Great News!

You guessed it...I'm pregnant!!!!!!
Wow, God is just sending these kiddos one after another. He must really think we can handle it.
I suspected for the last couple weeks that I may be pregnant but it wasn't confirmed till Sunday when I took a pregnancy test. I'm about 4 weeks and I'll have my first appointment on July 9th. We're so excited and can't believe we're having our third, this is crazy. I'll admit I know it's gonna be very busy in my house at times and there may be days I want to pull out my hair but overall I'm so excited and I know it'll be so much fun. I'm not sure the exact due date but it should be somewhere in Feb. By the time this baby is born Jedidiah will be 2 1/2 yrs old and Sophia will be a little over a year old.

We didn't find out what we were having with the first two but this time around we're gonna do something different and find out. Jedidiah is older now and this will help her prepare and adjust to what is about to come. We'll be able to talk to her about her brother/sister and hopefully Sophia will understand as well. I remember Jedidiah understood I had a baby in my belly but other than that she didn't get it, but now she'll understand the concept a little better and I want to spare her some anxiety if I can. Danny wants a boy but of course he says he'll be happy if it's another girl. I think it would be really funny if it's another girl, plus I'm not sure I'd know what to do with a boy. I know I'd be ok but it's so different.

Anyhow, now our headache is just trying to get rid of our car. The kids would all fit in but it'll be really tight. We have a lease right now and it's been such a pain trying to get rid of this car but we know God will provide a way and if there isn't another car for a while that's ok too. There's plenty of families that make it work with what they have so it'll be fine. But just in case; if you know of anyone who needs a car and would like to take over the lease let me know. It's a 2006 Toyota Matrix with great gas mileage. Payments are $395 a month.

So far I've been feeling great. No sickness but then again I didn't get sick with the other two either. I've noticed I'm a bit more tired than usual and my hunger is increasing, but so far so good. Hopefully I'll have energy to keep blogging throughout this pregnancy and keep everyone up to date. And if not, so sorry.

Tree or Desert?

This scripture spoke to me and I wanted to share it because I feel so many of us are in those "dry desert" lands.

"Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength. Whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." -Jeremiah 17:5-8

Being a stay-at-home mom as well as a mom who works is no different; you're still very busy and you feel like everything and everyone drains you completely. Men deal with this too but I think women more than men are very giving of themselves; which is not a bad thing; but when you pour out and pour out and pour out you can go dry really quick...unless you have a constant flow coming back into you. This scripture is a good warning of what could happen if I put my trust in my own strength and abilities or in that of others. And if I don't stay connected with God by being in prayer, meditating on the Word or trusting Him completely for everything. Without God I can pour out to others but at some point I will dry up like the desert and when the heat comes into my life I will wither away.
But I love the second part of this scripture that brings encouragement. If I stay connected to God and continue seeking Him, talking with Him and trusting Him fully in every part of my life; if I lean not on my strengths and abilities but on those of my Father I'll be like a tree whose roots go deep into the ground and get plenty of water supply from the river (Word of God) and I'll always bear good fruit and I especially love this part...when the drought comes I won't be anxious cause I know I've kept that intimacy with my Heavenly Daddy and He will always take care of me. Man, I've been in seasons of my life where I was out in the desert place and I poured out all I had to friends, family, my husband and my job. And it only left me dry and shriveled up cause I failed to stay connected to the source of life! But then I come into those seasons when I make the commitment to the Lord to stay connected to Him, to seek Him every day and lean on His strength and abilities and not my own. Then He gives me the ability to pour out and pour out and pour out and I remain full! And even now, in the midst of economic "drought" living on one income and raising two little girls; because my roots have stayed as close to the river (God) as possible; I do not fear...I am not anxious...and I can still pour out emotionally, spiritually and even financially to others as mush as the Lord asks me to. God is so good, and He meets all our needs according to His glorious riches!

Just a word of encouragement to anyone out there reading...Stay connected to the Life Giver, to the Heavenly Daddy who always takes care of His children. He knows your cry and just as a father comes running to his child when he hears that cry so does our Heavenly Father come running to our aid. He will push any mountain aside just to carry us on His shoulders. But the key is to be in constant communication with Him and truly Trust Him. You know the bible says in the book of Isaiah chapter 40 that God can hold all, not some but ALL the waters of the earth in the shallow part of His hand...that is a HUGE God! I don't know about you but I couldn't even hold 8oz of water in the palm of my hands let alone all the waters of the entire planet! Whatever season you're in, whatever obstacle you are facing, God is big enough that He not only sees it but He can handle it as well. There is nothing you can do in your own ability to fix, change or better your situation...you must Trust in God. He's the only one that can do it. Trust in Him and He'll put the SUPER on your Natural and the EXTRA on your Ordinary!

