Monday, April 30, 2012

Monday Miscellany

Just some random happenings in our life lately!
  • My sister-in-law Haley *starred* in a musical last night at Beacon Hill. The play was "The Amazing Grace Race" and she was a reporter for the WWJD news network. She did wonderfully.
  • After the musical, there was a meal in the fellowship hall where we mingled with our former church family and caught up with Brandon's family as well. 

Asher's big into grabbing faces now. Ask Brandon's beard. Or Grandpa's cheeks. 

  • We discovered last night that our baby has gotten his first boo-boo. :( We don't know where he got it from: probably from bumping up against his daddy's belt during the service. That's right, we're using the belt on him already ;) .
  • Asher's uncle Nick (my brother) has started baseball season. 
  •  Asher chose an outfit to match the occasion.  
  • Here he is with Mamaw and Papaw, cheering on uncle Nick!
  •  Here is Nick, right before he got his hit: you can even see the ball, if you look hard!
  • This kid is growing like a weed. He's so happy, and I'm so proud of him! I just want to show him off everywhere! I'm so grateful to God for blessing us with such a Happy Blessing. 

  • Did you know that Asher means "Happy" or "Blessed" in Hebrew? So true. 
Linking up with Miscellany Monday at lowercase letters today.
miscellany monday at lowercase letters

Goals Update

You don't need to read this. Really, it's okay. You can just skip merrily along on your way. 

Because it's embarrassing, failure. My accomplished to-do list looks like Patrick's which I posted last week: Nothing? Check. 

It's okay, though. I'm giving myself some grace. I chose a really bad week to suddenly become ambitious about housekeeping. I was only home 2 days this past week: I finished up my internship at Beacon Hill for two days, went to school on Friday, and was otherwise occupied so that I could not accomplish what needed done. 

But I got the important stuff done: I took care of my baby boy and my husband. And kept the dog fed. That should've gone on the list, too. 

Here's what last week's goals looked like:
  1. Get and Keep the kitchen clean
    • This lasted all of two hours.
  2. Do a load of laundry from start to finish each day
    • It's hard to do laundry when you're not home, especially when you have a dryer which won't stop on its own.
  3. Pick up the living areas
    • I did this, it just didn't last.
  4. Keep Asher well-fed, clean, and happy.
    • That one was easy.
  5. Tummy time for Asher 3X per day
    • I think I managed this about once per day, sometimes more frequently.
  6. Read to him twice per day
    • Usually I did at least once per day.
  7. Have a 10 minute quiet time every day.
    • Didn't accomplish this. 
  8. Listen to 7 podcasts.
    • Why? When would I have had time to do that?
  9. Read Chapter 19 of ST, and my books for school.
    • Nope.
  10. Sky High Goal: Organize 2 closets.
    • Not even.
Eh, it's okay. I'm not going to be too hard on myself. I spent time with my husband, loved on my baby, kept the dishes and laundry up to date, and everything else worked itself out just fine. 

However, I'm going to be more realistic in my goal-setting for this week. 

Goals:
  1. Keep Asher well fed, happy, and clean.
  2. Feed and water the dog every day.
  3. Have dinner at home every day of the week.
  4. Go grocery shopping so that I can accomplish number 3.
  5. Make a meal plan for this week before I grocery shop.
  6. Tummy time for Asher twice per day.
  7. 10 minute quiet time, first thing in the morning. 
  8. Read to Asher at least once per day.
  9. Help Brandon take care of youth ministry tasks.
  10. Keep the house picked up. 
  11. Organize 1 closet. 
I'll make more detailed lists for every day, but I won't post them, probably. This list looks accomplish-able. I'll be posting Wednesday about memorizing Scripture, so be sure to tune in! :)

God's Grace and Peace to you!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Empathy

My sweet baby. 


He's the happiest little fella when things are going well for him - when he has a full belly, a clean diaper, and something to chew on. :)


But when something goes wrong, he thinks it's the end of the world. 

If we happen to be driving in the car when he gets hungry, he just can't imagine why we won't get him out and feed him RIGHT. THIS. INSTANT. He will scream as if he hasn't been fed for days, when really this is his first inkling of hunger. I feel so bad for him in those moments, but it also gets frustrating. 

