Slow Fade

This is my current all-favorite song right now.  It is from one of my favorite movies right now.  The reason why I like it so much, though, is that it is a constant reminder to me of how hard Tim and I need to work on our family.  We're not perfect and we'll make mistakes, but the last time we'd ever want is for Natty or Nathan to have to ultimately pay the price.  I hear this song on KSGN almost every morning driving to work.  It is an encouragement me, because despite my longing to stay at home with the kiddos, I know it's not my season to.  This song reminds me that Natty watches Tim and my every move.  More and more, she is learning by imitating us.  We definitely want her (and Nathan) to see the love of Christ is our lives and how we walk, talk, and act.  Hope you guys enjoy the lyrics.  Oh, and my absolute favorite part is when the little child sings the end.  It really pulls at your heart.  =)

Casting Crowns - Slow Fade

Be careful little eyes what you see

It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings

Be careful little feet where you go

For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day

It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear

When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near

Be careful little lips what you say

For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands

Is shorter than you're thinking

Be careful if you think you stand

You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day

Daddies never crumble in a day

Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what see

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above is looking down in love

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Baby Nathan Update

Well, had my appointment today, and everything looks good.  Gained a little weight.  Everything checked out great.  I'm still measuring a week ahead, and my next appointment is in 3 weeks.  Nathan is a busy little guy, and I cannot wait to see him.

I am so jealous that our cousin, Candie, had Claire last week.  It makes me want to see Nathan that much more.  He will come when he's ready though.  I am so excited though because I am considered full term in 2 weeks.  Anything can happen between now and then.  Of course I want to hold off and make it to see my 8th graders graduate, but I definitely want to see Nathan more.

Natty continues to get excited about "Baby."  She hugs him everyday and says, "BBbbbbaaaaabbbbbyyy, oh, BBbbbbbaaabbbyy!"  If you ask her if she loves Baby Nathan, she'll give my tummy a kiss and hug.  If you ask her to get gentle to Baby Nathan, she'll rub my tummy.  She is too sweet.  =)

Well, we finally have internet, so we'll be updating more often now I think.  We're moved in to our new apartment.  We're bummed about the house situation, but it wasn't God's will for the moment, so we are being obedient and faith and being thankful for what we are provided with.  We do like our new apartment.  Natty definitely has more room to run around.  She still LOVES picking her flowers everyday (dandelions).

Hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday!

Finishing Well

Tuesday, May 26, 2009




Finishing Well



Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.



— John 13:1





When Billy Graham was asked the question, "What has been the greatest surprise of your life?", he answered, "The brevity of it." That is so true. Time passes quickly, and we don't want to squander this precious thing that God has given to us called life. Over the years, I have been surprised by some people that I thought were going to do great things for God, but actually fell away from Him. I have also been surprised by people that I thought would never make it as a Christian, but are now serving the Lord with great effectiveness.



It's important to remember that we are not mere victims without any say-so as to whether or not we are going to do well spiritually. We need to realize that people fall away because they choose to. By that I mean, their spiritual failure usually isn't a result of a deliberate decision to backslide. Rather, it's the result of wrong choices they make in life that lead to a spiritual breakdown. If you want to make it in the Christian life, then you are going to make it. Jude 1 says, "To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ." The original language used the perfect tense. The nearest equivalent of it is, "They are continually kept by Jesus Christ." Whatever difficulties you are facing today as a believer, you are preserved in Christ. He is going to keep you.



I am thankful for those people I know who have started well, are doing well, and look as though they will cross life's finish line with flying colors. I want to be one of those people. Don't you?
 
Greg Laurie

Happy Friday - whoops - I mean Thursday. =)

Well, it certainly feels like it should be Friday!  It is Thursday morning.  I'm sitting here in the semi-quiet.  I have 3 7th grade boys who like to hang out in here, so it's not quiet.  Yet, it's kinda peaceful.  I think they have caught on that I am just plain tired.  At least most of the 7th graders are nice about it.  =)

I am SO jealous!  We've had drawings during our State Testing week to help motivate the students.  Two of my students (one 7th and one 8th) both won a STARBUCKS giftcard!  Agh!  I used up the last little bit of mine yesterday morning for a Venti Iced Green Tea Latte.

