Our Little Man

Two Weeks Old

Now I just need to take his 3 Month photos!

Have a wonderful day!

Prayer Part 1: Why should we pray?

Obviously, there are many reasons why we should spend time praying, today I would like to focus on one I find to be critical to our spiritual well-being.  I believe we should spend quality time in prayer is to deepen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Being a mother, I am developing a greater appreciation for communication.  Our almost-three-month-old communicates via facial expressions, body language, cheerful coos and upset cries.  It breaks my heart when he cries and I don't know what is exact need is.  I try to read the cues he gives me, recall his patterns, and logically assess each situation.  Sometimes, no matter how many attempts I make to comfort him, he remains upset.  He's a baby.  Babies cry.  This is normal.  And that's okay.  However, when I see him smiling up at me and we look deep in each others eyes, my heart absolutely melts.  Sometimes we have long "conversations," which brings a great deal of joy to my heart.  I love spending quality time with our son.  Even though he cannot communicate with me verbally using words, we share with one another and grow closer every day.  I am striving to develop a strong relationship with open communication now, so that when difficult things come up, he will be more apt to share them with me.

Our relationship with God works the same way.  We cannot grow closer to God unless we consistently spend time talking with Him.  Just as I want to know what our son thinks and feels, God wants to hear from us, His spiritual children.  He longs to share in our joys, as well as our sorrows.  Sometimes we only turn to God when times are rough, and that is definitely a time when we should be seeking His comfort and strength.  But just as I enjoy the "happy times" with our son, God wants to be a part of - and be thanked for - the blessings that make up our "happy times."  When we openly talk to God and thank Him for all that He has bountifully blessed us with, our appreciation for Him grows.  We "see" how generous He has been towards us, even though we haven't always been loyal to Him.  

Talking with God means we not only spend time in prayer, but time reading His Word, as that is how He communicates with us today.  We learn about His character, His desire for us and His plan for us through reading and studying the Scriptures.  I cannot meaningfully communicate with our son unless I take time to learn him, his moods, his likes, his dislikes, etc.  The more we strive to know God and the more we let Him into our lives, the closer our relationship will become.

Remember, God is ALWAYS there.  He has given us EVERYTHING we need to know about Him so we can have a close relationship with Him.  He is just WAITING for US to COME to HIM.

Take time today to talk with God.  Let Him know what is on your heart.  Read and study what is on His.

Loving My Husband

Since Tyler entered our lives and my role expanded to include that of "Mommy" I have really had to keep myself in check so that I am not neglecting the role I took on December 2, 2010, when I vowed to love my husband until death do us part.  (See this post for a in-depth study of this command.) This was very challenging for me at first.  Tyler's needs were such that the majority of my time was devoted to him.  That really hasn't changed much, and I don't expect it to anytime soon.  However, my super-wonderful, tender-loving, oh-so-understanding husband has needs, too: spiritual, emotional, and physical.  If I am to keep this vow (I'm only focusing this one for now...though I vowed much more on that blessed day) then I must make time to fulfill his needs.  

Occasionally this means that Tyler has to wait for one or more of his needs to be met.  No, we don't leave our son screaming for a bottle, sitting in a messy diaper, or crying hysterically just so we can have some "alone" time.  We love our son dearly and we both understand that his needs are often more pressing than our own.  Generally speaking we are able to wait until he's cooing in his bouncer or sleeping soundly before we take time to focus on each other.  

There are times when I shift my focus from Tyler to Ryan in an effort to show Ryan the love and attention he needs.  For example, I might be in the middle of feeding Tyler a bottle when Ryan calls on his lunch break.  For those of you who have ever fed a 2-month-old a bottle, you know it requires two hands - one to hold the baby, and one to hold the bottle.  So, when daddy calls, the bottle gets put down and the phone is picked up.  Daddy and I have a brief conversation - usually less than 3 minutes - and then I pick up the bottle and finish feeding Tyler.  Yes, Tyler may fuss a bit while the bottle is out of his mouth, but he is okay.  Some days Ryan really needs to hear my voice to help him make it through the day at work, especially when he generally works 6, 10-12 hour days a week.  Instances like this happen several times throughout the day.  I'm in the middle of doing something with Tyler, Ryan needs my attention, I give him my attention, and then return to finish caring for Tyler.  Tyler is home with me all day and he knows his mommy loves him.  It's good for him to see the love and devotion Ryan and I have for one another and to understand that he is not the center of our world.  God is the center, then we have each other, and then Tyler.

