Complaining

     Lately, I've been feeling very pregnant! I'm 29, almost 30 weeks along now, and my belly's getting bigger, it's getting harder to bend over and pick things up, harder to stand for a long time, and harder to do things without losing energy. It's gotten me frustrated many times. I feel bad that I don't have the strength I used to, and it got me to thinking, "I haven't even had my first child, and I know moms who've had their 8th, 9th, or 10th baby. How do they do it?" I'm a complainer. I often tell my husband, "I'm going to be a pathetic wife, because I'm already a complainer, and I haven't even had our baby yet."
     It got me to thinking about the Israelites, and how they often complained in the wilderness and the desert. In Exodus and in Numbers, we see how often they complained; yet God was still faithful, and merciful, and continued to give the Israelites things to sustain them. God will provide ALL our needs.  God brought the Israelites through the desert, for forty years, where there was no possibility of them caring for themselves.  God provided their water miraculously from a rock, their food - manna that fell miraculously from heaven, a cloud cover by day so they would not be scorched by the desert sun, and a pillar of fire that covered them by night to keep them warm.

     God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and He watches over His word to perform it.  (Ezekiel 12:25) He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)

     So for now, I'm taking it one day at a time. I'm in awe that there's a baby growing inside of me, who's already wanted and loved far beyond words can express. I'm grateful to God for answering our prayers, and giving us a little baby inside my womb. Every time our baby James moves, and kicks, I'm reminded of a sweet blessing from God that was given to us, when we didn't deserve such a gift! So, yes, the back pain will continue, and the bending over and standing up will continue to get harder, but in the end, when I have our baby boy in my arms, I can said, "It was all worth it!" We love you baby James! <3

      Just for cuteness sake, here's a picture of my little niece on Resurrection Sunday. Isn't she a cutie?! She's already almost 8 months old! Time flies! This time time next year, she'll have a little 9 month old cousin to play with!<3

Complaining

  This last week, I was in Colorado visiting my family. While there, I attended our state homeschool conference. On one of the nights, we decided to head on over to Burger King for dinner. While waiting in line to order, I noticed only 2 employee's that were working there. There was no one else. There was one employee who was taking the order, and making them, and another in the back helping fill the other orders. 

     I couldn't help but marvel at how quickly they worked to get things done, without a grunt or complain, or sigh. It wasn't until a family behind us started complaining about how long everything was taking, that I began to think in my head, "Wow! We're such complainers in this day and age. When we want things, we want them now, not in 5 minutes or 5 days, but now. We go through drive thru's, and get upset when they take too long. We order things online, and are upset when they don't arrive on time. It reminds me of the Israelites in Exodus 16:2, "Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness..." and again we see them complain in chapter 15:24, and in 17:3. On and on, over and over. They're never content. Aren't we all such complainers?

     Now don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not perfect by all means! I complain... a lot! But, I have no reason to complain about anything. I have a wonderful husband that loves me for who I am, I have a roof over my head, a car to drive, food to eat, water to drink freely, the Word of God to read, and a husband who has a job that he works hard at to provide for me to get things, such as a Burger, or a coffee, or ice cream. I don't have anything to complain about, but I do. Why is that? Because I'm a sinner. I'm  not justifying that because I'm a sinner, it's right... because it's not. I need to remind myself more often of all Gods many blessings that He's bestowed upon such a wretched sinner as I, who's unworthy of everything! The next time that I feel like complaining, I need to remember that I'm a wretched sinner, and that I have nothing to complain about. In what ways help you to to overcome complaining? How've you felt like you dealt with it? I'd love to hear! Please leave me a comment! :)

Pictures below are some sneak peeks of my time in Colorado with my family! :)
A Cow-girl hat that I tried on.

 Zip-lining with my dad, and half of my brothers.

My little brother... isn't he cute?!

My 17 year old brother, Austin. Yes, he's taller than me. ;)

A beautiful Colorado Sunset!

The Purpose of my blog

         Recently, I had received a couple hate-mail comments on my blog- specifically to dying to self post. After talking to some friends, and my husband about it, my husband asked me what the purpose of writing my blog was.
     So, I thought I'd share with you, the reason why I have a blog. When I first started writing a blog, I had no idea what I'd write about. At first, I was just posting inspiring songs, lyrics, poems, and such that I loved. I loved writing, and my mom had encouraged me to start the blog. So, I did. I sent an email out to family and friends letting them know that I started a blog. I started out with about 8 followers that week. I was excited! As time went on, I started to write about my struggles, my life, my daily routine's, my hurts, and in the midst of all of those, trying to point out what God has been teaching me personally. I wanted people to be encouraged and inspired. I wanted people to see what I wrote, thank God for it, and maybe see if they can apply it to their own lives. I wanted people to see that someone else struggles with things, just like them. As time went on, I got more blog followers, and excitement would get to me. Excitement, that someone out there was reading my blog. I hadn't intended for someone to feel like I'm the "girl who has it all together"... because I can guarantee you, I'm far from having it all together. I still struggle every day. I'm still a sinner. Yes, I struggle with pride every day. Yes, I have many days that I don't have it all together.
      Whomever had made a comment on my blog a couple weeks ago, told me that I had nothing to complain about, and that I was a a girl who just stays at home all day. And... you're right... I shouldn't be complaining! I'm blessed to stay at home and cook, clean, take walks, enjoy the fresh air, sew, knit, read, play music on the piano and Violin, study, worship The Creator of the Universe, I get to sit and do my Bible Study and stare outside and listen to the birds chirp and stand in awe at the mystery of how God created all of it. You're right, whomever you are... I don't have anything to complain about. I don't want to make this about me... this is about God! God created everything. God decided to put children on this earth to make laughter, birds in the air to hear joyous sounds, trees/grass/leaves/flowers for the enjoyment of His children. I'm not here on this earth to complain about "how little sleep I got" or that "the cookies burned" or that "I had a bad day today." I'm here on this earth to Worship and Serve our Creator, Jesus Christ!
     I'm not shaken by your comment, whomever you may be. The purpose of my Blog is meant to encourage and inspire other like-minded believers of God. It's meant for people to look at my blog, and think of God every time. It's meant to bring Glory to God in everything I do... I don't do it for me, or to give me glory... and at times, yes, sometimes, I feel like I do... but, ultimately, my purpose here on earth it to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever! ... This, is the purpose of my blog. To God be the Glory!

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.