Making the Old New!

When James & I first got married, we decorated our house the best way we knew how. Target style! James actually started with the Mission set from Target when he moved out on his own, so I just slowly added to it when we bought our first house. Needless to say, the cheap veneer was slowly peeling off & was looking pretty used up 6 years later. Pre-move I gladly gave away the coffee table to the local Mission. Hmm...never thought about that before, but it's kinda ironic.

On my mission to re-decorate my house for as cheap as possible, I wanted to find a way to keep these end tables, but re-do them & make them a fun, funky addition to the living room. I also wanted to match my favorite Pier 1 pillows & picked a muted green. So, armed with my BFF by my side & 4 cans of spray paint, we were off to re-style my living room!

Pre-paint

Me & Megan spraying away!

Pre sanded edges. 

The pillow below is what I was trying to match.  I think it came pretty close, don't you think?

I'm obsessed with distressed edges.  LOVE it!

Beautiful Things by Gungor

God makes beautiful things out of dust if we let Him.  How beautiful is that?  Messed up, broken, sinful, selfish, unloyal us.  He can do ANYTHING!  We sang this song in church last week and it's been on my mind since.  I've been singing the lyrics over, and over, and over, and over...as if to fully engrain the message in my mind.  Take a listen:

Zumba makes me HAPPY!

This is a video from our Zumbathon we did a few weeks ago to raise money for the military families that lost their homes in the Minot flooding.  Even though it has caused a slight hold in our move, I am so thankful that I wasn't already there.  Many families are still living on base, in a shelter or having to declare bankrupcy beause the insurance companies are not covering flood damage. 

We raised over $1,000 that was sent to the Airman and Family Readiness Center.  Zumba ROCKS!!

Is Jesus Enough?

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil.  Anyone then who knows the good he ougth to do and doesn't do it, sins."  James 4:13-17

I've been mulling over this post for a while, but wasn't sure how to link it all together.  My best friend Megan just returned from a mission trip to Liberia and reading through her posts has made me think long and hard about my trip to Kenya in 2005.  I remember returning to our culture totally shocked.  Not prepared for cell phones, computers, or running water (or heck, even toilet seats).  However, I immediately jumped into a summer internship in Washington DC so I didn't really have time to soak it all in.   

My question to myself recently has been:  is Jesus enough?  Or do I feel like he owes me things.   Is my love conditional?  Do I trust Him FULLY, whole heartedly with my life?  Is His Word enough to sustain me?  It should be, but I think when we look at our lives, we will find that sometimes, it shows He isn't.  I want to change that. 

Is Jesus enough?

Or is He only enough when I can drive to my fancy church, on my fancy road, in my fancy car, drinking my fancy coffee?  Or would it be enough to walk miles and miles to worship each week?  Would I do it?  Not to mention facing persecution from tribal leaders for doing so. 

Is Jesus enough only when I can see his beauty in the majestic views in the Masai Mara?  Or do I look for Him here in Bossier City?  Do you see Him where you are? 

Is Jesus enough or do I HAVE to have the 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a den AND a living room?  Or is enough to share my small 900 sq ft "apartment" with my family of 10?  Am I thankful for the roof over my head or do I need more?

Is Jesus enough or do I have to have the most fashionable clothes?  Do they HAVE to match?  Do they HAVE to be the latest season?  Or is enough to have clothes on my back? 

Or is He only enough when I don't have to walk a mile to the local water hole to wash my clothes with a handmade bar of soap? 

Is Jesus enough when drought and famine are my reality and I can see, taste and even smell the storm that just won't reach my crops?  Do I praise him in the midst of it?  Or do I grumble and distrust that He will provide? 

Is Jesus enough or do I have to have running water to praise Him?  Or is He only enough when my water comes out clean and at the right temperature from my faucet?  Is He enough even though I may have to walk miles and miles with buckets on my head to retrieve enough water to last my family a day? 

Is Jesus enough or do I have to stand on the equator to realize it?  Do we really have to go on mission trips to spread the gospel or is it enough to do it at home?  Am I reaching my world now or am I waiting on another mission trip to do it? 

 Is Jesus enough or do I not share my wealth with others the way that Kenyans did with me? Do I trust Him enough to give the top fruits of my earnings or do I give what's left or the bottom? Do I give my guests the best of me or do I give them the least?

The point is this:  do we trust God with all of our decisions, big or small?  Do we still thank him for our daily bread or do we just expect it to show up on our table?  Do we praise God for a roof over our head or do we grumble when our home isn't the right size, updated enough, or the right paint color?  Or do we expect that we will be given things or think that we, ourselves, did them?  Do we praise God for the money in our bank account, or do we grumble that we don't have enough in our retirement accounts?  Do we live for today or tomorrow? 

At the end of the day, God is God and He alone can give or take away.  "For you are but a mist that appears for a little while, then vanishes." 

