Summer of Awesome- Still Awesome...

H-man is getting so big.  

He started crawling over the past few weeks.  Eight months old.  I can't even wrap my mind around it!

He is so cute and funny.  A mouth full of teeth and the worst napper on the planet...not cool.

His big brother spoils him rotten and is turning him into a spoiled monster who thinks he has to be held around the clock.

But that face though...

Little Miss Thing is into everything.  Why do they call it the Terrible-twos?  It should be the into everything and too much energy Threes.  She's so funny though, and might be the friendliest child ever.  I hope she stays that way forever.

Those eyes...

Love her...

Why is he wearing this vest?  It's like 100 degrees outside.  So strange.

I took this girl for ice cream the other night and it basically took her like an hour to eat a bowl of ice cream that was about half the size of mine.  I asked her why it was taking so long and she told me she wanted to savor every bite.  It's like she's her father in a female, younger, smaller body- bizarre.

He just crawls around making messes the whole way.

Summer of Awesome is turning out pretty awesome.

However, I'm not actually getting any of the things I originally set out to do done.

We finally got certified to Foster and we've had three babies all under three weeks old in our home over the last few weeks since summer started.

Right now we have a sweet baby girl.  Please pray for us as we walk this path God has brought us to.

Pray that:

-We will be the family she needs right now and love her the way God has called us to love.

-Her family will receive the help that they need, and that hopefully we can love on and encourage them in the process.

-For her to continue to be healthy.

-For our own children to embrace her and to love her without any holding back.

-Most importantly- For God's will to be done and for us to obey and trust that His plan is always best no matter what.

So obviously Summer of Awesome has taken on a different look than I originally planned- Less reading and sewing and more diaper changes and bottle feedings.  But ultimately I hoped that this summer would be Summer of Sharing the Gospel.  What a better platform to open conversation with tons of people- than when they look at me like I'm crazy for having two babies under the age of one and three others for a total of five kids.

"Hey person- it's a God thing.  Let me tell you how awesome He is."

Blessings,

The Summer of Awesome...

So I've officially declared Summer 2016 the summer of the following things:

-Summer of Sharing the Gospel

-Summer of Reading

-Summer of Creating

-Summer of Getting Healthy and Fit

I know.  It's been declared probably too many things, but I couldn't narrow it down to just one.  It seemed to me like all of my choices held their own level of importance.  Some more than others obviously.

The plan to Share the Gospel is simple.  Like Nike always says- "Just do it."  If I'm out and about start conversations, hand out tracts, basically just get the word out that "God is Awesome and Jesus Saves".  I plan to enlist the help of my children.  I mean don't you think we would have more missional/evangelical minded people in the world if we trained up our children doing it from a young age?  Get relational with my neighbors and invite them to church, vbs, or just over for dinner and games, and some gospel talk.  Mainly the point here is to be more purposeful- make it happen.  People need to know that all have sinned, and that all have fallen short, and that Jesus filled the gap and died for any and all who believe.  But how can they know if we don't tell them?  So Summer of Sharing the Gospel 2016 is all about telling people.

The plan for Reading is to aim for at least 30 minutes of reading a day.  This of course will be separate from my bible reading.  This plan also will include my children.  We have a pool membership this summer so the plan will be to swim in the morning and to come back in the afternoon for resting/nap/reading time.  Our local library and Barnes and Noble has a great reading program for children that awards prizes when they meet their reading goals.  If your kids are anything like mine- prizes are a big help!

Here's where I'm at with my reading list so far:

Women of the Word- I'm really excited about this one.  I've already started it and it's super good so far...



Glimpses of Grace- is about seeing God's grace even in the little day to day tasks like changing diapers and washing dishes.



The Pastor's Wife-  I know this may not be relative to many of you, but I'm super excited about this one!



Fierce Women-  Using our fierce strengths to encourage and inspire our husbands.



Desperate-  Encouragement, help, and answers for moms.



Disciplines of a Godly Woman-  I'm almost finished with this one and it's amazing!  We could all use a call to be more purposeful and disciplined as we walk in our faith.  I'd call it a very practical look at Sanctification. Every Christian woman should read this book.




Family Driven Faith-  Raising our children to walk with God.



-Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ- by John Piper
-Mere Christianity- by CS Lewis
-The Case For Christ and The Case For Faith- by Lee Strobel (they have a simpler/shorter versions of these for youth that my 11 year old is reading.)
-Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die- by John Piper
-The Reason for God- by Timothy Keller
-The Meaning of Marriage- by Timothy Keller
-The Next Story- by Tim Challies
-The Missionary Call- by M. David Sills
-The Holiness of God- by Sproul
-The Knowlege of the Holy- by A.W. Tozer
-The Cost of Discipleship- by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
-Anne of Green Gables- by L.M. Montgomery
-Pride and Prejudice- by Jane Austen
-The Scarlet Letter- by Nathaniel Hawthorne
-The Secret Garden- by Frances Hodgson Burnett

My kids and I also enjoy it when I read aloud to them.  So I will be reading children's books to them as well throughout the summer.  If that interests you here are a few that my children and I would highly recommend (I asked them):

-Doctor Dolittle
-Robin Hood
-The Bronze Bow- (a must read!)
-The Bridge to Terabithia
-Old Yeller
-Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
-The Tale of Despereaux


Summer of Creating is pretty self explanatory- My creating of choice will be sewing.  I love to sew, but sometimes my life doesn't always allow for me to prioritize it, but this summer it's happening.


Summer of Getting Healthy and Fit- feels more complicated and right now feels like it will require the most discipline. I'm getting a membership to a gym and plan to start working out with free weights and doing cardio with a friend this week.  I'll tell you more about the diet side of it when I figure it out.  Ugh.

Anyhoo...That's what's happening around here.  If you'd like to join in the fun on any or all of the summer happenings you can find me on Instagram @thepurplecladjewel - Just tag me or use any of the following hashtags:

#summerofsharingthegospel2016
#summerofreading2016
#summerofreadingkids2016
#summerofcreating2016
#summerofgettinghealthyandfit2016
#summerofawesome2016


Happy Summer of Awesome Friends!


Blessings,

Let's try this one more time...

Blogging...

I've not been very dedicated to it in the past.

How are so many others able to keep them up?  Do they have super powers that I'm unaware of?

Some days I can't even find the time to brush my hair- so blogging isn't usually real high on my list of must do's.

But I want it to be.

The truth is I a have this desire to write, to create, to put my thoughts to paper.  I want to tell you (whoever you may be), all the many things that I feel God is laying on my heart- about faith, hope, joy, family, ministry, serving, and life.  I want to be real and I want to share where my heart is, and what God is doing in my life.

God is big and he's awesome and I want to make him known.  I'm not eloquent.  I'm not even a good writer. What I am is a wife to a pastor, mother, friend, daughter, sister, and most importantly a child of God.  And I need a place to write about all that my God is doing...

So what better place to start than here...On my little, neglected blog.

So stay tuned...

"The Harvest Truly Is Great"

So I'm about 10 days out from leaving for my mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

I honestly have so many emotions and things cramming into my head right now that I can't even make sense of them all.

I'm excited...super excited!  I've never been on a mission trip out of the States before.  I've never used a passport- I might do a happy dance when they stamp that bad boy.  But while a stamp in my passport is super awesome, it isn't the reason for my ultimate excitement.  I am overcome with joy and excitement for the work that God is preparing me and our team for. 

"Then he said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few;  therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  - Luke 10:2

The harvest is great my friends!  The people of the Dominican Republic need to hear the hope that is our Savior Jesus Christ.  We are called to go!  The "laborers are few"- we must go...

If we don't.  Then who will?

I think so often we think that the great commission from Jesus right before he ascended to heaven to "Go" was meant only for the apostles, or only for people called to be full time missionaries, or only for pastors, but the truth is- it was spoken to all of us.  If we truly are Christians it was meant for Me and You.

I don't think this means that we all have to rush out and get our passports.  Although imagine the great and mighty work God could do if we all summited to the call to sale all of our possessions and follow him wherever He led us?!...

But maybe God isn't calling you to live in a hut, among tribes in Africa.

Instead- maybe your mission field is right in your own community.

Maybe it's your neighborhood.

Maybe it's your job.

Maybe it's the neighborhood across the railroad tracks that you avoid.

Maybe it's the homosexual community. 

Maybe it's your family.

It could be the Senior Adults where you live.

Maybe your being called to foster children.

Maybe it's, lovingly speaking up and reaching out to those that support abortion.

The point is- We are ALL being called.

I pray that as a church our hearts will be softened and our eyes will be opened to the wonderful things God has for us.  And that we would be moved by the things that move Him.

Jesus didn't see color.  He didn't see sexual orientation.  He didn't see male or female, and He didn't see age.  Rich- poor.  Sick or healthy.

What he saw was a sinful people in need of a loving, merciful, and sacrificial Savior who was willing to lay down his life for his precious children- and all he asks is that we daily take up our crosses and do the same.

