Six Month Checkup Stats

This sweet little babe of ours had his six month visit today.  The doctor said he's advanced, doing so well, doing some things he wouldn't expect to see until 6-9 months, not at 6 months, etc, etc.  We report that, not to tell you how incredible our kid is, but how incredible our God is.  Benson's doing so great and we praise God for how far he has come since the days of pregnancy when they weren't sure how he'd do (with his 2 vessel cord) and look at him now...

Look, ma, I can do crunches, I'm tough!  He held a similar position for a very long time, just to show the doc his stamina and strength.  I think at first the doc was impressed, then slightly annoyed that he had to wait so long to do the exam, which wasn't so easy with crunching baby. Hee hee.  Did you look??? Here's one more chance...

He is also sporting a new birthmark, which you can see just above his arm on his ribcage.

Yeah, baby, that's 27 inches (70th percentile), 18lbs. 6oz. (65th percentile) and a 30something percentile head circumfrence of cute loviness.  I think 10 pounds might be lingering between his hips and kneecaps, but that's just a guess. ;)  And like the "camera" adding 10 pounds, so does the diaper (in the picture at least, not in the actual weigh-in).

Call if you want to come over and be smiled at like you never thought possible.  He'll also talk your ear off.  And... He might slobber kiss you to smitherines. Be warned :D

Six month update

Okay, so the babe has a cold - got it on his six month birthday - what's up with that?

I'll tell you what he's teaching me - AGAIN - is to praise God and be joyful in ALL circumstances. This kid won't stop smiling with a fever, runny/stuffy nose, cough, sneeze, cough, cough, sneeze. I love him. And I love my hubby who woke up at 3 in the morning and hung out with Benson the rest of the night so I could sleep. Benson's a blessed little boy to have Nate for a daddy and well, I know I'm beyond blessed to have Nate for a husband. He's just a really solid, loving kind of guy.

Oh, and... I found a cool website that has inspired me to start writing a cookbook. Because, well, I've always had a dream to have a cooking show. I'm not sure I'd actually enjoy being videotaped, because I make faces at cameras... See what I mean? I fear the nightmares that I would create for people. But I think I'd love to write a cookbook, even if all I do is hand it down to my kiddos and share recipes with my friends. So there. But... that's going to require me to actually measure occasionally. Ugh. You can pray for me. :)

Six WHOLE months

So, I have to admit something to you... Perhaps Sheepishly... Last night when I was feeding Benson, getting him ready to bed, singing prayers over him, I was thinking about that night six months ago we went in to have him, to be induced, not having a clue what that day or what the coming days would bring. I teared up as I thought of the grace of God on us. The way He has protected and provided for Benson from conception all the way through his first six months. So Happy SIX Months our precious blessing straight from God. We love you even more today than yesterday and I'm sure we'll feel the same tomorrow.


At six months, Benson can sit up all by himself, help eat all sorts of food (like sweet potatoes, spinach, green beans, peas, rice cereal), sometimes sleeps for six or seven hour stretches (sometimes), SMILES like nobody's business, laughs, chatters, squeals, loves his Johnny Jump Up, wears 6 month and 9 month clothing (depending on the diaper ;)), loves meeting new people, is very calm, but very fun - a perfect combination, has a tooth on the bottom, grew a birthmark!, still has blue eyes and a light colored hair that will most likely be like his mama's, adores his daddy, really likes to make people smile, loves to wake up to a "good morning!" and smiles away most days, likes to sleep at 6:30pm if given the chance, still hates tummy time, but loves to stand up on his legs only be held onto for balance, not support, grunts and sounds like a little man, and generally just makes us very grateful and a bit in awe that God would choose us to raise this little blessing for Him. How blessed we are!


To celebrate, I finally picked up this beautiful canvas print - photo taken by Kimberly Sanderson of Sanderson Images - canvas printed, stretched, wrapped and lovingly completed by John Sanderson. I love it and can't wait to hang it in Benson's room. :) I couldn't wait to show you what it looks like, so you can't see it hanging, just posing nicely on the couch with Benson, the big 6 month old...

Please pardon my super photography skills. It's why I don't work for Sanderson Images or any other photographer for that matter. I'm just not full of mad skillllzzzz. But seriously, look at this really, super cute baby I birthed :)

Love you and Happy Weekend!

Sometimes...