The Fruits of the Spirit

" But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galations 5:22-23

On Sunday, we talked about the fruits of the spirit.  The pastor did a great job comparing the fruits versus the empty substitutes from the devil.  Here's what it looked like:

God	Satan
Love	Lust
Joy	Revelry
Peace	Control
Patience	Resignation
Kindness	Tolerance
Goodness	Perfection
Faithfulness	Self-reliance
Gentleness	Aggression
Self Control	Rebellion

The devil's schemes are always conditional.  An example would be the substitute for joy that is revelry.  "I have to go party on Friday night to be happy.  If I'm not partying, I'm not happy."  A true, unabounding joy is the feeling you get when you don't need anything at all.  For the past few months, everytime I think about my friends, family and just my life in general, I start to tear up, my chest starts pounding in my chest and I think that's the true feeling of Joy.  Another key comparision was the difference between kindness and tolerance.  What tolerance really means is that "I don't truly care for you."  When really, we care so deeply, that we don't know what to do or say.  The fruit of kindness must be used when dealing with issues of "tolerance." 

To fully receive these fruits, we must align ourselves with Christ and take ourselves away from worldly living.  I hear all too often that it is just so hard to live a Christian life in this world.  I kinda agree, but kinda don't.  Here's why:  You can choose what you are involved with and what you aren't.  Get rid of the cable and trash magazines. Get rid of the images of unachievable perfection that fills fashion magazies and advertisements.  Watch what you listen to on the radio.  Fill your ears with praise to Jesus, not with most of the slanderous music that is on popular radio stations.  Choose your friends wisely and read the Bible daily to fully get your mind centered around Him. 

Sometimes, it's the hard thing to do, but you will reap so many rewards for doing it.  Sometimes you won't be the most popular person in your circle.  Sometimes it will take months to make good friends.  Sometimes people will mis-interpret your motives.  But the reward for doing it is so much more than resignation.  It is a true, unabounding JOY! 

"But my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  2 Corinthians 12:9

8 Months!

Jacob is officially 8 months old!  All of a sudden, he's doing EVERYTHING.  I think he just wanted to save it all up for one special moment or something.  He's bear crawling all over the place (ok, it's so funny...he pulls with his arms and pushes with his left leg), feeding himself finger foods, holding his sippy all on his own, weaning himself (sad day), and laughing & smiling LOTS! 

He's had a few good sleep weeks (although he's finally starting to cut teeth, so we're back to square one) all thanks to a book called "The No Cry Sleep Solution."  If you ever have a baby that does not respond well to crying-it-out, this is the book for you.  When I was up at 5:30 this morning with Jacob, I had a moment where I was not sure I was ready for him to sleep at night.  As weird and crazy as it seems, I do enjoy rocking my sweet boy in the night.  It's the only time it's just me and him and he's still!

Jacob was finally diagnosed with reflux this past week.  He was put on Prevacid which has worked wonders & also given a mild laxative for his constipation. 

Here are a few pictures!

Jacob likes to be in his brother's business.  Wherever Connor is, Jacob is.  He adores him (much to his brother's detest).

This is his "I'm going to get you" face.  When he has his mind made up to get something, he's going to get it.  No matter what.

Happy crawler!

Sitting and playing with rings & blocks.

Watching brother take a bath!

Not Gonna Worry About Tomorrow

Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Last year, at about this same time, I learned how to not worry about what was going to happen next.  For some reason, God seems to think I need a little reminding.  There are a few things on my mind, so here's my list of things that I'm not going to worry about (can you tell by the long list that I'm "not" worried?):

1)  Finding a house in Minot.  If there isn't housing, the kids & I won't go.  I've decided that if that happens, I will house jump from Megan's, to the Keilens, to the Killians, and land in Bellville indefinately.  James has already talked with his navigator Kenny, and they've decided to do a bachelor pad if that happens.  Luckily, his wife Ashley, is a fellow Texan and we can drive or fly together for visits if we need to. 

2)  Jacob's weight gain.  He's at a stand still.  The Dr. wants me to supplement formula.  I've started offering it to him after nursing sessions, but he's full and isn't really taking it (I'm offering it in a sippy).  So, I think we just have a little kid on our hands.  If he was starving, he'd gulp down the milk as if his life depended on it.

3)  Fitting in.  I've felt way out of place here in Bossier City, however, through all of the snubs, I've found the silver lining in the clouds.  Friends who live their lives the same way I do and who God wants me to be friends with.  Making Godly friends is way harder than making party friends.  I have some pretty irreplaceable friends and quite frankly, I'm not sure I'm ready for them to be "replaced."  (yes, yes I know you can never replace friends, but you know what I mean, make new ones in the new place). 

4) My weight loss.  I admit it...I joined weight watchers this week.  While this sounds a lot like me worrying, this really is me taking control of the situation.  I need to learn how to eat better...not only for me, but for my family.  This is my simple way of doing it.

Phew. I'm glad I got all that off of my chest.  I'm off and not gonna worry, ok? 

P.S.  Thank you Jesus for helping Jacob sleep at night!  Check that off of the worry list!!