In the Mundane life, where is God?

How often do we live our lives caught up in the ordinary routines of life? I know there are days that I am so busy, but then at the end of the day when Bean is in bed and I am sitting on the couch, I can easily ask myself, "what did I do today?" Or "what did I do that was meaningful to others?" Or the most important, "How did I glorify God today?" I am sometimes very ashamed of my own answers. It can be so easy to place God on your check list of things to do for the day. I know that I struggle with incorporating God in the daily routines of my life. It is easy to remember God when you are doing a devotion or when you read the Bible to your children before nap or bedtime and you pray, or even before you eat. But, I am talking about including God in the EVERYDAY life. Like vacuuming or preparing lunch or playing on the floor with matchbox cars...those are moments when I could incorporate God either for myself or discussing Him with Bean during those quiet playful moments. I truly find it hard to remember remembering God during those moments.

During this second chapter of Crazy Love Francis Chan opened my eyes to the fact that I could be the next person in my family to die. Wow! I mean, you know you are going to die one day. One out of every one person does! But, to actually think "I could die today" can really make a difference on how you view what you do with your time. Chan says, "You could be the next person in your family to die. We have to realize it. We have to believe it enough that it changes how we live. We need to stop living selfish lives, forgetful of our God." Pg. 50-51. I am realizing that I need to regroup how I spend my days off. This actually was my prayer request last night during small group. To find the balance between housework and schooling Bean on my days off. I need to have a better schedule and I need to include on that schedule ways to incorporate God in my (and Bean's and Rock's) daily routine...I need to include it so greatly that it becomes so natural for me. Out of everything in life shouldn't God be the center and most important? I mean 'He is everything'! He created everything and can take everything from us at any moment.

All praise and glory go to Him!

Feeling Tiny

Our Wednesday night small group just watched the Louie Giglio video, Indescribable. In this video, Louie shows us just how far away and how powerful some planets, stars and galaxies are in the universe. It was incredible to think just how small our planet is compared to the universe, let alone just how tiny we are as humans compared to the universe. Louie made a comment that it would take all the gross national product of all the states like millions of years for us to power the sun for 1 second. How about that? Stop and think for a moment about that. Amazing, huh? This was the second time that I watched this video and yet, although I knew some images were coming, they reached a closer part of my heart than when I watched it the first time.

I am currently reading a book called Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. I am about half way through. It has been a very convicting, yet inspiring book. It has me questioning just who God is to me and how I view Him, as well as my love for Him. I brought up the Indescribable video because Chan has on his website a little clip also using astrological concepts to show just how big our God is. You can view it at http://www.crazylovebook.com/ and go to the "Awe Factor" You will be amazed at what you see.

I wanted to share some highlights on chapter 1 that left a lasting impression on me. On page 27 of the book (which you can also read on his website), Chan goes through different things throughout the earth that only God could have created; not some explosion. I am only typing a couple of them, so I encourage you to go to his website to read all of them!

An average elm tree has approx. 6 million leaves on it

Your own heart pumps enough blood throughout your body that is could squirt up to 30 feet

There are hundreds of different kinds bananas

Coral plants are so sensitive that they can die if the water temperature varies by one or two degrees

Goosebumps actually help you to stay warmer by trapping in your body heat

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Psalm 19:1-4

Chan tells us that God is Holy, God is eternal, God is all-knowing, God is all powerful, and God is fair and just (even when we don't see it). "God never excuses sin. Whenever we start to question whether God really hates sin, we have only to think of the cross, where His Son was tortured, mocked and beaten because of sin. Our sin" Page 34. Think about just how big God is; that is how much God loves us too and He truly cares when we sin - it hurts Him like we hurt our mom's and dad's when we disobey. This chapter and the video both have me thinking about my significance in life. Everything that I do in life is so insignificant when you think about how HUGE God is compared to us. Just how big the sun is compared to the earth, and so forth. It is like almost contradicting of itself, because there are things in life that I can do, like spread the word of God, or invite a friend to church, that are very significant to God, but when you sit back and think about how puny our lives are and that we are but a vapor on God's timeline, that significance is really shrunken down quite a bit! How Humbling!!!

