24 Oct 2012

31Days: New Home (Day 24)

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In early October we moved from a 1700+ square foot townhome into a 900ish sq ft apartment.  Needless to say, 2/3 of our beloingings are at someone else’s home being stored for the time being.
I saw this sentence “we’ve been duped into believing that perfection is the ultimate goal of our homes” on the Nester’s blog from a few weeks ago.  It kinda hit me about our new temporary home.
E’s need for cleanliness and orderliness has rubbed off on me.  Growing up, our home was only clean and decluttered 5 minutes after the cleaning ladies left or 5 minutes before company came.  I didn’t mind living like that.  But now I do.
And, no, with a newborn, our home is not spotless and tidy.  But, I do try to do the laundry and the dishes every day.  I try to make the bed every morning, partly because I know it will bless my husband.
But, other than that – that’s about all I have time or energy for.  We can strive, for being good stewards of what we’ve been given – not for perfection.
23 Oct 2012

31Days: New Goal (Day 23)

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my former rooms did NaNoWriMo the past years.  She didn’t have too much of a social life during the month of November, but she did get a lot of writing done.

Well, if one of my goals and dreams is to write books – I guess I better start.

So, for the month of November, I will be posting on this blog, but only from the excerpts of what I am writing.  I will be working on my study on James.  I have the chapters already marked out – and the intro mostly done, so I just gotta get to it.

The goal for NaNoWriMo is 50k words – they don’t have to be perfect, you edit later.  So, here we go! 🙂

22 Oct 2012

31Days: New Thoughts on Compassion

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My pastor is about to wind up a series on Jonah.  True, we’ve only caught one of the sermons, but yesterday was a bit on compassion.  My hubs chose to put in Compassion Hymn into the service and it fit perfectly.

As I thought about who I needed to show compassion to, I thought to my sweet little boy (and husband).  Since I am not a covenantal thealogian (meaning, I do not believe that simply because Eric and I are elect believers that our son is one as well), I believe that my son is lost.  He needs Jesus.  I need to show him compassion.  I need to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit to him: patience, gentleness, kindess, etc.

I also need to show comapssion on my husband.  I am not the only one who has gone through my change.  He seldom gets more than 7 hours of sleep in a row.  He doesn’t have a really clean house anymore (I’m working on that schedule).  He started a new ministry in a new state.  He needs his wife to show him compassion just as he has been gracious to show much of it to me.

22 Oct 2012

31Days: New Church Attender (day 21)

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Our little boy had his first day in church yesterday.  If you are a long time reader of this blog, you know I’ve had several discussions about kids in worship, etc.  I’ve battled with it in my head after having Eli, but I know this to be good for us.

Eric leads the worship – musical part. We stay in there.  Little e loves sounds just like his daddy and yesterday he was asleep through it.  I got to be in there as well!

Then shortly after the preaching started, he was stirring then I knew he needed changing, so i took him to the nursing moms room.  What a great blessing that is at BCLR.  There is a flat screen so we can watch the service, there is water and snacks and other moms in there as well so we can have fellowship if we are in there for an extended period of time.

We had Lord’s Supper yesterday and little E and I got back in there just in time for that.  What a blessing it was.

I think “man, I’d love to just sit with my husband and worship” – but little e is a part of our family as well.  He needs to see us worship, hear us worship, and learn how to worship too!

20 Oct 2012

31Days: Another New Life Verse (Day 20)

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Many verses are having a new impact on my heart and actions this month – my first of having sweet e here with us.

Phil 2.14a: Do all things without grumbling.

This goes for midnight, or 2am, or 5am feedings.  This goes for not complaining when my husband gets home a little late from the office.  This means not complaining when I don’t get much sleep one night.  This means not complaining when I don’t get to go out as much as I did.  This means not complaining that the w/d in our small apt is SO much smaller than our one in NC.  This means not complaining that we’ve gone from a 1750 sq townhome to a 900 sq ft apt and don’t know how long we’ll be here.

I know how nasty grumbling and complaining can sound – it is not pretty.  It doesn’t make a heart look pretty either!

20 Oct 2012

31Days: New Month Day 19

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Our sweet little boy turned a month old on Friday!  Yay!

He is still crying and gives me some sleep at night.  The most we have slept is 6 hours in a row.  He loves to walk around with someone (of course he can’t walk yet).  He is making all sorts of sounds and we love laughing and trying to mimick all of his cute little faces!  Days are hard – but we also laugh!  Thankful for this little joy and can’t wait till he continues to grow (and maybe potty trains early!

