.:merry christmas & happy new years:.

.: Merry Christmas & Happy New Years!! :.

2011

I would have loved to get out an official letter and picture card out to all of you this year but due to finances, we had to cut that out of our budget =( I figured I would at least post an "End of the Year" recap instead.

This year, Ryan and I have seen God do so much in our personal walks with Him as well as with our family as a whole. It's been a big year of learning how to be good stewards of the money He has given to us and really learning the truth that it is ALL God's. Even though we've been brought "low" this year, He has still richly rewarded and blessed us with fun activities, vacations and our "daily bread" - giving us all that we need =)

Ryan is still enjoying his job at eCivis working as a Customer Service Representative. He works so hard and faithfully at his job that it's hard NOT to be inspired to do the same in my role as a stay-at-home Mom =) He continues to lead one of the small groups as well as the sound team at our church and serves on the worship team as well. He has also been enjoying the opportunities to preach - yes! Preach! at our church and has seen God really directing him in that area =)

I've been learning and growing in my time management skills as I've had to figure out how to balance being a wife, mother, apartment manager and friend this year. It has proven to be good, hard work as I learn the importance of putting the needs of my husband and kids before work and household chores. I never realized how hard it would be to put the laundry down or leave a sink full of dirty dishes so that I could play and spend quality time with my boys!
Most of all, God's really been showing me the importance of getting up early before my kids so that I can have a few precious moments of reading His word while sipping my coffee. I've gotta enjoy it while I can because with baby boy #3 on the way, it's going to be back to getting it when I can =)

Kai-the-guy is now my big 3 year old and is talking up a storm, hamming it up with Daddy and using the potty all by himself!! He loves spending time with Daddy playing guitars, making up poo-poo jokes and then bursting out in loud sarcastic laughter. I'm enjoying watching him learn about Jesus, His work on the cross, and His word making the training well worth it.

Adon is now 16 months old and STILL NOT WALKING!!! He has been such a sufficient and FAST crawler that I fear he doesn't see the need to walk. But, as I've been comforted by many, he will eventually walk and has already taken several steps on his own. He's a big momma's boy and LOVES to follow his big brother Kai and play with everything and anything that he touches. He is such a happy-spunky kid and we all are having a blast watching him become his own little personality.

I am ABSOLUTELY loving all the boys in my home!!! I also love being the only girl which makes me the princess =) hee hee. Having these 3 men and one more on the way has made life so much fun and I thank God for each and every one of them!

Maybe God will bless us with a little girl some day =)

We love you all and we're looking forward to another year of growing in the knowledge of our Savior, doing His will and living for His glory!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to you all!!!

Encouragement for weary souls

Romans 5: 1-5
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Lately, I have been going through a season of "why, God?!" I have 2 kids 3 years old and under with one on the way and the daily tasks and responsibilities of changing diapers, preparing and feeding meals, constantly cleaning up, doing the same chores over and over and over and over again have left me discouraged and depressed. My thoughts have basically been "what is this for??" " WHY am I doing this again???" "Shouldn't my life have more purpose than this?"

It does =)

The ESV Study Bible translation of the above passage reads: "The people of God rejoice not only in future glory but in present trials and sufferings, not because trials are pleasant but because they produce a step-by-step transformation that makes believers more like Christ"

I have forgotten this!! I have forgotten about the gospel and how it applies to the mundane and every day tasks. I've lost sight of the cross and therefore have not been preaching the gospel to myself on a daily basis. I've forgotten that the whole reason I go through these so called "minor trials and sufferings" is so that I can be made more like Christ. What hope and joy I now have to face the rest of this day!!! I am changing diapers and wiping boogers and making meal after meal because it is slowly changing me into the image of Christ.
These little tasks that can be soooo wearisome are teaching me to endure and therefore bringing me into the step-by-step transformation process of becoming more like Christ. Laying down my life and sacrificing comfort and hobbies to the needs of my family and church brings glory to God.

If you're reading this and you're being called by God to be in a season of work, schooling, taking care of another, waiting to be married or waiting to bear children, or maybe you think you have too many children and need encouragement, I hope this encourages you. The suffering you are enduring in what ever way has a purpose! And that purpose is to point you not to this world and the "here and now" but to point you to your loving Father and Savior who is preparing you to be His perfect and spotless bride!! He is refining your faith through these "fires" to bring you out pure as gold.

Watch 180 - a shocking documentary

watch this

.:My Hobby:.

Hair.
I love to color it, cut it, highlight it, crimp it, curl it, straighten it and tease it. It's like painting your nails but better!
It has been a desire and dream to get better at it so that I don't have to go to salons and spend $200 and I want to be able to bless other ladies who would like to have salon quality hair but don't have the money as well.

(before)
I've been coloring my hair since I was 14 years old (well, my mom was the one who did it but I started to pick it up around 15 or 16). It has since grown into a hobby that I have been trying to perfect and see how salon-like I can get it. Color is pretty easy now for me but it's trying to highlight with the foils that have been tough.
Today, however, I think I finally have a hang of it more so than I ever have. Thanks to YouTube and my hairstylist who let's me in on some of her tricks, and MUCH prayer, I've been able to do foil highlights that don't leak out and leave a tiger-stripe design on your head.

