Proud moment!

SO... I've never been able to fold a fitted sheet. It's always a huge mess and never fits well in my linen closet. It's always just a mess. Until... have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest lately? I saw a post that showed you how to fold a fitted sheet, and then another post about how you can fit your entire folded sheet set into 1 pillowcase, and voila...

Lo and behold... proof that it's possible! This is a queen size fitted sheet, top sheet and pillowcase, all folded into the other pillowcase. It's the simple things in life that make me happy!! I'm finding the cotton sheets fold up better than my flannel ones, but whatever! :-)

Fear Factor

I just finished a wonderful bible study on the book The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith, and I'm currently working through the devotional Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyers, and they are both fabulous and wonderfully convicting. :-) However, I've found myself getting hit pretty hard over the last couple of months on the topic of worrying, and I'm realizing more and more, it's one of my biggest strongholds, rooted in my issue of fear.

The other day, I read a definition of worry as "tormenting oneself with disturbing thoughts." Yep, that's pretty much what I do! I've always been a worrier, and I think I've accepted it as a part of my identity. I've taken it too lightly, and just excused it as "it's what I do". I've always viewed it as annoying, but relatively harmless. But as today's devotion pounded in the point that worrying is a SIN, it's starting to sound a little more ugly than what I've made it out to be in the past. It's basically calling God a liar, and saying that He can't handle whatever it is that I'm stressed about. I wouldn't dare say to God He's a liar, but sadly that's what I do every time I let worry take over. I'm realizing more and more that I'm really good at bringing pointless stress into my life. I often find myself worrying about potential problems, ones that will most likely NEVER even happen, and I rob myself of the peace and joy of my present moment. And sadly, my worrying often robs my husband of it, too, because my worrying becomes a burden to him, as well.

I know in my heart that God loves me and cares for everything that concerns me. Unfortunately, my mind doesn't always line up with that truth. My identity is in God, and since worrying is not a character of God, it should not be a character of mine (even if I try to make it one). I'm a child of the Father, He abides in me, and when He died for my sins (my worrying included), He took the power of that sin away in my life. It should not have power and influence in my life. Worrying is nothing but the devil, knowing my weaknesses, pushing buttons and planting seeds of doubt and fear in my mind. Sad thing is, he doesn't have to do much, all he has to do is plant one tiny seed of doubt and my mind takes it from there, making it a much bigger issue. And the more I focus on my problems (or the potential for problems), the larger they become.

God keeps bringing to mind a devotion I had many years ago, I was working through the Old Testament and was studying the Israelites. I found myself getting so frustrated with them, for all their grumbling and complaining, and worrying about what they were going to eat while out in the wilderness. I was so annoyed at how quickly they forgot about everything God had already done for them... they witnessed all the plagues, which led to their freedom out of slavery. They saw God open up the Red Sea for them to cross and flee from Pharaoh's army. And even though their doubt & disobedience landed them in the wilderness for 40 years, God never left their side and provided mannah and quail for them to eat. Hello?! God never stopped taking care of them!! How could they forget all these things?! Then God nudged me and told me I was an Israelite. Dang it.

Every time I start worrying about something, I get so focused on my circumstances, whether it's made-up or not, and I immediately forget about everything God has done for ME in the past. It's like I forget every promise in God's word... that's He'll never leave or forsake me (Heb 13:5), that He watches over everything that concerns me (Ps 55:22, 1 Pet 5:70), that He promises to work all things out for the good of those that love Him (that's me) and are called according to His purposes (Rom 8:28), that He has a plan for my life, not to harm me, but for good, giving me a future and hope (Jer 29:11)... need I go on?! These are all truths that I know in my heart, but my mind tends to forget all too quickly.