We went to his first pumpkin patch to celebrate!  Enjoy the pictures!

18 Oct 2012

31Days: New Book (day 18)

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I haven’t had a lot of time to read since having Elijah, but definitely wanted to read this one.  I love everything Kevin DeYoung.  I know, call me a groupy or what have you.  But, I forward many of his blogs to my husband who is a worship pastor.  One of our goal trips is to go to his church for a Sunday to see how they do reformed worship.  Just not in the winter, because its cold in Michigan.  But, maybe when I go there I can hook up with Pretties By Meg who is a great blogger/jewelry designer!

Anyway…this book called The Hole in our Holiness  is much along the lines of Pursuing Godliness or Respectable Sins or Holiness.  All good books and all hard books to read because reading it makes you examine your life and how you live.

I remember reading Mortification of Sin by Owen back in 2007 and a pastor friend of mine said I wasn’t allowed to read any more puritans till I read a book on grace and the cross.

I think Kevin DeYoung does a good job here of combining the two.  Not wanting us to rely on works for our salvation – he reassures us of our place in Christ.  But, also not wanting us to err on the side of lawlessness, he reminds us that the Bible says to be like God for He is holy.

One sentence toward the beginning of the book sets the tone of the work required for the rest of the book: “holiness is plain hard work and we are often lazy.” (pg 19)

Throughout the book he reminds us of grace but also that we have imperatives that we will obey if we abide in Christ.  Powerful reading if you want to examine your life.

18 Oct 2012

31Days: New Prayers (17)

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Sorry this didn’t get posted yesterday – my host server or something was having issues and I couldn’t get on here to write!

I pray many new prayers and more often than I did before I was a mother.  They aren’t as long and written down as they were before, but they are more aloud:

1.  Lord, Help!

2.  Lord, I don’t have the strength.

3.  Lord, please Help!

4.  Lord, give me grace and strength to love this little boy today.

Those were all last night – and out loud!

Knowing and resting in that He is a God who hears and answers our prayers!

16 Oct 2012

31Days: New Birchbox (16)

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I heard about Birchbox on The Small Things Blog and was intrigued, especially because I was about to be not-pregnant and wanted to do more with my hair and makeup and style.  Something new!

You have to wait for an invitation so I waited and it finally arrived, shortly after we arrived in LR.  Here is my first box:

Luna Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar: These were not new to me.  I ate them some (lemon, oh so yummy) when I was running a lot when I lived in Louisville or the early days back in Raleigh.  The texture is good, taste is good (not at good as Reece’s though) and I gave the rest to my hubs.

Viva La Juicy Le Fleur Couture perfume: I love trial sizes of perfume.  It allows you to try it without buying a whole bottle – then maybe not liking it.  My hubs is always the deciding factor on the perfume I wear…he said this was “I like it.” – Not too convincing, but I’ll keep it.  It was light – not too strong.

Vitivia: These are colorful fun vitamins that you break open and use on your skin.  Can’t we all use better skin? Especially as fall comes and we get into a new season – we need to thik about changing up our skincare.  The good thing about this line is it tells you when to use these vitamins for the best results.  Especially for non-vitamin skincare users like me.

Jouer Lip Enhancer: I tried this on yesterday and liked how it wasn’t gloopy or sticky.  This takes time to see how it enhances – but it would also work well as a lipgloss with no color.

Mary-Lou Manizer Balm: I’ve never used a highlighing balm – but as I age and have more wrinkles and more dull facial skin in general – I need to start experimenting with these.

And that is one of my main reasons for gettin Birchbox – more fun things to experiment with!

15 Oct 2012

31Days: New Year of Life (15)

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Today begins a new year of life: no, not for me – for my brother.

I have an older brother.  He is 14 months older than me.  Things I love about him:

1.  His sense of sarcasm (most of the time)

2.  His ability to write so much better than me.

3.  The fact that our English teacher in high school liked him better than me (ok, maybe I don’t particular love that, just a fun fact).

4.  His love for the water (especially, the Suwannee River)

5.  He can cook the best steak I’ve ever had.

6.  He got me to like wine.  He is now into home-brewing, but I’m definitely not a beer drinker.

7.  He cares for his dogs really well – and fosters dogs too.

Happy Birthday Big Brother.  Go enjoy the water for me and a good steak!