Time of Transistion: Mommy Days & Mommy Nights....

So much has changed in our lives in the past two months!! Tommy received a position as a Lay Pastor in Boston, GA where he serves 3 churches (Boston, Barwick, and Oak Grove), I left CFUMC and have become a stay at home mommy, pastor's wife, and soon to be student at VSU, and we moved from Cairo, out of the first home that we bought and the one where we brought Eli home from the hospital, into the Boston Parsonage. This has been a season of intense change!!! God has taught us so much during this time of transition and while that is not the point of this post, I wanted to share the main thing I have learned during this time is that if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, all the other things, the things of this world, will grow strangely dim!! I wanted to update you (please bare with all of the pictures!) on this new phase of our lives and on how much E has grown recently. This will be pretty random....

While we have been going through all of these changes, our beautiful toddler has been trying to keep up! Our sweet, wonderful sleeper has had sleep and routine issues the past few weeks which I am very happy to say he seems to be coming out of!! I don't know if he finally got settled or it was all the prayers that his Daddy and I said over him and his room but either way, he's back to his usual 11 hours per night and we have offered prayers of thanksgiving to the Father for that!!!

It has been a HUGE blessing to me that I now have the opportunity to stay home with my sweetie pie!! He is learning so much and growing so much each day that I realize how much I was missing while I worked. DON'T MISUNDERSTAND ME... I LOVED MY WORK... I MISS MY WORK... BUT NOTHING COMPARES TO THIS!!! I also know that many women don't have this opportunity and so there isn't a day that passes that I am not thankful that He has made it possible for our family... He has made way where there seemed to be NO WAY!!

Here are a few things about Eli who will be 16 months in 8 days:
*Eli weighs 25.5 pounds and is over 33" tall!!! When we went to see Dr. K last week, she said he has hit a growth spurt and is ahead on the developmental chart.
*Eli is quickly becoming a Mommy's boy but he gets extremely excited when Daddy comes home and sometimes we have to call him during the day just to say "hi"!
*Eli's favorite people besides us are Tommy's parents (Maw Maw & Paw Paw), Gogee & Grandpa (my mom&dad), and P-Maw & Paw (his godparents).
* Eli's favorite word is, "puppy". He doesn't just say it, he knows what it means and can spot one anywhere, in any picture, book, and television program!! We got a puppy for him and to our suprise, all he wants to do is look at him. All day long, I hear puppy, please, puppy, please... but all E wants is to stand at the backdoor and look at him!! By the way, the puppy's name is "puppy"!
*Eli loves Elmo and for this, I blame his godparents... P-Maw and P-Paw who started the fad with the gift of a Tickle Me Elmo!! (E also spent his fun weekend with them while we moved... I included a few pics :) )
*Veggie Tales is his most loved thing to watch!! He points to the tv and says "Bob, please"... it's adorable and no, I can't say "no" to him when he does it!!
*He LOVES music, dancing, and he walks around the house skipping and calling it "jump"
*His "wubby" is practically glued to his hip and it's hard to get him to go to his crib without it!
*He loves any size ball and has very good aim for a 15 month old!
*He loves being chased and tickled!!
*He loves to streak!!!!!!!!
*Words that Eli can say: Mommy, Daddy, PawPaw, MawMaw, Gogee, P-Maw, P-Paw, Elmo, Bob, Larry, milk, please, thank you, more, puppy, dog, fish, Abby, yes, no, mam, eyes, ears, nose, toes, jump, book, cup, yay, oops, uh oh, bonk, up, down, duck, bath, moo, quack, oh no, oh boy, bunch, this, apple, cheese, and several others that aren't quite as pronounced!!
*Eli has started feeding himself with a spoon which makes a complete mess but it's adorable!!
*Last but not least, he ate cereal for the very first time this morning; it was Cinnoman Life. His favorite foods are yogurt, strawberries, mac n cheese, milk, goldfish, nutrigrain bars, and cheese.

Here are some pictures of the last few weeks... I hope you enjoy them!

Our New Home

The Beginning of the Elmo fad...

All smiles while moving...

Our newest addition... "puppy"

 First meal in the new house

Enjoying all the space to run around... or streak!! LOL

Naptime with Mommy

One of the hundreds of times he looked at the puppy that day!

Looking mischevious

Bedtime with P-Maw

Play Ball!!!

He's funny!

