Less than 6 weeks until we deliver baby J - dont forget to check out my last post for pictures and info on his little life.
On my darling E - she turned 3 and with that came a new child - I mean this with all seriousness. Why didn't anyone warn me that 3 is not the same as 2 - terrible twos, it laughable, it should be terribly terrifying threes...... I can't say I was prepared, because I wasn't, not at all. However, this past week all my hard work for the last 2 months is finally bringing about a positive change in those challenging behaviors - I could not be more proud of E and myself, we made it!!!!!
In fact, E is now becoming an even greater joy to me - she is such a little story-teller. Yesterday the stories were about chocolate milk that has blueberries in it, that tasted like strawberries, ranch dressing, and cranberries.... Interesting stuff! She also told me that she and I are afraid of dragons and daddy is not, and when we are scared he cuddles us and makes us feel better. I mean that is just about the sweetest, best-est, most honest, and loving thing a little girl could say. I am so glad she sees her daddy as a source of comfort and strength! E is also now reciting bible verses, talking about God being with us, and Jesus saving us - I am just in awe at her ability to know and remember these truths. She has come to a time of fearfulness and it has been refreshing to my spiritual growth to go back to the basic truths with her, the uncomplicated truths of God as our protector, through His power and strength. I feel myself approaching these truths openly, honestly, and fully - it is such a cherished time to share with her my truest heart and love for God. Even speaking to the power of God is us, that I am only able to comfort her, just like daddy, because God has given us those abilities. The full circle of speaking through His truth in a way she understands, building knowledge from nothing but her sweet little, practically pure heart, it's simply put, the most exciting part of parenting yet. And thanks to the terribly rough beginning to 3 - I take it as God opening our hearts to rely on Him to survive it, but also to teach us through it. The beauty of living in obedience to Him - never have I been so challenged to BE LIKE JESUS then when she was losing her mind and by His grace, I kept mine! That power and example of loving her through it, teaching discipline through it - God opened opportunities! Grateful!
E also can't wait to meet baby J - and neither can I! I am ready to have him in my arms - but I know, I know... I should appreciate the journey of pregnancy - and so we wait... 5 weeks, 4 days..... plus a few hours.... hahaha! He is such a treasure to me, like E has always been, feeling him move, I wake up most night with my heart rejoicing at the thought "He is alive, my son is alive." It has been a overwhelming and blessed pregnancy, despite the constant discomforts that come as a baby grows, kicks, and moves. I love him so very much - unexplainable love between a mother and her children.
Life is busy, we are still adjusting to our new home life... All is well, we are blessed to be close to our family. I see the blessing of their closeness in E's bond to them. It is so different, but in the best, and clearly God sent way. Yet, I have found myself complaining more than I should, which Chase made clear to me this week. However, I am processor - I think over things like hundreds of times. I reflect on our life here, there, and what the future will be like here vs. there. And life is about to drastically and blessedly shift with J's arrival. I haven't settled as quickly as I wish I could, but that doesn't mean complaining about it, so I press on, trying harder not to complain! The best thing for me this week was reading back on the emotions and timing of God moving us here, the clear knowledge that we did follow His leading, it was not anything but His desire, and in obedience we moved. The knowledge that our lives are being lived out by His will - there is no greater peace then being smack-dab in the middle of where you should be! Whoop, Whoop!!!!!!!
Prayer for the coming changes of J being in our arms and able to cry, out loud! :) With love, I pray all of you are doing well, very well too!
Searching for scripture of what our lives look like, this is one of my favorite passages in all of His word. Love the Lord, in that love obey Him, His good plans for you are waiting on the other side of you following Him in obedience. He is both protector and provider. His truth is not just for you, but for you to pass onto your children - that what you do, would be blessed by Him if you only obey - both in the suffering you had/have experienced and the freedom He gave you when you were released from your bondage and gave you the blessing He has stored up and prepared for you. You have seen the great work God has done... Dont forget it!
Deuteronomy 11 (HCSB)
Remember and Obey
11 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep His mandate and His statutes, ordinances, and commands. 2 You must understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God:
His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm; 3 His signs and the works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land; 4 what He did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when He made the waters of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and He destroyed them completely; 5 what He did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place; 6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.
7 Your own eyes have seen every great work the Lord has done.
8 “Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit, 9 and so that you may live long in the land the Lord swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it from the beginning to the end of the year.
13 “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 I will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil. 15 I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied. 16 Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods. 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will close the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land the Lord is giving you.
18 “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children,talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your fathers. 22 For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow—to love theLord your God, walk in all His ways, and remain faithful to Him— 23 the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are. 24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.25 No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as He has promised you.
A Blessing and a Curse
26 “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse: 27 there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today, 28 and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it, 32 be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.
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