Tell me your thoughts - please. I am interested to see how you view God and how you love Him!

Who doesn't like convictions?

Convictions are great. Right? I mean it is God telling you what you should be doing with your time. So, shouldn't it be easy to turn from your old ways and start anew? Ha, that seems too easy. I have been so convicted in getting up early before Bean wakes up to read my Bible. I have had friends tell me, I have heard messages on it and have felt convicted of it. So, you would think that I would just "do it." I mean, I have blogged about this before!

It isn't that easy. I did so well last week and then I started to not feel well. Then Bean started to not feel well. I haven't been sleeping the best and I am simply NOT a morning person. I do read almost everyday, but there is something about reading first thing in the morning and giving your day to God. That is what Jesus did when he walked this earth. If Jesus did it for God, then why shouldn't I do it for God?

Last week, I really took the time to read in the morning and then through out the day I would read my two other books that I am involved in. One is Crazy Love by Francis Chan and the other is Life on Planet Mom by Lisa Bergren. Both wonderful books. I think that last week I was truly filling my time with the Lord and his word throughout my day that I was focused soley on Him. Now, this week (and it being Friday!) I have realized that I haven't read a single chapter in either of my books nor have I gotten up one morning to read. I have read during the day, but I haven't given my day to the Lord first thing. Let me tell you....it matters. I can honestly say that my mood is different. I am not in the wanting to read mood like I had last week. I am in the "I am reading because I have to" mood and this is NOT where I want to be. I am blogging about this so that whoever reads this can keep me accountable and pray for me.

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.

The change starts here...right now! (Help me!)

Life and change...

So much has happened since February when I last blogged.

Bean broke his arm the early part of June. We were very blessed that is was a clean break and he only had to wear his cast for 4 weeks. Not too bad and he didn't miss too much of summer since this was one of the coldest ones I can remember. He did not do well with his cast for the first couple of days, but after I told him that only the doctor can take it off, he seemed to stop asking me to and began to accept it and get used to it for that period in life.


Family life is great! Bean is almost three years old. That time has just flown by. He is so loving and amazes me every day. He has learned his first Bible verse, "God's way is perfect" Psalm 18:30. It is so cute to hear him quote it. He is learning how to count, the sounds and names of his letters and how to use scissors. It is amazing how fast kids can learn, but it is also amazing how much we parents need to teach them. The things that we simply do every day, well a three year old needs to be shown how! But, it is a fun learning process! Love this age!

Do you remember our tree incident back in December? You know, the tree that fell on our house? Well, last Monday we had another tree fall and crush our tool shed and my car. I was in bed waking up for the day when it happened. I heard the tree fall. It actually wasn't as loud as I thought it would be for falling and taking out two things. Then, my gram passed away two days later. It was a very stressful and sad week. We got through it though, with the help of God, our family and some great friends. Through last week, God has truly shown us how blessed my husband and I are. We buried my gram and I find it amazing how we are all there for one another. Keep us in your prayers though, as the grieving period is still here. We did find a new car...a mini van to be exact. And, if you know me...I have been wanting one since I had Bean. We are excited and truly honored that God gave us a car that totally surpassed our expectations of what we could afford.

Our last and biggest news is that we are expecting again! Yep! A boy and he should arrive sometime in late January. We can't wait to meet him. If you have any suggestions on names, please share as we have not yet come up with one!

Many blessings to you all!

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it.....