I know fear & worrying is a stronghold, but I also know that my God is a BIG God and no issue of mine is too big for Him to deal with. God says be anxious for nothing... and I'm sick of letting the devil get the best of me in this area. It's not going to happen overnight, but I pray that God will keep nudging me every time I start acting like an Israelite. I pray that He will continue to show me when I start slipping in this area and give me the strength to kick the devil out the front door. I desire the promises of God, I desire joy and peace in my life... and I refuse to let the devil steal it from me any longer! I also realize that things might not always work out as beautifully as I wish, and bad things can and will still happen... but that doesn't mean God forgot about me, or doesn't love me. But He will carry me through those times, and He will hold me in His arms, comfort me and wipe away my tears. His love never fails and His peace can prevail... even through difficult times. And for that, I'm truly thankful.

The year of the CRAFT!

So, thanks to my new addiction to Pinterest, I've developed the need to be "crafty". I find it ironic that I had the Queen of Craft (seriously, you have NO idea) available to me with all her wisdom, resources and creativity at my fingertips for 15 yrs. and it's not until I move 4 hrs. away that I feel the need to craft. I guess, it's the same way she felt the need to pick up running, after me and my lonely-running-self moved those lovely 4 hrs. away. No bitterness here tho! :-) Anyway, I've decided to do 12 crafty projects in 2012. I really want to decorate our house for all the holidays but it's not in the budget to buy things, so I'm hoping to find some cheap crafts, and add to the collection each year!

I found some cute Christmas decorations on Pinterest, and over Christmas vaca in KS, I took full advantage of my Dad's shop and his fabulous skills! He cut me some wood blocks and sanded them, then I stained them and came home and created these with a little scrapbook paper and Mod Podge...

I also have blocks cut & stained to create F-A-I-T-H to stay up all year, I just have to pick the paper. I also plan to create L-O-V-E for Valentine's next year!

I've also gotten back into crocheting. Once again, Pinterest showed me some cute hats for babies, so I intended to make a hat for my friend Stacy's daughter, Vivian. Well, it ended up fitting me... and I now have 4 new hats and cute infinity scarf! Vivian's hat... still a work in progress! :-)

Thanks to Violet, I also am working on a copy-cat craft from her house... a string of felt hearts for Valentine's Day. I'll post a pic of that once it's complete. I can't seem to ever finish the craft before the actual holiday, but I will be all set for 2013!!! Haha!!

I'm BAAAACCCKKK!!!!

So after a little blogging hiatus... and a HUGE addiction to Pinterest, and therefore browsing a lot of cool blogs... I've decided to get back into blogging! YEAH!! Truthfully, I've missed it. But the OCD in me felt as if I had to back-track, catch up before moving forward, without missing a single memory. Well, that's just not going to happen. Just thinking about it was overwhelming, and the longer I waited, the more overwhelming it became. So instead of missing any new memories, or God-shaped thoughts, or random ramblings... I'm just going to start up now, and take it day by day!

And because I don't like to post without a picture... I have to share this one! This is one of my favorites of Mason from last week!! I laugh every time I see this pic, because it reminds me of a time with my BFF Violet back in Vancouver, WA. We were in the parking lot of Target and we saw this little girl, who obviously dressed herself that morning and we got the biggest chuckle out of it. This was before we were moms, and even wives for that matter. This pic of Mas reminds me of that little girl... with his mismatched shirt, pajama pants and crazy slippers. Best part is, I can't blame him for putting it together... it was all me! It was just one of those lazy days!! :-)

Look who's 1!!

My baby turned 1!! We had a pretty low-key day, since he was having a party on Saturday. God gave us a beautiful day, so when Daddy came home from work, we headed to the park! We wanted to get some good family time in before heading to YoungLife that evening. We ran into our friends Chanti & Sidonia at the park, so Mason got a bday pat from his friend Sidonia!! :-) He's been walking for a couple of weeks, but never outside, and never with shoes, so it took him awhile to actually take steps... he stood there in one place for a really long time, but once he got the hang of picking up his feet, he was off!!

Taking a quick break on Daddy's knee... walking in bark chips is hard work! :-)

Getting to the other side...

