Life Update

Hello dears,  I don't even know where to begin...

...so much has changed so far in 2013:

January welcomed the birth of our son, Tyler.  He has been an absolute joy and wonderful blessing to our lives.  I love spending my days with him.  He started sleeping through the night (8-10 hours) when he was 7 weeks old and usually wakes up smiling and cooing.  About a week before our son was born we had an 18-year-old girl move in with us.  She had been converted to Christ, but had fallen away as a result of her environment.  She wanted to get back on the right track with God and she already had a place in our hearts so we offered her a room in our home.  The first few weeks were very rough, especially as I was dealing with all the emotional ups-and-downs of being a new momma.  For the most part, everyone gets on very smoothly and I've come to really enjoy having her around.

February was a blur.  I don't remember anything too significant happening during that month.  I spent most of my time taking care of and cuddling with our precious little boy...which I absolutely loved!

March was fairly uneventful as well.  I started blogging again and have realized that it's too much to keep up with a schedule.  I'm just going to blog when I have the time...which won't be as often as I would like.  I have SO much that I want to share with you though!  I have still been able to do a few projects here and there.  Hopefully I'll be able to share them with you soon.

April brought a visit from my parents...aka Granny and Papaw.  Papaw taught Ryan how to replace drywall and install a shower surround in our upstairs bathroom - which we hadn't used since March of 2011 because water had gotten to the drywall and caused mold to grow and we just hadn't had the money to fix it.  So, with our tax return we finally fixed our upstairs shower...I LOVE having our shower back!  Especially having another person in the house!  Papaw and Granny might have spoiled our little guy just a bit.  But that's alright.  That's what grandparents are for, right!?!?

This month also brought a great surprise!  On the 15th I received this message from Jenn at Clean&Scentsible:

 

Hi Jessica!

Congratulations!!! You are the winner of the $1000 custom closet organization system from Easy Closets!! Please confirm your email and I will forward your information to Easy Closets.   I hope you enjoy your prize!  We would love to see what you do with it!

Jenn

I couldn't believe my eyes!  I read, re-read, re-read, and re-read the e-mail again.  Then the tears started.  We had won!  I sat at my computer for at least ten minutes, still in amazement that we had really won this amazing prize!  Our master closet is a major need of some organizational help.  This is perfect for us!  - A special and huge "THANK YOU" to the amazing hosts of the Spring Cleaning Challenge and this amazing Giveaway:  Clean & Scentsible, Ask Anna, Clean Mama, I Dream of Clean, A Real-life Housewife, and Spring Cleaning 365.  And of course, I want to thank Easy Closets for sponsoring the giveaway and making this prize possible!  I will definitely be sharing our closet makeover with you all!

As exciting and wonderful as the beginning of the month was, there had to be a challenge waiting for us:  Ryan's overtime stopped.  Initially they told him it would start back up in a week.  A week came and went and overtime still wasn't starting back up.  By the end of April we came to the conclusion that overtime isn't going to start back up anytime soon, perhaps not until November.  This is very bad for us financially.  We made some ignorant decision in the past and now we're paying for them.  Ryan was working 16-20 hours overtime a week.  We need for him to work at least 12.  Thus April was an emotionally and spiritually challenging month for us...and we're still trying to figure things out.  Which brings us to...

May.  Today is May 6th and this has already been the longest month ever!  On May 2nd we got Ryan's first 40 hour paycheck since the winter holidays.  Needless to say this kind of woke both of us up.  We have to do something to bring in a supplemental income.  I am going to be opening an Etsy shop as soon as I have a small collections of items ready.  This is something I have been considering doing for some time now, but our financial situation has given me a final push to really put things together and take the plunge!  I'm really excited and hope this can help us so Ryan doesn't have to get a second job.  On May 5th we took an even bigger plunge and signed up to be distributors of Young Living Essential Oils!  Ryan and I are very excited and cannot wait to receive our oils!  As soon as I have more information I will share it with you.  Until then, please feel free to visit www.youngliving.com for more information.  You'll be glad you did!  Backing up to May 2nd:  This was the first night that little man slept in his crib...in his own room...away from mommy and daddy!  He slept all through the night...just like usual!  This pushed me to work on his crib bedding some more.  I had finished the crib skirt in April and so on Friday, May 3rd I made one of his crib sheets.  More on those two projects later! 

