Thursday, January 27, 2011

To Love God

To Love God is to love His will.  It is to wait quietly for life to be measured out by One who knows us through and through.  It is to be content with His timing and His wise apportionment (Do I feel that my portion is too much of something? Too little of something else?).  It is to follow in the steps of the Master, as did Paul, who was able to say that he had learned contentment no matter what the circumstances.  His circumstances when he wrote that? Prison! No easy lesson, but "great gain," which is the sum of godliness plus contentment (1 Timothy 6:6). - Elizabeth Elliot

Monday, January 24, 2011

Mack - 13 Months

Mack - Whew, where do I begin! He has a mind of his own and quite strong-willed but we are learning that if we can steer that strong will in the correct direction it can be such a blessing.  We are in the beginning stages of testing boundaries and teaching obedience.  As any parent is aware it can be very draining but consistency will pay off!  


Aside from testing boundaries, Mack has such a sweet, sensitive spirit about him.  He loves to worship, sing and play music (particularly the drums).  He loves to laugh and make you laugh, he can be quite silly and mischievous.  He's very keenly aware of what's going on around him and shows great attention to details.  Mack is very caring and loves to share his toys and his food with anyone who will accept it.  He wants to be right in the center of whatever we are doing whether that is folding laundry, cooking, cleaning or just talking - he is right there contributing.  He loves to cuddle and we love cuddling with him! Outdoors are a must if the weather permits it and most days do. He loves to play in the dirt or eat it, as well as find whatever his little hands can pick up.  He enjoys swinging and going down his slide.  And any opportunity to be around other kids is a joy for him and us to watch.  


Mack loves to play hide-and-seek, throw a ball to you over and over and over... He also loves to mimic us which can be entertaining! Mack even does fairly well playing solo as long as he knows where we are, which is usually in the same room but it allows us to focus on something other than him every minute of the day.  He can keep himself entertained if has a few books near,  he will sit there and turn the pages and look at the pictures and occasionally he'll eat some of the paper too:)


Playing with his tools

Swinging with daddy

Playing the drums

Playing in the leaves at Grammy's

Playing in the toybox

Sitting on the toybox

Standing on the toybox

Story-time with daddy

Making cookies with mommy

About to go down the slide

Eating dirt

Snoozing on a cold day

I like my elephant

Snack time

They must have made this drawer just for me

There's a dog over there

Reading

Well, until next time...

New Beginnings

Well the year starts off with excitement... A couple months ago I began discussing with Micah the desire to have baby #2 and of course also praying that God would give me the desires of my heart according to His will.  Although Micah and I both wanted to have another baby we didn't feel complete peace with the timing financially.  New Year's Eve (well actually New Year's day by the time we got to bed) as I laid my head down on my pillow, I rested my hand on my tummy and whispered a simple prayer of blessing over our future child, unbeknownst to me just 2 weeks later (January 13, 2011) - Surprise!  I found out I was indeed pregnant with Baby #2! God's ways are so much higher than ours and He truly does give us the desires of our heart.


I am due approximately September 18th, just a few days after my 30th Birthday. Mack is going to be a Big Brother and just 22 months apart.  We are so excited!


There will be more to come on the pregnancy of Baby #2!





Saturday, January 1, 2011

2010 Year in Review

Here's a little recap from 2010...


January:
From a 2 month old to a Toddler!  From spitting up to now spitting out food he doesn't like. Mack keeps us quite entertained, in fact we often joke "what did we do for entertainment before Mack". It has been so much fun learning the adventures of parenthood all the while trying to keep up with the daily laundry and many chores around the house.  Challenging yet rewarding! 
January also brought new MC faces and May brought a final farewell to Master's as we know it. 





2010 Goals turned into Good intentions as, well life happens.  Ready to make new ones in 2011.


February:
Axis, our youth group, officially went to 2 services on Sunday morning and increased roughly by 30%. At the end of the year we have shown an increase of more than 65%!


March:
Micah turned 27 and we took our first little get-a-way without Mack to San Antonio.  Reluctant to leave my 3 1/2 month old I didn't realize how much I needed it until we actually got away.  






April:
At the beginning of the month I was preparing for a Girl's Night with our high schoolers and in the process, had an epiphany... I am definitely called to be a stay-at-home wife/mommy. As hard and challenging as it is there's no place better to be than in the center of God's will.



May:

Micah and I had the privilege of dedicating Mack to the Lord on Mother's Day.  


June:
We had the pleasure of visiting my family in Kansas/Missouri and of course showing off our little bundle of joy.  Mack did amazing on his first airplane trip! Can't post all the pics but here's just a few...








July:
A moment of vulnerability with the post pregnancy pounds... let's not relive that, shall we.


August:
Family pictures, Youth Camp, an 8 month old, 2 teeth and officially crawling - it was a busy month!



 Micah's grandma, Ruby Crews, passed away at the age of 93.  Although I did not have the privilege of knowing her well, I am so thankful for the rich legacy she has passed down and I am honored to be named among her family.  She was a devoted woman of God, sewing quilts even at the age of 92 for less fortunate children in El Salvador.  She will be dearly missed by many.

After camp, Micah had the privilege of baptizing several of our youth students!




During camp my Junior girls adopted the name Pink Cobras.  We have grown very close over the months and enjoy time together!




September:
I celebrated my 29th birthday and we got away for a few days to San Antonio!  Also a couple of Micah's aunts came to visit.




October:
Micah and I celebrate 6 wonderful years together!


November:
Got Christmas shopping done as well as Christmas pictures taken.  Mack turned 1 on November 23rd! And Thanksgiving was a blast!


December:

It seems as though Palm Valley Church is always under construction but with constructions come the new... 



 On December 5 we had our first service in our new sanctuary 




It is such an honor to be a part of a thriving church where God is moving and lives are being transformed!


Christmas was a lot of fun this year with Mack, of course any 1 year old has more fun with the wrapping paper and boxes than the gift itself:)


Overall it has been an amazing year, to God be the Glory!