Prep-2

Patience- oh how I struggle with thee!! It's so funny how patience is such a crucial part of preparation. So often God shows us what He has for us and the time between Him showing us and the actual time to take the step can feel like an eternity! If you are anything like me you hear God and just are ready to run. But often times God wants to teach us some things through the process of getting us to where He has for us.

I have found that at times He has things that He wants us to deal with before moving forward. Sometimes I would rather move on then deal with an issue. But the truth is that as long as we are not willing to face those issues they could present themselves later on at a time when they could truly hurt us or the call God has on us.

There are also times that its not issues holding us back but order. God wants things put in order so that He can move us forward. I know that there have been times when I've thought 'God I'll get that in order when _____ (you can fill that in)'. But again God wants us to take the time to bring order. So many times we are worried about 'missing' Him or the call He has on us. When we take the time to get things in order He can put us on the execrated program if He needs to.

Moral of the story, seek Him above all else, deal with anything and everything that He shows you, and rest in Him. Be fully convinced that as you stay faithful to His leading and keep Him first you will be where you need to be, when you need to be there, and you will have all that you need to in order to accomplish all that He has for you.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

~Matthew 6:33

Resting in the Preparation - Part 1

In the last blog I talked about God preparing us and not forgetting what He has promised. There were many times in the last few years that I did not handle my preparation well- at all! When I started setting aside what God had showed me it was because I was overwhelmed. I could not understand how God could possibly pull it all together. I felt like I was this huge mosaic with nothing coming together to make a picture!

We had always asked God to lead my steps but the place that we thought He was taking us we were no where near- yet we still knew we had followed His leading. My question was always how are you going to pull this all together and why have we gone through what we have if you are not going to pull it all together?

I really lost my confidence in Him and what He had promised. But the good news is it didn't change His plan. There were some things that Ryan and I really wanted clear guidance on and almost wanted God to show us why some things had happened. And God was gracious enough to do so, not cause He had to or cause He owed it to us, simply because He was gracious and loved us.

Ryan and I re-established some things the we had let slip in our relationship with God. We never ran away from God, but because deep down we felt let down; we allowed a gap between us and God.

So, let me encourage you to RUN after God. He can handle your questions, your concerns, and even your fear. Be honest with Him and let it flow out of you. A pastor once told me that I needed to yell at God! And I almost couldn't believe it. But he told me that there were things in me (mainly disappointments) that I had to let God deal with and most importantly He told me God could handle it! Imagine that, God can handle me! The release that comes from just being honest with God is AMAZING. He knows it all anyways, but He wants relationship and wants to hear it from us. I'm sure we all know that our spouse loves it but we still LOVE to hear it.

The summary is this run after God, bridge any gap by just being honest with Him. He can handle you and more importantly He wants to! And remember He is faithful.

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. ~ 2 Timothy 2:13

Dream On!!

Oh it's been too long since my last blog. I have been locked out of my own account and have just now gained access!!

There has been much happening in our lives over the past 2 months. We are at a very exciting time in our life. Ryan and I have both really put aside so many things that God showed us that He has for us. We did this for many reasons. The main one being that our brains could only handle so much! We have literally had six kids in three years! It has been a GREAT thing but it has taken every ounce of energy.

Another major reason is we thought God had forgotten! How silly was that? But how many times do we do that? God shows us something and because it takes years for us to see it come to past we think He has forgotten. When in reality He has just been preparing us all along. God is a faithful God and I want to encourage you that just because you don't 'see' what He has showed or promised that does NOT mean it is not 'in the works'. Trust Him, seek Him, and rely on Him. He is faithful and will not leave you 'unfinished'.

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. ~ Phil 1:6

Are you them, I think not!

God has been working on me for some time about using others' standards to measure myself against rather than His. In some ways I don't struggle with this at all and in other ways its a daily battle.

I have been so blessed with friends who are just AMAZING parents and I often look at how they do things with more than a healthy awe or respect. God does not put people in our life to condemn us or cause us to feel like we are not good enough. If we are feeling that way it may have NOTHING to do with the other person but rather about how we feel deep down about ourself. No one is the perfect parent, no one has the perfect children and we all have different callings.

