reflections from the hubby

My sweetie is out of town- I am thinking of him and missing him so. Since he’s on my mind, I thought I would share a piece he wrote for our state newspaper:

“Cleanliness is next to godliness.” I think this is a motherly proverb that will be passed down for generations. However, I think we could easily substitute “busyness” for “godliness”. Busyness is next to godliness. Man- that sounds good. Not only good, but impressive. The major question begging to be asked, however, is who are we trying to impress and what are we trying to accomplish by being busy? I recently read a quote in an article by C.J. Mahaney that says: “Man is impressed with activities. God is impressed with obedience.” This is something that we need to think about because we need to have our hearts on what is truly important. If you look at the life of David he was remembered as a man after God’s own heart. That is what he was known for and I guarantee you he was a busy guy. With all the pressures of running a kingdom he was known for his pursuit of God. He wanted to know God and we should too (Heb. 11:6, 1 Chr. 22:19). Without knowing God, it is impossible to show Him to others. It would be easy to mistaken this concept for laziness, but the following verses:

1 Tim 5:17
Prov. 13:4
Prov. 6:6-8

all show us the importance of hard work. 1 Tim. 5:17 even talks about a pastor laboring until they can no longer keep their eyes open. One thing any of our laboring should never do, however, is take front seat to pursuing the Lord. We should always be about the work of the Lord, but the amount of work we do should not be what defines us, but rather how we strive to be like the Lord. In the next days and weeks let us be known for being the people of God.

Merciful Mom

I have stumbled upon a new blog lately that I love to read: Ordinary Mother.

Here is a recent post of hers. What a blessing and challenge her words were to me!

pregnancy amnesia

I’ve heard people say that God gives women amnesia regarding labor/childbirth/sleepless nights, but I think he does it in regard to morning sickness as well. As I recall:

1. Morning sickness with Noah started around 8 weeks and wasn’t too bad. Of course, I could sleep or eat whenever I wanted to.
2. With Sam, it was early, around 5 weeks. However, I don’t even remember it being that bad. Noah was still so small that he slept constantly, as did I.
3. Simon was different. I was yucky sick. It started at 5 weeks, peaked around 9 or 10 weeks, and tapered off by 14 weeks.

I didn’t think that I had forgotten what morning sickness with Simon felt like (I mean, I fully expected to be sick and yucky feeling this time around) but I think I had forgotten the true extent of how horrible it feels.

As I have said, I will not complain. I won’t allow it. I wanted another baby and now here I am. And that is fine. But this is the absolute worst morning sickness I have ever had. In a little less than 3 weeks I am supposed to drive my children cross-country to their Granny and Poppy’s house and I honestly don’t know how I am going to do it. This should be interesting, to say the least.

If you don’t mind, would you say a prayer for me? For strength…and relief…and endurance=)

P.S. As I write these words, I sip on chicken broth and orange juice…yum!

more on Maria Chapman

Here is the memorial site that was created today.

Please pray

I got this email from my friend, Janie, a few minutes ago. My heart is so broken for this family. Please read this letter and pray for the Chapman family:

Dear friends,

It’s with a heavy heart tonight that I ask you to pray for the family of my friend Steven Curtis Chapman.

If you’re familiar with Steve’s Ministry, you’ll know that he has a wonderful adoption ministry and has adopted 3 girls from China himself. Tonight they suffered a great loss in their family. One of Steve’s teenage sons was driving their SUV down their gravel driveway at their home near Franklin TN and didn’t see Maria, the youngest of the adopted girls in the driveway. The car ran over the child and she was later pronounced dead at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. I can’t imagine the heartache in the Chapman house tonight. Steve’s son is devastated as well is the whole family. Please lift them all up in prayer tonight, especially his son. Steve is one of the strongest soldiers of the cross I know, but this would test the strength of any man.

Noah (on protecting his brother)

I overheard Noah in the living room repeating:

“I love you, Simon! I love you. I do.”

Then he walked up to me in the kitchen and said:

“Mommy, you know how I protect Simon? From hand trees. You know, trees with hands. We have to be real careful in the forest cause some trees have hands. And I will save Simon. I will.”

That’s good to know.

early-on cravings

The following list is probably just things I want, but I am pregnant and therefore can call them cravings that I must have…

1. Cheerios- with milk. And sugar. Yum.
2. Homemade spaghetti sauce. Pasta is optional.
3. Strawberry sundaes from DQ. Ice cream is optional. Whipped cream and strawberry topping are NOT optional.
4. Papa John’s…but in Raton…that’s just not going to happen.

Slow Fade

Casting Crowns has released their newest video, Slow Fade. It has been one of my favorite songs off of The Altar and The Door since purchasing the album. This is a really great video that I wish the whole world would see.