My current "To-Do" list is ginormous and the amount of "free time" that I have is anything but!  However, I know I can make it through.  I serve a Mighty and Powerful God who has always been there to be the strength that I need to survive the tough times, a wonderful, loving husband to encourage, help, support, comfort and just be there for me, our precious son to make me smile when I feel like crying, a wonderful spiritual family close in proximity and physical family who are close at heart.  I am blessed and so very thankful that God considers me and that He has blessed me so bountifully.

As you can see there's a lot going on at the Pugh home.  Lord willing, I'll be able to share bits and pieces with you along the way.  Thanks for listening and being a source of support and encouragement for me!  You're wonderful!

Our Newest Addition!

As I'm sure you've noticed, I've been a bit MIA since my last post on January 10th.  I have a very good reason for my absence.  In the morning on January 16th my husband and I headed to the hospital for my induction at 7:30.  Little Tyler Shane Kenneth came into the world 17 hours later at 12:26 am on January 17th.  He weighed 7lbs. 7.5oz. and was 20.5" long.

Tyler is 2 weeks old today!  I can't believe how fast time as flown since his birth!  He is such a beautiful blessing and we thoroughly enjoy having him in our lives.

I've decided to take the month of February off from blogging.  I want to take time to focus on my new role as a mother and balancing it with my roles as a wife and homemaker.  If all goes well, I'll try to be back in March.  Right now I don't have a plan for how often I will post or what I'll be posting about once I return.  I'll try to come up with something and share it with you once I return.  I will try to keep responding to comments throughout February, so keep sharing your thoughts!

Thanks so much for being wonderful followers!

God bless and I'll be back in March!

Tyler and I are 5 months along!

Okay, so this is kinda late.  I was 5 months on September 6th.  Little Tyler and I went up to our monthly O.B. appointment and all seems to be going well!  Tyler is measuring right on schedule and I'm slowly but surely putting on a few pounds here and there.  The Dr. is confident Tyler is fairly healthy because of how active he is.  He was moving around so much that she wasn't able to read his actual heartbeat, but had to settle for getting a read through his umbilical cord.  It was on the lower side, but she said that was probably because it was coming through the umbilical cord.  I love feeling my little boy squirm and kick inside me.  Makes me that much more excited to be able to hold and love on him.  So thankful for our little blessing.

"...love their children,..."

Amber is a very dear friend of mine who also happens to be an amazing mother to a super-adorable 10 month-old and a wonderful wife to a god-fearing, preacher (my husband's best guy friend).

Please take time to visit her blog The Crunchy Christian:

a blog devoted to spiritual articles centered around the Word of God.

I'm excited to write a little guest post for Jessica's series on Titus 2. She asked me to speak on teaching the younger women to love their children, since she's still pregnant and therefore even only my ten months of hands-on experience is more than hers. Unfortunately, this doesn't guarantee that I know what I'm doing.

Raising a child is unquestionably sacrificial work. Many times we need to be reminded that loving others as a Christian means so much more than harboring warm feelings; it means action and service and doing when you no longer feel like doing. Yet, in contrast, the decision to have a child is generally already weighed with the sobering realization that your life will no longer be yours and therefore, teaching "love" calls for a different approach.

When we look at the phrase in Titus 2:4, "to love their children" in the Greek (philoteknos, used only once in the scriptures), we find that it really was expressing a fondness, a tender love.

Caring for a baby full-time (since I don't have experience with older children yet), is demanding. Demanding as in you simply don't get to call the shots when your infant is hungry or tired or fussy or teething, and you can't take a day off when you're sick, tired or wanting to spend the day relaxing at Barnes & Noble with good coffee and a book; a mother takes care of her child's needs, often at the expense of her own wants. A mother is required to be sacrificial. And when sacrifice is continually demanded rather than volunteered, tender affection may quickly fizzle out.

Yet, when it comes to our discipleship, sacrifice without the heart avails nothing in the sight of God.

"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me" - Matthew 15:8

Consider when Christ taught that even unrighteous anger would be judged as equally as murder (Matthew 5:21,22). Perhaps under the Old Law God may wink at our corrupt hearts and words, so long as our actions weren't, but Christ came and showed us the better way. He showed us that everything comes from the heart (Matthew 15:18), and if our hearts are purified, our actions will follow(Matthew 23:26).