I often remind myself when I start studying another parent, and thinking they have it all together that they probably do FOR THEM and there is nothing wrong with that. God has not called me to do what my friends are doing. He has only asked me to do what He has called me to do.

The reality of that works both ways. If I find myself being haughty or judgmental I remind myself that God has called them for something different and the way that I parent might be what He has shown me for my kids is not for everyone.

I do believe that we can learn from one another and there is a healthy medium to everything that only God's Spirit within you can balance.

Trust Him always and in all things!! You're calling is special don't cloud your vision with others' visions. As we seek God He with CLEARLY reveal to us all things to do what He has called us to do.

'In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.' ~ Proverbs 3:6

Are you listening?

I am just so blessed at how God is so willing to teach us if we are just willing to listen. He can work with the busiest of schedules and in the midst of lots of stuff- He wants to be a part of ALL of our activities.

The last few days have been busier in our house cause my littlest angel has not been feeling well and is congested. And my 2 yr old and one of my 3 yr olds have colds. So, as a mom things have been busier- up a little more at night, more bathes to clear stuffy noses, and lots of cuddling. Needless to say my Bible time has been harder to come by. But even in the midst of all of that God has been speaking to me, teaching me, strengthening me, and giving me topics for my next blog-haha.

Mylee is an incredibly happy baby and a total joy. But she like any child hits this point when she is all done and she just wants mommy! It often frustrates my husband cause he can be holding her doing the same thing I would do and it doesn't work! I will take her from him and within minutes she calms down.

I have found that the key in calming her is talking to her- my voice calms her. There is often lots of activity and noise in our house yet when I hold her and whisper in her ear she calms down. And God was teaching/speaking to me today while I was calming her- that is EXACTLY what He wants to be for us! No matter what noise, voice, or situations are around us He wants us to tune into Him. That means we have to choose to stop our own yelling and the yelling around us to hear Him. Mylee will still be crying when I take her and I allow her to get in out of her system and continue to talk to her and she slowly goes from screaming to whimpering to little baby sniffles. It's so funny cause often times God will allow us to fuss and scream and will keep trying to reach us and we have to allow ourselves to calm down and here what He is saying.

He is so faithful and will continue to try to reach us. I encourage you all to allow Him to teach you throughout, and expect Him to become apart of your days- no matter how little time you have in your day.

~Psalms 25:5 "Guide me in your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for you [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long."

Tackling To Do Lists- Successfully!!

I am one of those people who just loves to accomplish things. It truly brings me joy to clean my house. I LOVE order. When my house gets messy and there are piles of various things around I don't function at 100%. Some people can operate well in a mess but I am not one of them!

The trick for me is how to get things done with my little ones here with me and still give them 'mommy time'. So below are some things that I have found to be helpful.

~ Remember that raising your kids is the most important thing you will do! There have been times that I thought it was important to vacuum the floor. But my little man came and asked me to play and the vacuum got put on the back burner. And I was on the floor playing cars. It made my day as much as his.

~ I really try to get the kids involved in helping keep order in the house. Even my 2 and 3 year olds help by clearing their napkins and cups from the table. Kids LOVE to help, especially little ones so use that to help!

~ Quick clean ups throughout the day keep from things becoming out of control. I love 5 minute clean ups. They really help keep my sanity.

~ Prep work really helps! If there is anything that can be done ahead of schedule do it.

~ Pray while making your list, ask God to direct what you need to tackle and when. When God brings order it sticks! Include Him in all you do- I still have to practice this but its getting easier and easier.

~ Make a list and only put 3-5 things on it. If you put much more you will become overwhelmed and end up accomplishing nothing.

~ I have found that making a 'To do list' for each day of the week really helps me. It helps to put your week into order. There may be an appointment or a bill that needs to be paid that you have forgotten about.

~ Sit down at the beginning of the week to review and set goals. If you don't map out where you want to go the circumstances will control you.

~ Its also super important to remember there may be days when things just don't get done - IT'S OK!! Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities for success. Don't allow yourself to become consumed with what you didn't get done- focus on what you did get done.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely , whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise think on these things. Phil 4:8

Focus on the good but always strive for better!