Such a big boy!!

His wubby...

So, there you have it... our life over the past few weeks. Until next time!

My Cup Runneth Over

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings." Psalm 23:5

This world will knock you down, push you around, beat you up, and kick you when you're down. People, who live in glass houses, will throw stones. Words will hurt. Lies will be spread like wildfire. Your name will be dragged through the mud. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, how much money you have or don't have, what your status is, what family you belong to, what school you graduated from, or how many degrees you have on your wall... no one is immune from this kind of treatment and pain. If you live long enough you are sure to experience at least some of what I have just described. That is because we live in a sinful, fallen world and sin comes from the author of lies, Satan himself, the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

I struggle with blaming people for beating me up, kicking me, pushing me, throwing stones at me, and spreading flat out lies about me. When the reality is, that I am forgetting that scripture tells me that we aren't fighting against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. (Ephesians 6:12) I am reminded from this scripture that we can all be used; the good news is that we can choose whether or not to be used by God for good or Satan for evil. I believe that is where personal responsibility comes into play. We have to take responsibility for our actions because every action we take is our personal choice but I do believe that it starts with a choice to be used for good or for evil. Evil can come in small packages such as lies and gossip just like good can also come in small packages such as smiles and hugs. When we realize that it's a choice and we realize that we can be used either way, then I believe that we become more proactive about being used for good. I'm choosing to move on in the knowledge that Satan is to blame and that the people that he worked through simply chose at that time to be used for evil, whether knowingly or unknowingly; but that God will always prevail. God will trump Satan every time. Good will overcome evil in the end. I believe that with my whole heart. So in every situation where you're hurt, remember that we aren't fighting against flesh and blood, forgive the person, and pray for their eyes to be opened to His truth and for good to prevail!!

I started this post with the bad.... what this world will do, how you will be wounded... but there is another story. Aren't you glad?! God loves you! His thoughts are for you! His plans are to bring you hope and a future! His grace is abundant. His Word is true! He cares for you! He wants a relationship with you! He will dry your tears! He will bring you comfort! He will give you unmerited favor!  It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, how much money you have or don't have, what your status is, what family you belong to, what school you graduated from, or how many degrees you have on your wall... no one is immune from His love if they simply choose to believe and ask! Isn't that amazing?!

I have known God's love!! I am blessed to say that I know His love! I know His unmerited favor! I know His abundant grace! I know His Word to be true! I have a relationship with Him! The past few weeks have been some of the hardest of my life, the world broke my heart, the world tried to ruin my good name, the world came at me with a pretty powerful punch.... BUT GOD has spoken to my broken heart, protected me and my family, made a way where there seemed to be no way, gave me a HOPE and  a FUTURE that was better than the path that I was on. He has made ALL THINGS work together for my good. Let me tell you how thankful I am! Let me tell you about His love that NEVER FAILS... He will never leave you or forsake you! No matter where you are, who you are, where you've been, how long you've been gone from Him... HIS LOVE NEVER FAILS. My cup runs over with joy and thankfulness tonight because of His love for me. I pray that you, whoever is reading this right now, would know the abundance of His love. As Paul wrote in Ephesians, I pray, "and may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is."

Thank you for reading my thoughts. God Bless You!

Oh Be Careful Little Mouths What You Say....

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me... Anyone ever heard that? Anyone believe that it's true? I don't. Upon saying that I don't believe this, I've had people say, well, words can't hurt you physically... I don't believe that either. Words can hurt, they do hurt... if a person is hurt badly emotionally, and it can cause them physical pain. The spread of certain words, more commonly referred to as gossip can be detrimental to a person's emotions, their reputation, their job, their family, their spirit, and their body.

The dictionary defines "gossip" as idle talk of rumor; especially about the personal or private affairs of others. We've all been guilty of gossip. We Christians like to get our gossip in under the disguise of prayer concerns. I'd be willing to bet that we've all been the topic of gossip. In most cases, the rumors that we're discussing are a tiny bit of truth wrapped into a gigantic burrito of lies. And yet, we spread it anyway...

Remember the words test? I need to be reminded of it... true, kind, necessary. How are we using our words? Are we speaking things that are true, kind, and necessary? Or are we speaking things that aren't true, that are unkind, and that are better left unsaid? I am guilty of not taking the words test... I'm guilty of saying things that are almost always true but they don't measure up as being kind and almost never are the necessary.

