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!!

Poop

Yes.  I said it.  And my son Jacob is full of it.  I even have an X-Ray to prove it. 

The portion I circled in red is pretty much a picture of a very, very clogged up little boy.  Last week Jacob was just not a happy camper.  So, on Friday (after a week of sleepless nights) I decided to take him to see what was wrong with the little guy.  Thankfully, I finally got one who didn't just blow me off and decided to do a full check.  He ran bloodwork and did a chest/belly X-Ray to be able to get a full picture. 

Jacob typically goes three times a day (small amounts in proportion to the amout of food he eats), so I didn't even think constipation was a concern.  I am very thankful for the Dr checking everything.  We've been feeding prunes, peaches, pears and lots of those juices to try to get him flushed out. Feeding him less has lessened the pressure on his bowels as well and he's sleeping and feeling MUCH better.  However, he still needs to get rid of all that junk that is stuck in there. 

This really is a call for prayer, because I fear this has been his problem all along.  I've taken him in twice to see different Doctors because he has gone a week or more without pooping.  They all assured me this was normal and that it wasn't something to be concerned with.  But obviously, by looking above, you can see that it's NOT normal and hasn't just worked itself out.  I am going to take him in on Monday and force his Doctor on base to do every test possible to make sure his colon is working properly.  Please pray that whatever it is (if anything) is a simple, easy fix and doesn't require any surgery. 

Two Recent Crafts!

Megan recently introduced me to pintrest.com.  If you haven't heard of it, don't do it.  It's another Facebook thing that will suck all of your time away.  However, I love it and am glad I'm on it :)  Basically, anytime you are on a web-page and you like something you "pin it" and it categorizes it for you.  You can see other people's pins and follow the link to where they found it.  Here are two projects I found all thanks to pintrest.com!

This one was very easy.  You take two styrofoam circles, cut them in half, glue them together, then wrap it in fabric.  I painted the wooden "K" then attached it with a very thin wire.  Easy, easy!  And cute I must say!  I've made one for my mom and my sister as well. 

I am hosting a baby shower this weekend and wanted to do something that I could use later (and because Connor's walls are bare).  These are no sew pendents and were easier than I thought.  The hardest part was picking out the fabric because there are just way too many choices! 

I just used ribbon, about a half a yard of fabric (or less), and fabric glue.  I made a template (I did 4" accross and 5" down) out of paper, then just pinned it on the fabric while I cut it out.  I used pinking shears so that I didn't have to be perfect with my cuts.  Then glued them on (making sure that I didn't glue the carpet again!).  Cute, cute, cute! I might just fill the whole house with these! 

Another Weight Loss Update

So, I'm sorry that I keep posting about this, but this is my accountability check!  I like to have positive news to report and since I don't go to meetings or anything, you get to get excited about it with me :)  Let's just say...I'm taking things slow.  So, my current weight is:

144.5

That's down just 4.5 pounds from the last post in March, but I'm finally at my "I will be happy if I'm..." weight.  I would still like to lose another 10 (that would get me to pre-baby weight), but for now...I'm happy that the numbers are still going down and 20 pounds are gone forever, however slowly that's happening. 

Last week I had a BIG reality check.  Jacob only gained 6 oz in a month.  YIKES.  That either means I wasn't eating enough calories, drinking enough water or wasn't feeding him enough solids to keep up with his rapidly growing body.  So, I decided to put Jacob first and not stress about these last 10 pounds until I'm through nursing.  The boy needs to grow! 

Not everything in life is easy and trying to lose weight while nursing is one of those things.   I must remind myself that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and that I shouldn't judge myself by the world's standards, but rather God's.  Slowly but surely, I am learning to embrace my motherly body, love a.k.a. stretch marks, and dark circles..because when I look at my two boys, each pound is so worth all the joy they bring!

Potty Training For Dummies

...and the dummy would be me.  We bought Connor a potty back in February and he's been using it since then.  It's a Baby Bjorn brand and is PERFECT for little boys because it has a splash guard that is attached to the basin (most it's separate and can pinch precious parts). 

However, he had NO motivation to hold it or didn't even care to try.  Two weeks ago, Connor took off his own pants, and decided to poop on the potty.  Well, my friends, I decided that it was time to push him to finally ditch the diaper and join the big boy club. 

So, the first week I flailed.  He made messes, decided to poop in his pants, and just made a complete mess.  After about a week, I changed tactics.

We took a trip to the BX and picked out a jar and candy.  He got 2 M&M's for pee-pee and suckers for poop. 

The BIG prize was this Mack truck.  He's been eyeballing this thing for a while!  The first night he expected us to give in.  Once he realized that crying was not going to work, he got busy.  The next day, it was poop on the potty with the words "Poop for Mack!" Pretty cute :) 

We came home and made a countdown (7 days). The goal was for him to go a full week and try out his new skill at church. The days he pooped on the potty, we circles the number.  Before bed, we would put an X over the day so he could see how much closer he was to the final prize.  He got pretty excited to make the circle on the paper everyday! 

We also made sure to load up his "underwear" drawer (which has been filled with diapers) with plenty of Thomas the Tank Engine & Lightening McQueen undies.

Somebody got caught on the potty!  Oops!  But, I need to brag a bit.  My almost 2.5 year old knows how to point down (hence the hand over the privates).  Yes, that is an amazing accomplishment and saves me daily floor scrubs!

Showing off his success!  He made it to church wearing his big boy undies! 

Proud new Mack owner!  He worked hard-he deserves his gift! 

I'm sure he'll make a few messes here and there and that's ok with me.  I am sad that he's growing up, but excited that I have half of the diapers to wash!  Congrats Connor on this BIG mile stone.