Sadly, there have been a few times when Ryan has called me out for paying more attention or talking nicer to Tyler than I am him.  Recently I have been striving harder to continually reaffirm my love for Ryan.  I don't want him to ever question or have any reason to doubt my love for him.  This has made our marriage stronger, more fulfilling and over-all more enjoyable.  The more I love Ryan, the more he loves me, and the stronger our love grows.  It's a beautiful, God-pleasing experience.

I hope this has encouraged you consider how you can shower your spouse with some extra time, love and devotion.
 

Becoming A Living Sacrifice

It's week 2 of March and I have yet to post.

So, here is my spiritual post for last week.  Enjoy!  :)

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"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." - Romans 12:1

Even though Paul was initially addressing the brethren in Rome, his plea still sounds strongly for us today.  Paul's plea is this:  give your lives completely to God.  This means we lay down our selfish ambitions to take up the cause of Christ:  "to seek and to save this which was lost" (Luke 19:10).  Once we make the decision to be baptized and to put on Christ, we must start doing the work He has called us to do.  This means we sacrifice our time, energy, and money to help further His Kingdom.  Activities that once consumed these valuable resources must take a back-seat, if not be tossed out of the vehicle all together.  Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice when He died on the cross, all He requires of us is that we live for Him.  This is our reasonable service.

Back to Blogging!

Hi Everyone!

I'm very excited - and a bit nervous - about blogging again!  I'm excited because I have missed working on projects, writing about them, and hearing your feed-back, but I am nervous because I'm not sure how well I'll be able to manage being a wife, mother, homemaker and blogger.  I'm going to give it my best shot though and start slow.  My goal will be to post once a week, at least for now.

Hopefully, this schedule will be enjoyable for you and doable for me.  I may periodically post on other topics throughout the month, but these four will be my main focus.  Look for my first Spiritually minded post next week!

May you all have a blessed day!

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!

You Are What You Eat, Spiritually Speaking

As the saying goes "you are what you eat," even when it comes to things of a spiritual nature.

In Luke 4:4 Jesus quotes from the book of Deuteronmoy saying, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."  God's Word is our spiritual food.  If we are not taking in (reading) His Word, chewing (meditating) on it, and digesting (applying) the teachings and principles He has laid out for us then how can we expect to grow and mature?  Just like our physical bodies need physical food to grow our spiritual bodies (heart and mind) need spiritual food (God's Word) to grow, too.  And when you think about it, eating is something we do every day...multiple times a day even!  Should we not be opening our Bibles, studying and meditating on the words God has spoken to us at least that often?  Of course!

In 2011 I made a commitment to read through the Bible in a year.  I didn't quite get it finished in 2011, but did finish early in 2012.  In 2012 I chose to read through Diligently Seeking God, an excellent daily devotional written by Gary Henry.  There were several mornings where my husband and I would read through it together while he ate breakfast before heading off to work.  This helped us both grow closer to God and to each other.  Also, in 2012 my husband and I decided to read through the Bible in a year together, starting in Genesis and finishing up with the Book of Revelation.  This was especially encouraging and strengthening for both of us.  He has a greater understand of New Testament Scripture and so he was able to help me better gain a better understanding of these passages.  My strength was in the Old Testament, particularly the Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), the Books of History (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther), and the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel.  I was able to help him understand the history of the Children of Israel, which also improved his understanding of certain New Testament passages.

This year I have decided to read through the New Testament, so I can better understand His Word and be better equipped to teach others.  Here is the reading plan I am using.  Also, my husband and I are reading through Gary Henry's book Reaching Forward in the mornings before he goes to work and have started to read through entire Bible for the second time using this reading plan.

Here are some other sources for Yearly Bible Reading Plans:

• E Word Today
• 52 Week Bible Reading Plan
• Blue Letter Bible
• Bible Plan
• Bible Gateway
• One Year Bible Online
• Various Reading Plans 
• Bible Class Material - 5 day/Wk Reading Plan

*NOTE:  I do not agree with the all teachings of all these sources, or all the methods used in the various reading plans.  I am only encouraging you to use them as a source to find a reading plan that helps you take time to read God's word.

I know we're already 10 days into 2013, but it's never to late to make a commitment to spend more time reading His Word!