.: A Touch of Fall :.

This last weekend, Ryan and I spent our entire Saturday cleaning and doing projects around the house. One of my projects was to clean up and sell a Sit-n-Stand stroller on Craigslist - I put it up online and a half hour later, I had $50 of fun money in my hand =)
What did I do?......

I went to Michaels (they were having a FANTASTIC sale) and found some beautiful Fall decorations. (The only reason why I went is because my old decorations got lost somewhere during moving)

These garlands were 50% off - I couldn't resist =)

And of course, how can you pass up real gourds for less than a buck at Vons?

I found these candle holders / tea light holders for 50 cents at Ikea (I've always wanted tall candles for our romantic dinner nights)

This is just something new I put up - I finally was able to frame these pictures I had gotten of Kai at the Target Photo Studio

I LOVE pumpkins!!

Sooooo it might not be a TOUCH of Fall but an invasion - I had fun however and it always makes walking in the door more exciting =D Now, it's time for the holiday parties!

JOY!!!!

JOY!!!!

This is what God has been showing my in my quiet times with Him. How to find joy in Him through delighting in His glory. I have been reading "When I Don't Desire God, How to Fight for Joy" by John Piper and it has been truly eye opening and wonderful!!!
John Piper explores every aspect of why and how we are to find joy in Jesus Christ and in His glory.
Please! Let me encourage you, no matter what season of life you're in - read this!!! Especially if you have been feeling like you are lacking in joy in God in His glorious Son, Jesus Christ. Are you experiencing trials? Are you weighed down by the responsibilities of Motherhood? Or are you simply searching for joy in other things? I was struggling with all of these things - and am still going through some of them but with GREAT joy in the Lord.

Here's a quote that God really used to teach me about delighting and finding joy in Christ's glory:
"Together this spiritual seeing of Christ and enjoying him - or this spiritual sense of his beauty and corresponding pleasure in the soul - refer to what Paul calls 'knowing' Christ... This knowing includes tasting and seeing. It is the knowledge of honey that you have only when you put it on your tongue and taste that it is sweet. Therefore, knowing Christ in this way means seeing him for who he really is and enjoying him above all things."

See what I mean? Read it! It's a must if you are seeing that you need a revival of God's Spirit in your heart and life to taste and see that He is good and to delight in Him!

Loving My Husband and Delighting in My Children

Loving My Husband...

This is one of the things that God has so graciously been showing my lately. In my times with the Lord, God, through His Spirit has been convicting me that I have not been loving my husband like He calls me to.

There's a chapter in the book "Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney that's entitled "The Delight of Loving My Husband" that I have frequently read since I've been married. It's one that is so helpful to me in that it reminds me how I am called to love Ryan with a tender, affectionate and passionate kind of love and make him my priority after God. I have picked it up again and have been encouraged by the Authors words:

"Loving our husbands with a tender and passionate love is not something that happens automatically in our marriage". So, we must learn it and go to older women and God's Word to be trained in how to love our husbands.

Ultimately, the thing that stuck out to me most was this :
"Sin destroyed my tender love... If we find that our affection for our husband is waning or has subsided altogether, then we do not need to look any further than our own hearts. Where sin is present, warm affection dissipates. Anger, bitterness, criticism, pride, selfishness, fear, laziness-all vigorously oppose tender love. This love cannot survive in a heart that harbors sin."

However, she doesn't leave you there dwelling on how hidiously sinful you are, she then exorts you to evaluate and examine your heart, repent, and put on tender thoughts of love and behavior towards your husband.

This book is so encouraging that I decided to read the whole thing again!
However, let me tell you that this book is not just geared toward married women. This book is centered on the teachings of Titus 2 and is for all women, single married, young and old, who want to grow in their biblical role as a godly woman. "Read it! I know you'll love it!"

Delighting in My Children...

The 2nd most important thing that God has been teaching me is how to train my children (or, child in my case).

My sister-n-law encouraged me to read this book "Don't Make Me Count to Three" after I related to her my struggles with discerning when and how I should begin to train and discipline my son. Even though he is only 10 months old, he is already capable of understanding me when I say "No, you may NOT touch that" and is also throwing fits and temper tantrums when I move him away from something or take something away from him.
I have only read the first 2 chapters and am benefiting a GREAT deal from this woman's godly council. The Author, Ginger Plowman, graciously instructs the mother's reading her book on how to apply God's word in training their children. She then goes on to define discipline and reveal how our society today views it verses what God, in His word teaches about it:

"Society portrays discipline as punishment that involves anger, yelling, and severe or even cruel acts... They simply try to control their children, focusing only on their outward behavior."

"While society relates discipline to an uncontrolled use of physical punishment, Biblical discipline involves love, the heart, and God's Word."

She then goes on to say that "we have to get them to think right and to be motivated out of a love of vurtue rather than a fear of punishment. We do this by training them in righteousness. Righteous training can only come from the Word of God."
When we work on the issues of the heart, outward behaviour will follow.

Now, I know that Kai's not going to be able to understand me right now when I teach him about what God says regarding sin, anger and selfishness. But, it will get me into the habbit of training him in righteousness by lovingly warning him, following through with discipline and lovingly explaining to him his sin and leading him to repentance.

I am very excited to read on and continue to learn how to train and discipline my children biblically. I know it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be rewarding until they are grown up but I know and trust that God's grace is sufficient for my every need.

Read with me! Tell me your thoughts as you go through these books. I would love to hear how God uses these wise women to speak truth into your life and further mold you into the image of His glorious Son, Jesus Christ!