It's been a while...

My goodness, I feel like it's been forever since I've written something. Well let me get caught up. Since the last post, I celebrated my 27th birthday! Danny sent me to the spaahh. I got a massage and a facial. A steam capsule...I fell asleep with that one, and a pedicure. So nice. Well I came back home from the spa and right as I entered the house...Surprise!!!!! All my friends and some family were in my kitchen to celebrate my birthday! Of course I was a little embarrassed because I had no make up on and somehow I got a small bump on my lip from the facial. I guess I was allergic to something they used. But overall, what a great birthday. Here's a picture from that day. I had a huge cake thanks to my sisters-in-law Juanita and Michelle. It was so good too...there was fudge in the center. Oh yea!

So that party was the week before my birthday. On my real birthday I went to Bear Creek Park for a few hours and just spent that time reading my bible, praying and listening to music. Oh it was so great. I love my babies...the two little ones and the big one, but every now and then I need some time to connect back with God and get myself back in order. God spoke some great things to me out there but among those I'd like to share this. He took me to Genesis to read about the fall of mankind. I read about how Eve disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit but also initiated her husband into great sin as well. They were both at fault but Eve disobeyed first. Then in God's word it says that God cursed the serpent, Eve and Adam but even though they were cursed God said of Eve, "there will be enmity between your Seed and the seed of satan. He (Eve's seed) will bruise (or crush) your head (satan) with his heal and satan's head will bruise his heal." I'm paraphrasing but you get the point. Anyway, the bible I have has great commentary and here is what the Lord spoke to me; prepare yourself, it's a long one.

It is a remarkable token of divine grace that God, in His mercy and in His giving of the first promise of a Deliverer/Messiah, chose to bring this about by the Seed of the woman. In short, the first one scarred by sin is selected to be the one first promised to become an instrument of God's redemptive working. The birth of Seth, the "seed" given or born to Eve to replace the murdered Able, was the first in the "bloodline" that traces back to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Eve's distinct place in the failure of the first couple becomes the soil in which God's mercy plants the first seed of promise. The message is obvious: God is able to "make all grace abound" toward ANY of us. However deep the failure, Eve's testimony declares that God's grace goes deeper yet.

Man this is great stuff. Eve disobeyed and so did Adam and they messed it up for all of us till the end of time. God never intended us to live the way we do with sickness, heartbreak, or any of those things but because of them we do. But here's my thought; how many times have I made a decision in my life, my marriage, my relationships or at any time that could possibly effect the future of my children's children in a negative and cruel way? How many times have I sinned so deeply to cause such a disruption in generations to come? But God's grace goes so much deeper than my screw ups and it's because of His promise...Jesus came (the seed) and paid for all my junk; past, present and future mistakes by volunteering all my ugliness and filth to be put on him so that His grace could cover those bad things up and I could go free of my guilt. WOW! God is so good! Thank the Lord for grace! All I could do was cry cause it's so inconceivable how much God loves us. It's undeserving and yet so powerful.
Since the park I went to was so beautiful I decided to go back home after the girls woke up from their nap and take them to the same park. (ok so I can't stay away from them too long) There were ducks, geese, turtles, squirrels and lots of trees. The girls did so well at the park with me and we were able to enjoy three hours of fun. They even sat on a blanket to eat a snack and just hung out for a while. Jedidiah didn't even run off, which is a good thing she's well behaved. Here's a picture of them during their snack. We were singing songs in this picture.

And to top it all off, Sophia did "the army scoot" on my birthday! She moved about 2 inches and hey that's great! What a wonderful birthday I had.

More updates

Yes two posts on the same day. There's just lots to say. Well we went to the zoo on memorial day...I told you it's been a while. The girls loved it and had so much fun looking at all the animals. Sophia's favorite were the flamingos. The look on her face was priceless. If I could only know what she was thinking. It seemed like she thought "what in the world are those things and why are they standing like that?" Jedidiah usually likes the monkeys but this time she was interested in the penguins. She would stand at the glass and talk and talk. Here are some pictures of our zoo visit.

Hmmm, are those real monkeys?

I love this picture of them. So cute! I took this while we were waiting for other family members to catch up. She was just interested in Daddy's hat.

Here's the happy family. Jedidiah was getting tired at this point but Sophia was having a blast!

Oooooh, I see a tiger!