God breathes in a special way and you race home, trying so hard to remember the details so you don't forget anything, but then you realize, those details are in your soul. Deep down. But I'll try. Last week, I wrote a blog about the 1.9 billion who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus. I'm blessed beyond belief to be able to work with Global Disciples and witness the hand of God as He REACHES down and moves the nations. Today, we had a prayer, worship, and praise time for the Beyond Idols worship tour: http://www.beyondidols.net/ and I have to say it's been a LONG time since worship was that sweet for me. I'm not sayin' anything is wrong with worship in our church (I really love it & can enter in, there, too). But there's something for me, in my heart, that really connects when I'm worshipping with people from other countries. Something lets rip, if you will, deep down. As I sang songs to Jesus with our staff and those on the tour in a circle, I teared up - over and over. It was a sweet time as we sang to Jesus, the One who conquered the grave... for the nations... You can pretty much bet on the fact if nations, Jesus, etc. are sung in a song together, I will cry. In a good way. In a Jesus, please don't let them perish without You way.

One of my coworkers led us in an exercise where we listened to him read Revelation 5:8-14 multiple times. A couple times with our eyes closed and we were asked what stuck out to us. And then to say that out loud. Then he read it again and asked us to pray based on what we received... The part that really struck me was the elders falling down and worshipping. Then I sensed the word GATHERING was on God's heart, so I prayed for that. I also sensed that the "walls will not contain them". WHEW! What, Lord??? I'm not sure what it all means, but I know God's heart is for the nations. I know His love is not contained in walls, and I know someday that "Multitude" with be uncontainable.

"Because You were slain and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." Don't you love it when God speaks to you? Not only FOR YOU, but for OTHERS? I love that.

At church, we focused in January on First month, First Love. Today was a special touch from my First Love. Thank You, sweet Jesus, for reminding me of Your great love for ME, for THEM, and for THOSE WHO HAVE NOT HEARD. You're more than I deserve... Thank You for letting me taste Heaven here on earth. And Benson, someday when you grow up, I want you to know that today, you were loved on by people from Ethi-pia, Kenya, US, Ind-nesia, and especially by "uncle Harry" from Ind-nesia. He named himself that for you and he really loved on you... and now you smell like him. :)

And one more side note that made me smile... We are studying Revelation in our life group... When Robert said we'd meditate on this Scripture today, I couldn't help but say in my head, "okay Jesus, I get it ;)"...

Revelation 5: 8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Happy Valentine's Day!

At the risk...

Of losing important body parts by family members and friends looking for pics of our cute, pudgy cheeked, smiling little boy... Here are pics of our trip out west, and a bit of what I like to call, commentary. Or random blabbing. Whatever you want to call it, here it is:

This is the face of tired. Or more appropriately the face of "no, mommy, I'm not tired, I still haven't SMILED at EVERYONE in the waiting area yet..."
Benson's first plane ride! He did GREAT on the way out and while I didn't get the little old lady next to me EVER that I dreamed of, I was MORE than blessed at God's love throughout the trip. For starters, Benson did not cry once during the whole flight out, not the little itty bitty 20 minute one to DC and not the 5.5 hour one to San Diego. Not once. God did, however, show me my ick on the plane and proceeded to help me through it. I love how He loves us too much to leave us where we are... First flight was, as I said, SHORT. I got to sit next to a cool lady who, while we believe COMPLETELY different things about Heaven, etc... was awesome and kind. I still pray for her as she comes to mind :) The flight attendants, baggage people, even passengers were nicer to me than I ever imagined, and dare I say it may have been even COOL traveling alone with Benson. Isn't that fun? Sometimes the very things that make us so nervous are the things that surprise us and bless us the most? The second flight, when approaching my seat, made my heart sink a bit. Somehow I ended up with a "few extra inches of legroom" on my United flight, even though I didn't pay for it, thank you very much :) but a few, how do I say this nicely??? fewer inches widthwise... As I stood there realizing I would have a hard time sitting in the seat, let alone me and a baby, I was just praying that God would cover the whole situation and He did! The flight attendant asked the man in the middle to move back to a row behind (where he also had more room) and I got to sit with an empty seat between me and the nicest "kid" (who was incidentally an attorney for the defense department, but really, couldn't have been older than 10, how can they hire such youngins nowadays I ask???)... Okay, back to my story. He was the nicest kid. Really. He even MOVED HIS ARMREST TO THE UPRIGHT POSITION SO BENSON WOULD HAVE MORE ROOM TO SPREAD OUT (and yes, he offered - and even didn't mind when Benson kicked his very nice suit whilst falling asleep). I'm not kidding. Isn't God the coolest? Anyway, a row up and an aisle over, we had a crying 2 year oldish kid (poor thing as I silently prayed over and over and over that Benson would not do that). The woman in the same row as sad baby was clearly very, very aggravated, plugging her ears, shaking her head, throwing her arms up. Made me want to smack her repeatedly, but then about two hours into JUDGING her, God reminded me that a much more useful thing I could do is PRAY for her. Oh, yeah. Ha. About that... So I did, for her, and for the man who got moved due to his size... I was just BEGGING God to show them His love, to reveal it to them right there on the plane. Oh, how He does love them... And I have been praying for them, too. Isn't God so cool?

