Bittersweet Week

I cannot believe we have arrived at this moment~Chad and I are officially parents of a teenager!!! How and when did that happen??!! Ethan's birth threw us into the wild and crazy blessed world of parenting....and we've never looked back. How non-coincidental that my devotion in my inbox this morning was called 'Empty Nest'....all too quickly I can see the not so distant future and my growing children headed off in their own directions.

 

We raise them the best we know how with love, discipline, and belief in Jesus Christ. Sometimes they frustrate us by not cleaning their crib (room). Like an animal in a barn, they can be messy and smelly. There are days you want a little peace and quiet because they are angry and loud when fighting with their siblings. But the empty nest is void of noise. The kids are nowhere to be found; so enjoy them while you can. {Excerpt from Wisdom Hunters; Empty Nest Devotional}

 

 

I am so, so blessed and thankful for my overflowing nest!!!! My life is blessed, not burdened by being a parent. I am so grateful that God has given me the most amazing opportunity to be a Mom, and the grace He's given the boys to know I am far from being perfect at it! =) 

 

 

It is a bittersweet week in our household. We celebrate Ethan's birthday today, and Lucas turns 11 tomorrow.  (How cool is that....brothers....born 2 years and 1 day apart??!) We also would have been expecting a baby sometime soon. Tomorrow would have been my due date. We will celebrate birthday's of two of our babies we have gotten to hold on Earth, but also we are going to celebrate the life that God gave our son/daughter, brother/sister. I won't lie, miscarriage is hard. Gut~wrenching hard. But I have seen God's faithfulness over all 3 of our miscarriages, and I am SO thankful for the chance to be used by Him.

 

Baby # 8~Due Date~January 30,2013

 

Love and miss you!

 

 

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!

Thank you Lord for life~and abundant life at that!

 

 



 

 



Always Hope

I have heard this song several times over the last several days, always seems to be that God gives me a song to fit right where I am at. Found both the video of the song as well as the story behind it. If you have a few minutes to check them out you will be blessed I'm sure!

In God there is always hope, always a purpose, we just need to trust in Him. (I am shouting this to myself right now!!)





Story behind the song:

Good Riddance

After two long years of various 'issues' (and an even longer story to explain how I got to where I am at) I finally found out my gallbladder is only functioning at 3%.   Yes, it's basically not functioning.  So, tomorrow at 1pm I am having laparoscopic surgery to remove it!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Although I know that many people have had problems after having it removed, I have no risk to feel any worse than I have been feeling.  It's gotten progressively worse over time and I am very thankful to finally have found some answers. I have prayed for a very long time for something, anything to be revealed to explain what has been going on, and I am very thankful that God has answered that prayer!

Please pray for the surgeon and all involved tomorrow. I know that thousands of these surgeries are done every year but I still would be appreciate being covered in prayer!  That God guides the hands of the surgeon. That he does not experience any problems with repairing my hernia (necessary to do the gallbladder surgery) and that all aspects of my recovery will go well. 

Thank you very much!!!

PS
I have also been dealing with an extremely stubborn case of thrush (in case you don't know what that is, it is a yeast infection in my mouth). I am on my second round of medicine and it seems it is slow to work. I have had a sore mouth/tongue/throat for weeks and at times it can be quite discouraging. Would LOVE prayer over this too!! 

Out With The Old

I cannot believe we are coming to the close of another year. I blinked and 2012 has become almost a distant memory!! When I was out for my run yesterday I was flashing back through some memories of this past year.  I think one of the most amazing memories I had was spending the day at The Big Ticket festival in June with my sister. Worshipping under the stars with Chris Tomlin singing How Great Is Our God was an indescribable moment! 

It has been a year with blessings, sadness, joys, heartache. It's been a year that we have grown in our faith as individuals but also as a family. I have witnessed what it means to have a child-like faith through each of our boys. Sometimes they simply take my breath away and make my heart overflow with love for how they approach life. Their heart felt, humble prayers may seem so simple, but yet they have taught me so much.

My hope and prayer for you is that you find in Christ a hope and purpose for each day. He can take your tests and make them into testimonies. He can take your sorrows and give you comfort, peace and even joy. He can take your messy days and make them into moments to glorify Him and give Him praise. If I have learned anything about the character traits of God over the past year it is that He is indeed a God of faithfulness and grace.

The top three viewed posts of my blog this past year were:

Never Expected This

Life

The Highest Of Highs To The Lowest Of Lows

 

Looking forward to what God is going to write in the pages of our lives in the coming year.....it is indeed a blessed journey!!!

 

 

Happy New Year To You!!!

 

 

 



People Undeserving

Out of nowhere God put this song in my heart tonight. HE is the hope this world needs, the hope WE need. As we celebrate Christmas, I'm just wondering, does this man reside within your heart?? My prayer is that if He does not, that you may fully come to know HIS incredible love!!!! He came for you! We do not deserve this gift, yet He gave it anyway because He loves us so much and needed to give us a way back to Him. Sin does not have the final say~Christ does!


I know you gave the world your only son for us, to know your name, to live within the Saviour's love. He took my place knowing he'd be crucified. You love, you love a people undeserving.

You Want To Sleep Where?

Caleb was bound and determined to make a 'hut' and sleep in it for nap today.  This is what he came up with....

Look What Just Got Delivered!!!

Only the second set of furniture we have bought new in almost 15 years of marriage!!