Girls' Night

Tonight is girls' night because the guys have decided it's guys' night. They are going to see Robin Hood at the theatre and Keri, Emily, and me are staying in to watch Mean Girls. Jonathan was holding Emily upside down the other night (just playing, of course) and I saw something white underneath her gums. After some investigation, I discovered the answer to many of our questions as of late. She appears to be cutting three teeth at one time! I suppose this is fitting though seeing as how she is on the verge of her first birthday and only has two teeth. She is a tad behind on the dental part of development. Not for long! This discovery explains the intermittent diaper rash, spells of sleeplessness, and bouts of appetitelessness. That would be a neat word if it were a word at all. Oh well, you get the picture.
Jonathan is having significant trouble sleeping. He returned to the doctor today in desperate need of a sleep aid. Hopefully this will temporarily cure the problem until his referral for a sleep testing center is approved. Doctor Amanda says it's sleep apnea. We will see.
At the advice of several dear friends, I am reading C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. So far, I am enjoying it immensely. I can testify that there is so much truth in this work of fiction. It is so neat to be able to identify with the tactics that the devil can use to win over a soul or even make a valiant attempt at such. Lewis seems to have had an incredible understanding of the way God works as well as Satan and expresses it well in this book. I recommend it, for sure. Chapter 8 is my favorite.
In other news, Texas is HOT. Gee whiz is it hot. It's only May and it feels like a day in July at home in Tennessee. I love the outdoors so much but the heat truly makes it difficult to enjoy. Also, after an allergy test, I have come to find out that I'm allergic to Mountain Oak. I'm somewhat confused as to why there is a tree specific to central Texas called Mountain Oak. I have not seen any mountains around here. Am I missing something? Anyways, it sure is a bother to the sinuses.
We are all doing fine here in Texas despite the allergies, heat, and sleep apnea. After that last sentence, it seems as if the title of this blog should have been "Complaint After Complaint". Forgive me, for I do not mean to whine. Take it as more of an informative entry. That was my motivation from the start. We miss our loved ones terribly and are thankful for the friends we have made here with which we spend our time. Thank you for reading.

Rapidly Approaching a Milestone

Today is May 18, 2010. Eleven months ago, I gave birth to a precious little girl. I am sort of in shock that she is about to turn 1. I remember the first time I saw her face and felt what it felt like to hold her in my arms instead of my belly. I remember feeding her for the first time and even her first dirty diaper! The first time I heard her cry, saw her smile, fed her baby food, watched her pull up, and chased her around the house on all fours. Being a parent really is an incredible thing. It demands an immense amount of responsibility and discipline. I have found that if I obey those demands as I should, the reward is abundant. I have never known such a happy baby. I am encouraged and excited about the life that she will be provided with while she grows up. I pray that she will grow up secure in her faith and that that will lead to security in herself. She has so many people that adore her. She actually has 6 great grandparents, four grandparents, many surrogate grandparents, and so many other friends that love and will support her. For all of that, I am beyond thankful. God is so good. Who am I that he would bestow such blessings on me? I think it's proof that he loves me truly. He is crazy about me and I like to think that he is up there sweet talkin' me too. Frankly, I'm convinced I'm his sweet girl and his beloved. What little girl doesn't dream of being someone's beloved? I sure did and that's one fairy tale that has come true.