One of my devotions this week was from Mark 4:35-40 when Jesus calmed the storm for his disciples. Our church is currently going through a "storm" so-to-speak. We recently brought in some leaders from our region to assess our church, and help us get out of our so-called rut and give us recommendations for how we can better serve the lost in our community, as well as disciple and help our own members grow in their relationship with Christ. While some are excited for the change and possibility of transformation, others are a little more resistant to the idea of change. It's difficult to change a routine that you've been doing for so long, I think we can all relate to that. But at the same time, I truly believe that God has called our church to "go to the other side" like Mark 4:35 says. God has a plan for our church and it requires movement. And although these tough changes can seem like a huge storm, hitting us from every direction, knocking us off our routine, we can't let Satan fool us in thinking the storm is bad and we should just avoid it. Satan doesn't WANT us to get to the other side... he doesn't WANT us to reach God's plan for us. He doesn't want us to grow stronger in our spiritual walks through small groups, where we can pray and encourage one another, and help keep each other accountable. He doesn't want us to change things up to be more attractive to those that don't know Christ in our community. Satan wants us to stay comfortable, complacent and stroll along without challenges or growth in our spiritual maturity. Satan knows the good that God wants to do in and through our church and will do whatever he can to discourage us from following God to the other side.

BUT, we have to remember that we have Jesus on board! And what Satan wants us to think of as a storm, is still in God's control, and is something that He has allowed for our faith to be strengthened. Spiritual progress isn't easy. We have to stay close to Him and keep praying for His will to be done in our lives and in our church's. And as we keep our eyes on Him and not the storm around us, God will calm the storm and we will soon find ourselves on the other side with a faith stronger than before, a renewed passion for intimacy with our Father, and an increased desire for being the hands and feet of Jesus to reach out to a community that desperately needs Jesus.

No where did Jesus say following Him would be easy. And ministry isn't about convenience. Change, whether it's in our personal life, our ministry or in our church can be difficult. But look at our example... Jesus died on a cross for goodness sake! Everything else seems pretty minimal to me!!! Personally, I'm excited for the change and I'm excited to see what God has in store for us on the other side!!! And I'm praying that others will be excited too!!!

41 weeks

and still no baby!!

41 weeks - 10/11/10

On Monday we went to the hospital for a non-stress test (NST) and an ultrasound to check my fluid levels, to make sure the placenta was still healthy enough to give Mason the nutrition he needs. Everything checked out fine... his heartbeat was good, liquid amounts were good. So we just had to wait until our weekly doctor's appointment on Thursday to get checked again. Unfortunately, there was still no change. My body is just not progressing like it should. They scheduled another NST for Thursday afternoon, just to make sure Mason was still doing well, and thankfully, he was. So now, it's inducing time.

Chris and I are scheduled to go into the hospital at 6pm on Saturday. They are going to inject prostaglandins (I think) into my cervix for a 12 hr. period and see if it will thin out and dilate. It's possible that it can jump start things, including contractions... but it's also possible that it won't work. I'm not sure if they will try to put me on Pitocin Sunday morning regardless and see how things go... or if there's no change, they might just send me home and we'll try again in a few more days. I'm not sure, we're just going with the flow. SO... most likely we'll come home with Mason on Sunday or Monday, but there's also a slight chance we won't.

So that's the scoop! Chris and I went on a dinner date tonight, since we don't know when we might have that chance again for awhile! And now it's crunch time for me to get all my last minute things done around the house!!! Hopefully my procrastination doesn't take over and I don't wait until Saturday afternoon to start a bunch of projects!! Haha!!!

Sneak peak!

My friend Violet has been a very busy girl! She's been working on all of Mason's bedding and shooting me pics along the way! So I thought I'd share a few pics! The above pics are the crib sheets, and then below is his quilt (in progress) and the matching pillow for the rocker!! She's also making curtains, changing pad covers, bumpers, crib skirt, receiving blankets... she's pretty much amazing!! :-) Can't wait to put it all together!!!

DUE DATE!!!

... but no baby! :-)

40 weeks - 10/4/10

40 weeks, 3 days - 10/7/10

Thursday we had our weekly appointment, and still no progress. Dr. H scheduled us for an ultrasound to check liquids and an NST (non-stress test) for Monday at the hospital. It's just a routine test for mother's that go over their due date to make sure the placenta is still doing its job and the baby is still in a healthy environment.