I have been the topic of gossip recently. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the "sticks and stones" saying isn't true. I can also tell you that most of the gossip being spread isn't true. Which brings me to my next point. What do we believe? Do our actions line up with what our mouths say that we believe? If we say that we love God and all we do is slander others, then I would say, "No" our actions aren't lining up with what we say we believe. If you're standing in Wal Mart and someone you know comes over to tell you something about someone else that you know; do you stop them when you realize that what they are saying is false and correct them or do you probe for more and engage in idle rumors? How often do we forget the character of the people that we know? We allow others to degrade and disrespect people that we know to be of high moral character when what we should do is cut them off and say, I know that person, that's not who they are and if you have a problem with them, let's go confront it with them present. If we all handled our words that way, a lot less people would be walking around wounded.

I am the first to admit that I am guilty of all of the above. However, I am choosing, daily, to the let the Holy Spirit lead me, direct me, and guide me... my thoughts, my actions, and especially my words. I know I will fail at some point and I'm thankful that I serve a loving, forgiving God who if faithful to forgive me when I do. When we focus on Him, allow our hearts to be filled with His Spirit, and meditate on His word, we are more apt to speak and act in a way that is pleasing to Him; and as Christians, isn't that what we want? To live a life that is pleasing to Him and one that makes others want to know Him?

"Therefore, put to death what belongs to your world nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, God's wrath comes on the disobedient. and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old self and it's practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, God's chosen, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all, put on love- the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of the the Messiah to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts, and be thankful." Colossians 3:5-15

Weeping Forward

"Although there will be weeping in this life, the direction in which we weep is truly what matters. Be encouraged. God sees your tears. Cry them, wipe them, feel them, but don't let them stop you. IT'S POSSIBLE TO CRY AND WALK" ~ Kelly Minter

Thursday I realized that I would be saying, "goodbye" to people that I dearly love, a church that has been a second home to me for over two years, and suddenly the 50+ hours that I spent each week working would be free. The reasons for this goodbye are not the point for this post nor are they important... the purpose of this post is that this transition is difficult, there has been (with more to come) a lot of weeping. This morning I said "goodbye" to children that have attached themselves to my heart forever, to their parents, and to my church. During this time of transition and sadness, something kept coming back to mind, a study that I had done on the book of Ruth, the term, "weeping forward" kept repeating itself over and over in my mind, trying to creep into my heart... I realized that the Holy Spirit was trying to bring something to my attention... so tonight, I dug out my Bible study on Ruth and to my surprise...

One year ago to the day... June 23, 2010, I began my journey through Kelly Minter's "Ruth: loss, love, and legacy". If this doesn't reiterate God's timing to you, I'm sorry, but to me, it's undeniable. One year to the day... I began a study on loss, love, and legacy. I began to study a short book in the Bible that is chocked full of incredible nuggets of knowledge and truth. I studied this woman, Ruth, who followed her mother in law, Naomi back to Naomi's homeland; a land in which she would be a stranger, an outcast, where she would have no rights and no one. Ruth had lost her husband, but she chose to "weep forward" and follow her mother in law into a land she didn’t' know, to people that she didn't know; to a God she didn't know.

I followed this woman's journey as she gleaned in a field, as she won the approval of Boaz, as she married Boaz (her kinsman-redeemer), as she gave birth to Obed; I followed her journey from weeping to rejoicing. From setting out to a foreign country with a bitter companion to a beautiful ending in which she gave birth to a son in the direct lineage of Jesus. What a story!

What if she had just wept? What if she had wept and wallowed in her weeping? What if she had wept backwards? The consequences of any of those scenarios wouldn't have ended in such a beautiful story.

"So tell me, what is our ending? Will it be beautiful, so beautiful?" ~ Barlow Girl

I want a beautiful ending. I want a beautiful journey. I am so thankful that God's timing isn't our own. That He orchestrates things in a way that we can't. That He cares so much for me that He led me through a study one year ago andthat he brought it back into my spirit today... to remind me of his plans, of my purpose. There is no doubt that I am weeping but there is also no doubt that I am weeping in any direction but forward!

I am convinced that God has a plan. That he makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and that in Him I will find everything I need.

