Wednesday series.    This week I'm saying So What if...   ~ the candidate I voted for didn't win.  I heard him speak on the radio this morning and I was so proud that he humbly stated "Ann and I will stand behind President Obama and pray for him during his term earnestly.  God Bless America!"    ~ I'm super excited that I'm making lasagna for dinner tonight, we haven't had it is so long!   ~ every year I say that I'm going to get a head start on Christmas shopping and every year I don't.  UGH!   ~ our bedtime struggles with Olivia have changed from getting her to fall asleep to getting her to stay asleep.  Lately she's been waking up at 1AM or 2AM and she refuses to go back to sleep unless one of us is in bed with her.    ~ I struggle with being super strict with her bedtime because I flip flop between wanting her to be able to fall asleep on her own and knowing that she's only small once and I should take the cuddles while I can get them.  There are Mama's out there who've lost babies and would do anything to be able to sleep beside their children so why am I so dead set against it?    ~ I'm still drinking iced coffee and it's about 35 degrees in the morning when I'm on my way to work.    That's all I'm saying So What to today.  Happy Wednesday!     

Vote - Election 2012

This year, voting has taken on a new meaning to me. 

Now, living for Jesus, my entire purpose is to do everything to glorify God. 

~ Today I will vote with Him on my heart.  

~ Today I will not forsake my beliefs. 

~ Today I will vote for the candidate who believes that each life is valuable

and here for a purpose from the moment it's conceived. 

~ Today I will vote for the person who believes that He is our King and I pray that whoever wins this election has an open heart to the Lord and seeks His will when running our country.

This world is such a jaded place and the one solid rock that I have to stand on when I have nothing else is my God.    There are 4 words that have been on my heart while listening to the debates and sermons at church.  "ONE NATION UNDER GOD" This nation was formed on the foundation of God and we wouldn't be here without Him.  Why is the world so determined to remove Him from the equation when He is the answer and the way? 

  

 

Jesus has stood by me faithfully, how shameful of me to not stand by Him. 

 

Double Dose

For the first time yesterday, we got a double dose of church.  Every Sunday we spend from 9:30 - 12:15 at Sunday school and our morning service but we've never gone back for the nighttime service.    It was the first Sunday of the month so our church had the monthly Lord's Supper and since we've never seen it before, Joe and I were interested in going.  We had an early dinner and headed back to church for 5:30.    The service was awesome, it was so refreshing to get another solid hour of worship and praise, especially at night so it was even more fresh in my mind at the start of the week.   Joe and I aren't yet baptized members of the church so we weren't able to participate but it was so informative to watch and learn just how important and serious taking the communion is.    We got a double dose of worship, music, fellowship, praise, messages, time with Him and bible study.    Needless to say, Sunday night service is part of our new routine.  

Fears - Let Go and Let God

(this post is prompted by 2 blogs I read, both of their daughters were just diagnosed with brain tumors.  Please lift the Wecks family and the Skelte family up in prayer.)   Before I had Olivia I used to worry about things, but I never knew the true meaning of what it felt like to really worry.    After you have a child, there's a part of your heart walking this earth outside of your body.  Exposed to things that you can't control with the possibility of coming into contact with sickness, hurt, danger, bad people...the list goes on and on.  Right after Olivia was born the fear and anxiety I had was so bad that I spoke to my ob/gyn about it and was diagnosed with post partum anxiety.  I knew that it was a mix of my hormones, having a new baby and no longer being able to protect her safely in my womb.  I also knew that the severity of my PPA would pass but it would never fully go away.    It wouldn't go away because there will always be new situations and experiences I'll have to face as a parent that will makes me a little uncomfortable... first day of daycare or school, leaving her with a new babysitter, letting someone else take her in their car, going to a friend's house... etc.     I spoke to my mentor at church about this and she challenged me to trust in God and believe in His plan for us and our family.  Regardless if I want or even feel like I'm in control, the control is ultimately the Lord's.  For me, this was a hard concept to grasp.  Being a newly saved Christian, I lived the last 29 years of my life my way, by my rules and yes I believed in God but I never knew or had this deep of an understanding of what and how I was supposed to trust and rely on Him.  I've been challenging myself to really trust God in this area lately.  Taking steps to let go a little more and trust that His plan for us is perfect.  I know that life won't always be easy and there will be bad or unfortunate things that happen but in the grand scheme of things, it's part of His plan.  His plan for us is good, His heart is kind and He doesn't want to hurt me.    I will worry every second of every day for the rest of my life about all things involving my daughter.   My greatest love is walking around outside of me, a piece of my heart is on its own.   You see so many horrible things happening around you, how can you not worry.   It's just such a difficult balance to step away from my worldly fears and trust in Him, but I'm learning.    What these families are going through is unimaginable to me.  The fear, pain and heartache that I feel just from reading their stories scares me to death.  What would I do if that was my daughter?  Would I be able to handle it with grace and truly trust Jesus to help me through?  Could I really step back and trust in God's great plan?  I'm not really sure and I know it would be so, so difficult, but what I do know is that I absolutely would not be able to do it without Him.   ...please pray for these families in this difficult time...  

