Last post

So this will be the last post I make on this blog. 

We started a new one for our family which will consist of whatever but most likely will be about the pregnancy and the baby once he/she arrives. We wanted our family and friends who live far away to be able to keep up. 

Our New Blog

Can you tell yet??

Okay so I know you can't really tell too much maybe, but I can. :) (and I'm not even poochin' it out in that pic).

Here is my question tho....How can my tummy be getting bigger and I STILL haven't gained any weight?? I guess they say that's normal but I just don't get it. Weird. 

Anyway, this is about 11 and 1/2 weeks along. Made it to 3 months! 

I went to the Dr. this last week cause of some weird pain I was having. They wanted to see if I had a bladder infection which it doesn't look like I do and I'm not really having any problems anymore so hopefully that was that. The cool thing was they did an unscheduled ultrasound just to be sure everything was ok with the baby and I got to see it move! That may not be a big deal to all of you who have seen that lots of times but I wasn't expecting it and it was so cool. I asked the tech. if she was doing that (haha) and she said no it was the baby. It did not apparently want its heart rate checked because it would turn away and face its back to us every time she tried to get it. Eventually, we got some cooperation tho and everything looked good. We have 2 arms and 2 legs, haha, so thats nice to know. :)  

6 more months...this takes forever. ;) It is nice to start noticing some changes though. 

Just In Case

Well, I'm not sure if I need to post this cause only like 2 people read this and I'm pretty sure they both know, haha, but we are going to have a baby! :)

1st doctors visit was last week and I am about 9 weeks along. Due date is Dec. 5th. 

We are very excited! (everyone keeps asking me how Chris feels and I promise - he is excited!)

I go back to the Dr. at 12 weeks so hopefully things are still going well then. 

So far I've just been tired, eating random things but nothing too weird I don't think, and I have some cramping off and on. 

I can tell when I look at myself that my stomach area is different but I don't think others can tell too much yet. No weight gain yet. 

So theres all the news. Big changes coming!

Ps - We aren't telling people whether its a boy or girl so no asking. :) Sorry! 

Coupon Nerd

So in the last 6 months I have become a coupon fanatic....yes, I know it sounds silly to some people. I would have thought so too a year ago. Collecting and using coupons on a regular basis seemed like a weird "soccer mom" thing to do. BUT, I am all about good deals so when we started getting the Sunday paper I decided to give it a whirl. And I'm hooked. 

Not that anyone cares, haha, but I thought I would share my experience today. 

K-Mart does "double coupons" every month or so. They will double the value of manufacturers coupons up to and including $2. I am NOT a K-mart shopper usually....in fact, the only time I go is when they have double coupon days, but it is definitely worth it. 

We live on a budget, and couponing helps A LOT. 

Today I went on a K-mart run to take advantage of the double coup. days and this is how I came out.

Everything pictured above, which includes:

Dove Shampoo

Dove Conditioner

Suave Shampoo

Gillette Mens Shampoo

Gillette Mens Body Wash

ReNuZit Odor Eliminator Spray

Natures Source Bathroom Cleaner

Glade Carpet Refresher

Cling Toilet Cleaner

2 Satincare Shave Gels

2 Secret Deodarants

Cascade Rinse Agent

Nyquil

2 Fridge Pack Arm & Hammer Baking Sodas

Crest Toothpaste

Halls Cough Drops

Irish Spring Body Wash

2 Packs of Carefree Liners

4 Pk Soliel Razors

Thats 23 Items. Keep in mind these are all name brand items. The Dove and Gillette shampoos alone cost $4 to $5 each at full price.

Anyway, my original balance was EXACTLY $69.00 before tax.

After Coupons, I paid $20.18 total!! Heck yes! 

:)  I am proud of myself. 

Our K-mart doesn't have much available as far as groceries go, but most grocery stores around here double coupons up to $.60 anyway, so I always take advantage of that too. 

My Friend Susan is a coupon fanatic as well. She blogged about it once and I got inspired on how to best organize my coupons from her. It's frustrating to try to use them if you don't have a good system down, and hers works for me. 

At least I know SHE will appreciate this blog, even if no one else does. Ha!

(I don't think anyone reads this anyway)

Honestly, if anyone is living on a budget, or trying to save where possible, there is no good reason not to start using coupons. They are available, lots of free online ones & they come cheap with the cost of a sunday paper. Just give it a try. 

As much as Chris prefers not to do the shopping with me, he appreciates the effort to save. And in the 6 months or so I have been doing this, I have saved hundreds between groceries, medicines, and hygiene items. 

A Little Help Please....

Yeah, it's been a while, so I will just go ahead and explode on this one...   :)

Ok - I have a question. God has most definitely been teaching me over the past couple of years. I have been stretched in learning to love people who are experiencing real need (in other words, those who have obvious needs that aren't being met for them but that ARE met for most of us)....to the point that my passion has been multiplied for loving them. I have had opportunities to act on that passion through Chris's job in a big way. There are so many children and families that we have gotten to know that just need someone to give them a break or to tell them that we care or to give them a little hope or somewhere to just be a kid and have fun. I love that. 