Spaghetti Pie and Jesus

Last night we had spaghetti pie for dinner. It was our first time to eat it and my first time to make it. I try to pick 3 or 4 new recipes out of my cook books every time I go grocery shopping to try. This one was a success. I just wish I had more people to feed! We always have leftovers. I long for family or a neighbor I could take food to. While I was making the pie, I threw some vanilla ice cream components in the ice cream maker. After Em went to bed, we had strawberry shortcake--one of my very favorite deserts. Something makes me feel like it's a little bit healthy which furthers my enjoyment. Emily is doing some better today. All the congestion is loosening up. She's got to be just about the cutest thing i've ever seen. She is wearing yoga pants today. Adorable.
I just spent about thirty minutes on the front porch doing a couple days out of this week's study. So far, this week has been mostly for education's sake. Not too much applies to me. That's a bit selfish to say, I suppose. Forgive me. I enjoy it though because it gives me direction to read the scriptures as opposed to just opening the Bible and reading away. Today's lesson was about encouraging barren women to hold fast and cling to the Lord because He can make a woman more spiritually fruitful than a woman who has many children. Of course, I think it's possible to be fruitful in both ways.
I am so fascinated by the History channel and the National Geographic channel. I just love the shows where they attempt to reenact history. Right now, I'm watching a special on Stonehenge. It has inspired me to read a book about spiritual warfare. New archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was built as a dwelling place for their dead ancestors. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It has been recommended to me to read CS Lewis' Screwtape Letters. Any other suggestions? I'm especially seeking the advice of my father-in-law here.
I've been craving college lately. I want homework assignments and new books to read and papers to write. Weird--I know. So, until I can satisfy that craving, I'll settle for reading books at my own pace about my Father and this world that He's created. That ought to do for now don't you think?
I am just so full of love and so happy with the changes that the Lord has made in my life. I highly recommend surrendering areas of bondage to Him for He is faithful to liberate. He is strengthening our marriage, my family relationships, and friendships. A relationship with the Lord is not what I once thought-- faithful church-going, a 15 minute devotion, prayer before meals. It is not the normal--it's the exceptional. He demands all of us, not just Sundays and a few moments before bed. Jesus isn't something you do, He is what you live, breathe, and love. He desires for us to fall in love with him. He is the ultimate love and we are His bride. He thinks our beauty is breathtaking. By loving Him first, we are free to love our human loves even more. We are free to let them be human and seek perfection only from He who is perfect. Being full of Christ and hungering for more is the best feeling in the whole wide world. Believing that He loves me so much, that I am so precious to Him even more than my own husband is to me is mind boggling. How do I know He loves me so much? Because the Bible tells me so.

Events

Well, our life has been unexpectedly eventful lately so I feel that I must blog about it. Jonathan took me to a Gaither Homecoming concert for Mother's day. I have to say that was probably the best present ever. The concert was absolutely amazing. We were the youngest people there by twenty or thirty years easily, but we didn't mind. I can't express how happy I am at my decision for a husband--he loves the Gaithers! (among many many other reasons, of course :)). We just had a blast. I got my picture taken with some of my most favorite famous people. The concert lasted from 3-7:30. Emily was left in completely capable hands with our friends, the Woodersons so we knew she was happy and well taken care of. We decided to be spontaneous--one of my other favorite things to do. I have had an itch to go swimming lately so Jonathan took me to a Holiday Inn and got us a room. Then he took me to WalMart and got us bathing suits seeing as how we didnt bring anything with us. The pool was freezing so we opted for the hot tub. It was relaxing. It's so true what they say about Holiday Inn's...you really do wake up rested. I slept so so so good. We woke up early Sunday morning and headed back to Killeen. On the way back, we talked about how much we missed Emily. We made all the little faces she makes now and remembered how cute she was. When we got back and saw her, she looked different after only one day! I can't believe how she is changing. She's growing into a little kid.
She had been congested a little bit over the past three days but Sunday night, it got really bad. She woke up at 11 pm that night and was struggling to breathe. We rubbed vicks on her, had her humidifier going, and did everything we knew to help her. We ended up being up with her all night and at 5 am, decided it was time to go to the ER. She was working so hard just to take a breath. I was scared to death. We got to the ER and as soon as we walked in the door, the nurse heard her wheezing and grabbed her. She took us right back to a triage room. Em's temperature was really high. We were moved to a different room where they started two breathing treatments. Those things are wonderful. They helped her so fast. They took some chest x-rays, gave her some meds, got her fever to break, and sent us home after 3 hours. Mommy, daddy, and Emily all took a nap. She is doing much better now. We are still on a strict motrin/tylenon regimen for the fever and her congestion is persisting but it is not near as bad.
Jonathan is gone to the range today and we miss him. Emily and I will play and play and play until he gets home. (It's her favorite thing to do.) We are counting down the days to my birthday because that means that Connie will be coming down! I am SO looking forward to seeing my best friend. Dear friendships are never to be taken for granted.

