It's Happening Again

 

Well it's October...again. And Emersen Reese just turned TWO! It's simply crazy that it's been two years since that giant baby came into our lives. It's been totally fun and more amazing than I could have imagined. It's also been filled with anxiety and stress - such is life as a parent.  

 

I'm including the pictures from October 19th, Emersen's actual birthday. Our stay included a Starbucks date for Em and Mommy. Then we went to Storytime at the library, which she loves. That evening, she opened presents and we sang to her. Finally, we went out to eat with Granna and GiGi at McAllister's (which is WAY yummy).

 

 

 

We got her an I SPY book of small letters.

 

 

And we got her a game - you roll the squishy dice for a color, then choose a card of that color that has an activity (counting, colors, animal noises, emotions, actions) on it for you to do. She loves it. It's super cute and fun.

 

 

This is Em's newest and extremely annoying habit - hands in her mouth. We can't get her to stop.

 

 

And this is my sweet little girl. Sweetest of the sweet. I just keep telling myself that when she acts like a "normal" two year old. The new habits/two year old behaviors have been a bit stressful. I had a mommy meltdown about two weeks ago. The behaviors were exacerbated by a week home with her sick and then recovering from being sick. It included being inside, in our living room, with the tv on, for the majority of the time. The result was a devil child by the end of the week. This led to me and Emersen in the kitchen crying. And hindsight can allow me to thank God for the rough week because it took me down to the point of complete surrender. I was crying and praying while Emersen cried because I didn't have anything else to give. So she went to bed. I took a shower where shower and tears blended together. Finally, I laid in the hammock and ate my late lunch and read a book. Meanwhile, after a teary phone call to Wes, he recruited his parents to have some Emmy-time that night while we went out to do nothing. The next day I had to be in Louisville for a wedding and 10 hours of intense wedding coordination was just the distraction that I needed. And some sleep in a well made bed (by my mama) and relaxation set me up for good start that Monday. More activities, more quiet time, almost no TV, library time, playing with friends, etc. Someone once talked about how Satan's greatest tool is isolation. And I experienced the effects of isolation and not seeing the big picture. Focusing on how big God is allows a bigger picture view which helps me deal with anxiety.

 

Anyway, that's a lot for one post, but I'm slow at posting these days so I gotta get it all in! I just wanted to share things with people because I know that I often feel weak and not super-mom enough compared to others. But the comparison should always be to God's standards, which we all fall short of but have reconciliation of that when we surrender to Christ. I know the things that worry me or give me anxiety PALE in comparison to what others are going through. I also know that God uses many things and experiences to mold me to be more like Him. Sometimes, I begrudingly accept that fact and other times I relish it.

 

Last but not least - at her two year check up Emersen weighed 31 lbs (91st percentile) and was 36 1/2 inches tall (97th percentile). She's healthy, eh? Praise the Lord.

Look at that Face

 

Sweet face is sick right now and we're short on sleep. I'm catching up a bit on things now since we were out of town all weekend too. I truly despise this time of year with all the sickness. It makes you not want to be in public or crowds for all the germs! Sheesh.

 

October is proving to be a busy one already. I assisted on a wedding last weekend and will do it again this weekend. Then the next two weekends we will be celebrating Em's birthday. Her SECOND birthday!

 

I'll try to stay caught up and add pics as we go! Stay well!

All Things Are Ready

I have received a reminder email from the company that I get free books from and then do reviews on the books...because I have let the two months go by since requesting the book. WHAT? TWO MONTHS? Seriously, where has the time gone?

Anyway, I requested this book called All Things Are Ready because it's a Christian Wedding Planner. And I was just getting started with Weekend Wedding Warrior so thought it would be good research as well as a different perspective on the planning.

