January 2017

A lot of super fun and important highlights this month:  Playdoh pizza, Building a brother bear and sister bear for the new baby, Pillow forts, Snow fun with Arlen and Duncan, More snow fun as a family, Finding out it’s a boy!, Pajama day at MDO, Icees, Parks, Nana Lue’s birthday, Henry’s birthday, Cooking, Celebrating Grandma’s 60th birthday, and meeting our new cousin/nephew Walter Hayes (1.25.17)!

DNow 2017–“Overwhelmed”

Our favorite youth thing of the year… DNow!  We had a great weekend with a great group.  We have never had such an awesome group of kids, ever.  They make us even more grateful our jobs.  We have such a sweet group of seniors that are so close to my heart…  I love them like my own and am going to be a puddle of the floor come Senior Sunday.

We watched a video series about being overwhelmed.  All of my girls have stressed to me how much they worry.  It is sad to think about the pressures they face these days. 

Going through these lessons with our youth… is always going through a lesson for myself also.  In our first session together he talked about signs of being overwhelmed.  Ask yourself these ten questions:  Are busy and tired words I use to describe myself?  Am I always in a hurry?  Does my schedule make me stressed and anxious?  How am I sleeping?  Do I blame other people for my feeling overwhelmed?  Do I say that this is only a “season” of life?  Do I show less compassion to others?  Am I losing hope?  Am I withdrawing from family and friends?  When was the last time I genuinely had fun?

At the time, I was experiencing most of these “signs”.  It was almost funny how spot on everything was…. almost.  I wasn’t even aware of these overwhelming tendencies in my life.  Compared to the people I love most, I thought I was super chill.  This weekend was God telling me not to let the enemy use these tendencies to push me off an emotional cliff.  I have to fight for peace in my life!

In Matthew 26:36-46 when Jesus goes to Gethsemane to pray before his crucifixion, He is understandably overwhelmed.  In fact, the Bible says He was crushed with grief…. overwhelmed with sorrow… swallowed up with sadness. 

We’ve all been to a deeply painful place where we feel like we’ll never recover, but even in the every day where we don’t even think we are overwhelmed the same lesson applies… Look at what Jesus did.  He prayed!  This is a small but mighty step that can not be ignored.  We desperately need prayer…. Deep conversations with God where we can be honest, get things off our chest, and let go.

Jesus also asked his close friends to pray for him.  He didn’t try to carry this heavy burden all alone.  Close Christian friends are so important in my life.  I hope you have those special people in your life.  Knowing that I have dear friends that pray for me daily is one of the greatest blessings of my life. 

This first crucial step to overcoming the overwhelming is simple: We must pray!

Next we have to acknowledge what we’re good at, and what we should let go.  Don’t put too much on your plate…. If we stack all our plates too high, eventually everything will come crashing down.  All our responsibilities accumulate to increase our stress level.  Sometimes we just need to say “no”.  Perfectionists and people-pleasers have a hard time with this.  When you’re both, like me, it’s especially exhausting.  When you finally learn how to prioritize and give only what you can of yourself, the freedom of letting go is amazing. 

Lastly, we have to deny our fears and transform our minds.  Fear always plays a part in my life… I learned a long time ago that I will always have them.  I just have to deny their power over me and give every worry to God.  Looking to Him first will always make things better.  He will carry you through whatever you are facing.  Then when you are ready… dig into His word and further transform your mind by learning about Him.

So are you overwhelmed?

PRAY… LET GO… DENY YOUR FEARS… TRANSFORM YOUR MIND

Boom!

Thank you God and thank you Disciple Now.

Make America Great Again!

January 20, 2017

Mollie got to watch her first presidential inauguration this January.  We aren’t very political people, but these days…. you have to be.  Conservatives are becoming few and far between and so we are very thankful to have President Trump in the white house for now.  Even though we don’t necessarily agree with everything about him, we agree with his positions and conservative values.

Within the first month after taking office, he has already taken great steps to abolish abortion… make our country safe… bring large companies and jobs back to the US… and also confirmed a great conservative for the Supreme Court.  He’s a business man and I believe he truly cares about our country.  Looking forward to what else will come out of the white house with him in charge. 

We are all in a pretty scary place right now.  It makes me nervous for my kids.  All we can do is pray…  Pray for unity…  Pray for patience…  Pray that God will help us spread His love…  Pray that people will be able to disagree peacefully…  Pray that HE will make America great again!

It’s a BOY!!!

January 6, 2017

We have been hoping for a baby boy for some time now.  When we found out I was pregnant, the thought of the baby being another girl wasn’t even in my mind.  This was the boy that we had been praying for and about for years!

When we went for our 20 week ultra sound, everything was confirmed and we were excited to share the good news!  It’s a BOY!

We braved the snowy roads and waited two hours for our appointment.  We were glad that Mollie stayed with Melissa and Dallas.  By the time we finally got called we were both starving and more than perturbed, but as soon as we saw our baby on the big screen, our tears/scowls quickly turned to smiles of joy.

On our way back to get Mollie, we stopped to get a big balloon for her to pop.  There was a ton of blue confetti inside…. Melissa and Dallas took some great pictures and video for us.

Next we picked up some cupcakes and went to Moore to meet our parents. 

They were excited to bite into the cupcakes and see blue icing in the inside.  Everyone was super happy!

See the ultra sound pictures HERE

Baby #2 – 20 Week Ultra Sound

January 6, 2017

This was such an exciting day!  We were worried that some major snow would cancel our appointment, but we braved the elements.

Mollie stayed with Melissa and Dallas while we went, and we were super glad about that after we waited in the small crowded waiting room for TWO HOURS!  It was getting a little ridiculous and we were starving.  I have no idea why we had to sit there that long for an appointment that we had made two months ago and confirmed through email and a phone call.

We were both a little agitated but as soon as she started the ultra sound all we could do was smile.  It is so fun to see a sweet little baby on the big screen.  I loved seeing every picture she took…. even the boring ones. 

After it was all said and done, we have a healthy baby and that is all we could have asked for.  And the baby already looks like his daddy….

January 1, 2017

First day of 2017!!!  We can’t wait to see what joys this year will bring…. one of them being a sweet baby to love on!

Praising God for making all things new and grace to start each new day.  We are truly blessed!