Halloween 2012

Our Halloween day was spent at my Dr.'s office and Olivia's pediatrician.  We both have ear infections and I have a sinus infection.  After our appointments and we got loaded up on antibiotics and Tylenol and prayed we felt better soon.    My husband and I were undecided if we were going to take Olivia trick-or-treating because we knew she wasn't feeling 100% but after dinner she seemed a bit more like herself so at the last minute we decided we'd take her to our church's Trunk-or-Treat.  We layered clothes under her costume ...3 shirts, a sweatshirt, a hat and fleece lined pants to be sure she stayed nice and warm.  (I even stopped at Target to buy an ear warmer for myself)    ...and off we went, with cotton in our ears and a pumpkin bucket.   I didn't bring my camera, but luckily our church had an awesome photo booth for everyone to take pictures, so at least I have those!    Olivia had a blast!  There were about 50 cars lining the parking lot of our church, all the trunks were decorated in different themes and most people handing out candy were dressed in costume too.  It was a great way to trick-or-treat without having to worry about where the candy is coming from, since it was all our fellow church goers and we were nice and safe in the church parking lot with no worries of cars driving near us or Olivia running into the street.    Before going to this church I'd never even heard of Truck-or-Treat but I'm so glad that our church hosted this and we got to go.  They did an awesome job with organization, they had popcorn and apple cider, the photo booth, tons of candy and it was a great night for fellowship and outreach!   We didn't stay too long because we were all really tired.  I was really bummed because we wanted to trick-or-treat with my sister in law and nephew but since we decided last minute there wasn't any time to plan.  There's always next year.   You can see pictures of Olivia in her costume from our day at the Spooky Zoo here.  

So What! Wednesday

Linking up with Shannon again from Life After I Dew for So What! Wednesday.    This week I'm saying So what if...   ~ I'm not really into Halloween.  I'm afraid of masks and most costumes, except the cute little kids, due to my fear it makes it difficult for me to enjoy trick-or-treating because I'm afraid someone is going to jump out and scare me.  I don't like to be scared and I really feel a rise in my blood pressure when around costumes.   ~ because of said fear I made my husband take half a vacation day to come trick-or-treating with us so I have protection and company.   ~ I've been sick for almost 2 weeks not with a double ear infection, sinus infection and now pink-eye.  No big deal, I'm a Mom, no sick days allowed.  Feel bad for me.   ~ I went to bed at 8:30 last night.  I'm sick and I was just so so tired and drained.  Good thing I did because I was up from 12:30 - 2am with the worst ear aches of my entire life.  Heading back to the Dr today.   ~ I'm still drinking iced coffee.  I like hot coffee but I just don't drink it fast enough and I don't like cold hot coffee.  Eww.   ~ I think in "So What's" all morning every Wednesday... but end up forgetting most of what I'd thought of.  I need to start writing it down.   That's all I'm saying So What! to today.   Happy Halloween.  (or not)