Ah, we arrived in San Diego, met up with my very best, longest running best friend from high school Christine and her new puppy London (who is incidentally just a few weeks younger than my little Hooverlet (my newest nickname for Benson - catchy, eh? Nate was raised on a farm where they raised pigs. Baby pigs are piglets, so baby Hoovers must be Hooverlets, no?). Anyway... We hugged and talked and got my MAMMOUTH suitcase and off we went to find her car. I like SoCal in a weird sort of "palm trees and sea air make me feel kind of at home" way.... We got Benson fed, changed, situated and began our drive. Not too far up the way, we stopped, at all places, MCDONALDs. Because that's how we do things. I can't tell you the last time I ate McDonald's. Oh, wait, it was probably the last time I saw Christine :) Or maybe a few times ago when I saw her. The last I can think of is at my friend Byron's wedding like six years ago. Yes, with Christine :)

Okay, so my ramblings have gotten the best of you and you stopped reading my blog. Didn't you? That's okay... I understand. For those who are DIE HARD, I'll keep rambling. For those less so, feel free to just look at the cute baby and pretty scenery in the pics.

We spent the next day, after a really, really WONKY night of sleep trying to have fun, just us girls while Adrian and Nate were at work and we had the day to play and hang out. Oh, the fun. I made her go to Trader Joes with me and she survived :) we did girl things, like buy stuff at Home Depot. Because we're cool like that. We went grocery shopping and prepared dinner and got ready for a visit by Christine's older brother Jeff (who I graduated high school with) and his NEW FIANCE! Sarah - how fun! Nate finally made it to us and we were all together again. Adrian works for Yamaha and blessed Nate with a really cool signed t-shirt by one of their racers. Sweetness! Anyway... Oh, the visit with Jeff and Sarah went well. It's always so fun to see how people have changed and the ways they have not. I think Nate enjoyed getting a greater glimpse into my weirdness :) Or at least I'll pretend he liked it.

At Trader Joes (which I love and FORCED Christine to go to with me.)
The next day we made Ado and Christine take us to Balboa Island, even though they told us it was a waste of time (yeah, we SHOULD HAVE LISTENED) and then quickly went back to their place when their brakes started sounding like, well, like they might not stop us ever again and picked up our Charger rental car. Which, by the way, I'm very grateful for our older cars we drive, thank you. We went to a couple other beaches and walked around, had a family photo shoot, watched a gorgeous sunset high on the cliffs, watched London get MOBBED by a gaggle of Brownies (the mini-version of Girl Scouts, I think...) And this westie gal is PROUD to say our son's very first ocean touch was on the Pacific, thank you very much!!!

Basically, we spent a number of days being SPOILED as usual by Christine. She's so good at loving on people :) And we love her! Benson enjoyed smiling at her and making her think kids are, afterall, not so bad :)

Laughing at, I mean with... Auntie ChristineAdo, Christine and London

Do you ever smile SO BIG that your eyes disappear? He does. It's nice.

Our beautiful sunset outing

London really liked to lick Benson's hands, toes, face, head, you name it... Benson was not quite as sure he liked it, but he put up with it well...

