More then I deserve....

Because I don't feel like I take enough time to focus on all the ways that God has blessed me and focus a little too much on what I want or don't have. On Sunday, Steve talked about how we have already won the lottery, I sure have...

1) my God, saviour, and friend
2) my husband who loves me unconditionally
3) my son, who brings me such joy daily
4) my mom and dad, who continue to give me more then I deserve
5) my brother and sister-in-law, they work so hard and still give so much
6) my extended family, are always there no matter what
7) my friends, some have just come into my life and others have been here for a long time, without them life would be boring and truly difficult
8) Grace
9) my house
10) food on my table and a pantry full of more then we deserve
11) clothes, more then I truly need
12) living in a country that offers me many freedoms that I would not otherwise have
13) the privilege of worshipping God freely and not being afraid of persecution
14) living in Wake County one of the richest places in the world
15) ears that can hear, music, my sons laughter, rain, the ocean, birds....
16) a voice that can praise God and speak of His goodness
17) the knowledge of His goodness
18) everything that fills my house, the stuff, that I truly don't need but have been blessed with regardless
19) my car, that I can get where I want to go without having to walk
20) my dog, Jessie
21) the ability to be at home with my son daily
22) having the knowledge of a God who is mighty to save, whom then shall I fear...
23) the ability to make a difference in the world
24) resoures to redistribute...

May I continue to be stretched and shown God's goodness and provisions! Thank you Sarah for going out and sharing his goodness to lost people in Africa! I love you and I'm so proud to call you friend and sister in Christ!

(right now I'm listening to, Mighty to Save by Hillsong, if you haven't heard it please I encourage you to listen to it!)

Rough Day

Well Isaac is in his room right now crying because he doesn't want to nap. This is the third time trying to get him to nap since his nap this morning. He's usually REALLY good about napping and sleeping in general. Hopefully this isn't a preview of what to come since he turned 7 months yesterday! So in an effort to not be frustrated about the crying I'm going to post pictures of him being so cute playing the drums with his daddy a few nights ago. In the last picture Isaac has a little drum he got from his Aunt Katie and Uncle Josh that he's playing while he watches his daddy! It really is the cutest thing!

Silence, he fell asleep! Praise God!

Self Feeding

I'm really big on getting Isaac to be independent and not feel like he always needs us. In some ways this is good and other ways I feel kind of sad. I love having him depend on me and I will be so sad when I feel like he doesn't need me anymore, although I know he will always need his mom and dad, just in a different way. There have been two times that I have let him "help" me feed himself. Once when he was eating prunes because I couldn't get him so finish them so I just let him go to town with them and then once again last night. haha! Obviously it's a VERY messy process. We just started him on "baby meats" as I like to call them. So far he loves them and most of the other fruits and vegetables but he really hates green beans and peas. I can't get him to open his mouth for peas at all and now he's starting to do the same with green beans. Actually last night every time I put a spoon full of green beans in his mouth he made this face like it was the most disgusting thing on earth (he is his father's son). Well I decided to be smart and mix the green beans with his "baby meat". I swear he is the smartest kid in the world because he could totally tell and made the same disgusted face and then wouldn't eat. So I got sick of trying and let him go to town with his food. Obviously he was covered. Jessie (our dog) found the Isaac buffet table and went to town. Isaac then had a bath immediately following which was a little early. Stephen got home from work and asked "why is he getting a bath early" so I said "because he got really messy eating". He then responded "well why do you let him get so messy" haha I had no response, I just felt like it. Messy is fun, why not embrace all that is messy now before he's messy ALL THE TIME!

Jessie with her Isaac Buffet Table

Bath time after getting messy

"So I hear you've been backyard wrestling" -Josh(my brother)

Well, I don't see mother of the year in my immediate future! Last week, I sat Isaac on the bed(our very high bed I might add) and went into the bathroom to grab something. I hear a thud and cries so I run into the bedroom and Isaac is on the floor. That's right folks Isaac fell off the bed. As soon as I picked him up he stopped crying and was fine but sheesh. Then a few days later I'm coming in the house through our garage and my mom is with me. I'm carrying Isaac into the house and my mom is behind me. I somehow trip over my own feet and bam his head hits the door jam. He still has a little bruise on the side of his head from that. Poor kid, he got his head bashed twice because of mommy just in the past week. I'm well aware that he will get hurt himself often once he starts becoming mobile, but goodness when it's my fault it's a little different. Boy I was really counting on Mother of the Year too! ;)

To My Husband

In honor of Valentines Day I want everyone(all three people that read my blog, ha) how much you mean to me and how you continue to make my dreams come true! You have given me so much in three years we have been married! God so knew what He was doing when we met 5 years ago! You are my rock, my best friend, my shoulder, my confidant, my one and only! You have blessed me with our son and to see you love him and take care of him makes me fall in love with you more and more everyday! Thank you for loving me and providing for our family! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to stay home with our son and watch him grow! Thank you for doing laundry when I don't feel like it! Thank you for doing the dishes because I haven't! Thank you for always cleaning the bathrooms because I won't! Thank you for not expecting dinner everynight and being so happy when I do make dinner! Thank you for loving me for me and never expecting me to be someone I'm not! Thank you for loving me unconditionally! Thank you for being you and always desiring the best for our family! Thank you for making the decision to leave your job, even though it means less money, so we can be together more as a family! Thank you for searching God's desire for our family in every decision you make! Thank you for respecting me as your wife and never making a decision without me! Thank you for knowing that I as a women was not taken from you foot to be under you, or your head to be over you, but from your side to be equal with you! I am blessed and honored to call you my husband! Thank you so much for living this life with me everyday! I love you from here to eternity!

Crosspointe Church

Why I love our church!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3yiCGaBGOw This clip is of the start of our Christmas Eve Service. Stephen is the third guy from the left. I love our church and the amazing things that are happening their! God is good and is so faithful in bringing us to this church family where He is teaching us so much!

Isaac's Baby Dedication

Well I mentioned in a past blog that Isaac was dedicated at the beginning of December. I just recently got the pictures from that day from my mother-in-law so I thought I would share! Hope you enjoy! The first picture was taken by my dear friend, Sarah Seay, http://www.srtphoto.com/ , she is a local photographer and did a session with Isaac and they turned out great. We used this picture on the screen when they introduced Isaac, needless to say there were a lot of "aahhhs" with this picture!

Isaac getting love from his Great Aunt Nance(nana).

Christmas pics of Isaac, just a few months late...haha

Pictures of Isaac experiencing his first Christmas. His little outfit he wore Christmas morning was from his Great Grandpa Carl and Great Grandma Sandy!

I mean he is the cutest Santa I've ever seen and he sure had a belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly!

God's Plans

The opening of Stick Boy went really well and they have continued to do better each day they are open. Today they are closed so I'm hoping Josh and Katie are getting some good rest! Katie has been at the bakery since open to close since Thursday, so obviously she's exhausted. We're just praying that the business will continue to grow at this rate!

Stephen still hasn't heard from Jon Lloyd Band but I was on their myspace page today and saw they had a drummer listed and it's not Stephen. So that's really disappointing. First because they didn't contact him and tell him but second just because of obvious reasons. I'm just trying to remember that God must have bigger things for our family and I need to hold onto that. I just hope and pray that something comes along soon for Stephen to express his passion of drums and I hope it's in a way that he can support our family with. It really is a dream for us both for this to happen.

Yet another great Sunday at Crosspointe. I can't say enough how much I love our church! It's the first time in my life that I really look forward to Sunday's!

God is good and continues to show me that His plans are not always mine but He knows what's best for us.