(after...ahhhhhhh)
It's very exciting to be able to do something like this for $8 rather than an arm and a leg. Although, it is so much more relaxing and enjoyable to have that salon experience while an expert works her magic =)

It's a silly post - I know. The praise and glory all goes to God as I couldn't do any of this without Him. Every time I sit down to do something like this to my hair or to someone else's, I always lift up a prayer asking God to bless my work and make it look pretty - as silly as a prayer it may seem, He always answers it!!! If it doesn't turn out pretty, it'll end up being a catastrophe I can learn from so that I can be better next time.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"
1 Corinthians 10:31

a new day...

Do you know that song "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me and I'm feelin' good"? Well, it's what's on my mind right now (in particular, the version by Muse - my favorite). I'm feeling so encouraged and inspired in my walk with God these past few days.


To back up a little, I've been going through the trials of prosperity. Being in the "good times" of life most of the times, distracts me from my Savior. It's very easy for me to cling to Jesus and feel close to God when I go through the "hard times" because He's all I have in those moments. But, when the days are easy and God's provisions are abundant, instead of rejoicing in Him and living in gratefulness I find myself distracted by many things and wanting more (especially as my family grows - my "To Do" list grows as well).

I've been feeling so dry, dull and not desiring God and being in His word as a result. My love for others has been lacking while the love of self has consumed me. God was poking me about it and then decided to really drive his big godly index finger right into my heart through my senior pastor's message on a hardened heart. God is so merciful and I LOVE that He doesn't leave you to die in the wasteland of "self". Instead, He showed me Christ! He showed me that I CAN get out of this self-absorbed pattern I've been living in.

It's always at that moment when you've just been shown an area that needs change that you feel stuck and I have the thought "okayyy, now what? where do I go from here?". And I love how the answer is so simple. Simply come. Come to the Lord, repent and ask for help and the grace you need to change. I also love how as you draw near to the Lord, He then draws near to you and that's a promise! Every time I've come back to Him after a period of growing cold and ignoring Him, He always is faithful to meet with me and draw me back. I've found the more I read and sow into His word, the hungrier I become for His truths. I'm not satisfied to just sit for a single paragraph! I want to read it all and dive deeper!

One of the tools that God has used to draw me back to Himself and help me realize the importance of meeting with Him in His word is this book:

"Shopping for Time". This is a book written by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters on how to biblically prioritize our days in whatever season we are in. They talk a great deal about the importance of meeting with God and how our relationship with Him should ALWAYS be our number one priority.

Here is a quote that really encouraged me:

"As believers, we are justified - declared righteous, forgiven, and accepted by God - through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone. We do not earn or forfeit our justification before God based on our performance. Our faithfulness to sit and listen, our diligence to seek the Lord through prayer and Scripture, our efforts to make the best use of the time - none of these is sufficient to earn God's acceptance."

"So, if you are discouraged or condemned by your failure to sit and listen, if you are "troubled by many things", revel in this truth: we have a Savior who died for our sins and it is his 'blood and righteousness' alone that make us acceptable to God."

When asked what her favorite verse in the Bible was, my husbands grandmother (Grandma Baird, whom we all look up to greatly due to her love and faith in Christ) replied "Matthew 6:33 - Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

That's exactly what I want to do each and every day until I get to see my Savior face to face - seek HIS kingdom first!

I hope this encourages you. I just wanted to share this so that you would be encouraged and find direction for the renewal of your faith.

Wow!! The Differences...

I have really been enjoying seeing these two start to interact with each other. Kai adores Adon and Adon watches Kai like a hawk - taking in every movement and sound that his big brother makes.

I've been getting a lot of comments about how Kai and Adon look alike and I can't help but think otherwise. I finally decided to compare pictures of the boys at around the same age.

Here's a pic of Kai when he was about 6 months - starting his baby food eating adventure:

....and here's Adon, very different! I'm sure there's some resemblance but, for the most part, he's a completely different baby =)

Here's Kai-guy right before crawling....

...and, here's Adon =)

.

I love my boys!! They are so much fun!

.:FOOOOOD!!!!:.

Yup! It's that time already!
My little Adon is LOVING food!! I could easily wean him this week if I wanted to but, I know it's better for his little body to go slowly and keep him breastfed.

Thanks to WIC (Women Infants & Children), I get about 100 jars of baby food & 4 boxes of infant oatmeal a month for FREE!! The best part is, I get to choose what kind I want so I go for the organic expensive stuff=)
I'm not really into cooking period so the thought of steaming and blending my own baby food was not very appealing to me. I love being able to just woop it out of the pantry, feed it and save the rest for later.
He's having lots of fun with it and I think he's going to be a better eater than Kai was. He already has been and that makes me excited for this new part of his life!

Will share more soon!