Unfortunately, I have also seen a lot that I cannot stomach. I have heard comments and seen actions that are so degrading, so judgemental, so hateful, so hurtful....and the problem is - they have all come from professing Christians. 

Now, I know that these things happen. I know that no one is perfect and I know that there will always be mistakes....but I WISH that I was only talking about occasional situations. IT'S ALL THE TIME. (Ok, not constantly, but just too much for me to take). My stomach is literally turning flips right now thinking about how much it disturbs me. It breaks my heart because not only are these fellow Christians, they are often times people I know and have had respect for.

My questions is - what do I do with this???

For a while, it just angered me. It is unexplainable behavior in terms of our purpose on this earth and the call we have from Jesus Christ. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing and it just made me angry. (and obviously still does).

THEN, it made me resolve to do the opposite. I am not perfect by any means, but I want to be sure that I am not writing anyone off with my comments or actions. I want to give grace and opportunity to those in need. 

NOW, I am at a new point. I know that I don't want to be that way. I know that I want to love those in need. But someone PLEASE help me to love blind-sighted Christians! I know that statement may sound horrible, and I don't mean it to sound that way. I just mean it! It is a sincere question. I have been praying about it and asking for my heart to be changed, but it is NOT easy. 

How am I acting any better than the Christians who are judging and writing off the weak and needy if I am judging and writing off them???

I want to know how to love them. Sometimes I feel like I am getting it, sometimes I know I'm not. I don't think I can perfect this, but does anyone have any insight to help me learn?

I don't want to be a jerk and I don't want to be the extreme opposite of the original issue. I want to be like Jesus but I am struggling to learn how to align my heart in this area. 

It's kind of hard for me to write this, but I figured it was worth it if anyone had any good advice or input.

Spoiled Clay

A couple of weekends ago I went on a beach retreat with the youth from our church.

(Side note: It was FREEZING!)

One night, Brad (the youth pastor) spoke very personally about his life. He was on a rough path for most of his childhood and teenage years. He has been through a lot that I have never, and hope to never, experience.

At one point Brad recalled that at age 17 he realized (oddly enough- through the messy mistake of a Cherokee Indian potter) that his life was perfectly depicted by a mess of clay splattered all over the room.

He retold this passage from Jeremiah 18 about the potter and the clay:

'God told Jeremiah, "Up on your feet. Go to the potter's house. When you get there I'll tell you what I have to say." So I went to the potter's house and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot. Then God's message came to me: "Can't I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?" God's decree! "Watch this potter. In the same way this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel.'

Yes, I have heard this story many times. But for a few reasons, it went straight to my heart that weekend.

MAN, I screw up a lot! I often have a bad attitude, I forget to love people, I get lazy, I get selfish, I let other people's issues drag me down, and trust me - there's plenty more to add to this list.

And that's not even mentioning the things that I don't necessarily bring on myself - it's hard to deal with some things that come your way in life - even though we try sometimes we just can't seem to "fix" ourselves. Half the time we dont' even know where the junk comes from.

THEN on top of that, I don't know about you, but realizing all of these shortcomings puts me in a worse mood and then I start letting myself feel defeated and on and on... ;)

(I know, poor me right?)

Sometimes we aren't even aware that we are broken, and sometimes we are so aware of it that we feel spread out across a room in little pieces.

There is a lot going on in life right now, for me and for several of my friends. As stinky and hard as that can be, I love remembering that my God is bigger. What a load off! :)

I am a work in progress and I am learning.

Even when it feels like you take 14 steps backwards, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.

Sometimes it feels like we have "turned out badly", but we can always be re-shaped.

Sometimes I think I need to remember that my clay hasn't dried yet.

This is the body

Over the holidays Chris and I were asked to serve communion to our fellow church members. (basically we were asked to hold the plates). ;)
I wasn't super exicted to do it, mostly because I'm not a fan of being up in front of lots of people, but I really wasn't too concerned about it.
Well... I had no idea that it would be the experience that it was.

I LOVED serving my church family. I don't know the best way to explain why it was so cool, but just seeing each individual person and holding out the tray of bread (aka stirofoam) for them, was so great. It felt like we were not only serving each person - but also joining with them all to remind ourselves that we are about something so much bigger than ourselves. We were in it together! Make sense?

That's something that I don't often feel when I take communion. Yes, we all wait to eat and drink at the same time, but this was a totally different experience. It felt like we were actually "in communion" with each other. (what a concept, I know). Isn't that the point anyway?

As a child, that wasn't a part of my understanding of communion. Maybe I just wasn't bright enough to comprehend exactly what it was all about, but I don't remember the commuity part being explained. My understanding was - we eat bread that represents Jesus body and drink juice that represents his blood to remind us of Him because He died for us and He told us to do it. I don't mean anything disrespectfully in that statement and I don't mean to make it sound like that isn't a vital point in communion either. But even as a young adult I don't think I gained much deeper insight in this area.

