Thankful Thursday

So many things to be thankful for this Thursday.....too many to even list.
But here are a few.

1.) Lazy Saturdays

2.) Seeing my {incredibly attractive} husband teach a class on Metaphysics (of which I know 10% about). Thankful the Lord has opened doors to allow him to teach at Boyce again this semester. He is loving it. Hopefully another door will open for the Spring semester. We're prayerful!

3.) A visit from a great friend from college, who lives too far away for me to love on her kids as much as I want to! Here is her little Finn and Eli (next to Jonah) in the background. Eli has been home for 3 months now! Crazy!!

4.) Thankful for friendships that can pick right back up where they left off. (Not so thankful for my huge pregnant look in this picture).....just saying. Not my best angle. Hah!

5.) Good, quick pregnancy power naps....with lots of pillows.

5.b.) Our new bed!  After only 6 years of marriage, Bryan and I saved up and purchased our very first "big-person" bed. I say that because the one we were previously using was Bryan's bed from childhood/ high school years. It was a blessing...but unfortunately wouldn't fit up our narrow, stairwell to our actual master bedroom. So now that baby boy is taking over our first floor bedroom, we will finally move up stairs....hence the need for an actual bed! It sleeps well too. 

6.) Buy 1, get 1 deals at local Fro-yo places. As long as they keep sending the coupons, we'll keep going! Mady is extremely thankful for this one. The girl loves some chocolate ice cream!

7.) Answered prayer! I've seen the Lord directly answer 3 specific prayers I've prayed either just over the past few weeks or one for several years. Gives me encouragement to keep praying and trusting the Lord is working out all things for our good and His glory.

8.) Thankful for upcoming visits with family.
9.) Birthday Month, October for my favorite man and favorite girl.
10.) Last month for Baby Boy in the womb. This is a little bitter sweet for me. I absolutely love being pregnant. I really am weird, but I do. So it will be sort of sad to see him leave, but super happy to have him with us. Right now he is sort of transverse in the womb....so if you are reading this, please pray that he would make the move to be head down (and get there safely).

11.) Incredibly thankful for the not so new album I heard today by Shane and Shane this morning, "Everything is Different"....I love these two guys. They have been my favorite for years now...continue to be, so discovering an album I missed is like finding GOLD! Hah. Especially this song, which will be on repeat in my house!

Great Reward

"Jesus your my great reward.
You are my portion, Lord.
While in heaven you plead for me.
Draw my every thought to thee.
Draw my every thought to thee."

"I love you Lord,
Jesus, my king!
I want to love you more,
my great Reward!"

Do yourself a favor and download it immediately.

Don't miss forest for the trees?

I have never fully understood this saying {see title above}.
Bryan says it a lot.
Basically means, don't get caught up on the little things (trees) and miss the entire forest.

Never more have I understood this when suffering through trials as a Christian.

I am reminded today of two of our dear friends, Jon and Bethany who are suffering through a long and hard adoption process in the DRC. They have been at this for almost 2 years and the "tall trees" of disappointment, injustices and even death are so hard to see past; they've threatened their view of the forest.

But, my friends see the forest. They do not despair over the many trees, but have great hope that they will come out on the other side of this "forest" maybe with cuts and hurts, but ultimately unscathed because they have their hope set in our Sovereign God {who "does not willing afflict the children of men, though he cause grief." Lamentations 3:33,32 paraphrased}

Its hard to watch other people suffer. Especially our Christian friends. Even our responses, as people of faith can be less than Godly in these moments. We want it (so badly) to go "well" with our friends that we often grieve and grow in despair in how to serve them and pray for them. Maybe, if you're honest you haven't persevered in prayer because you have lost hope in a rather hopeless situation.

Don't miss the forest for the TREES!

Isn't it interesting that the ones that "miss the forest for the trees" so often are NOT the people suffering? Its usually, the people called to pray and persevere with those suffering. It's NOT a coincidence that God abundantly PRESERVES the saints he calls to suffer. Another example of this suffering and persevering is our other friends, Patrick and Hannah as they watch their mother suffer through a traumatic brain injury. Scary events that can seem so helpless and unknown. But we do have Help. I also know this first had in my own sufferings through miscarriages. So how do we support and love those in season of suffering? How can we see less of the TREES?

Gods promises are SO CLEAR, even in the midst of suffering.

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.^[b]

⁶ 

As they go through the Valley of Baca

    they make it a place of springs;

    the early rain also covers it with pools.

⁷ 

They go from strength to strength;

    each one appears before God in Zion."

Psalm 84:6-7

Here we see God bringing God's people through Valley of Baca (a literal place of  continual weeping), but notice they MAKE IT to places of SPRINGS and POOLS; STRENGTH to STRENGTH. Later we even see in this specific Psalm "no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." vs. 11b. 