Can't you have a little patience, buddy?

Don't you know that Mommy loves you, won't let you starve? 

Do you realize that Mom and Dad have your best interests in mind? We want what's best for you, Asher. That means that we aren't going to get you out of the car while we're driving to feed you: that's dangerous. It'll only be a little longer. Just trust us. 

And then I realize that this must be how God feels sometimes. I don't get what I want, what I feel like I need, RIGHT. THIS. INSTANT. And I think He's forgotten about me, abandoned me. But I should know better. I do know better. 
"Be strong and courageous. 
Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, 
for the Lord your God goes with you; 
He will never leave you nor forsake you."
-Deuteronomy 31:6

Even in painful situations, even when I'm being disciplined, I know that God's got the end result in mind. He's working for His glory and my good. He's the only one who knows best, and thank the Lord it's in His hands, not mine. 

And thank the Lord that He gives us wisdom when we need it (James 1:5) because I don't always know what to do in every situation, either. I'm new at this parenting stuff, but Father has been in the business of sustaining the world ever since the Beginning. 


Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Post by a 3 month old

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Family Mission Statement in Progress

This past Sunday morning at church, I picked up a Home Life magazine to take home with me. I was looking through it after church, and saw this article.. blah blah blah.. basically it inspired me to write a mission statement for our family. 

When Brandon and I were engaged, we talked all the time about how "when we're married..." we'd do all sorts of things, like have monthly family meetings, and discuss goals and finances and etc all the time. Well, that never really happens in our home. So many day-to-day things get in the way of purposeful, intentional planning and discussion. But that's okay. We do talk frequently about what we desire most for our family and how we can glorify God through our family and personal lives. It's just not usually sit-down intentional. 

So when I proposed the idea that we go to lunch and discuss making a family mission statement, Brandon was definitely on board with the idea. We dropped Asher off at Brandon's mom's house, and away we went to Schlotzky's. I really enjoy their chicken pesto pizza. Sounds delicious now. Anyways...

We began by listing the purposes for which our family exists. They were:
  • To glorify God (1 Peter 4:11, 1 Corinthians 10:31).
  • To teach and train up our children in the way of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:4).
  • To create a home environment conducive to spiritual growth (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
  • To encourage one another and spur one another on toward God (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
  • To keep one another accountable (Proverbs 27:17).
  • To love, serve, and give to our community (Matthew 5:13-15).
  • To share the love of God, the Gospel, with our family and community (Matthew 28:19-20).
We then listed out specific ways in which we can fulfill each of those goals. Some of those included:
  • Family worship - setting aside time each day to read the Bible, pray, and sing praise to God as a family. We've been working on this one this week, and really enjoying it.
  • Homeschooling - snicker if you want, but this is something we're truly passionate about and want very much for our family. We would love the opportunity to teach our children in our own home, in a Christ-centered environment. 
  • Giving compliments freely and constructive criticism when necessary, in order to help one another grow.
We didn't get around to condensing it into a simple Family Mission Statement that day, but we got a lot done. I'm looking forward to finishing it up and maybe even posting it somewhere in our home to remind ourselves and others of the purpose of our lives. 

You can do the same! Here's how another family did it.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Goals for the Week

When Money Saving Mom started posting her "10 Weekly Goals" a while back, I was inspired. I even read the comments on her goals posts to see what other women were striving to do.

Patrick! Photo credit here

I've never been good at making goals, or following through with goals for that matter. As a new wife and mother, there's so much that needs to be done around the house, but I have so little motivation! However, the simple act of crossing something off a to-do list feels so good. And crossing everything off a to-do list? That feels... well... I wouldn't know. It probably feels pretty awesome. Maybe I'll find out some day.


