A Grateful Heart

     These past couple weeks have been quite the whirlwind. Adjusting to life as a new mom, and meeting the needs of my 5-week old have been great and challenging at the same time. There are times I look at baby James and think, "Wow! How could God be so gracious to give us a baby of our own?!" Every day with my little boy gets better... and yes, I still have good days and bad days, but I wouldn't trade my baby for the world! ;)
     I was thinking this last week about how my life has changed for the better. I was thinking about how God used everything in my life for His glory. It's funny the things that God throws our way to teach us things in order to grow us into the person that He created us to be.
     This past week, I was actually feeling pretty confident about being a momma to my little man. I was proud of myself for being able to go in public with a 5-week old, and everything going great... and then life threw me a curve ball... or should I say my son threw me a curve ball and decided to sleep for 3 hours while I got ready for the day!... this was huge! I was thinking to myself, "Hey, this days going to go great!" After I woke him up to feed him, and played with him for a bit, it was time for his nap again. His eyes began to roll back, and he drifted off to sleep... for 2 minutes. James decided to continue to do this for the next hour. Anytime, I'd set him down, or take the pacifier from his already opened mouth, he'd wake up, and cry... sigh. Well, needless to say, my whole afternoon was pretty much spent holding him and trying to get him to sleep. So much for getting things done, right?!
     Half of me just wanted me to let him cry himself to sleep, so that I can at least get my lunch and have an hour to myself, and the other half of me, wanted to cradle my son in my arms and let him know that it was all okay, and that mommy was there for him.
     I began to think to myself, "Some days are great, and some days are terrible, but I should be grateful that I have a son that Gods blessed me with!"
     Motherhood is hard. It's hard to put your selfishness aside every hour of every-day, and focus on someone other than yourself. It's hard to possibly not be able to take a shower, or eat your lunch until later in the afternoon, so that your child can have your love and attention.
     I admit, I don't have it all together. I feel like some days I have it all together... that's when God decides to prove me wrong. "...Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good..." ~Psalm 100:4-5
      So, what am I grateful for?

• The Chance to Serve.
• A Baby that Gods blessed me with!
• The love that a mother has for her child.
• My mothers Godly example for me to follow as I enter motherhood.

What are you grateful for?... I'd love to know in the comments below! :-)

Affirming Your Man

     Hi everyone! So, before I got married, I wanted to talk a lot about daughters staying at home and serving their family. Being a keeper of the Home meant a lot to me, and I knew that many wouldn't agree with my thoughts. When I got married, being a Homemaker was finally coming into action. Serving my husband every day has been such a joy. Now, however, I'm no longer a daughter at home. I'm a wife, serving her husband, and a Homemaker who enjoys being a stay-at-home-wife. My vision hasn't changed. Josh and I now share the same vision. However, instead of addressing the stay at home daughter part, I'd still like to continue to encourage those in that area. I'd also like to write about being a wife. I've listened to a lot of talks, and read a lot of articles about marriage lately. I've been inspired. I want to strive to be the best wife that I can be, knowing that I serve Josh, and ultimately serve Christ in the work I do, no matter how big or small.
     With that being said, I'd like to talk about how you should treat your man. For those not yet married, I'd say that you can still learn, for one day, when God might bring you a husband. For those who are men, I'd say, maybe you can comment if you have anything else to add. And for those that are married, whether newly weds or not, I'd say we can all learn something. I'm not a pro, I've only been married for a little over 4 months. But, I thought I'd share my thoughts on marriage so far. Marriage has been the most incredible experience that I could've ever asked for. It's been humbling and sanctifying. While Josh and I have many days where we laugh together, and mess around with each other, we also have days when we cry together because we feel like failures at life. Josh and I both have a personality of low-confidence. So, I've been trying to build Josh up with words and actions of affirmation that I love him and appreciate him. Sometimes, all you need is someone to listen to you, and affirm that you're doing great! Men need to hear that their wives are cheering for them, and that they're proud of them... especially my man! There are days, when I shouldn't have said some things, and I've put my husband down, but I'm striving to glorify God every day. I know that by serving my husband with a cheerful heart, I bring God glory. So, with that in mind, I'd like to discuss how to better affirm your man.
     The question to ask yourself is: How am I building my house up? Your husband should be able to tell how much God loves him by the way you treat him, love him, and admire him. Do you respect him? Do you do everything you can, to show that you love him? It might be coming to your husband in a quiet spirit to talk about a subject, instead of yelling at him telling him that he doesn't know what he's talking about. It might be something as simple as making dinner, making sure the tables set, and getting him some iced chai. (something my hubby loves! ;) ) When you talk about your husband in public, are you speaking good and repeatable things? Or are you saying things that would make your husband ashamed? I find that asking myself these questions a lot, helps. When my husband asks me if I can make him something to eat, even if I'm tired and I don't feel like it sometimes, I tell him, "Sure! I'd love to to serve you in that way!"
     Do you ever find yourself griping and complaining? What would happen if you prayed as much as you complained in your head? We have power and influence over our husbands. How are you doing giving respect to your husband?
     Ephesians 5:22-24, 33, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything... nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."