“Bring me joy, bring me peace, bring the chance to be free. Bring me anything that brings you glory. I know there’ll be days when this life brings me pain but if that’s what it takes to praise you, Jesus bring the rain”

I am reminded through all of this that:
"He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves us, oh how He loves! We are His portion and He is our prize. Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes, if grace is an ocean we're all sinking!"

Thankful...

Life is full of choices... good, bad, plain... everything we do is a conscious choice. I don't always make the best choices; in fact, there are a lot of times I make the wrong ones which brings me into my title... thankful.

Thankful for the beautiful gift of a giant box of diapers that someone gave me today, thankful for the coupons for all things baby given to me by another person, thankful for the friend who so generously gave of her time to lend an ear, thankful for a large group of amazing children who learned so much today at VBS, thankful for an incredible group of volunteers who gave so generously of their time to make sure that God's plan unfolds this week in the lives of those amazing children, thankful that the broken light didn't fall and shatter, thankful that the microphone worked in assembly, thankful that Eli smiled at me and gave me a huge hug and kiss, thankful for safety of my family and the comfort of our home... Reading this list, you can see that I have a lot to be thankful for. This, I know to be true.

BUT... instead of remembering all of those wonderful blessing in my life I allow myself to become sidetracked into focusing on the little bit of negative that creeps in from time to time. I enlarge it in my mind and blow it up to the point that it looks so much larger than that long list of good/blessings from one day. Is this just plain human nature? Probably so... but I am realizing that when I become sidetracked, I cease to be effective, and when I cease to be effective, I am not living out the call that God has placed on my life. The truth is that if I stay focused on Him, the good is accentuated but when I focus on other things or people, the good isn't always accentuated. So...

Tonight I keep coming back to one of my very favorite songs and these lines keep running through my head: Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of Earth shall grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

If we all simply turned our eyes upon Jesus... the struggles of our daily lives wouldn't seem so daunting! This isn't an easy thing to do... we have to make a daily (sometimes moment to moment) choice to refocus our eyes on Jesus and allow the things in our lives that cloud our view to grow dim in the light of His glory and in His wonderful grace.

Thankful for His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness, His love, but most importantly I am supremely thankful for Jesus who laid down His life so that I could choose to follow Him.

7 Years Ago Today

7 years ago today, I married my best friend. That sounds incredibly cliche' I know, but it's really the truth. Tommy is the one person in the world that knows all of me, my secrets, joys, fears, hopes, dreams, good, and bad. He accepts me for me and I love him for that.

7 years ago today, I was 18, Tommy was a whole 1 year older than me!!! :) We were young... we were energized... we were naive... we were excited... we were ready to take the world by storm... we were deeply in love...

Fast forward 7 years... I am 25, Tommy is still a whle 1 year older than me! :) We are still young... we are a little less energized... we are a lot less naive... we are still excited... we still want to take on the world... but most importantly, we are still deeply in love!!!

Our life/marriage is far from perfect. We have bad days but we have days that are supremely good too! We're in love with each other and we have dreams that we want to achieve together. We're blessed to have found each other at such a young age and to have stuck together through the not so good days. We face the next years knowing that the sun doesn't always shine but that as long as we put God first and make each other a priority, that we will go the distance.

Here's a look at us through these 7 years:

Our Wedding Day:

One of my favorite pictures of us: married about 2 years...

Married about 3 years... we decided to get out of town for Thanksgiving...

5th Anniversary trip to Destin...

First Mother's Day... married almost 6 years

And then there were three...

Our most recent family photo...



7 Years :)

Looks like we've made it, look how far we've come my baby. I'M GLAD WE DIDN'T LISTEN

LOOK AT WHAT WE COULD BE MISSING... they said, "I bet, they'll never make it" but just look at us holding on. We're still together still going strong. You're still the one!

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This... but what we do with them is what's important!!

So, there I was (for those of you who don’t know, the sign that something is about to be a good, listen up story, is ‘so there I was’…) lying in bed on Friday morning somewhere around 1:30 A.M. when I had finally finished my homework and planning for the kid’s event the next night, when I decided to really quickly run through the events that would take place when I woke up in a few hours. These were my thoughts: I will get up at 7:30, hang out with Eli for a few minutes, drink a diet coke, get ready, get Eli ready, swing into Maryland’s for a breakfast sandwich (because the sign out front has been drawing me closer to it every day this week and I haven’t given in… but I know me and operating off of little sleep, a breakfast sandwich will make my morning brighter), will arrive early to Eli’s 1 year picture appointment in Bainbridge with 3 clean, beautiful outfits and his green monkey and we will all be happy to be there (not to mention that pictures will go very well), return to Cairo, drop E off at the sitter, make a mad dash to Tallahassee, shop for VBS and Fabulous Friday supplies, have a nice lunch with my hubby, rush back, have DR. appointment for sinus infection, set up for FF, have super awesome FF, go home, get some sleep… end thoughts!!