From Irvine, we drove a very long way to Sedona, Arizona to visit my mom and sister! The drive went as well as can be expected and Benson, aside from thinking he was being ATTACKED by an evil carseat, did quite well. We went to sunny... no wait, CLOUDY and SNOWY and RAINY Arizona. But the good news is, we got to see a sight not too many people get to see - the desert red rocks under some lovely snow. Pretty, I tell you :) There's just something about snow that makes me very, very happy, even if it was supposed to look like this picture the whole time, I couldn't help but smile and the big, fluffy flakes :)

Hiking on bell rock

At the Sedona History Museum

Yummy brewery we ate lunch at - isn't my sister SO PRETTY???!!!

It's actually a disease... See camera, make goofy face. I've been fighting it all my life :)Montezuma's Castle (even though Montezuma never made it that far north.) 35ish people lived in this cave dwelling - they used ladders to get up there. My carpenter hubby wanted so desperately to know why they didn't just build steps. We were laughing at my mom (who, even though it was only 50ish degrees, needed to wear her eskimo parka - the park ranger even commented on it. Isn't she cute, though?)
Cathedral Rock - Nate hiked WAY up there.

Snow on the drive to Flagstaff - how pretty!

Totally random, out of order pic of us trying to get Benson used to his high chair before the big food introduction - he does great!

We celebrated Christmas with my sister and mom the first day there, then went on a hike, ate too much food, hung out, left my poor sister with a crying Benson (bless her heart - she survived, just barely). Oh, ha. One of my favorite things about my sister. She says that diapers are difficult to put on. Well... That may be true, when you're putting them on BACKWARDS. So funny and cute. I can just see her wondering what was up with that crazy diaper! Speaking of diapers, I am officially, completely SOLD on our BumGenius 3.0's. On the trip, we were using a premium brand of DISPOSABLES and had no less than four blowouts. I lost count, to be honest, but four is the minimum. Since Benson's birth, we have had less than that by half and maybe then some with the BG3's. Yep, that's right.

We also got to celebrate Nate's birthday and my birthday about a month early :) with my mom and sis. That was fun and I felt sufficiently spoiled rotten between Christmas and birthday. They both love to give and have as much fun if not more than I do with it. I got a lot of cute things from Switzerland from my sister and from her travels 'round the world, so that was fun. I'd be much skinnier than I am today, however if she'd stop purchasing things like Swiss chocolate covered wafer cookies. Forget the fact that I should exercise self control! Who can be bothered with such trivial things when there is CHOCOLATE FROM SWITZERLAND in the house. Speaking of, before I birthed Benson, I could leave Swiss chocolate alone. For years at a time. Not anymore. If there is chocolate in the house, it will eventually, more quickly than not, be devoured by yours truly. The other day, in an effort to save myself, I made Nate PEANUT BUTTER (BLECK!) Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies instead of chocolate chip. I dislike peanut butter, so I'm hopeful this will help me lose part of my hips or tummy or well, any extra chub I might have souchered onto my body post baby. Speaking of being skinny. My sister brought me a cute pair of boots from Switzerland (oh, how I love Bata shoes...) and I just had to purchase a pair of skinny jeans. I'm that girl who "hates" something (like a new car design, trendy pants, etc.) and then eventually purchases said item. Can I just say that they are, in fact, my most comfortable jeans. They do have enough spandex in them to make an elephant comfortable, so perhaps that helps. Perhaps not. I just have to get over feeling silly when I wear them.

One of the gifts from my sis for Christmas was to get highlights at this fun Aveda salon. So from California on, the lighter shade is a result of this process... Thankfully my hair is none of these colors. They say this helps tone down the blonde, but, I think it's really just the hairdressers wanting to play fingerpainting. But that's just my assessment ;) My sister was with me and got purpleish hair. Pretty funky!

Does anyone else feel like I'm babbling too much here? Okay, I'll try to be a bit more concise...

My mom had a bunch of her girlfriends come over one night while we were there for dinner. Oh, how the cute ladies LOVED on Benson. They slobbered on him, played with him, and might I just add, that he LOVED them right back!

We spent our days eating, talking, driving a bit too much for our liking and seeing the pretty, pretty handiwork of God all around us. I didn't work too much, very little in fact. Which would make this the longest stretch of time since I began working full time 12 years ago that I've gone without working. It was so, so nice to just be with Nate for days and days on end. We were spoiled with his presence for sure! And it was WONDERFUL to be with my mom and sister again - I just love them. My sister and I get each other, you know? We giggled a lot and we had fun sitting around laughing. Nate and my mom were hiking buddies, and they both really liked that.