Similarly, when our hearts toward our children are pure and tender, seeking the will of Christ above our own, our actions will follow and God will be glorified.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." - Psalm 127:3

It is so simple, even after only months of motherhood, to fall into the trap of self-pity, selfishness and frustration and therefore it is essential to remember that how we parent and how we choose to treat our blessings is very much a part of our discipleship, which is why we need the encouragement and teachings of older and experienced Christian women.

The root words of both "philandros" (the former exhortation to "love their husbands") and "philoteknos" come from "philos", meaning "friend." Have we learned this love for our children? Jessica wrote rightly that our husbands need to be our friends, best friends even, and despite the negative connotation that comes with saying it: our children need to be our friends as well. What does this mean? What does it not mean?

It does not mean indulgence. It doesn't mean an intense desire for our children's approval and it does not mean displacing discipline or rules so that acceptance or praise may come to us by our children.

It does mean always approaching our children, babies, as friends. It means looking on them as we would a dear friend. It means being willing to lay ourselves down for them, whether this comes in the form of putting off something we want or were in the middle of for our babies when they need us, or putting off negative thoughts when we wake yet again at night to care for them. Laying ourselves down for them may mean doing for them what they need, even if it means more work for us. Laying ourselves down is more than just outward action, it is a willing, loving, tender heart that motivates to action.

I want to suggest that this tender love is a decision we can make at the start of every interaction we have with them. Do we approach them with resentment and bitterness? Like a burden or an enemy? An annoyance or inconvenience? Or do we approach them humbly, with compassion and empathy? Like a friend; someone we want to see happy, someone we care deeply for, someone we will give and give for, even with nothing in return?

Do we make the conscious decision to put them first and treat them with gentleness and kindness, to the glory of God, when they're crying inconsolably and everyone is at their wit's end? When we only have half an hour left to finish dinner, or cleaning, or a project but they can't be set down? When they're fussing and screeching during services and the pressure is mounting? When we have to abandon any hope of "me time" because of a need? When things just don't go according to plan? And I can't even imagine the list as they age! Certainly, balancing the fondness and affection of friendship with discipline and authority is something that must be learned.

Something else to consider: how does our Father want us to serve Him in other aspects of our life?

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7

"the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." - Romans 12:8

"Let love be without hypocrisy..." - Romans 12:9

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8

"For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one." - Hebrews 10:34

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." - Hebrews 13:17

"Show hospitality to one another without grumbling." - 1 Peter 4:9

Our hearts, our attitudes, are truly important to our heavenly Father and He is not pleased with Pharisaical, superficial obedience. He desires our love and our hearts, and if we delight in Him, we can joyfully live for Him and bear His fruit even through the mundane and tedious tasks that so often accompany motherhood.

And we ought to take joy in our children. I found a little excerpt from another blog that really expresses this point well:

"I have heard from more than one mother statements such as these: “Don’t get me wrong, I love my son, but I don’t enjoy him”, or “I don’t enjoy those toddler years.” We are wrong! I don’t think we can say “I don’t enjoy my kids”. We are supposed to – they are to be cherished greatly with unreasoning affection. They are not an accessory that we pull out when convenient. They are also more than a “do-to” list (that finger is pointing squarely at me). If my children are greatly cherished, they are more important than “things”. They are more important than how I feel, and all the things that need to be accomplished. I know, here in this fallen world, in reality, I have a list of a million things to do today, but at the top of that list I need to make sure my children are cherished with great affection" (Frazzled Mama)

Sometimes it helps to see ourselves as God sees us. We can direct our minds to Him when we catch yourself not loving His gifts the way He loves us. Pray, plead for His grace and His help. Then, take a breath, smile, and love our babies with fondness and with the love described in 1 Corinthians 13.

Can I also say for a moment that without that love, it is incredibly difficult to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord"? Hypocrisy kills, but unselfish and genuine love that results in joyful service demonstrates Christ.

I'm positive that there is so much more that could be explained from this text by a proper "older woman" since tender love will manifest in many different ways as the years go on. Nevertheless, the foundation is the same: let's approach our children with a gentle and friendly disposition. Sacrifice, but joyfully and humbly. Parent to the glory of God, by the grace of God. Cherish our blessings, and know that is exactly what they are.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." - Galatians 5:22,23

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

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Didn't she share some great passages and thoughts for us to consider as mothers?  I personally gained a lot from reading her article, and I hope you did too!  Children are a wonderful blessing, and even though I haven't held my child yet, I am certain my life will be changed in January - for the better!  May we all grow in motherhood so that God may be glorified in the way we parent our children.

God bless!!!