Don't miss the springs and pools of strength despite the arduous journey through the valley! 

Spend time with your friends who are trudging through this valley, in their weeping and often you'll find personal joy as they find immense comfort in these pools and springs. You'll see a faith without wavering as God grows them into "oaks of righteousness" (Psalm 1). Verses like: "This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid" (Ps. 56:9b-11) become their mainstay. Stay with them here. Be encouraged, as you too may be tempted to miss these springs and pools for the tall, tall trees that tempt us to despair in our trials. 

I know I've shared before Psalm 106. But its such a great picture of God rescuing us from despair. Especially in vs. 25-31. Vividly shows God bringing the storm, our courage "melts" as we "reel and stagger" at our "wits end"....but he delivers us from our "distress" as he makes the storm still. Then he brings them to their "desired haven", which ultimately is HIM. Fellowship with HIM. Its the joy we find in these "pools, springs and desired havens" that we learn the secret of being transfered from sorrow to JOY. Its a mystery to those who only see God as a mean judge, willing bringing saints through valleys of continual weeping. But, what they don't see are the DEEP, DEEP pools of mercy and comfort He gives; that we WOULD NOT have KNOWN, UNLESS we walked through our own forests. I am thankful for my own forests, because I know God in richer way because of them! 

Satan wants to tempt us to get caught up in the trees. But God has POOLS and SPRINGS waiting for us. Waiting to sustain us and bring us into deeper fellowship with a Father who has promised us a "desired haven" waiting for us in "paradise" with Him one day. Until then, we walk through many forests and valleys but joyfully jumping from strength to strength. 

Don't miss the springs of mercy as you trudge through valleys. God is waiting and He is indeed merciful. 

Its the Wild, Wild West ya'll!!

Howdy ya'll and welcome to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's Fall Festival extravaganza! 

We had a BLAST!
Such a fun family night with a ton of our great friends from our SBTS family and IBC family!
This seminary continues to amaze me. They are so kind to their families. Not only are the facilities on campus SUPER accommodating and family friendly, but the activities and events are very geared toward family fun and fellowship.
Everything tonight was FREE! Food, drinks, rides, pie, rodeo show, chick-fil-a, bouncy houses, cotton candy.....everything!
Who does that? SBTS does. AND they do it every year! Each year with its own theme. Last year's theme was Narnia. They go all out too. People dressed up and amazing sets and props... its the real deal!
So much fun.

Here are our pictures from this great evening.

Walking in greeted by real cowboys and cowgirls that gave us a cute hat for Mady and a sheriffs badge.

My little cowgirl!

Let me just say.....I am NOT country. Bryan grew up in the small town world in central KY. He is so used to "country stuff" (as I call it). Me, I'm a fish out of water. So this is literally her first cowgirl hat....she has never even had cow girl boots. I had nothing to put her in that was remotely "cow girl" for the evening. She didn't mind!

Mady and her friend Elenore.

Did I mention FREE chick-fil-a! And even more food....so kind!

This fenced off area is where the rodeo was later in the evening.

Thanks to Daddy and his awesome school, we are apart of this fun night! He works so hard for us. I am so thankful!

Such a fun night.
There is something so moving about seeing your child absolutely delighted! She squealed with joy all night! Makes you melt. I love re-living my childhood through her eyes.....and it only gets better with more babies. Thank you Lord!

Thank you SBTS and your wonderfully, fun Wild West night!

First Day

I decided earlier in the summer that it was time to put Mady is some sort of "school" in the fall. She will be 3 on Oct. 26th, so she misses the preschool cut-off by 21 days. Which is fine by me. I kind of like the idea that she will be one of the older ones in her class. I also wasn't really "ready" for saying, "my kids in preschool!" She's too young :( Stop growing!

Mother's Day Out, however, felt right and made me feel like she was still in her toddler years.
Mady goes 2 days a week from 9-1. There are several reasons that led me to make this decision, here are a few, if you are interested in possibly sending your kiddo to a MDO program.

1. Mady is really extremely SOCIAL! She loves to be around kids and adults, doesn't miss a beat. She isn't afraid and doesn't mind us leaving her at church nursery and with sitters and such. She is very independent. A FAR CRY from her first year when I WAS THE ONLY ONE that could hold her. Now that that stage is over and thank goodness, because she just loves people!

My mom and my aunt were (and are) preschool teachers who highly recommended Mady be in a program not only because of the baby coming, but mainly because of her personality. She would thrive in this atmosphere. I definitely think you should "play it by ear" for your own child's behavior/ personality. It may not be the right choice for all kids.


 2. I really wanted Mady to have instruction and interaction from other adults,  on a regular basis, other than Bryan and I.