This week’s installment of randoms

1. In my list of how to pray for David each day, I prayed today that he would love & embrace truth. In the midst of praying for him, I was moved by the need to pray for myself. I love 2 Tim. 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately (or carefully) handling the word of truth.” It made me wonder if I am daily handling the word of truth carefully. What a responsibility!
2. For my children I prayed for them to develop a heart for missions. Again, I was reminded that if my children were going to have a love for missions then they needed to see a mother who had a heart for missions. Eek. I don’t really believe that I don’t have a heart for missions, but it is an area that needs growth and cultivating for sure.
3. In the Old Testament I read of Joseph and of his brothers returning to him when famine stuck their land. Sinful old me realized that it was a darn good thing that Joseph’s brothers weren’t my brothers because in my sinful quest for justice I would have probably put far more painful circumstances upon them then Joseph did. Today I learned mercy. I needed a reminder that if I expect mercy, I need to give mercy.
4. Lastly, as I was thanking God for regenerating me, justifying me, sanctifying me, and, one day, glorifying me, I was humbled by a great and near fear in my own life. As I was about to ask the Lord to continue to use the circumstances in my life to sanctify me and conform me to the image of Jesus, I paused. And then I froze. The last time I whole-heartedly asked God to sanctify me and to remove anything in my life that kept me from being like Him, I found myself having been brought into an intense time of suffering, refining, and hurting. Yes, in those circumstances I grew closer to the Lord than ever before, but they were awful! That was such a horrifying time of spiritual darkness in my life that I run from any sign of heading back in that direction again. And so I thought: were I to pray this prayer again, what would that mean? It would mean that God could use anything He chose to teach me something about Him and to help me become more like Him. It could mean taking the growing life from inside of me, I thought. And I couldn’t bear the thought of it. Isn’t that awful? It could mean, in the worst of circumstances, taking a loved one away from me, and I am so ashamed to say that for a moment I refused to pray for sanctification out of fear of what that might entail. The Spirit convicted me, however, and I now see that the benefits of becoming as much like Christ this side of heaven far outweighs any type of loss or hardship I might experience on earth…in this life. Ok- that was a mouthful- but I had to share.

And now for some fun randoms:

1. Simon’s favorite word is truck. He says it “cuck”. And it is too cute. A car is a truck. A motorcycle is a truck. A lawnmower is a truck. And don’t try to tell him otherwise. He retaliates when angered.
2. David and I were informed last night by a midwife that most all midwives have a placenta or two in their freezer. Better than that, did you know that a placenta is not considered a biohazard by law when given as a gift? How cool is that?
3. I am just about so ready for vacation that I could break out into song and dance. But that wouldn’t be pretty- so I won’t.
4. David loves Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. I pretty much hate it.
5. I don’t really care to be asked if we are trying for a girl (with this pregnancy, that is). It is like I am trying to be caught up in something. I always say the same thing: “We would love a daughter, but if I knew this baby would be a boy, I still would have gotten pregnant.” And then they always follow it up in a condescending tone with: “Well, just as long as the baby is healthy, that’s all we want”. I’m like: “I know that! You’re the one who asked me if I was trying for a girl.” LOL. It just cracks me up.

back in the swing of pregnancy dreaming

I don’t know if any of you can relate or even know what I am talking about, but during pregnancy (from the very beginning on) I dream…and I dream weird! Take Noah for example. Some of my most memorable dreams included:

• dating a teenage boy
• installing a mechanical bull in our living room in lieu of a coffee table
• facing imminent danger on top of an Old Navy (I suppose it was on fire) and not knowing how we would survive the jump when all of a sudden my handy dandy makeup bag converted into a hot air balloon and escorted each of us to safety
• having a twin son and daughter. At birth the girl was the size of a 5 year old and the boy fit into the palm of my hand

This pregnancy is proving to be no different. For the last 3 or 4 days, I am back into dream mode. I don’t remember many of them, but here are some of the highlights:

• There was a $1 skirt at Dollar General that I wanted so badly! It was tie-dyed (and very ugly I realize now that I am awake) and I was so upset that I couldn’t find enough change in my car to purchase it
• My friend Kacie moved to Raton. The first thing she did was get a library card (which, knowing Kacie, might not be too far from the truth) and checked out a book on Amarillo, Texas (which is 3 hours away from Raton). I remember the librarian telling her it was the most fascinating book in the whole library. It had pop-ups as well. I remember being so mad at the librarian because I hate the drive to Amarillo and I was afraid Kacie would want me to take her upon finishing the book
• Lastly, we were at Disney World (I remember specifically that it was Disney World and not Disneyland, which is weird because I have actually been to Disneyland) and they were handing out free Taco Bell gift bags in the restroom (could this signify a craving?). Our Pastor got very upset because he didn’t get a gift bag so I had to walk back to the ladies restroom and get him his own gift bag

I am a weird human being, am I not?