When people say the heart will grow fonder when your love is out of town they are telling the truth. Me and one of my friends have been talking all week about how much we miss our husbands and how when they are home we will nit pick at them when we are frustrated or argue with them over the most ridiculous things and yet, now we would give anything for them to be home with us. Well, my husband is coming home tomorrow (and my friends')!!!! I (We) are so excited! I won't get to see him until pretty late, but, nonetheless, I will get to wrap my arms around him. A group of people from our church went to the Dominican Republic for a mission trip which left many of us "widows" for a week. I have learned a lot this past week. Out of seven nights I stayed at my house alone for only two of them. I definitely need to learn to give Christ all of my trust in the area of fear that I have with being home alone at night. I have learned that besides my husband I have so many people in my life who love me and are there for me at the drop of a hat. My husband is such an amazing man, but with him not being home this past week I found that I am very dependent on other people. I spent quite a bit of time over my parents house and even two nights at there house and I found more time than ever to talk to a really good friend on the phone all week. We kept each other's spirits up while we missed out hubby's and let each other get it all out and we also talked about our attitudes about going on a mission trip some day. Sidenote: I think that we might be convicted sometime soon in this area! This week gave me the opportunity to see how my attitude and my behavior affects Bean without Rock being home and I have to say that I tend to get frustrated quite easily with things.

Anyways, I am so proud of my husband for giving so much of himself this week to share the good news of Christ with other children and adults, to help make a water purification system and to help build a school for many of the adorable children. I can't wait to see his pictures and hear all of his stories. God has an amazing way of letting his Glory shine through and I have been touched this week by so many people. God is good - all the time! Sorry for rambling - I had a lot to say!

H - let's make sure we stay in touch as often as we did this past week. I really enjoyed your friendship and encouragement. I am so proud of you this week! (A - you too if you read this!)

Blessed with Friends and Family

I just wanted to share how thankful I am for each of my friends. God has truly blessed my life by giving me some wonderful Christian women whom I can thankfully say are my best friends. Many of you are bloggers and many of you read blogs, but you are all so dear to me. Thank you all for your encouragement these past couple of days. I have been scared, depressed, happy, moody, and joyful. I have been scared, depressed and moody because my husband is gone this week on a mission trip and I hate being home without him. I had a wonderful friend share this passage with me (below) and I have been reading it and I said it before bed and I just know that God is with me and he is protecting me and Bean all day long. I need to put my complete trust in Him with all things.

I have been happy because I have wonderful friends and family who have called me all week and have spent time with me this week. I am joyful because when I talk with Rock I know that God is doing amazing things through each person on the mission trip. God is so good. We have been teaching Bean to pray "God is good, all the time, thank you for your Blessings" and sometimes it isn't easy to think of the goodness God brings us because we spend a lot of time focusing on our wants here and now. My want is: I want my husband home...but God's need is: I need him to be an Evangelist right now and give a community water and a school. He will be with you soon.
I have started an accountibility for losing weight with some friends and I am so thankful for them because I am really caring about what goes into my body and how much I am eating.

So, thank you to all of my friends and family for all of your love and support!

Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. 4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. 13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."

Mommy's Moody

So, I am in a mood today - not a bad mood, not a good mood; just a mood. This past week I have been waking up early to read the Bible for about a half an hour. Well, with my husband leaving for DR in the middle of the night and with the crazy busy week I had I was exhausted and in my prayers kind of told God that I was going to "skip" this morning. Well, as a result, Bean slept until 7:45 (Praise the Lord because he never sleeps that late anymore). So, I was able to get some needed sleep, but my mood has defintely suffered from it. I did not get to wake up with Christ pleasing mood that I had so loved this past week. Not to mention that I haven't wanted to read anything today at all - not my Bible or my books! I have no desire today - I feel very lazy.
So, not that I want to ramble on about this, but I continue to be convicted of this and I know that this is an area in which changes are needed. So, please pray that I have the desire even on my most tired mornings.

Bean does like to keep my spirits up, however. I took this last night. He is just too precious. The clip is a couple of minutes long, but he is playing with his cars and then he begins to count them. He is only two and he is counting...I love it!