3. I also wanted her to have different settings, play toys and crafts (that I wouldn't normally think of) to do.

4. Being in this consistent group setting will also teach her to share, patience, preferring others and the whole 9 yards. Every little training/ instructing we are giving her put into practice. I pray its connecting.

5. Little Man will be here before we know it and lets face it, this break is NICE for me. I will for sure need it when he comes and she will too.

6. This also opened our family up to a new community of people that we otherwise wouldn't have known before and now have connections to hopefully share our lives with, as well as the gospel! 

Over all I am VERY pleased with this school (connected to a church). Its very nice, accommodating and has a wonderful staff. Its clean, fun, safe and super close to our house. Literally down the street. I am beyond thankful for this and highly recommend it. Message me if you want more specifics about the program and school.

Mady's first day (and subsequent first 2 weeks) have been GREAT! She literally RAN into her classroom and didn't even say good bye to me on her first day. She was ready to go! Hit the ground running. She was very comfortable and didn't even bat an eye when some other kids came in crying. I can thank IBC nursery for this. She has been well broken in. Hah!

She loves her teachers and sings new songs and tells us new things she is learning everyday. She comes home with cute art with her hand or foot print and plays hard while she is there. Ready for a nap shortly after we get home. She has music class, art, story time, lunch and recess. Its really similar to a preschool curriculum because this is the oldest MDO class in this school. They are getting them ready for a more structured day, like in preschool.

I am just so thankful for this and couldn't be more happy with how much she LOVES going. Even though this picture below doesn't capture just how excited she was....she was ready to go!
What can I say, my little baby girl is growing up.
It was bound to happen....

30 weeks

Even though these first few pictures were taken a few weeks ago...we'll go ahead and count them as "around" a 30 week picture. I have so many more pictures on my phone with this pregnancy than I did with Mady. Shows you how much technology changes in just a little over 2 years. Almost backwards....but hey, its more convenient. I do also have bare-belly pictures of this little guys growth...and one day, when I feel brave, I will post those in sequence too.

So far, so good-----> this is my 30 week update.
I really don't have much more to say.

No complaints, no whining. God is so good and MERCIFUL to fill my womb that I really have been thinking on this more than any little ailment that may or may not come my way during "housing" this babe. And, to be honest. I am one of those "weirdo" {SUPER LUCKY} people that actually LOVE being pregnant. My body just does well with it and I am thankful. And yes, I am NOT CRAZY, just being honest. Now...I will say, I do have the same issues that most of the ladies who are rolling their eyes as they read this post. So much so that Mady even asked me if I had "boo-boo" as she was pointing at one of my [read=SEVERAL] varicose/ spider veins on my leg(s). She even attempted to give me a band-aid for it. That is how great my once great-looking legs are currently looking. Hah!
ALL WORTH IT!

So typical.

I love this man and am so glad to give him another child!

Little Mady is very excited to be a big sister. She tells lots of random people that she is going to be a big sister and with much excitement. She will often touch my belly and say "hi" to the baby and ohh and ahh over him, as if he were right in front of her. Then she'll get real close and say, "did you hear that!" Like she can hear him. Its so fun. She loves him!

Just for fun, here is my 30 week picture with little Mady in the womb....

Here is my picture with baby boy at 30 weeks. He is definitely bigger, but I know that with your second you tend to look bigger.

Had a little glucose test scare...again (yes, again). Failed my first test with Mady and then passed the 3 hour one. This time I only failed the finger prick by 5 points so they sent me to the lab to get my blood drawn, for an immediate and accurate reading of how I  am metabolizing sugars. I passed with flying colors. Praise God. No modified diet for me! Hah. Well, no crazy carb eating and no over loading on sugars. Duh.  Which explains why I lost 4 lbs from my last appointment to this most recent one. I was a little freaked out about my sugars. Hah! But all is well.

This little guy moves around a lot more than I remember Mady moving. He's awake a lot. Don't know what that means for outside of the womb, but I've heard predictions. He also has hiccups about 2-4 times a day. I NEVER remember feeling Mady have hiccups. I think I remember my ultrasound tech telling me my placenta for Mady was on the outside, (whatever this means) and that I might not feel some small movements. But once she started really moving I felt her, but never her hiccups. With this little guy, my placenta must not be in the same space because I feel him a lot....and every little hiccup. Its so funny how different pregnancies can be.

7 more weeks till full term, possibly 8 more weeks (if he comes when Mady did)...and a total of 10 weeks if he comes on his due date! Getting close. Getting excited!! Washed all his clothes and painted his room. Just now starting to get some more things for his room squared away. This is the fun part. The organization. Pictures to come. So thankful for this little gift and can't wait to meet him.