Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
a short two months
I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I've posted something on here. Time flies!
I've had a lot of people tell me that the end of a pregnancy goes by the slowest. I hate to do this (not really), but I have to STRONGLY disagree. It seems like it's going by faster and faster every week. It's so hard to believe I'm almost 35 weeks along at this point. In a month I could be holding my first child in my arms. Completely surreal.
I have been very blessed with a relatively "mild" pregnancy as my husband puts it (and he's right). There really have been no complications, and I have pretty much been able to go about my day to day life without much changing. The last couple of weeks have been a little different, I suppose, but for the most part it's been smooth sailing.
However, when I went to the doctor's today I was informed that things may be progressing a little too quickly. Apparently my cervix has gotten thin, and the baby's head is very low. This in essence means BED REST.
It's only been a day, and of course my initial reaction is that of a very selfish one. "What about the grocery shopping?" "I'm not done cleaning up from Christmas." "There's laundry to be done." "Who's going to make dinner?" "I'm going to be stuck on the sofa or in bed all day?" "I have a lot of living to do!" Yes, I know. It all sounds VERY whiney.
But I see the blessing. My husband has really stepped up to the plate. He has no problem running up and down the stairs to get me a glass of water every half hour, as well as carrying things around for me and not letting me get up or move around a lot. Did I mention the half hour foot massage he gave me tonight (and already has been doing on a regular basis)?
Some very dear friends came over right away with a meal for our dinner tonight (thank you, Greg and Natalie!). A true expression of love within our congregation. What a blessing! And even enough food for tomorrow night.
Instead of taking on the "me" attitude, I am going to be challenged for at least the next two weeks to put someone else's needs before my own - my baby.
A couple of women in my life have been such an encouragement to me recently regarding my situation. They have reminded me that God is in control and that I should take advantage of this time to rest, reflect on what is about to happen to our expanding family, pray, read, and enjoy not having any "expectations" of me. I am truly blessed, and I am thankful now for this special gift of "time" from God. I trust that He will show me how best to use it and that all things are in His hands.
I've had a lot of people tell me that the end of a pregnancy goes by the slowest. I hate to do this (not really), but I have to STRONGLY disagree. It seems like it's going by faster and faster every week. It's so hard to believe I'm almost 35 weeks along at this point. In a month I could be holding my first child in my arms. Completely surreal.
I have been very blessed with a relatively "mild" pregnancy as my husband puts it (and he's right). There really have been no complications, and I have pretty much been able to go about my day to day life without much changing. The last couple of weeks have been a little different, I suppose, but for the most part it's been smooth sailing.
However, when I went to the doctor's today I was informed that things may be progressing a little too quickly. Apparently my cervix has gotten thin, and the baby's head is very low. This in essence means BED REST.
It's only been a day, and of course my initial reaction is that of a very selfish one. "What about the grocery shopping?" "I'm not done cleaning up from Christmas." "There's laundry to be done." "Who's going to make dinner?" "I'm going to be stuck on the sofa or in bed all day?" "I have a lot of living to do!" Yes, I know. It all sounds VERY whiney.
But I see the blessing. My husband has really stepped up to the plate. He has no problem running up and down the stairs to get me a glass of water every half hour, as well as carrying things around for me and not letting me get up or move around a lot. Did I mention the half hour foot massage he gave me tonight (and already has been doing on a regular basis)?
Some very dear friends came over right away with a meal for our dinner tonight (thank you, Greg and Natalie!). A true expression of love within our congregation. What a blessing! And even enough food for tomorrow night.
Instead of taking on the "me" attitude, I am going to be challenged for at least the next two weeks to put someone else's needs before my own - my baby.
A couple of women in my life have been such an encouragement to me recently regarding my situation. They have reminded me that God is in control and that I should take advantage of this time to rest, reflect on what is about to happen to our expanding family, pray, read, and enjoy not having any "expectations" of me. I am truly blessed, and I am thankful now for this special gift of "time" from God. I trust that He will show me how best to use it and that all things are in His hands.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Ultrasound Pics - 24 Weeks!
For those of you who are not used to viewing ultrasound pictures the first one is a picture of the baby's profile. The next one is the baby's face, and the last one is a picture of what looked on the monitor at the doctor's office like the baby yawning. :)
"Spiritual Mothering" by Susan Hunt
I recently finished this book and was very impressed. Sometimes it's difficult for me to stick with one book at a time. I usually start one, and then another one, and then another one and so on...but this time I was able to focus on just one. Yes, it was that good.Whenever I read a book, I usually pick out one statement in it that really strikes me. In this case, it was a quote from the author on page 43 - "An exalted view of God will shape a Biblical world view that permeates all of life for the woman of faith." You're probably reading this and thinking, "Hmmmm...okay...I'm not sure what makes this so profound." Well, let me explain.
In almost every book I read by a Christian author whether it be related to marriage, relationships, depression, sin issues and just life in general each author comes back to one central point - glory. Not just glory, but God's glory. Everything we say, do and think reflects on our Savior. And what is the chief end of man (man's primary purpose)? To glorify our Savior and enjoy Him forever.
"Spiritual Mothering" is exactly what it's title conveys. Susan Hunt defines spiritual mothering as this: "When a woman possessing faith and spiritual maturity enters into a nurturing relationship with a younger woman in order to encourage and equip her to live for God's glory." I like this definition because it is two-fold. For the woman who is being mothered, she is learning how to live for God's glory and in essence is glorifying God even just in the LEARNING process. For the woman who is mothering, she is glorifying God by teaching another woman HOW to glorify God. Isn't that a beautiful picture? And how important are both of these roles! The woman who is mothering is passing something on that is absolutely necessary for ALL women of faith to learn, that Lord willing will continue to be passed on to many future generations.
