It's been awhile...

Sorry it's been so long since a new post. Hopefully you're enjoying my new design...thought I'd change things up a bit.

Well Christmas has come and gone again...next year there will be more cookie making, parties, fellowship and family! I always feel like I don't see family and friends quite enough during the holidays and really thats what part of it's about!

Over the past month I have truly learned the meaning of the saying when it rains, it pours! Gods favor is still abundant but the enemy is definitely trying to come in. It seems as though just when I get to a more in depth place with God the enemy is saying "Oh no you don't". Worship has been my refuge the past few weeks. I always love when I hear a song and it pierces right to the core of what is going on spiritually. My new favorite is Kari Jobe's "The More I Seek You". I've added a "song of the moment" at the bottom of my page. I will try to update this whenever I find a new song that just hits the spot.

Now for a resolution...(come on guys, I know you've been thinking about this)

Every year I come up with one and I never quite finish it to the end. This year I want it to be different. I don't want this resolution to be between me and myself such as losing weight or being more organized, etc. I want this years to be between me and the man upstairs. I want it to actually feed my soul, not just my lifestyle.

Since I connect with God during worship, my new years resolution is (drum roll please).....to worship Him more. I know it sounds simple but you think about how many times a day you come to a moment of quiet and say praise for whatever is going on that day or whisper His name in gratitude or hum a song of worship for whats to come. He is Worthy....Worthy of more praise! I don't do it enough. I might listen to worship songs but I don't let my heart worship throughout the day. So there it is folks. I've confessed with my lips (figuratively speaking) so now you guys can hold me accountable.

P.S. - Thank you for everything you guys have done this past month. For the prayers, tissues, shoulders, etc. Its been much needed and beyond what any regular Thank You can serve!

Love ya and Happy NEW Year!!!

Our House is Finally Ready for the Market...

(Just don't go in the garage...)

Lets just say the last few weeks have been like editing and preparing for the cover of Glamour Magazine - touch up here, straighten here, get rid of here, etc. I think we've finally got it ready! Again, COME ON FAVOR OF GOD!!! Lets move this puppy and get going on the next!!! I love change & I love new projects so the opportunity of getting my hands on a new house that has never been touched by human hands (figuratively speaking) excites me to the core!!! I can't wait. It also will be nice to not constantly stub toes or bruise the bottoms of my feet by bumping into or stepping on minature fireman or tonka trucks. In our new house there will be a toy room (I'm kinda calling this one out right now). It will be solely for toys and the rest of the house will solely be for...well...house things. Anyway, can't wait!!! Here are some of our photos that are on the lisiting. You can also click on the link and it will take you to our listing! http://www.navica2.net/displays/?n=262&i=1207478&k=Ko0wJZna

For Those with Stocking Holders...

(And also first time moms)

So you know those adorable little stocking holders with Santas, Snowflakes, Sleds, or Reindeer. Those handy little metal holders to behold your beautiful stocking that tantalizes you until christmas day. You know those 10 pound holders that I didn't realize that at any moment they can become quit the weapon when a 2 year old pulls on his cute train stocking desperately wanting to see if anything is inside.

Well our Saturday morning involved London pulling on his stocking that was hung by a stocking holder, a snowflake one indeed, with lovely sharp corners not only on its base but the snowflake itself.

We had these up last year and not a problem arose. But we also didn't have a mischevious toddler running around either (kinda forgot that when decorating this year). I think once past that 1st year you don't think as much about the adult-proof-plastic door handle covers or the impossible-to-pull-out to even vaccum outlet covers or I guess it could have been my sheer excitement to decorate...remember my last blog.

Anywho... I'm standing at the doorway to our guest bath which is also directing adjacent to our dining room where our antique china cabinet sits with our three cute stockings hanging proudly. Within 30 seconds, London has made his way over to the tree next to the china cabinet and stockings to admire the Santa's in different vehicle ornaments and I think "Oh he is so into those ornaments, he better not touch" and within another few brief moments my child and running towards me with blood everywhere. Its all over his face including in his eyes and mouth, both hands, pajamas, and dripping on the carpet. All I could say was "Jesus and Nathan". I've always thought I was really good in those kind of situations but I tell you it is totally different when its your own child.