Mom, Gretchen and I painted pottery one snowy afternoon while Nate hung out in the car with a sleeping Benson. Isn't that love???

We said our sad goodbye's early one morning to drive back to San Diego. But on the way, this time, we got to have a very fun stop in Phoenix to meet up with an old friend Mike from Colorado (by old, I mean known a long time, not old as in age) and his new bride Jess. They are a cute as can be couple, and it was so fun catching up. Thankfully Benson was there, or I would have felt really, really short :) in the land of really, really tall people. Mike makes my 6'2" husband look short. How weird is that?

We stopped at In-N-Out burger one last time, where Benson decided he needed to help me hold my milkshake. Mmmm... Burgers, fries, milkshakes. If you've never been to and In-N-Out, it might be worth a flight out west to try it. It's inexpensive, super yummy, and they have Bible verses printed on their cup bottoms.

We had a free hotel room in San Diego at the Hilton on the Bay. How fun! It was a very tall (20 something stories) hotel, and a bit fancier than we're used to. By a lot. But it was free and very nice. We were able to take a stroll by the water and watch the sunset. We ate at Joe's Crabshack and I taught Nate to eat crab legs. Which, to be fair, I'm not any good at, so he'll need to learn again by someone who can actually do it :)

Our flight home was a bit harder than the one out there as Benson didn't appreciate the stifling hot airplane and having to wait to take off. He cried a lot on our second leg, but we were blessed by people around us who told us what a good boy he was anyway. Don't you just love that?

We had such a wonderful time out west. It was good for my soul to be in my "old turf" again and to introduce Nate to California and Arizona (his first time in either place). It was great to see my friends, my mom and sister (isn't it so nice to be with people who know everything about you and love you anyway?). But at the same time, it's so good to be home. I love our house, our friends and family here. I missed work and our routine. Oh, speaking of routine... Benson was waking up every 1.5 to 2 hours on our trip. Yeah, this was one tired mama - and I joked that I hope he was cured of that when we got home. He's been doing much better! We have had some nights of 6 hour stretches (two a night) since we got home, and I can say I think I could get used to this. Yesterday was his first really good day of scheduled naps and sleep and oh, the joy. I hope it continues :) I was also afraid that we made our child a hater of the carseat, but he's fine now, after a nice little break from it and not being forced to hang out in it every day for hours on end. Ha.

In a sweet God story, Benson got to experience his first car accident a few days after we got home. I was on my way to take a meal to a family from church who just had a baby. A gal in the lane next to me decided she would like to share a lane. Normally I'm all for sharing, but in this case, not so much. The really great news is, of all the things that "could have" been annoying about the situation have been so great. No one was hurt, the people who hit us were great about the whole thing, they have insurance (nice insurance, no less), the damages were minimal as we were similarly sized and even had the same color paint :) and it was fun to see God at work, blessing us even in the midst of it. Nate had sensed he needed to pray for our protection as we drove (more so than normally) and I even sensed I needed to be careful as I drove, even praying about the route to take. I love how God has given Nate to Benson and I to pray for us and cover us in that way. What a blessing!

It's great to be back at work, back at home, and asking God to use us, mold us, shape us. I feel like the past month has been a month of intense refining for me. I like that. God has been so gracious, showing me deficiencies and helping me work through them. I haven't felt condemned, but deep love not wanting me to stay the same tomorrow or even in five minutes from where I am today. I feel released of this funk I was in a couple of months ago, wanting to be perfect :) and upset that I wasn't, free to be who God is asking me to be... I'm still learning, still growing, and that's a great thing, isn't it?

Oh, and the East Coast has been PELTED with snow. THIS people, THIS is what winter looks like. I'm in my element. I love this stuff and there's more on the way apparently. We have prayed God would allow us to be a blessing in our neighborhood and we are grateful this snow is allowing just that to happen. I'm proud of my hardworking, loving husband who has helped a number of our neighbors dig out. And strangely enough, they all really blessed us right back. Isn't community fun?

Benson was a snow bear, and oh, how stinkin' cute he looked - I want to eat him up :)

For those who stuck this out, you deserve some sort of award. Or at least a pat on the back :) If you would like to see more cute pics, head over here. Many of the photo credits go to Christine & Adrian Limon :)

Blessings and love to you from us!

2 Years Ago!

This awesome man of God asked me to marry him while skiing Mt. Hood in Oregon. Best yes of my life!