Young Life is back!!

And what better way to start a new year, than by putting panty hose over your head with a tennis ball at the end and swing it madly at your peers? Did I mention that it was in the dark? It was HILARIOUS!!! And then to celebrate fall... we made a couple of them shuck corn with their feet! I can't say that I enjoy playing games, but they are sure fun to watch!! :-)

Praise Team!!

In September, our friend Kim took over as music director at church! SO EXCITED!!! She has an awesome heart for worship and a great vision for the direction of worship at our church! With this new change in leadership, we've added newer, more contemporary music, as well as 3 to 4 part harmonies, drums and guitars to our worship set!!! It's been amazing!!! And such a blessing for so many reasons... one, I love serving alongside my husband, Chris is playing the guitar and I'm singing. We're also good friends with everyone on the team, so it's fun to practice and worship together!! Plus, music has always been a passion of mine... from dancing, to piano, to band, to choir and show choir... I LOVE music!! Each month we have a hymn sing at our church, and I've always envisioned a monthly contemporary worship set... which is still a possibility for the future, but is also our reality each Sunday!! It's been 2 weeks... and it's been AWESOME!!!

Day before due date!!

Getting closer...

Things are coming along very nicely in the nursery! Chris installed our new blinds, and I opened up the bags of hand-me-downs from my sister-n-law Krisson and started loads & loads of laundry, so I could fill our new dresser and organize Mason's closet!

One Friday, Chris and his dad made a trip down to Portland to pick up my family rocker! My awesome brother works for a Traeger grill distributor in Hays, KS and they were able to load my rocker on a pallet and put it on a truck that was coming up to the Portland area to pick up another load of grills! Did I mention, it was shipped for FREE!! This rocker was given to my mom and dad by my grandparents (Copelands) and I'm excited to have it here to rock my baby boy!! It made it up here safe and sound and it matches the nursery furniture perfectly!! We re-arranged a few things and we both love the way it looks!!

Slowly but surely...

... we're fixing this place up!! During my baby shower, Chris managed to surprise me by taking the nasty shower door off our bathtub and hung up our new curved shower curtain! A few days later, he replaced the shower fixtures AND our kitchen faucet!! He never ceases to amaze me!! Not only did I marry the most amazing, wonderful man in the world... he's one heck of a handy man!! I am SO blessed!!

He even scraped out the old mildew and put in all new caulking!!

Well deserved rest after a long day's work!! HOWEVER, he did not earn brownie points for putting Gracie under the covers on my side... and MY pillow. Punk. Gracie knew she was in the wrong... but luckily for her, I knew she wasn't the mastermind behind this one!

Week 39

39 weeks - 9/27/10

At this week's appointment, not much has changed. Still no progress, in fact, Mason managed to move back up instead of down! And thanks to some Braxton Hicks contractions, Dr. Hennessy had some trouble confirming that Mason's head was still down. She was pretty sure it was still down, but since he moved up, it was hard to tell. To be sure, she sent us to the hospital for a quick ultrasound. The nurse confirmed that he was still head down and even got a few pics for us, but nothing too exciting. I think he's a little too big to get the really good pics... we didn't even get to see his face, just a leg and the top of his head. But that's okay... we'll get to see him soon enough!!!

Week 38

38 weeks, 1 day - 9/21/10

Not much has changed from last week. My doctor had the week off, but came in for all of her OB appointments on Monday. Since we had just seen her the previous Thursday, I didn't see a point to have her check things... so we'll just wait and see if anything has progressed at next week's appointment!

Baby Shower!!

Half the time I can't believe I'm blessed enough to be married... so to be at my own baby shower... absolute CRAZINESS! My friend Lynn threw an awesome shower for me and I was so blessed by all my friends & family that were able to make it! :-) We had a great time playing games, eating yummy food, opening gifts and just plain chit-chattin' with friends!! It was awesome!!!

Lynn made Mason a cute little truck bank!!

A little game of "I Never" but instead of drinking... you had to put some coins in Baby Mason's new bank!

An entire package of diapers for Chris to use... these are ALL his!! LOL!!!