London had decided to try to get his stocking down. Well the hangers are heavy enough to hold stockings with a few presents but not a toddler pulling on it. The holder managed to fall about 4 feet till it plunged into Londons forehead creating quite the gash and blood loss. We ended up haivng to go to the ER to have it looked at. They ended up using a glue to glue the gash together and within an hour we were on our way home.

So, for those with small children and stocking stuffers or maybe just don't think about stuff like this, watch out for those tricky little stocking holders!

Oh how I love the Holidays!!!

Okay so its my favorite time of year. I can't even describe the sheer excitement I feel when it gets this close to the holidays. It's like my insides are going to explode (probably not the best visual) but that how much I love the Holidays. My plan is to have our christmas trees and decorations up this weekend (Londons little tree was put up and decorated just last night)! Christmas music had already been resounding in our house for weeks (love Faith Hills new christmas CD) and my Home For the Holidays Candle has been lit for a month! I also plan to have all my christmas shopping done by 5pm on black friday with presents wrapped the end of next weekend and then start the christmas cookies (I'll make sure you guys are on the receiving end of those). Our Turkey Potluck is December 13th (anyone reading this is more than welcome to come). The Holidays just makes me want to have a lot of people in my house and lots of babies for some reason. Who knows. Anyway just had to share some of my excitement for the holidays and some pictures of last christmas! London was just a year old. It's hard to believe hes turning two! Guess I'll have to get started on those babies...

The Favor Goes On...

All I can say is Thank You at this point of Gods favor "reining" down on me. If you read one of my prior posts "The peace after the storm" you'll get this one. When God whispered to me at the alter "I've got this", I really didn't know how or what but there was a breaking when that was spoken and He's definitely got it. I had a friend having some issues in her marriage and they have seeked marriage counseling and are continuing to work things out and it seems they are doing good. Another friend who is going thru turmoil and choosing a new path but yet it seems that person is still confident in what they're choosing. My mom who is at this point not really even able to work has seen Gods favor too in that church people and her work peers are stepping up to help out by meals or decorating her house for christmas. All of these I had taken on personally and felt somehow that I was supposed to fix them. God is good and He is fixing them. I have also come to another really hard pill in my life to swallow. My mom needs a liver transplant and I am a match. I have decided after much prayer and consideration to not be a donor. There has not yet been a "settling" for me to say yes. It is a complicated surgery which could have life long complications. At this point scientifically they don't know the longterm complications for the live donor. I feel I am young and want more children and most importantly, be here for the family I have. God's favor is still coming I can feel it in my "knower". I feel like right now Gods favor is raining on us gently but definitely raining. If it rained too hard we would flood. Just like when it rains and the ground is dry and hard at first the water just sits on top of the soil. But once it goes thru that soaking phase the water will then soak in because the soil is soft. God is softening us. We were dry and hard and God is softening and quinching our thirst before the pouring rains happen.

About the dust...

FYI...

Did some research regarding the dust in my house and our skin cells sheding at an enormous rate...well here it is...enjoy!

What happens to old cells?
Just like us, cells grow old and die. When old cells die, new ones replace them. For example, a blood cell in our body lives for about 120 days. Another example is our skin cells. We shed our skin cells about every 35 days. Don't worry, we do not shed all our skin cells at the same time like snakes do. In human beings, only the skin cells that are old are shed, others are not.
Here is a amazing fact for you, if your skin cells are replaced every 35 days, by the time you are 20 years old you would have replaced your skin cells roughly about 200 times. (found at http://askabiologist.asu.edu)

Who knew there could be so much crap...

So we are going to put our house on the market (come on favor of God)! A little nervous but excited and who knew you could accumulate so much crap in so little time. We decided to rent a storage space to box up some of the stuff we won't need for the next few months so I have been going room to room working on this. I generally see myself as the neat freak and maybe even a bit on the OCD side of living a clutter free life. All I can say is whatever. That image has been blown to h-e-double hockey sticks. From old magazines, dusty books, nasty towels to paper clips in places that don't even have paper to fulfill their destiny. The dust is incredible. Really we shed skin cells at an enormous rate. My closet was the worst black hole ever. I took about 6 bags to the goodwill (if any of it was great stuff I would have totally let you guys have first dibs). Most was faded shirts, dated purses, worn out shoes, etc. Anyway, I am now feeling like my house can breathe. aaaahhhhh! It's a great feeling.