Love you babe - you're so much more than I could have imagined!!!

Our stories here and here.

1,900,000,000

1.9 Billion. That's a big number with a lot of zeroes behind it. That number represents the number of people who have NEVER heard the GOOD NEWS of Jesus. That's a big number. A really big one. One that's hard for my head to wrap around.

I’ve been praying a lot lately, and differently than in years past during the GDT Alliance Annual Meetings. Usually, I’m there, on the ground, working, working, working. It’s weird, but at the same time very cool, to be here, in the states, hearing SECOND HAND what’s going on. I’ve been able to pray differently because my prayers are not of the “Lord, please help me be your hands and feet and help to survive this. I need your strength...” They are instead, “God, bless these people and help them know you more. Help them know they are not invisible to you. Help them know they are LOVED by You, not because of what they do for Your glory, but just because they are YOURS. I have been asking for revelation for them of the love of Christ, the glory of God, and for an increase in anointing. It’s not that I didn’t pray those prayers before, but I didn’t do so as much, because in years past I was trying to survive the workload at the meetings. So this is fun in a bittersweet sort of way. I would love to sit down, look the leaders in the eye, pray for them, hear their stories, help them when they are sick, listen to their hearts. But I am here instead for this season, loving on my husband and son, and that’s wonderful, too! I still get to answer emails, work on new program proposals, send grants, hopefully be an encouragement and prayer support for those doing the HARD PART.

I love my job, I love what I get to do. I get to encourage, support, lift up those who are doing the HARD THINGS. I keep thinking how God is the lifter of their heads and He is allowing me to help Him do just that. They risk their lives, their comfort, their wealth, their health, all for the sake of the Gospel. They challenge me in really good ways. Many of them live with a BURNING in their heart for the name of the Lord to be taken to the places, the really dark ones where there is no or very little witness to the love of Jesus. I love that they are NOT ASHAMED at all to share their hearts with people. Not ashamed. I got an email yesterday from a dear brother in Christ, a discipleship program director. He and his wife have been trying to have a baby for three years. He was writing to THANK ME for praying for them, that she’s pregnant and they are expecting in 7 months or so. How am I THIS LUCKY? Really! Most of you who know us, know we named our son after a man who is a Kenyan reaching out in Kenya and beyond. He’s planted around 100 churches or so. Yeah, just 100. NO! 100!!! Praise GOD! I’m so glad we named our son after Benson. I’m glad because many times a day as I say my son’s name, I’m reminded of this very real reality... so many are dying without knowing Him. What am I doing about that?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about calling, about vision, about things that are not temporal, but very much eternal. This is what it’s about. It’s about remaining true to the call. You see, I have a deep conviction that EVERY person should have at least one chance to choose Jesus. I don’t know exact statistics, but I’m pretty sure there are hundreds, thousands dying EACH DAY without Jesus. That is heart-breaking to me. For more info on what we do, head over to this site: www.globaldisciples.net and if you want to be inspired visually, head over here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4chd4lZXHQ
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Nate and I have been reading a book called Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas on a recommendation from our friends Ryan and Jen. It's been a good book and we've been s.l.o.w.l.y. reading it. It's good to digest. It's not only been good and challenging for me in marriage, but also in everyday life, in ministry, and for my walk with Jesus. Right now we're reading about serving. I'm blessed with a husband who serves Benson and I very selflessly and it makes it a joy to serve him right back. But the other night we read about serving those who are not "worthy"... "The important thing to remember is that service is a spiritual discipline we owe to God, and it can only be lived out as it is applied to others. I learned long ago that God has called me to serve Him through people, regardless of whether those people are "worthy" of being served....I reach out to people because God has loved me and asked me to love others in return, not because the people I am loving are "worthy" of love or because they'll thank me for it in the end. It's not for me to mak judgments about their "worthiness". I don't know how I could do that anyway. It's for me to love God by loving others....God is always worthy of being obyed and served, so when I act out of obedience to Him, the person who receives my service doesn't have to be deserving - they're benefiting from what I owe God."

And if that wasn't enough, he goes on to talk about this...