What to do when you're not sure what to do.

I was experiencing one of those 'mom/wife days' the other day where I was just frustrated. Our whole family was battling a mean stomach bug and I was emotional, physically, and spiritually drained. I called a good friend and just shared some of my frustrations. In the mists of this stomach bug and kids puking, I was struggling with parenting one of my children.

Ever have a child give you a hard time no matter how or what you do to discipline and instruct them? Well I have found that my children all seem to go through cycles they just take turns as to which one will need special attention. I was sharing this with my good friend and she confirmed some of what God was dealing with me about. God has really been dealing with me about asking Him how to do things. When I encounter a challenge as a parent how is it that I sometimes forget to ask Him how to face it? So often I think we forget to ask God what to do and that is just silly. Who better to ask on how to deal with your child than his/her maker? If your vacuum breaks you wouldn't call a plumber; you would want a repair person who deals with vacuums.

I was greatly encouraged following my conversation with my friend. It doesn't mean that my child has suddenly become a saint with outstanding behavior all the time, it just means that God is now showing me how to discipline in ways that will work for that particular child. I have six children and each one needs to be dealt with differently, thank God for His wisdom for raising them. If I didn't have access to His wisdom I could easily become overwhelmed.

He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us ALL things? ~ Romans 8:32

Mylee Has Arrived!!!

Our new baby has arrived!! She has captured our hearts. We went into delivery with a name all picked out and ready to go, Mylee Grace. Each time we have named our children there has been a reason behind their names. Often times their names reflecting a lesson that God was teaching us at the time.

Raina Joy- her name's base was rain which means abundant blessings from above which is just what she is to us. Joy is self explanatory. When we were expecting Raina God was really working with me on what true joy was and where true joy was from. He showed me that all I needed was Him, everything else was just extra.

With our adopted children we chose to change only there middle and last names when we adopted them. Our reasoning for that was we felt it was important for them to feel connected to us and share our last name. The middle names that we chose for them represented those in our lives who helped shape who Ryan and I had become. Some of who were our greatest supporters through our journey of adoption. Kia's and Dea's middle names were changed to my sisters' middle names. Kia Rae for my sister Kayla Rae and Deamante Jillian for my sister Alexandra Jillian. The girls think its great that they share names with Titi and Aunty. Johnny's middle name was changed to Caesar after a man who actually lead Ryan's parents to the Lord and who meant a great deal to Ryan. He went home to be with the Lord before Ryan and I even were courting.

Tobias means God is good and Isaac (his middle name) means he who laughs. We were going through a really rough time when I was pregnant and I really felt God reminding me through it all who He was and He is good! That is who He is and everything in Him is good and what He wants for us is only good! And well we always like to confess good things over our kids so why not star with their names? So, I wanted a happy boy so he who laughs was fitting and let me tell you he is one happy little guy.

So we really thought that Mylee Grace was the name. Mylee means smiley and again wanted to confess good things and thought the name was cute. And God was working with me on accepting grace and giving it, so we thought we were set-but there were lots God was showing us. During her delivery God proved to us (as He has been this whole year!) His faithfulness. Labor was very intense with Mylee and very quick 3 hours from the time we arrived at the hospital till the time she was born. But as we were getting ready to push the midwife realized that she was face up and I was having a hard time delivering her. The midwife and nurses also were needing to treat me with antibiotics during delivery to prevent a bacteria being passed to the baby. As we were pushing there were times Mylee's heart rate would drop a little and I was getting concerned, but God had it all under control!! She was delivered with no damage/injury to her or I. They told us that they weren't sure how I could have delivered her that usually when a baby presents face up the mother ends up having a c-section and if the mother is able to deliver the baby's face is severely bruised. And neither of theses things happened, Praise the Lord.

After deliver Ryan and I were sitting and talking about God's faithfulness not just in the delivery but in our life, specifically, over the last year. So, it was at that point that we decided to change her middle name to Faith to consistently remind us of His faithfulness.

I just want to encourage parents to looking into the meaning of names before you name your children. As parents you will be using their names A LOT I encourage you to find one that means something good. I always ask God what it is He think a child should be named. I really think its important.

;-) Welcome Mylee Faith!!!