Rambling Afternoon Thoughts

Well, Josai and I are getting BIG! I feel like a whale but realize I am only going to get bigger in the next 7 weeks 😉 I can’t believe that on one end I have a whopping 7 weeks left and then on the other end of the spectrum I only have 7 weeks!! I feel anxious to meet my little man that God has formed, to hold him and begin this new chapter but then again I feel a lot of anxiety about how much I still need to accomplish before he decides to join our family!

The main things are preparing for our 2010/2011 homeschool year, deciding on everything I want to use and trying to plan as much as possible for it. Training in obedience with my other three especially Amaris, because when Josai comes I will need her to be trained to sit alone by me for long periods of time so that I can stay in worship on Sundays and on Wednesdays when daddy is preaching/teaching. I do not have the neccessities as of baby stuff as of yet but I do not doubt God’s provision and so trust that in time I will get everything I need. I long to have a more spiritually disciplined routine, although I don’t know how much that will help after he gets here and changes all of our routines. I have a lot of little things that are to important but would add to my sanity and peacefulness that I would like to get done.

I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. Weeks ago I thought I might have Gestational Diabetes but it turned out I just had an iron defienciency. This week has been a little crazy, we have had vbs every morning. The kids have been loving it! My Kai’s birthday party is this Saturday afternoon and I keep forgetting that I have to make his cake and get all the supplies, thankfully we did our shopping already. Early, early that morning we are going to Dry Creek to spend the morning picking blueberries!! I am so excited and praying it isn’t to hot for all of us ;).

In the midst of all of this busy-ness I find my heart and my thoughts far far away from all of it… lingering in His truths and in His love, wondering and seeking to know Him more and love Him deeper. I have been examining my heart lately… disecting it’s true motives, it’s fears and doubts and trying to simply bring them all to Him in complete surrender. He has been teaching me lately of my self love that is still to much a live with in me. Conteplating what it means to find peace and joy in taking up my crosses for the sake of Christ, of knowing more of Christ, of loving, suffering and fellowshiping with Christ. I didn’t realize how often I ran from my crosses causing myself more pain and denying His work in my life to be carried to completion! Oh how foolish and wasteful. I am praying that I do not waste my suffering in this life to not only draw me deeper in communion with Him but also to draw others deeper into a communion with Him.

Read Full Post »

Weekend Ramblings

It was a beautiful Saturday morning here in southern Louisiana… hot but beautiful. Went to the store yesterday and bought a little blow up pool for the kids, the two kids that are here with me. My oldest, Eli, went on a ministry trip with his daddy this weekend to Galveston, Tx. They will be experiencing the hot while sharing the love of Christ with the homeless. I am so thankful that they were able to get away and be the hands and feet of Jesus today! I stayed home in my own ministry striving to be just the same. I find myself so often challenged with the decision of self-denial and almost everytime I choose self, I refuse to take up my cross and follow Him who has set the example for me, who has enternally given life through it. I am reminded that if we are to be His disciiples then we must take up our cross and follow Him. This is not an option it is a commanded must. The spirit is willing but my flesh is pressingly weak!

Read Full Post »

Looking back and ahead

Well we had an exhaustive, difficult, blessed, amazing, eventful and holy week! Holy in the sense that it was “set apart” to reflect on the resurrection of Christ through much time spent in the word, in pray and in daily devotions and activities that draw us closer to His love and to eachother. It was a very difficult week with adjusting to Expresso’s new outside of the home job… some days barely getting to connect for more than 30 minutes at the most (that is really hard), early nights, exhausted nights, new routines and less time to spend as a family. I feel the pressure to be more productive at home although I don’t necessarily feel the desire to be more  productive. I am praying over this week, that the Lord will be gracious to us and enable us to keep our eyes, our minds and our hearts on Christ and to be more intentional and less selfish with our time so that we may fulfill each little facet of attention that we can in each day. The kids also had a rough time adjusting to their daddy being gone all day and then not being able to spend the amount of time that he has been able to in the past, evenings seem to be the hardest. Where he as once able to spend 15-30 minutes reading to them each night now is only an occassional thing depending on the evening and events and where he as leading morning worship each morning is now taken over by me.  Eli has been getting up in the mornings just to catch some time with his daddy, it is sweet. He spends the early morning with him and then, if I get up to, we go back to bed together for a little bit, but I am not sure how this week will go since we are back in school.

We all praise God for this new change and we continue with more zeal than last week to embrace it and seek to glorify Him in the midst of it. On another note we had the special blessing of experiences the birth of some of our closest friends precious baby girl! It was amazing and the Lord taught me so much through it all that I hope to share later. My friend went natural which is something that I am praying for the strength to do when my turn comes to labor.

This week I am really hoping that I can get a lol done each day and with a joyful and peaceful attitude among the trials and stressful moments with in. I am needing to figure out how to implement certain things into our days and how to take over in my own way our family worship times and history lessons that are usually a daddy thing. I have some ideas. I also feel the strong urgent need to begin a more living faith with in our home, such as what we did this week with Holy week. Each day was soaked in a kind of living faith that could not be missed nor ignored but rather radiant and thoroughly enjoyed and longed for. I am praying for direction in that area.

Just seeking to make the most of this life, this time for His glory and His glory alone and in that reality I find unmistakedly JOY.

Read Full Post »

A New Journey to Embrace

Tomorrow morning we begin a new journey in our home, for us it is not the norm but most household it is. My husband will be starting a new job (outside of our home), leaving each morning around 6:30 and returning around 5:00 each evening Monday through Friday. God was faithful to answer our prayers recently and so we rejoice greatly in His will.  I am begining to prepare my heart (first) for this change by prayer and complete surrender and reliance on Him and His grace alone and my mind (second) by altering my schedules and routines along with the daily little things that must change such as getting up early to send my huband off with a nice little breakfast and some prayer time, getting use to being more independent in my appointments and other outside the home errands.  I am excited as we begin this new journey together and pray over the future for us.

This has not been the norm for us, since 2004 my husband has been either a seminary student, intern at a church, a student preacher, youth minister or a full time house church minister. There have been times when he has worked part time outside the home but a full time outside the home job… not since 2003. The flexibility in our daily schedule is no longer available, and to be honest in some ways I am glad. I know that for me this is going to be a good change, hard at times but good in the process. I am praying for a slow and graceful transition. In God’s providence and goodness this change arrives on our “spring break” around here so that gives us a week to adjust in a more relaxed enviorment. He is so gracious!

This week we will just be enjoying some good books, good family time, adjustments to the new job, sewing, crafting and nature outings (weather permitting). We have a full schedule ahead of us though on our “week off” if there is such a thing.

Read Full Post »

Merry Christmas!

Read Full Post »

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Read Full Post »

Pumpkin & Spice

 

Read Full Post »