"Jesus' example has challenged me greatly in this regard. None of the disciples deserved to have their feet washed at the Last Supper - all of them would abandon him within a few hours - yet Jesus went ahead and did it anyway (See John 13:1-17). In fact, Jesus even washed the feet of Judas, who was just hours away from betraying Him. God doesn't tell us to love only those who deserve it or to serve only those who serve us back. If you are in a one-sided marriage where you feel like you're giving and giving and never receiving, my heart goes out to you. You can partially redeem such a situation by becoming more God-oriented. Remind yourself that you are also in a situation where you can grow spiritually by leaps and bounds. If the heart of Christianity is service, any situation that shapes the spirit of a servant in you is worthwhile - even a lopsided marriage. But we need more than mere grudging acceptance of a difficult truth. Part of Christian service is performing it with a beautiful spirit."

I'm going to continue quoting... Keep reading, it gets better. Makes me want to leap to my feet and shout AMEN!

"One of the challenges of Christian virtue is living out the teaching of the Scriptures that stress the inner reality behind the external action. Jesus said we might do the right thing (give money, for instance) for the wrong reason (to show off), in which case we lose our reward (see Matthew 6:1-4). Without a doubt our service can be subject to wrong motivations...."

Lord, make me sweet! I admit, over the past number of months, I haven't been praying this little nugget as much as before because I was in SURVIVAL mode. New mom, wife, daughter of Christ, daughter, sister, friend, missionary, etc., etc. but God has made it clear to me that I need to start back up again. For a number of years I have prayed for God to make me sweet. That sounds like a cheesy prayer, I realize. But let me explain why I pray that. I want to be a sweet aroma to Him. I want to be a sweet servant. I want His name to be sweet to those who don't know Him...

Have you ever noticed when Satan convicts you, it's heavy and nasty and brutal? But when Jesus does, it's sweet and inspiring and encouraging? He's been doing that for me lately, reminding me of my need for Him to do anything remotely sweet. And I'm grateful for that conviction. I'm grateful that He loves me enough to not leave me the same tomorrow as I am today.

Philippians 2
Imitating Christ's Humility 1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Okay, I'm done with this most random post... but it's what's on my heart these days. God, the lost, my family, and a few other things thrown in. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!!

I hope today is wonderful for you - I'm glad it snowed to make things extra special -

I can't wait to see what God has in store for you this year!

I thought I'd blog a little bit about how much I appreciate the man of God Nate is...at his very young 26 years!

1. God has blessed me with a husband who is both strong and kind.
2. He is both wise and willing to admit he has a lot to learn.
3. He is capable of doing so many things and remains humble in them.
4. He loves Jesus and loves to spend time with Him, making Him a priority in his life.
5. He leads and serves us in ways that I'm pretty sure honor God. A lot.
6. He is selfless - often giving up what he would prefer to do or have for the health (and sanity sometimes) of the family.
7. He desires to be better. Not just so he can be better, but so that he can really honor God with his life.
8. He is committed to our marriage and to our family - and especially to the vows he made with me and with God on our wedding day.
9. He is such an awesome father: changing dirty diapers (which is no small feat, since we do cloth ;)), reading to, playing with, talking to, and just plain old loving on Benson. I love to watch them together.
10. He takes the trash out faithfully. This seems silly, but I really hate that job :)
11. He helps me clean.
12. He accepts me as I am (which in case you were unaware, some days, this must be very difficult ;))
13. But in that acceptance, he wants to see me be the BEST I can be. He's helping me get there.
14. He stuffs the liners into the diapers (maybe my second least favorite job).
15. He takes good care of his health
16. He carries the car seat to the car when we're together and still tries to open doors for me (even though that's harder now that we have baby and gear to lug around).
17. He doesn't just expect me to be the nurterer to our son, he believes he should be as well. And for the record, you can totally tell Benson adores him!
18. He loves his family.
19. He loves our friends.
20. He is growing in grace, in the Lord, and changing - in really good ways!
21. He is super good with finances and that makes me feel super good (because I'm not!)
22. He has eternity in his heart more than the temporal things of this earth.
23. He laughs at me. I mean with me.
24. He likes my family and friends (and if you thought I was weird... just kidding)
25. He is very, very, very responsible
26. I like the way he looks - a lot :)

BONUS: he is one of the more compassionate people I know... I really like that.

Hmm... I could go on and on. But he's not fifty, so I'll stop. :)

So, babe - HAPPY BIRTHDAY - you are LOVED!!!!

*all photo credits to Christine Limon (from our recent trip to California and Arizona, which I will blog about someday soon. I hope.)