I read a sermon about communion recently.
The pastor said that in some ways you can consider communion to have a two fold purpose. The first purpose being memorial - we remember what Jesus has done for us and we give thanks for it and set ourselves in line with His heart. The second purpose is fellowship - we are united in our purpose and coming together as the body of Christ to remember why we are here and what we are about as a group.
He even went on to discuss the difference between the way they took communion in the bible and the way we normally do in our churches today. In biblical times they were often gathered around a table for a meal as opposed to sitting in a pew facing the minister.
He weighs the idea that this little difference could actually have a significant impact because instead of looking our community in the eyes (which provides more sense of connection to each other) we are all looking at the director of the communion.
I wouldn't really have thought about that making much of a difference, but after experiencing communion from a different standpoint, I can say that it totally does.
It can be easy to get into the routine of church & the activities that surround it and still get sort of disconnected from each other -especially when your church has multiple services. I miss that community and I think it is so so important.

There is something powerful about taking time to remember and realize that we are united. That the story behind this ritual is why we are here. That this is what brings us together.
We are all in need of the savior that gives us true life. We are all seeking to serve him - together.
There are a lot of things that people (even in the same church) differ on. It's nice to give adequate attention to what makes us stand together.

It happened to be New Years...

For a while now Chris and I have been planning to take a day or so to do some serious thinking. We have been trying to discern the direction that our lives should be going in the near future. We want to make sure that we are giving a good amount of consideration to this decision (or decisions I should say) because we are obviously not interested in blindly making a choice AND because we don't want to decide based only on our own desires/feelings. We want to be listening for and hearing God's heart more than anything.

It is so easy to just try to be comfortable wherever we are, and even though that is sometimes a temptation for us, we know that we would not be fulfilled by living that life.

We both have personal convictions regarding our need to be expressing the love of Jesus to people in need - to those who lack necessities to meet basic needs for living, those who are overlooked, and those who need to experience a relationship that recognizes their own value and worth. We want to do this wherever we are.

We know that it is Christ's love that we desire to display - whether we do it well or not - and we have realized that we will not be satisfied or fulfilled in this life unless we are following this desire .

Having said that, it obviously wouldn't make much sense for us to make a decision without seeking the will of the one who has shown us what this love even is in the first place.

A friend of Chris's sent us an evaluation with some very detailed questions that he has asked himself when he has been in the midst of life changing decisions. It is extremely well thought out and very helpful. (I don't know if he got the general idea from somewhere else or if he thought it out himself, but I honestly think the process could be published because it really is a great tool, but that is beside the point).

It just so happened that the next time both of us had a little break from work without anything else planned was New Years Eve and Day. Ironic, since most people choose that day to make decisions regarding their personal lives. We didn't plan it that way on purpose, but it's kind of cool that it worked out that way.

So we headed to Charleston for an overnight mini retreat.

I share this with you to ask for prayer. We are really thankful to have had the opportunity to start the process off well but we still have A LOT of continual thinking and discerning and praying to do, and we would really appreciate it if you could remember us.

Part of the difficulty we are having is that we feel the need and pull to follow these callings - but it's not there is a list of options lined up for us and all we have to do is choose.

Even if we decided that we need to be somewhere else - we don't have any idea where that somewhere else could be. That makes it hard to feel like we can really make any decisions. We know that trusting God to provide the opportunities is vital, it's just hard to feel like you are really deciding anything when nothing is final. BUT, we do hope that we are preparing ourselves for whenever the right opportunity does present itself and it may be that is all we can do at this point. We also need patience (I am NOT a patient person) because we really feel ready to make some changes.

We would appreciate your prayers because as routine as it may sound for christians to be seeking Gods will - it is much easier said than done when you are talking about making yourselves willing to be placed into literally ANY situation that would serve God most.

Chris and I are both practical people - we like to be prepared for things and to have a clear plan. We know that we need to release these needs in some ways because it very well could be that where God wants us is a situation that would not allow us to save money for our future children or own a house or be financially secure in any way. Some of you may have already allowed yourselves to be used in that type of situation, so it might not seem like such a stretch to you. Others of you, like us, might struggle with this decision.

Chris and I have both spent lots of time in some challenging financial situations growing up, so the thought of continuing that trend is scary to us to say the least. It is a trust issue, but as Chris has mentioned in his blog before - it's hard to decide where the line is between your duty to provide for your family and your call to spend your life in ministry. Now - we don't honestly think there is a line there.

We know that God will provide for us - or at least it's easy to SAY that you know that and HOPE that you know that - because you are SUPPOSED to know that, but that doesn't free you up to make reckless decisions, right?

I will be honest and say that what we really don't know is where the line is between using your head to make good decisions to be a good steward without being a burden to others, and forgetting that and seeking only to do ministry because it is your purpose/desire.

(By the way - anyone who finds themselves in the middle of discerning life changes (or anything for that matter) should try Lectio Divina if you don't already. It really helps to focus your thoughts and soak your mind in scripture in a personal way.)

Anyway, there is a little glimpse into our thoughts these days.

As I said - we need prayer, help us out please! ;)

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years!