As I laid my 14th month old down for a 30 min morning snooze I was faced with two choices: 1. Make my bed and 2. Blog. As you can see I chose to blog. I have to sneak time to do this and I figured that I could make my bed when he was up and then I could see him flop down on the pillows ans squeal with delight.

Anyway...Life has thrown some curve balls our way lately and I for one and a little tired. For some reason the Lord has seen fit to take away some of my piano students...most of them...instead of answering our prayer for more. I got mad. I hate to admit it, but I did. I got mad and couldn't understand why, when we weren't asking for something bad, did He choose to do something completely opposite of what we asked. Then He surprised us by allowing Joel to recieve a big bonus!!! We were thrilled, thanked Him for His provision, and then our car broke down and the cost to fix it was 3.00 more than the bonus. Obviously the Lord has provided the money for the car, for which we were thankful, but a little bummed at the same time. We just can't seem to get ahead. There have been other puzzleing things the last few months, of which I am not free to share at this moment, but as I look back over this month and see that we have not only survived but have been able to splurge on other people, I see God's faithfullness and His provision. It wasn't easy, and Joel had to do some extra work outside of his regular job, but God doesn't promise that it will be easy. He just promises that He will provide. And He did. When I start to worry about next month, I remember this past one, and am calmed by the peace that He gives that He indeed loves me and everything He does is good. If He witholds something from me He has something even better waiting for me, even if that something better is not of this earth, but a closer relationship with Him.

This has nothing to do with what I wrote above, but it made me smile and I hope it will make you smile too. Israel is saying so many things and we are having so much fun watching and listening to him. One thing that he does that makes up beam is pray. He will bow his head, mumble some Izzy words, and then lift his head and say "Amen" then he laughs or clasps for himself. One of his new words is "Bible". So today he saw Joel's Bible on the table. I wasn't watching at this point and I heard him say "Bible". I didn't know that this is what he was saying because it sounds a lot like his other new word..."Bubble". But when I turned around and saw what he was playing with I new immidately what he had said. I walked over to him and watched him as he opened it, bowed his head, mumbled some words, and then said "Amen!" It was soooooo cute!!!! It made me so happy that he has picked this up. Yes we pray a lot because we need God's grace and guidance everyday, but to see that he had noticed this just warms my heart.

Perfect timing!

When we were expecting Israel, I was getting his room ready trying to find the most perfect stuff for his room including a rug. We have hardwood floors, so this was really important to me. I found one...an expensive one, but thanks to many generous people we had enough gift cards to cover it. I wondered if it would be okay for a little baby since the way it was made would make it easy for them to pull apart and put in mouth! But I got it anyway. Well yesterday Izzy found out that he could pull the pieces out and put them in his mouth. I decided that it was time to get a different rug. Yes I could say "no" and spank his little hand, and take it out of his mouth, but what if I were not in there, and he decided to disobey (not uncommon considering his age) I would not want him to choke. So...I was in Target today looking for a booster seat because I am tired of my big highchair. I was walking by the rugs and noticed a blue one that would be perfect and it was only 20 dollars! I got it, it is great, and I was just reflecting on how perfect the timing was for each rug and how God allowed us to find this one on sale, same size and everything, now, when we don't have gift cards. God is good...All the time.

He was Faithful!

The Lord worked on our behalf and the hotel was gracious and readily agreed to refund us our money. They said that there isn't a hotel in Chicago that hasn't had bedbugs, but we are willing to pay a little more for a hotel that is NOT of the list. I mean for goodness sakes, our apartment had bedbugs! So we are still going to bath our vacation in prayer and take the precautions we know to take and trust the Lord to protect us and our luggage!! Thanks for your prayers!!

Glory in your tribulations?

Does that sound right to you? Well it is! I am going through this Beth Moore Personal Reflection Series on David. I have really enjoyed it! Today we read in 1 Sam 8 about Israel asking for a king. She focused in on the lessons that we can take from Israel demanding a king before it was God's timing. Patience was the first lesson, and how Israel's lack of patience cost them greatly. She suggested that if they had waited for God's timing, how different their story might have been. The other lesson? Rejection. Samuel felt rejection since he had been their faithful judge for so long, but God told him that they were not rejecting him, but God. Then the hard part that sent me on my guilt trip. Samuel told the Israelites everything that a king would bring...and it was all bad. but the thing that gets me, is that they didn't care! They still wanted one! So I had to ask myself...Do I do that???? Do I still insist on something even though the cons are staring me in the face? But the thing that stood out to me the most was the fast that often God does not readily give us our hearts desire because He can see the big picture and can see that what we desire, at the time we desire it would not be good for us and would cost us. Beth Moore states: "Faith sometimes means forgoing our desires because we trust Christ to have a better plan for our lives." the BETTER stood out to me.

The Lord really nailed me on this one! It convicted me but also made me want to dance with joy, knowing that my Lord desires my best! And if He is not giving me what I think is the best, then instead of me moping and getting angry, I should be excited to wait and see what BETTER thing the Lord is going to bring my way! That will make for a wonderful red shoes day, won't it! So from one sinner being sanctified to another...let's trust the Lord that He has the whole world in His hands and He is going to do what is best for all of us!

Have a great day!

Baby!

October 16th, Joel and I were told that we were going to have a Baby! Surprise? Yes and no. No as in we were praying for God's timing, yes as in, who wouldn't be surprised to find out your were caring another human life inside you? I am now 10 weeks pregnant (I think) And it has already been quite an adventure. I have experienced hunger, being tired, overly emotional at times, and nausea. All of which I know is normal for pregnant people, but has all been new to me (except the overly emotional part)! Food cravings? A big resounding YES! We have already sent Quiktrip searching in their back freezers for something I NEEDED! And I have been to both malls looking for just cherry jolly ranchers! But none the less, we are enjoying this time. Our prayer is that as Joel and I wait through these nine months, or 40 weeks, however you want to calculate it, we will seize every opportunity to do things together that will be more difficult to do with a baby. The Lord has been so good already to provide us with free tickets to alread 3 fun performances at different locations. What an awesome God we serve! Every week as we get the update of how many weeks I am, and how the baby is developing so far, we are amazed at God's handiwork! I can see that God is still working miracles even today. He does it over and over again When a new baby is created! What an awesome thing to be apart of!