So now for metaphor time...

I also realized that spiritually I might be living this way. Thinking that I'm living this OCD, clutter free spiritual life when really there's some dust and cob webs that need to get cleaned out by Jesus so that our spiritual life can breathe. aaaahhhh! We gotta clean the filth to get to the core of our problems.

Well, cheers to cleaning out your closets!

Park...Train...Ride...

We decided to go to the Staunton Park last Saturday and met up with Sam, Kelly, & Noah (my latest nephew) and Nathan's parents. I actually try to take London to the park every weekend. 1. Where else in the area does a two year olds fantasy of riding a train come true. 2. You get to feed the really noisy ducks and huge fish. 3. There are several locations of playsets. 4. On this one particular day there happened to be a back-hoe (Londons terms...Tractor) and lots of leaves on the ground (sometimes it the smallest things in life that can keep a toddler happy, seriously). 5. Hello, an hour of sanity and peace, priceless. So, I posted some pics. He really liked all the leaves on the ground and for a minute I think I even turned into a 5 year old again. Piling them up, kicking them around, and throwing them in the air to watch them peacefully float back down to the ground. Enjoy...

Sam, Kelly, Noah, and Juno

London in the Leaves!!

London with the back-hoe "Tractor"

Funny little boy...
So London has over the past month become quite interested in the potty thing and the fact that he has a pee-pee. For instance...

1. When wanting to sit for a mear 2 seconds on his potty you to must sit on the adult potty facing him and hold his hand (yes, we're clothed and not using the potty ourselves)

2. When changing diaper we must point to the diaper and say the following
London: DYE-PURR
Sara: Diaper
Laughing
London: DYE-PURR
Sara: Diaper
And this can go on for minutes (does not help us to get out of the house on time in the mornings)

3. He now knows where the pee-pees on animals our in our books so when reading bedtime stories he points out and says where the pee-pees are. No, this is funny but when it's a touch and feel book he wants to take my finger and touch the pee-pees along with whatever is touch and feel on the page (kinda crosses the line for me a little) but hysterical!

4. He knows when he's pooping and after he's pooped but still can't seem to figure out to tell me before hand. He just likes to come up to me patting his butt saying "Poop"

5. Okay, so I think its still okay to change in front of a two year old, right? The problem when changing in front of him is that he will randomly come up to me and point at my butt crack and say "Butt".

Lord, I hope its only a quick fetish!

The peace after the storm...

I was just listening to the song by Bethany Dillon "Hallelujah". God is awesome and through all the chaos and change of a new job, working full time, London in a new daycare and also adjusting to being there full time I have truly been able to say "HALLELUJAH". I still have great peace that I am where I am suppossed to be. The other Sunday we had a guest speaker at our church Graham Cooke and he spoke a prophesy of favor. I've listened in my life to many prophesies or blessings over me or the congregation in general. I'm always the one thats thinking "Lord, I need to hear your voice loud and clear, please let them say my name and have a word for me." It's never happened and I always walk away dissapointed. This time though I know he didn't say my name but I have never heard the words from someones mouth so clear before. We were even sitting near the back of the church and normally my attention span is so short that the slightest twitch from anyone distracts me from the service. This time though it was like I had noise cancelling head phones on where if there had been a cricket chirping I still wouldn't of heard it but Graham's voice was coming through a megaphone two inches from my face. For the first time I KNEW that his words were for me. Yes, he was saying them to the whole congregation and sure they were for everybody but they were for ME! I could hardly keep from crying the whole time he spoke and had to just close my eyes most of the time because they were litterally piercing my soul so feircely that it had a slight tinge of hurt. Like the old (the lack of faith to comprehend what He fully has for me and feelings of inadequacy to actually recieve it) was being cut out and restored by peace, love, vision, and only a small bit of the favor I would then continue to recieve over the next few weeks and am continuing to recieve. Getting all of this thru the sermon allowed me to then completely lay the burdens that I had been carrying for some of my friends and family that I love so intensely I couldn't bear then any longer. I felt God say "I've got this". Which I believe allowed some doors to open that I myself had been keeping shut by ways of control, fear, and uncertainty. I truly recieved God's imparting of FAVOR on my life! It has been an almost heavenly experience the last month. It has also been exhausting in a way trying to keep up with it all :) I did start a new job a week ago and London started a new daycare. Both seem to be transitioning smoothly! So "HALLELUJAH". God is awesome and very much in control! I believe that the flood gates ARE opened this new season!! Lets take it in!