I love the quote by Robert Burns, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray”… because mine so often do! Here is what my day actually looked like:

7:30 trying to become human (I’m not a morning person)

7:45 in my quest to become human, I grab a Diet Coke… I proceed to drink it while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Eli. Eli decides that my drink looks much better than his so he proceeds to hit my diet coke… I have a good grasp, tell him “no” and hand him his sippy cup of good, healthy water. (yay for a good mommy moment!) A few minutes later, he decides he will try again and hits my diet coke, I repeat my previous actions and all is well in Who-Ville. However, a few minutes later, E tries yet again and I don’t have such a good grasp this time… Diet Coke goes flying… all over me, Eli, the red suede couch, the floor, his books…. I say (firmly) "Eli" and try to keep the can from doing any more harm and then, a scream that I have never heard come from my child, fills the room! (boo for a not so good mommy moment!) He was hysterical, I wasn’t happy, we weren’t jiving…  I felt horrible because I couldn’t calm him… this isn’t a pretty scene!

Did I mention that it’s 8:20 and I’m not even close to ready to go? I have finally stopped the screaming and tears but now, my beautiful boy doesn’t want to let me go… he’s attached. Every time I put him down, he screams… It’s 8:50, I am throwing clothes on frantically while E cries and screams from his playpen… I have no makeup on… BTW

It’s 9:10 we’re in the car on the way to Bainbridge, no makeup, no breakfast, no significant amount of caffeine, 1 outfit to wear in pictures, and a baby with puffy eyes from crying… YAY!!!

Pictures go well; I think this horrible morning is turning around. I drop E off at daycare and I’m still not great but I’m optimistic. I swing by the DR office and say that I won’t be able to make my appointment today because I’m running behind… they say, the DR has had a cancellation and is free right now! I’m thinking great… my day has turned around this is awesome! “Okay, great” I say. 1.5 hours later, I leave the office, never saw my doctor, I saw a doctor but mine, who was free, had 3 patients ahead of me…

I drive (quickly) to Tally… meet the hubby for lunch… let’s just say that our time together wasn’t awesome… (We’ve all been there, right?!)

I go to Michael’s to buy VBS supplies… I’m really cramped for time but I park and call hubby to chat for a second and while I’m on the phone, an 84 year old man rear-ends me in the parking lot. YAY! (I do want to say that I was extremely nice to the gentleman even though I was in an incredibly bad mood… I went over Galatians 5:23 in my head…) 45 minutes later when the nice police officer comes and we finish all the paperwork, I head into Michaels. They of course don’t have what I need but I don’t have time to worry about that… onto Wal-Mart.

During my 30 minute drive to Wal-Mart, I call my closest female friend and share the events of my day… this is when my day began to turn around. I realize that all of these other events are being magnified because of my horrible start with E (who I care more about than anything in this world) and I won’t feel any better until I’m holding him. I then decide to take time that I don’t have and go pick him up, (the logistics of how I will set up for the children’s event don’t matter at this point) when I opened the door to the daycare, E saw me, and started jumping up and down in his crib!! My day was instantly better!!! All the rushing, the dent in my car, the diet coke everywhere, the wait at the office… it all didn’t matter anymore… at that moment it was all about what is important.

The point to this really long account of my day? It could have been avoided!! Don’t get me wrong, there are days that are bad and there is nothing you can do about it but not this one. I could have been more prepared, laid out all the outfits ahead of time, gotten up earlier and gotten ready, and started off on the right foot with Eli; but most importantly, I could have and should have gotten up and met with someone of ultimate importance… I should have humbled myself and asked for guidance, wisdom, and peace from God. I should have given Him my day, my to do list, Eli, Tommy, and all of me before the day ever started. Why do we find this so hard to do? That is my goal this week… to meet with Him before I even meet with me!!... let Him lead. That’s what I intend to do with my “day”!