Anyway, kids are here so I'm off to teach - or something like that.  Talk to you later!

False Labor? Yikes!

So yesterday was a very interesting Monday to say the least! I am so thankful we are off to our State Testing and edging closer to another week down.

My morning started off with a new student who refused to follow her schedule. I really feel for her because she is a foster child, recently placed in the last month, and has just been at Citrus for a few weeks. However, I ended up in the office for over an hour with foster mom, child, and vice principal trying to calm the girl down. My poor first period, they've really had to put up with me being gone for meetings lately.

Anyway, everything seemed to calm down until around noon, during my 4th period class. I've been having bad leg cramps and backaches, but nothing that laying down wouldn't really fix until yesterday. Boy was I starting to get nervous! I'm in my 33rd week now, so in 3 weeks Nathan will be considered full-term. I really am wanting to make it to June 26 though, so I can see my 8th graders graduate. This will be the first group of kids I've had for 2 years straight. My back was hurting so bad yesterday that I was starting to get dizzy and really sweating bad. I was able to wait until the end of 5th period and my awesome aide drove me home during lunch. All seems calm today, so just praying Nathan stays calm for just a big longer.

I have my next Dr.'s appointment a week from Wednesday. So I am curious to see if we are on schedule, or if the doctor thinks I need to take it slower. I hadn't wanted to start my maternity leave until the school year was over. But, healthy baby first. =) We'll see. I am feeling good today, so we're just taking it a day at a time.

I have two awesome friends throwing me a shower, so I'm excited about that. One's a lady from work. She is so sweet. Then a very good college friend is doing one for the "CBU Crew" - as we call ourselves. It's funny. The only time we really see each other now are for wedding or baby showers. =)

Well, Happy Tuesday everyone! Still no internet at our new home, so just continue to call Tim's or my cells if you need/want to get a hold of us.

Coldplay Anyone?

Go here to download the live album for free!  Enjoy!  Happy Friday!

TGIF

Happy, HAPPY Friday everyone! I, for one, am incredibly thankful it is Friday. It's been a long wait this week. I feel like this week has gone on FOREVER! Nothing major really went on, but the chaos of our lives just seems to be wearing down on me. We're trying to unpack and my our new apartment a home. I'm sick - getting better - but still coughing. Natty caught the cough. We're waiting for our cousin to go into labor - praying for you Candie. I've had to proctor the CST's the past 3 days - we've got 3 more days of testing next week. Not to keep rambling on with the list, but I am SO very tired. I've really had a hard time just keeping my eyes open at work.

I'm already almost 32 weeks along. I've got less than 60 days left. Nathan's debut date is July 7th. Both the doctor and I anticipate him possibly coming around July 1st though, since Natty was early. He has also growing and moving around a lot. At times, it feels like he is getting very uncomfortable. He tosses, kicks, and turns trying to find his space. He is head down (today) because I've felt his hiccups. I also feel like he's already dropped. He feels very low. The last time I went in to the doctor said that I am all baby and he is running out of room! He did not say that he'd think I'd go into labor early, but to take it easy though. Nathan is getting ready. I go back in around 2 weeks (the end of May).

I am very excited for him to be here. Even though I though he will not arrive a minute earlier than he is supposed to, I am praying to make it to June 26. I am so exhausted though, so we'll see. I have 6 more sick days this year, and I trying to save them and roll them over to the next school year. We'll see. :)

See you guys around this weekend! Hope it's off to a great start!

Romans 8:26-29

This is an excerpt from my Pastor's devotion this morning.  With all the craziness that has gone on with our move, being sick, unpacking, etc., these verses were especially encouraging to me.  This is a paraphrase from my Pastor.  I pray it blesses and encourages you as well.

From Romans 8:26-29:

There are times when we are overwhelmed with the way life is going. We are so distressed that we don't even know how to pray, so we just sigh or groan. But the Holy Spirit takes these groans and sighs and turns them to prayers to the Father.