I was pleasantly impressed with the content of the book as it pushes brides to consider aspects of marriage in addition to the items that make up the wedding day. In my experience thus far in wedding coordination, I can say there are some marked differences between the journey Wes and I took from dating to marriage and those brides and grooms I've encountered thus far. With that said, the format and message of this book would have been helpful at the time of our wedding planning. Many brides and grooms, but mostly brides, are focused on the big day. The astronomical costs of weddings indicates this a little bit. Obviously, I'm of the belief that you do it big when something is important and deserves attention - thus a wedding a big party! Big is relative for all of us, of course.

The book, binder really, includes the traditional categories for wedding planning as well as some advice giving sections. The author even includes some sections to be handed over to the groom and other pertinent family members to help communicate your goals for your day and life.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid the packaging of this book will limit it's appeal to the masses of Christian brides. I can guarantee you that I would overlook this book if I saw it on the shelves. It looks a bit traditional. I like the traditional components of a wedding but I wouldn't describe myself as traditional. So I would pass on this resource. I wish that it would be packaged differently for this reason!

 

Anyway, tell any Christian brides you know about it and tell her to ignore the cover. And of course, remember that I get the books I review for free for bookcrash.com in exchange for chatting about it on the blog!



What Is Your Giant?

This past Sunday, the Pastor preached on Purpose in Passion in our current series which is called No Perfect People Allowed. The mission of our church is to help everyone we can find their place in God's plan. As Christians, we know that God created each of us in the image of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We also know He created us on purpose and for a purpose. Given that I'm a child of God, my obvious purpose is to live for God and to please God. But beyond that, and by looking in the Bible, we see that people from all social classes, genders, educational backgrounds and even various moral failures are used by God for His purposes. 

Back to this Sunday, Pastor Josh was preaching from 1 Samuel 17, on a very familiar Bible story of David and Goliath. David heard about the giant and ASKED who would fight him. As a teenager and shepherd, and the youngest of three brothers, David was doubted in his ability. But, Saul who had taken favor with David overheard David saying he would fight the giant and summoned him. He also doubted David, but David was confident in his calling and ability to fulfill it and convinced Saul. However, Saul still didn't really trust his ability and put his own tunic on David & gave him his sword to prepare him for the fight. David said, "no thanks," to Saul's equipment saying:

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

David goes on to explain to the Philistine giant Goliath that the Lord will deliver him into his hands. Call it holy smack talk if you will. And then he takes out a stone, puts it in his sling shot and with one shot, he kills the giant dead.

Pastor Josh went on to give his points of application, as it applies to us pursuing God's call on our life for purpose and try to do something great. One, there will be people to question your motives. Two, people will question your abilities. And three, people will try and shift your faith focus. All three happened to David. His own brothers questioned his motives and ability, Saul and Goliath questioned his ability, and Saul tried to shift his faith focus by trying to get David to do it Saul's way - with his tunic and sword. In verses 38-40, David knew he didn't need extra belp because he had faith in God while Saul didn't have the same faith.

I struggled a little bit with the premise that questioning motives and ability were bad. Come on, who wouldn't have questioned the THIRTEEN (give or take) year old boy who just watched sheep that wanted to fight a giant without a legitimate weapon? But that's also the message I take away from the story. Stop being skeptical and questioning of everything. Know that God is God and if something is initiated by Him and is part of His plan, it doesn't matter the circumstances, it will go His way. In reality, this should be a huge comfort and stress relieving idea. David gets it. And David conquers a giant and gains notoriety. Saul becomes jealous of David later and even tries to kill him. But David goes on to become a king, and in God's own words "a man after His own heart." We also know that David had some grave shortcomings as a human, but as our series title, No Perfect People Allowed suggests, God can use us at our worst. He just won't leave us there.

Pastor Josh left us with a question we should dare to ask. If money weren't an issue, failure not an option, and you could do anything and succeed, what would it be? That's the passion in question and with that passion, God can give you a purpose. Most of us probably haven't given it much thought because money is always an issue, failure always a fear and we don't know if we will succeed because we define success in the world's terms rather than God's terms which is just obedience to Him. Think about it.