Here are my goals for this week:

  1. (Get and) Keep the kitchen clean. 
    • I try to put the dishes away every night and get the kitchen clean so that it's manageable the next day. It works... sometimes.
  2. Do a load of laundry from start to finish each day.
    • I don't mind doing laundry. I hate folding laundry. I hate putting laundry away. 
  3. Pick up the living areas 
    • 5 minute pick up for each room: kitchen, dining room, living room [and bedroom if the Lord grants me such a blessng ;].
  4. Keep Asher well fed, clean, and happy.
    • This is my easy cross-off item. 
  5. Tummy time for Asher 3X per day
    • To strengthen his neck and back muscles. He doesn't like it, and gets mad, but he gets so close to trying to crawl (if he could only get his chunky belly off the ground!).
  6. Read to him twice per day.
  7. Have at least a 10 minute quiet time every day.
    • This is the most important part of my day, yet it so easily gets pushed aside for more "urgent" items. 
  8. Listen to 7 podcasts
    • I'm going through all the T4G material that I missed. Today I listened to Simon Gathercole talk about the historical trustworthiness of the Gospels, and it was good (His accent was pretty cool too... ).
  9. Read Chapter 19 of Systematic Theology before Thursday, read books for school.
    • I procrastinate too much. 
  10. [Sky-High Goal] Organize 2 closets
    • I call this goal "sky-high" so that if I don't get to it, I won't feel bad. Might as well call them all sky-high... Hush, little voice! I will succeed!
I'll update about these goals next week... probably! :)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Vacation! ...sorta

Last week, Brandon, Asher, and I loaded up the car and took a mini-vacation.

Where did we go, you might ask? To a beautiful beach?
Or to Mexico to explore the Mayan ruins?
Or on a luxurious cruise?

Nope!

Obviously, there are a few things missing in the above pics (like a baby, and a belly which still shows the effects of aforementioned baby) and there are some things in the pictures which are no longer present (Brandon's long hair).

No, those pictures were from our honeymoon.

Our true destination for our mini-vacation was Louisville, KY. We went for a 3 day, (not-at-)all-inclusive stay in a city 2.5 hours away. For what reason, you say?

Together for the Gospel!

This is a conference I heard about online several months ago. It had half of my (and Brandon's) "Dream Team" of speakers and pastors, and we were soo excited about it. T4G is a pastors' conference (which I found out the day before we went), so the vast majority of the 8,000 or so people there were men. I felt a little out of place, but their messages applied to me as well, and to everyone who has any sort of ministry (which all believers should).

Another perk was that there was never a line for the women's bathroom! That actually was very helpful as we brought Asher with us and he needed to be fed quite often. As many people on Twitter pointed out, a pastor's conference is pretty much the only place you'll ever see a line for the men's bathroom but not the women's. It was pretty funny - they even designated half of the women's bathrooms for men.
Asher did quite well, for a 3 month old. There was some fussing and squirming (as would be expected), but there was also a whole lot of cooing and smiling at strangers friendly brothers and sisters in the Lord. We didn't take many pictures,  but here are a few from our trip:




It was a great time of encouragement as we talked in love with brothers and sisters who were otherwise strangers to us. Most of the conversation centered around Asher (babies are a great conversation starter:). There were 3 encounters in particular I want to remember:
  • The man from Seattle. We talked with this man for just a few moments, and he shared with us that he and his wife had been married for quite a while - I don't remember exactly how long, but he did, and that's the important part - and he loves her so much more now than he ever could have at the beginning. He smiled and played with Asher, and told him how much of a "vessel of blessing" he was to us. It was really sweet, and a sweet encounter in itself. 
  • The man from Michigan: This gentleman caught us on the way out of the last session. He said he was encouraged to see a young family at the conference, and that seeing Asher reminded him of his own 12 or so grandkids. 
  • Nastaran: I can't remember if this is her name or not, it started with a "Nas-". This lady was an Iranian emigrant to California. Asher and I sat next to her in the bookstore while Brandon perused the stacks.  We got into a conversation, once again, over Asher. She and her husband were expecting in about 4 months, their first as well. When she told me she was originally from Iran, I asked her "That's a dangerous place to be a Christian, isn't it?" And she told me of how she and her husband had been arrested for their faith while in Iran, but were given the choice of whether to stay in jail in country or to leave the country. They chose to leave, but their friend was still in jail in Iran. I told her I would pray for him, and she said to pray also for Iran, as the Gospel is being persecuted there. 
I don't know what it is about those encounters, they were not extraordinary in any way, but they were sweet to me in that I was able to enjoy fellowship with brothers and sisters in the Lord whom I will probably never see again til Heaven. 

I'll probably be posting more about T4G here in the next few days.


May the Lord bless you and keep you!