No matter what is happening, God is going to take your present circumstances and bring good out of bad. But His ultimate goal is take all that happens, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, and make us more like Jesus. Because that is the objective and endgame for every believer.
 
So what is our objective?
 
I have found that happiness does not come from seeking it, but from seeking God. If you dedicate your life to being happy, it's doubtful you ever will be.




But if you focus instead on being holy, on being the person God has called you to be, you will find personal happiness as a byproduct of having your priorities in order.
 

Well, better make sure we've got our priorities in order!!!  :)  I know Tim and I have been working hard on it!  Happy Thursday!

Nathan's Growing!

How your baby's growing: This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Whew!

Wow, it's been over a week since I've been on here. Life has been just a "little" on the crazy side, as of lately. Tim and I have been moving non-stop since Tuesday. We've had to do a lot of trading off, watching Natty, packing, and driving boxes over. It's been quite the crazy process that we are almost done with. We're so thankful Jon was able to help us move ALL the big items Tues. and Wed., and Tim's parents helped a ton Sat. and Sun. We are on the final homestretch.

Not the way I would have ideally wanted to spend Mother's Day, but a letter our Pastor's wife wrote in our bulletin insert really spoke to me. Mother's Day isn't just May 10th, or whatever Sunday if falls on each year. It's Mother's Day everyday, and everyday I am reminded that I have been given the awesome priviledge to be the mother to 2 very special children. I took some time out of our crazy moving schedule on Saturday morning to spend time with Natty at a workshop at church. It was the best 3 hours I got to spend with her. In less than 2 months, Nathan will be here and Natty will have to continue to learn to share all her things, as well as Daddy and Mommy. I held her extra close Saturday. Yesterday she kept running up to giving me hugs on my tummy and legs and I got the slimiest kisses from her - but I loved them all the same.

The most exciting thing about Mother's Day this year is that I can stay I'm a Mommy of two! I'll be considered full term in just 5 short weeks. I got back to the Dr.'s the last week of May, then in 3 weeks, then in 2 weeks, then every week until Nathan comes! I am so excited. Tim and I have started gathering "boy" stuff for Nathan. We choose a couple outfits from Kohl's, bought a carrier off of a friend (and she was so awesome to give us a sleeper and steamer too!), and started going through Natty's old baby clothes (they are SO tiny) to see what generic items we might have. We've also started stocking up on NB diapers. I'm excited for Nathan to be here.

Well, for the most part Tim and I are hanging in there. Poor Tim is bruised up and down his arms and legs. I'm sick with a sore throat from last week that seems to have magnified itself over the weekend. Natty's getting over her stomach virus finally, and is trying to not catch what Mommy has. We've seem to be passing things back and forth the past 2 1/2 weeks. Oh well. :) I hope you guys are off to a great Monday.

No internet at our new place yet, so I'll be out of the loop a little longer. Hope everyone is well. Happy Monday!

Excellent Devotion!

In the midst of this nasty cold I can't seem to shake, I was truly blessed by this devotion I read this morning. I pray it blesses you too.

When I hear of Hollywood couples who get together and then divorce rather quickly, I have to wonder what people are looking for in marriage.

Do they understand that it's a commitment? Do they understand that feelings will come and go, and that you must get on with the very real business of loving a person and all that it means?

The same can be said of a relationship with God. There are times when you feel great joy, passion, and excitement about being a Christian. And there are times when you don't feel it. But that doesn't mean you say, "Well, that's it. I'm not going to follow Christ anymore."

The Bible doesn't say, "The just shall live by feelings." Rather, it says, "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17 NKJV).

Feelings change, but walking with God takes faith. It takes commitment. And it takes consistency.

The Bible tells us about a man who walked with God for many years. His name was Enoch, and I want to look at some secrets from his life that we can apply in our lives as well.

In the whole of the Bible, only five passages refer to Enoch, two of which are genealogies. Although we don't find a lot written about Enoch, what we do have is significant.