Women have a major role in society on so many levels. We have the ability to build a man up, to raise our children to know Jesus on the most intimate level and to share insights and a perspective that men do not have. We can complement men in a way that will make them most effective in their labors for God. I have to mention one important fact here - a woman need not be in just a marriage relationship to have this effect. There are many ways this can be lived out, but I won't get into them in this post.
I feel like maybe I'm sounding scattered here, but with time constraints I will have to expound more on this subject another time. The point is that if our hearts and eyes are set solely on the work of our heavenly Father, this will spill over into ALL areas of our life. We have opportunities too numerous to mention - at work, the grocery store, in our relationships with other women (young and old), spouses and children (ours and others), at church, in our homes and every time we step out our front door. We need to take them so that the Holy Spirit continues to do a work in us preparing us to meet Him, and in turn will do a work in others so that they might know Him and have the joy that we are so blessed to possess.
May all women of faith heed the call to take their role in this life seriously, learning and doing the work that God has set apart just for us, and may He be glorified in such a way that the Holy Spirit exudes from our entire being and permeates the globe.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Quest to Save $
It seems that Aron and I have tightened our belt about as much as we can.... or have we? We already clip coupons, shop sale items, buy things in bulk (at Sam's Club), use credit cardv rewards programs (5% back on grocery, pharmacy and even gas), but I have set a goal of learning what else we can do.
I've been researching ways to save more money, and I've come up with some VERY interesting methods:
1. make our own laundry detergent (thank you Becca!)
2. make our own jar/canned goods (applesauce, pickles, etc.)
3. amazon.com grocery shopping for certain items
4. buy coupons online (pay a fraction of the price for coupons online for items we purchase on a regular basis)
I will post more as I come up with them.
I will post more as I come up with them.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
parallels
I have only been married just short of 6 months now, but I am amazed at how much God has taught me in such a short period of time. He has revealed sinful behaviors to me that I have either buried or just never noticed, and He has also revealed something else I'd only ever heard of and had never had the joy of experiencing before.
When Aron and I were engaged and going through premarital counseling as well as reading countless books on marriage, there was one theme we kept hearing about over and over again - that the marriage relationship between a man and a woman is a direct parallel to our relationship with God.
Our marriage has been both difficult at times and absolutely fulfilling and incredible, even euphoric sometimes. We have been learning how to treat each other, how to love each other, please each other and encourage each other to grow. We have also been learning how to apologize when we are wrong and forgive when we have been wronged.
There have been days that I've been a horrible excuse for a wife and even some days that anyone observing or speaking to me would question whether or not I'm really saved. I have been so disgusted and ashamed of my sinful actions, attitudes and words that sometimes it's hard to even believe it really is me that I'm looking at in the mirror. I have been just plain hateful and ugly, and Aron STILL manages to forgive me. He has forgiven me for things that I myself don't know if I could forgive him for if the roles were reversed.
I am in awe at Aron's ability to forgive and forget the sins I've committed against him and not to bring them up to me in the future. He truly does forgive me completely. I manage to fail him over and over and over again, and he manages to pardon me every time, no matter how badly I've hurt him. How much more does our Heavenly Father forgive and forget? It's amazing! I see how offensive I can be to another human being whom I love so deeply, and now I am even more aware of how I have been doing even worse to my Savior for the last 26 years. And He too forgives me. I am blessed beyond measure.
Recently, at one of our church's mid-week small group meetings a woman had been sharing her struggles and she said something that was so simple yet so profound it has stuck with me for weeks now. She said, "No one can love me like Jesus." How true this is, and how grateful I am.
"No one can love me like Jesus."
When Aron and I were engaged and going through premarital counseling as well as reading countless books on marriage, there was one theme we kept hearing about over and over again - that the marriage relationship between a man and a woman is a direct parallel to our relationship with God.
Our marriage has been both difficult at times and absolutely fulfilling and incredible, even euphoric sometimes. We have been learning how to treat each other, how to love each other, please each other and encourage each other to grow. We have also been learning how to apologize when we are wrong and forgive when we have been wronged.
There have been days that I've been a horrible excuse for a wife and even some days that anyone observing or speaking to me would question whether or not I'm really saved. I have been so disgusted and ashamed of my sinful actions, attitudes and words that sometimes it's hard to even believe it really is me that I'm looking at in the mirror. I have been just plain hateful and ugly, and Aron STILL manages to forgive me. He has forgiven me for things that I myself don't know if I could forgive him for if the roles were reversed.
I am in awe at Aron's ability to forgive and forget the sins I've committed against him and not to bring them up to me in the future. He truly does forgive me completely. I manage to fail him over and over and over again, and he manages to pardon me every time, no matter how badly I've hurt him. How much more does our Heavenly Father forgive and forget? It's amazing! I see how offensive I can be to another human being whom I love so deeply, and now I am even more aware of how I have been doing even worse to my Savior for the last 26 years. And He too forgives me. I am blessed beyond measure.
Recently, at one of our church's mid-week small group meetings a woman had been sharing her struggles and she said something that was so simple yet so profound it has stuck with me for weeks now. She said, "No one can love me like Jesus." How true this is, and how grateful I am.
"No one can love me like Jesus."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)