A legacy

There are tears in my eyes and flooding to my cheeks. A dear sweet friend of mine from college made a video about her sweet baby. Please take a few minutes of your day and share this with us. Let your heart be touched.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOkmkS1GWoc

Well, everything is going fine here in case anyone was wondering. Just the same daily stuff. An army that isn't so much fun to deal with, the sweetest baby girl ever, and a house that seems to continually dirty itself. I got all of our wedding pictures developed and in an album. Over 400 of them! It was quite a job to get them put in some kind of order, but I am very happy with the results. I attended a Beth Moore simulcast last Saturday. I really enjoyed it. The only part that was lacking for me was the woman who aided in worship. Somehow watching someone jump around on stage distracted me. Maybe that's my own sin speaking. Probably. We enjoyed a 4 day weekend after the end of WLC for Jonathan. That was very nice. I tried my best to get a trip to the lake but it didn't work. "Next weekend" was my answer. But "next weekend" there are storms filling up the forecast so maybe the next. I need to get Emmers a bathingsuit anyways. I had one for her that was a newborn size but of course was too chicken to take her out in the sunlight for longer than ten minutes until she was 9 months old. New mom syndrome....yep I had it bad. We have ordered a baby jogger and after my failed attempt at jogging behind a normal stroller at the park yesterday morning, I am super excited. Another random tidbit: I woke up the other morning and suddenly knew how to french braid. It's rapidly become my favorite hairstyle--mainly because it takes about two minutes and stays all day. What's better than that? I find myself eager to finish my degree. "Degree in what?" You may ask. Well, that's still up for debate...I just want the degree. Any suggestions out there? I'm up for them. Most of all, I find myself eager to get home and afraid of change all at once. You just haven't seen complicated until i've told you all the secrets of my soul. :)

Glory to God

I have to write a post solely for the purpose of giving glory to God for several things. There's a story in Mark....Mark 9, I believe, that tells of a father and his son. This father spoke the words "I believe, help my unbelief!" to Christ. Like...out loud. Can you imagine saying that to God's son? I don't know about you, but that is one of the most refreshing stories in the Bible that I've studied so far. We don't need to hide our unbelief--especially before the Father. If we ask him and "...draw near with confidence to the throne of grace..." (Heb. 4:16) he is faithful to hear and respond in his perfect timing. I've learned something that I once thought differently about. When I heard the word "captive" in a religious context three weeks ago, I would have said it was referring to someone who is not saved--a captive to sin and an earthly mind. However, I now know that a captive is someone who IS saved. "A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for her." I am quoting Beth Moore. This totally changed my view. I could make a list a page long of things I am held captive by. But guess what? God can change that. He IS changing that. Boy...it's not easy and goodness gracious it's not painless but let me tell you--it is SO worth it. You want to talk about someone with doubts? Someone with fears? Someone that once thought "well I got myself into this mess I'm probably the one that has to get myself out"? Or someone who didn't think things could ever change. It was impossible. As Beth would say...beloved, nothing and I mean absolutely nothing is impossible with the God who created 500 billion galaxies. The God who created you and created me to bring Him alone glory and honor and praise. Beth also explained in her book the difference between how God handles physical health and spiritual health. Sometimes, God has it in his will to allow sickness and strife. He is God and who are we to question that? But the scriptures are clear that God always wills the spiritual captive to be free. What a relief. He wants to free me. He wants me to not only taste liberty but fully indulge in an "abundant and effective Spirit-filled life". This isn't just about me. This is about every woman and every man. We can all be held captive to things. Sometimes they aren't so obvious and take a little digging to find the root of our reactions, feelings, and impulses. But there's one thing that's for sure: captivity doesn't have to be life-long. There is help--the best help that this world has to offer and it's all in Jesus' name. The prophet Isaiah has some encouraging words for the captive. Please take a moment to read this passage and truly hear the words.
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
My prayer for myself and for the sweet women reading this is that we would be "oaks of righteousness". I secretly or not so secretly have a tremendous passion for trees. Maybe that is why this strikes my heart so deeply. To be called an oak of righteousness makes me think of a tall, sturdy oak tree that sways in the breeze to accommodate the changing winds but does not break at its' trunk. Dead and useless branches may fall off but the live productive branches are fed with rainwater and sunshine to grow long and beautiful. The best part about that verse is that all of us oak trees would be "the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified". You see, His glory is what this life is all about. It truly is. I ask you to set aside your pride, your insecurities, your unbelief, and your fears, and just take a few moments to give our God glory. He is the only way that we can find deep and lasting satisfaction while our dwelling place remains to be this Earth. Embrace Him. Ask Him to swallow you up in His arms of love and enjoy His sweet presence. Lastly, thank Him for all that He was, is, and is to come for He alone is worthy.