Genesis tells us, "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:21–24 NKJV).

Enoch lived during a unique time in human history, just before God's judgment of the world by the flood. Against this very dark backdrop was a man who walked with God and was spared death. Enoch is a prototype of the last-days believer, showing us how to live as we await the Lord's return.

So what set Enoch apart? How was he able to live a godly life in an ungodly world, in a time that was characterized by sexual perversion and uncontrolled violence? We find three important principles at work in Enoch's life that we can apply in our own lives today.

Principle one: Enoch walked with God. The analogy of walking and the Christian life is used throughout Scripture. But what does it mean to walk with God? It is not merely living by rules and regulations or making daily resolutions that we quickly break. It is much more than that.

The prophet Amos revealed an important truth about what it means to walk with God when he asked, "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" (Amos 3:3 NKJV). The word he used for "together" gives the idea of two people moving in rhythm together, as in riding a tandem bicycle. But it is not about getting God into rhythm with us; it is getting ourselves into rhythm with Him. That is what it means to walk with God.

Principle two: Enoch was well-pleasing to God. Hebrews 11:5 says, "He had this testimony, that he pleased God" (NKJV). Sometimes we have the mistaken notion that God is very hard to please. Yet God knows our weaknesses and frailties better than anyone, and He is not as hard to please as we might think.

So how do we please God? God is pleased when, in spite of the fact that we are in the right, we patiently endure when misunderstood (see 1 Peter 2:19–20). When you do what is right and patiently endure suffering for it, that is called meekness, and it pleases God.

God is also pleased when children obey their parents (see Colossians 3:20); when we worship Him and help others (see Hebrews 13:15–16); and when we give financially to the work of the kingdom (see Philippians 4:17–18).

Principle three: Enoch was a witness for God. Enoch walked with God, he was well-pleasing to God, and lastly, he was a witness for God. As Enoch walked with God and pleased Him, he had a testimony and a witness.

Every Christian has a testimony. People are watching us. They are observing us. And we should give a lot of thought to that. Before we can effectively witness for God, we must first walk with Him.

Because Enoch walked with God, he saw this world for what it was. Do you?

 


Jon's graduation went great this morning.  He was one of two individuals that graduated with ALL possible honors.  Incredible!  The weather was bearable.  The sun was nice, but it got rather warm.  Natty and I sought out some shade after a while.


Afterwards, we enjoyed some yummy Costco burgers made by George (George Foreman) and cake!  Yum!


I am now relaxing, trying to.  Then figuring out help with our move on Tuesday, and packing stuff!  (in a some-what-more-organized manner, than our last move)

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!

Still Not Feeling Good - but - It's Friday!!!

Well, I've still got the bug.  My nose is stuffy and my throat hurts.  The sore throat has let up some.  I can't take much of anything so that is not fun.  I did swing by Starbucks for a VENTI Green Tea Latte.  That seems to perk me up some.  I'm so thankful it's Friday because I really need to rest up.  I'm so exhasuted.  AND we have to pack, pack, and pack!

Saturday is my brother-in-law, Jon's, graduation.  I'm pretty excited.  Time sure passes by quickly.  I just pray the weather cooperates.

My doctor's appointment went really well.  The doctor said he was happy about the progress I have been making.  I seem to have gained enough weight to satisfy him.  =)  My glucose levels also came back normal, so no gestational diabetes.  I am just about 30 weeks along now.  I have just 10 more weeks left, or 9 (if Nathan comes a week early like Natty).  I just pray I make it to June 26th.  I really do want to see Nathan face to face.  Even though this pregnancy has been a little more rough intially, I've enjoyed it.  I hate for it to end, but I am ready to meet Nathan (when he's ready too!).

I had some Kohl's cash left over that I wanted to use befor it expire, so Tim and I picked out an overalls outift and 2 onesies for Nathan.  I am so excited because these are the first items we've gotten for him (besides trying to stock up on newborn diapers).

Well, hope everyone is off to a good Friday. If I make it to Flautas Friday (all you Corona residents), it's gonna be a great one!

Happy Friday!