One of my very favorite bands is Rend Collective Experiment (You Tube them and thank me later).  One of my favorite songs of theirs is "Build your kingdom here".  Here is my favorite verse and the chorus:

"We seek Your kingdom first
We hunger and we thirst
Refuse to waste our lives
For You're our joy and prize
To see the captive hearts released
The hurt, the sick, the poor at peace
We lay down our lives for Heaven's cause

 

We are Your church
We pray: revive this earth

Build Your kingdom here
Let the darkness fear
Show Your mighty hand
Heal our streets and land
Set Your church on fire
Win this nation back
Change the atmosphere
Build Your kingdom here
We pray"

Let us refuse to waste our lives.  Let us lay down our lives for Heaven's cause.  And let us pray, as His church, that He will "Revive this Earth"!

Please prayer for me and the team going with me as we head out to the D.R. and please pray for the hearts of the D.R. people that their hearts will be open to the gospel.

Blessings,

Lessons From My Morning Run...

About three days a week I drag myself out of bed to go on a morning run with one of my good friends.  We talk, we laugh, we share, and a couple of times we might have even shed a few tears.  I don't know if it's because it's just so stinkin' early that our senses are dull and before we know it we've spilled our guts to one another. Maybe it's in an attempt to forget that our legs are tired and we feel like a pack of monkeys have jumped on our backs.  But, whatever the reason, we open up and we share our lives with each other.  But it seems like one of the most common topics we seem to always come back to is how as women, wives, mothers we often feel overwhelmed and inadequate.

Why is this?

We worry about laundry not being washed, dried, and folded the second it's dropped in the laundry basket. We worry about dinner not consisting of a grain, a perfect protein, and a vegetable.  We worry that we aren't skinny enough, or that our haircut isn't just right.  We worry that we don't keep our homes clean enough.  We worry that so and so irons her husbands pants before she even hangs them in his closet or that she irons at all (because I do not- but that's a whole other post).  We worry that our prayers aren't eloquent enough or that our bible study time isn't in-depth and intimate enough.  We worry that we aren't liked.  We worry because our kid doesn't have enough friends or that they spend too much time playing video games. We worry that we worry too much!

And what's worse- Is that often times instead of our hearts breaking for one another and lifting one another up in prayer we compare ourselves to each other.  We take intimate information that was entrusted to us and we put ourselves up against it to either make ourselves feel better or to inwardly punish ourselves for not being more like that woman.

In an attempt to be real and transparent- I tell you I'm not immune.  Early in the mornings when I'm out running with my friend- I talk about all the laundry I'm behind on, how my poor husband has to dig through the clean clothes to find himself something clean to wear.  I never iron- I would rather chop my own arm off. There are days where my children drive me to say and act out in ways that would make you drop to your knees and pray for me right where you stand.  Sometimes we eat popcorn for dinner because I feel like the simple act of opening the fridge might bring me to tears.  Sometimes I'm hateful to my poor husband for no other reason than the fact that he walked into the room.  And there are times when my laundry room is so full of clean and dirty clothes all piled high on the floor that I have to re-wash clean clothes because I've lost track of what's what.  I don't tell you all of this to give you ammo to judge me, but to let you know that you are not alone.  All of these things make me feel at times like a failure.  They make me feel inadequate and like I am so overwhelmed with it all that I might cry- and sometimes I do.

And it seems to be universal.  Every women I spend time with seems to share this burden of time spent feeling overwhelmed and inadequate.  We all play the compare game.  We convince ourselves that every other woman has it together and is Super-wife or Super-mom but us.  We find our worth in things of this world- clothes, hair, how clean our house is, how well dressed and put together our families look, how 5 star our meals are, and the list goes on and on.  When the one place we should be looking for our worth and our sense of calm and peace is from our Creator and Heavenly Father.  Isn't that why Jesus Christ died on the cross?  To free us from the burdens of this world.  To free us from self doubt and worry.  To free us from anxiety and comparison.

Dear Friend, find comfort, for "everyone who is born of God overcomes the world..." - "our faith" is the "victory that has overcome the world" (1 John 5:4).  Have faith in our Savior.  Have faith that his promises are real and true.  Don't let the world define you or let the world's view keep you from encouraging and lifting up those women around you  that are hurting and struggling with the same worries and doubts that plaque us all.  For it is in Christ that we have "victory" and that "victory has overcome the world" and all the doubt and peace robbers that come with it.  "Love one another" (2 John 5), encourage each other, and pray for each other.  And "walk in the truth" (2 John 4) knowing that it is only in the truth that we will find our worth and be able to steal our joy back.