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Saturday, January 29, 2011

God, Our Father

There is a prayer that Sarah and I learned at church when we served in the preschool ministry. It's a simple prayer that little kids can learn to set a foundation for talking to God before meals. It goes:

"God, Our Father, God, Our Father; Once Again, Once Again; We should ask the blessing, We should ask the blessing; Amen, amen."

Kate sings it a little better than Hannah does and Kate was the only one willing to perform. Every time we say it's time to pray, even before bedtime, they start singing this. Enjoy!

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Learning Curve

"Blessed are those who have learned (emphasis mine) to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord." ~Psalm 89:15

I just wanted to share something that the Lord spoke to me during my quiet time this morning. Before I do, I saw a church sign today that says, "The Bible is neither an antique or modern: it's eternal." Amen! I love how God's Word speaks to me/us today and that it's not just for days long ago. It doesn't change. The same truth that was written thousands of years ago is the same truth that applies to our lives today. No matter how the current culture tries to make it fit into today's society & morals.

I had formerly read the above mentioned verse from Psalms and had noted in my Bible that acclaiming God doesn't come naturally, but as we grow in the Lord. I thought about that a little bit today. What does it mean to have learned to acclaim God? There are two types of Christians. There are those who will walk through trials that God allows and come out the same people, turn away from God altogether, or become bitter. Then there are those who walk through trials that God allows and will draw nearer to Him. Those are the people who learn to acclaim God. It's not easy. I have walked through personal trials lately (ones that only me and the Lord know about). I have suffered (some because of my own selfishness & some because of actions of another) and God is teaching me a lot. It's not fun and sometimes I fight what He's trying to teach me, but I have gotten to a point where I have surrendered that person/situation to God. Honestly, He is doing beautiful things right now through it.

George and I have known suffering over the last 3 or so years in regards to our children. I will tell you that God taught me how to praise Him through it. It doesn't come naturally to want to praise God when you are experiencing the death of a child through miscarriage or you are watching your two daughters fighting for their lives and you can't even touch them. What comes naturally is my selfish response of, "Why me? Why did you have to take my child after we've been trying to get pregnant for so long? Why couldn't you have given us the miracle of healing Hannah's difficulties in the womb?" No one has to teach me those responses because I am born a selfish sinner.

When I am born into Christ though, I need a dose of suffering (which Jesus says we will all experience in John 16:33) to teach me to praise God and conform me to the image of Christ. James 1:2-4 says,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kids, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything."

I'm not saying that I welcome suffering because I don't...at all. I guess the thing that really spoke to me this morning was that God blesses those who consciously decide to praise Him in the midst of suffering.

More to come later this week on how God is currently pouring out His blessings on our family...

Thursday, January 20, 2011

26 Weeks

Yay...26 weeks! I just had an appointment and the doctor said that everything was great. I saw an OB whom is new to the practice and she was great! Who doesn't love a doctor who tells you, "Your weight looks great, your so petite, and pink is a great color on you!" Does she have practice speaking to pregnant woman or what? Anyway, I consulted a little bit with her about doing a VBAC and she said that she was a supporter for it. My OB practice still doesn't do them so I am going to a different OB practice next week to consult with them on whether or not they think I'd be a good candidate. There are pros and cons to both so please pray for wisdom for us as we make this decision. Here are the latest pictures of my growing belly!



On another exciting note, I spent $36 today at Publix and saved $116! Thank you, Lord!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Book Bugs in the Bed

George loves hearing the girls make any kind of peep in the morning because it means he has an inkling of a chance of being able to say hi/bye to them before he leaves for work. He leaves at 7:20 and I don't like to get the girls out of bed until 7:30. As you moms know, every quiet moment is appreciated. Plus, I normally read my Bible before they get out of bed because I know that if I don't get it done in the morning, it's highly unlikely I will read it at all. He usually tells them hi and then gives them some books to read.

They've been good about staying in their beds until we come get them so I'm glad we made the transition.







Monday, January 10, 2011

The Changes Begin

It's a new year so we are preparing for all of the changes that will be coming with it. I hadn't planned on putting the girls in toddler beds for a couple of reasons:

1) I didn't think it would be as easy as it was to convert their crib. It only took me all of 15 minutes for both.
2) I was worried about them actually staying in their beds. They are doing well, but we are still working on this.
3) I was just going to wait until we bought them their bunk beds for their new room.

Well, Hannah kind of made the decision for me when she climbed out of her crib one day last week. She didn't get hurt, but since they have wood floors in their room, I decided that I'd rather just play it safe. We made the switch on Saturday afternoon. So far I consider it to be a success.



I also took the girls to the doctor this morning because they've been sick, running fever off & on, have a bad cough, and not really eating. You know that Kate is sick when she refuses to even get in her high chair for breakfast. She said that it looks like they have a cold, which is starting to settle in their lungs. She put both of them on amoxicillin. Yay for free antibiotics at Publix. But not yay for the throwing up episode while waiting for the free antibiotics. Kate was so upset from crying and the drainage she had in her tummy that it all came up. Meanwhile, there is a group of people waiting at the pharmacy wondering why my children will not stop crying. Did I care? Not really. Remember, take pity (or have compassion, at least) on the mother who has children who feel sick and don't understand why they don't feel well and have to wait in the grocery store for medicine instead of laying on the couch at home.
However, all children (I say all because I am currently watching Rachel) are sleeping and I am headed to the bed myself. I didn't sleep well and I guess that is just one of the perks of being at home. Hope you all have a great week!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Isn't it Ironic?

As I was reading our baby's weekly development update, I noticed that she was about 1.5 lbs. and 13 inches long. Our baby girl is as big as Hannah was when she was born. It's hard to believe that babies can be born that small and survive and I look back at pictures and think I remember how tiny she really was. At least I have a visual of the little human being growing inside of me.

On another ironic note, here's a little video to brighten your day. This is what I walked into the other day when I got them out of bed from their nap. In case you have a hard time hearing what they are yelling, it's "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Ironic, huh? Two little monkeys jumping in their bed yelling, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Speaking of beds...we bought their mattresses for their bunk beds this week. We don't even have beds yet and have no immediate plans to buy them or even move them into their new room, but the beds were a great price so I didn't want to miss the sale! Two nice pillow-top twin mattresses tax free for $309.99. The only mattress we've ever bought before was ours, but I thought that was a great price!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Busy Bees & the Accident

The holidays are over and things have not slowed down yet. On Friday morning, we went and raked leaves at a widow's house from our church. George serves every once in a while in the Busy Bees (widow's ministry) at our church. The premise behind this is that God calls His church to take care of the widows and the orphans and Bell Shoals has an amazing widow's ministry. He mainly does any of the projects that deal with lawn care needs. The girls have gone with him before to lay sod, but this was my first time. We were there for about an hour and a half and it was a lot of fun! I was extremely proud of how hard the girl's worked. The great thing is that at this age they don't know they are working. Anyway, their little hands and feet were busy the whole time (minus one little snack break.)

Don't they look so grown up?



Some of you already know this from facebook, but Kate had a fall in the tub last Saturday. She hit her eye and she had about a 1/2 inch cut. I debated on taking her to get stitches, but we decided in after an extremely unhelpful doctor's call that she would be okay without. She proudly donned her princess band-aids. The original injury was just the cut you can see above her eye, but because we've changed her band-aids, the skin around her eye is now raw. It's a little bruised and swollen, too. She should be fine in no time. George said it'll just leave a scar so we can tell them apart. My argument with that was: 1) I can already tell them apart & 2) She's a girl and scars are not cool on girls. I told him that's why I am a mommy and he's a daddy.

Hope you all have a great start to your New Year!