Shoes of faith...

The other night I was staightening and cleaning out my closet and decided to organize my shoes. For most of you that don't know I have a shoe and purse fetish...probably over 60 shoes and who knows how many purses (bless my husband for letting me have 80% of the closet space). Everytime I buy a new pair of shoes, Nathan always says "How many shoes do you need?". Honestly I can't answer that. It's such a nice feeling when you find the perfect shoes for that top in your closet you haven't worn yet because you didn't have the exact pair of shoes! Well, I think I've found the reason why I buy so many shoes (not very conventional or spiritual but sounded good) (would also be a great name for a womens retreat). With my new outlook from my last blog, I am walking in faith that God's plan is not finished in my life. Therefore every morning I wake up and put on my perfect pair of shoes for my outfit, I am putting on my shoes of faith for the day that I will walk with faith and walk out God's plan for me for that day. As far as a great retreat name it would be called the "Shoes of Faith Conference". Everyone would get a cute minature shoe as their take home reminder! So may you all have "SHOES OF FAITH" today that whatever your situation or heartache, you will have shoes of faith to walk you thru it!!! Leaning on the scripture "For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11. AMEN!

Being Quiet....

I had dinner with a great friend last night (thanks Sarah B.)! We came to the conclusion that it is the obstacles, storms, and battles in life that prepare us for our destiny and calling in Christ! It really gave me a new peace and understanding! I also was listening to the radio on the way home yesterday and a song came on that said "sometimes He quiets the storm and other times He quiets the child". How prophetic is that! We all want our storms quieted but sometimes we're to be quiet and hold on to Him till the storm is over. He is faithful and I can feel a new season coming! Hallelujah! I love a new wardrobe therefore love a new season in my life. Out with the old and in with the new.

Initial Glimpse

August 4, 2008

Well, at this point I am having faith that God’s infinite plan for my life is not yet complete. I have felt over the past years that I have been walking as a Godly woman and still do not doubt that today. The voice of God has been small the past few years probably on the fault of my own self doubt and uncertainty in what our calling in life is. We’ve been youth pastors and I have served on the worship team but I still feel like I’m waiting for a shout or sign as to what our call is in the church. Is it small group leaders, mediators, etc.? I have always thought that my life would be the small pebble that caused a hundred ripples. I guess I thought at this age I would know and would be fulfilling my destiny that Christ has called me to live out. I have in my lifetime dealt with divorce, verbal abuse, being a grownup while still a child, accused of an inappropriate relationship and for some reason the black sheep of my family. I do not fit into the cookie cutter way that I think some people think I should fit into. I speak my mind, I show my emotions, I guard my heart, I like to be fashionable and trendy, I like feeling put together and with it, I love my friends, I love to be the center of attention and the leader in situations, I love anything girly and pink, I would watch Legally Blonde everyday, I would get a boob job and another nose job if I felt I wouldn’t be looked at so differently, I love my family. My husband is incredible – loving, constantly forgiving, a beautiful soul who will have a great reward in heaven, my breath, my constant, truly my better half. My London – a bubbly spirit which cannot be broken, comedian, center of attention, charmer of my soul, my caffeine, pure and good at heart, his faith will speak to thousands, determined in all ways. I have always held on the highest podium my loyalty in everything. My life, my family, my job…I think my parents own lack of commitment has made me overly committed, probably not always to my benefit. When people question this it truly shoots me in the core. I have built my relationships on this virtue and place it up there on the list with my religion, my family, etc. It is what I base my morals and values on. I’ve started this journal to not only help with the storm that I battle but to reveal my inmost thoughts and feelings to my loved ones who maybe don’t get a glimpse in.