where has the time gone?

I was able to declare that it is officially time to lower the mattress in our little one's crib. This came to be after my little man stood himself up using the sides of the crib to brace himself. He then proceeded to lean over the side of his crib, grab my cup of water sitting on the nightstand, and turning it upside down spilling the contents of the glass on the crib, nightstand and floor. Sigh. He's growing up too fast. Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but one minute he's my little man rolling around on the floor, then next he's starting to crawl and dumping my water out while standing in his crib. He's not the only one. It seems like over night my little girl has gone from this little flower starting to bloom, into this beautiful and extremely smart 4 year old that has a mind of her own. Now she is in school. When did they go from my babies to my kiddos??? Why is it September already?! I have no concept of time anymore. I go to sleep, it's June. I wake up, it's September! My life is in the HOV lane these days, at speeds exceeding the limit. I am reminded of James 4:14, "...For what is your life? It is ever a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." This verse makes me want to slow down...enjoy every single bit of these days as I can. My mind runs a mile a minute and a majority of those thoughts don't even matter. They take away from the time and enjoyment of just watching my kiddos grow up. I need to let go of the nonsense, get rid of the junk, just focus on Jesus and my family that He has so graciously blessed me with. Sometimes it means moving past something that has been holding me down or saying goodbye to someone that might be bringing me down. I need to live up to my full potential as a wife and mother in this short time that the Lord has allowed me to do so.

new beginnings

As the last week of summer vacation comes to an end, it marks the beginning of a very big step in my little girl's life...the start of school. Even though I am homeschooling and I will see her everyday, I still can't help but feel like my little baby is growing up. I was sitting amongst a pile of school activity booklets and lesson plans, trying to figure out how it all worked, when she came running in and immediately started grabbing things and telling me what they were for. She would say things like, "This for counting mommy!" or "Look! A B C...that an apple! A for apple!". I was starting to wonder if they had an AP version of this stuff...something that would be challenging to her, but once I started flipping through the work books, it was made clear in about a month or so she will be getting that challenge. She just amazes me with how smart she is. Her brain works like a sponge, she soaks up every little thing I teach her. In the teacher work book it says to spend the first week or numbers learning colors. It says, 'Your student may not know their colors so spend the first week introducing them.'...I was like, "Ah! she knows them better than I do most days...what do I do for the first week?!". It's all good, I figured it out. We will be playing games...with colors...or something along those lines. I'll figure it out. I'm really excited to start this new chapter. I love doing the lesson plans and getting her "classroom" area all set up. I wish we had more time before school started so I could have everything ready before the first day, but unfortunately our paycheck wasn't on schedule with the first day of school...that and I decided at the last minute to start school earlier than planned, since I want her lessons to coincide with the holidays. I will be better prepared next year for sure. I'm praying for a good first day of school and a smooth semester...not just for my daughter, but for everyone going back to school this week.

goings on

The youth mission team made it home safe, praise the Lord. My hubby had a great time. He had lots of stories to tell me, which I was grateful for. My heart goes out to those people, the victims and their families. If only there was more we could do for them. For now, prayer is all I have to give.

On a different note, our little man is getting so big! He started clapping...mostly to worship songs (love it!)... and army crawling, he's so close to just taking off across the room!...and he said "mama" for the first time a couple days ago! He's very attached to me though...he still won't take a bottle, and he gets quite fussy when I am away from him for long periods of time. We are working on that. So, that means he's going with me to the woman's conference this weekend! So looking forward to that!

I'll leave you with a picture of my little man sucking his toes...because it's just so darn cute!