Serving without Complaining

This past week, I've been helping at a Conference for men. The girls, are in charge of the cooking, cleaning, and getting the drinks all ready for breakfast/lunch/dinner, and keeping them filled throughout the day.
As fun it is when you have friends fellowshipping with you while working, there's also a seriousness to it. The laughs and giggles are good, but what about the heart of the matter? When we cook and serve others in the kitchen with friends, we're joyful about it... but what about in the moments when we're tired, sweaty, and running low on energy and sleep?
On our afternoon devotions that one of the girls prepared, we talked about complaining. Sometimes we complain without even realizing it, and sometimes we complain because we want people to know how we feel, and how much work we're doing.
We complain about the little things, like, all the flies in the kitchen, or, how many times we've already cleaned the restrooms. What is our heart in the matter? Even when no one else sees all the hard-work we do, God sees it, and He can see the heart. For instance, I was in charge of making sure that all the drinks we're always filled... most of the preparations for the coffee and such, went on in the back-room, where no one could see me. To be honest with you, I didn't really seem to care. I was in so much of a rush to get the coffee done any way, that I didn't notice that my work... in a way, went unnoticed. No one saw how I make coffee, or even if I made coffee. Now, of course, we'd get a lot of men telling us how grateful they were that we took all this time to prepare some awesome cooked food, and that was great! But, what if they hadn't thanked us? Would we still be serving without complaint?
Colossians 3:23-24 tells us, "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."
So, the next time you're in the kitchen cooking meals or serving someone in some way, remember to think of it as service to God! God appreciates a cheerful servants heart! And you know what else? Everyone around you notices a cheerful heart too! ;)
But remember, while serving, don't forget to sit down, at the foot of the cross, and pray and talk to God.

The Heart of Serving

This past week, I went to help out during a conference at our pastors house. I would help cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for approx. 70 men/boys; refill all the drinks, (coffee/tea/water/lemonade) and do the dishes, and answer any questions or help in any way I could.
While I was there Monday-Wednesday, I was thinking over and over again about Matthew 20:28,"...The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve..."

A friend of mine and I were talking a couple weeks ago, and both her and I agreed that it's so much easier to help and serve other people, but when it comes to our own home, we're reluctant to do our own chores that need to be done. 
Why is that?
Why do we find it easier to serve other people with a joyful heart, and then, when it comes to doing our own duty and serving our parents/siblings/family, that we become complacent?

On one of the morning when us "kitchen girls" did our devotions together, we read Isaiah 40:28-31, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to Him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

In what ways do you serve that you become tired and/or wearisome? Why?
I've come to realize that as each day goes by Christ gives us the amount of strength and grace we need to complete each day until His will.
We are bondservants of Christ... to have a complete and utter devotion to God, His word,
and His will.
So, the next time you serve, don't think of it as a chore or task, but think of it more as helping and assisting; and remember, that Christ came to serve.
This, is the Heart of Service.

Serving in Disguise

Yesterday, I had the privilege to go to our friends the, "Davidson's" house, and help them out
with the kids, laundry, dinner, and packing for their trip to Russia. 

     While I was helping the kids clean out the closet, Mrs. Davidson asked me to feed baby "Owen", so that she could get some stuff done. With joy, I took him out of the swing, and fed him his bottle. After feeding him, I went into the girls room to help them clean out the closet, and I lay Owen down on my lap facing sideways...he was so content! As usual, I stared at Owen thinking, "Wow! How can people not like children?" They are so precious...aren't they?!

     As I was sitting there with Owen on my lap, I helped the girls fold their tights, and other miscellaneous things. After that, I rocked Owen to sleep, and vacuumed around the house. When I got home, I was greeted by my little brother, Elijah, who comes out ever time one of us comes home. There's always a welcoming smile on his face, and a big, warm bear hug awaiting us from our little Elijah. Isn't it nice to come to a place that you can call home?

After a long, hard day from working at the Davidson's, (which I appreciated) I kept thinking, "all that I'm doing at home, at the Davidson's, and any where else, is teaching me...teaching me to be patient, teaching me to be slow in anger, and slow to speak, teaching me to 'serve', and teaching me
 to love God even more."

Last week, I was having a hard time doing some stuff around the house, and I've been asking God to help me serve without thinking about it. Whether it's doing my siblings dishes on their dish day, doing  their chore for that week, or merely putting their shoes away that are in the middle of the floor. They might not notice me doing anything...but God does! He sees everything that we do...whether it's with a servants heart or not. So let's serve, knowing that our reward is in heaven! 

The Super Conference!

Hi Everyone! Sorry for not posting in forever!
The Super Conference (or CHEC Conference) is something that our family look forward to every single year!!! It's a time when we get to listen to speakers without interruption, talk to friends old and new, and shop around for books, audio, movies, and other fun things. And yes, spend money...! Thursday was the first day, and it was so exciting! I barely got any sleep the night before because I was so excited. I was a volunteer for the conference the last few years, and wanted to do so again. So I helped the,"Gibas" family with preparing the meals, for the speakers, volunteers, and those who payed for it.

I love to serve, so this was an amazing opportunity! I had a wonderful time talking to all the girls/moms there.
Ken Ham, Kevin Swanson, and a few others were the main speakers...amazing! My dad did a silent Auction Fundraiser while we were there, and we made over $2,000 for CHEC!!!

I had a wonderful time!!! I even got to hold some new babies!
Saturday, I received some wonderful news! I help this family out whom has 7 kids (1 on the
way until tomorrow) and she wants me to be at the birth!!! I am so excited! I'll let you know how it all goes...I'll post more later.