i don't like having the bed to myself

Let me start off by saying, I am super excited for my hubby and the youth that are on our church's youth mission trip right now, I pray that the Lord will use them in amazing ways while they are helping and ministering to recent tornado victims...but of course, I miss him. It's only been like half a day, and already I feel like something is missing. Times like this make me so thankful he did not follow through with the Army. Thank you Jesus! Our little 4 year old was having a really hard time dealing with daddy leaving for this mission trip and I couldn't figure out why, it was only going to be 5 days. Eventually we figured out that she thought Daddy was going to the Army after all. Poor thing. Once we explained everything to her she then hugged Daddy and said, "you be back in 5 days...that not long time." ...I have to admit, I was a little bit excited at the thought of being able to come home from bible study tonight, get the kiddos to bed, and enjoy a snack and a good book until I fell asleep. Ya. The kiddos were put to bed, I enjoyed a snack and then... the silence became too much and I am now watching some mindless show on television while sitting on my computer facebook stalking and blogging as of now...I need to go to sleep, I really really need to go to sleep. It's just so difficult when he's not here. A big empty bed...sigh. I really don't like when I wake up in the middle of the night expecting him to put his arm around me like he always does when I wake up in the middle of the night...and then nothing. I always have a moment of panic before I remember where he is. I know it sounds silly. I just love him so much. I pray they all return home safely.

This is our most recent FaMiLy picture!
We are all sweaty and have that icky after-pool look
about us, but it's still great!

Psalm 56:3 "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You."

This past weekend our 4 year old daughter tried surfing for the first time. Standing on the beach, she was all ready to go. She was sun screened, life-jacketed, and wearing a big smile as she set out into the water with Daddy. Admittedly, my heart skipped a beat and I had a moment of panic...but as sudden as the panic came upon me, a still small voice interfered. Stop worrying. So instead of doing as the voice said, I took a deep breath and yelled out to my hubby, "Be careful! You're going out that far?". He smiled at me and then gave me a look as to say, stop worrying. I smiled back. As our daughter lay on the board belly down waiting for the first wave, big smile on her face, I couldn't help but think about how little she was and whether or not she was ready for this. Doubt began to cloud my thinking, but then once again that voice. Fear not. I exhaled and felt guilty for worrying again. I couldn't even go 2 minutes. That's when the perfect wave began to build up. My hubby readied her board and told her what to do and to hold on. 3...2...1...and there she went. With the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face, she glided across the water on that board, water spraying in her face, and the complete feeling of fearlessness sweeping through her. I thought to myself, why can't I be like that? This little child climbed up on a board much bigger than her, went out into water deeper than she can reach, and then allowed herself to be carried at a fast speed towards the shore. She is way more fearless than I am. And to think, I almost let my fear hinder her from being able to enjoy this experience. She jumped off the board, let out a giggle and said, "You see me surf mommy?! I wanna surf again! I wanna surf again!". The voice came to me again. Stop worrying, enjoy this moment. So I did. I breathed in and let the fear out with my exhale. I smiled at her and said, "Good job! Go do it again!". I loved watching her, each time she came in, jumping off her board ready to try again. She even tried to stand up...it was short lived, but she tried. That's what matters. She rolled into the water and under her upside down board at one point...and you know what?...I wasn't even worried. I just moved the board off of her and up she popped, ready to go again. I think my hubby and I enjoyed watching her surf, just about as much as she enjoyed surfing. It's amazing what you miss out on when fear has taken over. I don't want to be like that anymore. This was like an eye opener for me. I want to be like my daughter while she was surfing, free from fear and full of joy. Just trusting in God. Why worry about things I can't control? Why not just enjoy the things God has blessed me with and the moments God wants me to experience? I worry entirely way too much from day to day. I'm done. I just want to live my life as the Lord wants me to. No fear. Just complete trust in Him.

and then I had a thought....

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out a way to read my bible front to back without giving up midway, or losing my motivation. I have come up with an idea. I am going to type, word for word, the chapters I read daily. Starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation. I have no idea how long this will take, seeing as I have 2 kids, I home school, I am very involved in church activities, and I have other mommy and housewife stuff to take care of throughout the day, but I will accomplish this! I encourage you to follow along with me on this journey through God’s word!

READ MY BIBLE WITH ME

I couldn't pick one verse...

I was recently doing a study that took me to a reference point in Romans 12. I then got carried away and read through Romans 12 about three times before returning to my original study. I wanted to post a couple of verses that spoke to me that day, but in re-reading the chapter, I had such a difficult time posting just those verses. This chapter is so important to read when discerning what your walk as a Christian should look like. I have spent the last couple days trying to figure out which verse to pull out and share, but since I couldn't pick just one verse...

Romans 12
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not think highly of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith, or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless those and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you , live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."