Acts of Love and Kindness Chart

Commit.

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Commit.

It’s my focus word for 2018. I’ve chosen to commit to teaching my children (and others) about Jesus. Of course, I will continue to teach my children about Jesus and weave it, hopefully, ever so seamlessly into my parenting beyond just this year. But, this year, this is the year that’s going to get me started on that path!

Last month my 2.5 year old and I (who am I kidding, it was just me) created an ‘Acts of Love and Kindness’ chart. At this point, you’re probably assuming I’m going to link you to a pin on Pinterest showing you where I found this idea. Am I right?? Well, guess what!? I did NOT find this on Pinterest, although I’m sure it’s out there :). I came up with the idea on my own! Actually, I take that back. I’m SURE the idea was given to me by the Good Lord above. I do NOT come up with ideas like this so easily!

Below the title of the chart, I included the second half of Galatians 5:14, For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Each circle on the chart represents something my daughter can do for someone else that is kind or loving. Every time she does something that’s on the chart, she puts a sticker in the corresponding circle. We love it!

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I’d love to hear your ideas! What ways do you teach your children about Jesus and how to be like him?

Our Unexpected Journey: She’s One…And Thoughts on Being a Mom

OneOur baby girl, who isn’t so ‘baby’ anymore, turned one this month! How is that possible?!? Many people have told me children grow up so quickly, but I never realized what they meant until this month when my baby turned ONE. Wasn’t it just the other day that I was holding her in my arms at the hospital???

Some moms say they wish time would slow down or that their baby would quit growing up so quickly. But, ya know, I’ve thought about it, and I don’t want to have this mindset. I want to be intentional about enjoying every moment.

This child of mine was longed for and prayed for years before she was ever born. THIS is what I ‘wished’ for, why wish for something else? I want to embrace every moment. I want to spend quality time with her. I want to teach her things…new words, new tricks, new animal sounds, right from wrong, about Jesus and how much He loves her, how to serve, how to be polite, how to run and jump and climb, how to do a summersault, how to pray, how to read and write, how to share, how to give hugs and kisses and high fives and fist bumps. I want to watch her grow and learn and explore and share and interact. I want to do all of this!

Continue reading »

Praying Scripture for My Husband

PrayTheScripturesBibleIn a recent small group Bible study, we discussed the importance of and power in praying scriptures. If you pray directly from God’s Word (with the appropriate motives), you know it’s aligned with His will. How awesome is that?!?

I hate to admit it, but I’m just not great at regularly praying for my husband. Improvement in this area is a must! I’ve chosen several scriptures to pray for him, and I’m so excited to start praying these on a regular basis!

Oh, also, you’ll notice many of my prayers contain the phrase so that. Our pastor once suggested that our prayers should be so that prayers. For example: Lord, please help me be slow to anger, slow to speak, and quick to listen so that I am a reflection of you. I’ve come to absolutely love so that prayers. It makes me pause to think about my true intentions behind praying for whatever it is I’m praying for. Is it out of selfishness? Anger? Jealousy? Or is it out of care and concern for someone? Love for Jesus? My desire to be more like Jesus? I encourage you to begin praying so that prayers, too!

Simply insert your husband’s name where it says my husband, and you’ve got a prayer personalized for him!

Prayer 1:

Lord, I pray that my husband loves You with all his heart, all his soul, and all his mind so that all he does and all he is is a reflection of You.

Scriptures:

  • Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 (NLT)
  • And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NLT)   Continue reading »

Our Unexpected Journey: An Answered Prayer

After years of prayers and prayers and prayers, we are so thrilled to share that our baby girl arrived on June 5th, 2015. She’s happy, healthy, and beautiful (I know, I’m biased :))!

Newborn

I’m totally in love with this girl! Her little toes and feet are just adorable; I can’t help but kiss them. And, if I’m kissing toes, you know I’m in love :). I’m not a fan of feet!  Continue reading »

Our Unexpected Journey: We’re Expecting!

It's a Girl!After two an a half years of miscarriages, doctor appointments, surgeries, and countless prayers by countless people, Mark and I are super excited to share we are 20 weeks pregnant with a baby GIRL due in June! This is truly a miracle :).

As many of you know, we experienced four miscarriages. After our first two, we were referred to a specialist who found I had a very minor uterine abnormality that could be partially corrected with surgery. We were excited to hear this news because this meant something could be done to potentially increase our chances of a successful pregnancy. Choosing to have the surgery or not, though, was a bit of a tough decision for us. Here’s why…

  1. The uterine abnormality was so minor that the doctor wasn’t even sure himself that it was causing the miscarriages. He said he’d seen women with much more severe uterine abnormalities than mine have successful pregnancies.
  2. The surgery was minimally invasive and low risk; however, there were obviously risks associated with it, as there are with every surgery. If something went wrong during the surgery, my body could have had an even more difficult time carrying a child or, worst-case scenario, my body would be unable to carry a child. This is what really scared both of us. I just kept thinking, “If I have this surgery and my uterus is irreversibly damaged causing us to NEVER be able to have children, will I be able to get over it (especially since our doctor couldn’t be sure the abnormality was causing the miscarriages)?”

We stayed in constant prayer, and it wasn’t until two miscarriages later that we truly felt at peace with the decision to have surgery. I truly believe the Lord was with us throughout all of this, helping us make these decisions.   Continue reading »

The Reason for the Season…

The Reason for the Season…is Jesus! I thought this would be a fitting time to share the story of the birth of Jesus.

Luke 1: 26-38 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.37 For the word of God will never fail.”

38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.   Continue reading »

Get Prayd.

Prayd Landscape

It all began with a light-hearted conversation during our Bible study about creating a prayer app. From there the idea grew, and my husband and his buddies began working on a prayer app – Prayd.

None of us had any idea how this would all pan out. We knew it could be anything from a complete failure to an utter success. One thing we knew for sure, though, was that we needed to pray about it! If the Lord was in it, and if my husband and his buddies kept their sights on Him, we knew something great could come from this.

Now, almost a year (filled with hours and hours of great work) later, the app is now live! Prayd allows prayer requests to be connected with pray-ers. God, the Father of Jesus Christ, gave each of us unique talents, abilities and personalities. These personalities are on full display in prayer—our hearts naturally go out to people struggling with needs that we can relate to. Prayd enables this by helping people find pray-ers and helping pray-ers find people (prayd.net).

Let me tell you, in just the few short months this app has been live, it has been such a blessing! I cannot believe the number of people joining the Prayd community by submitting prayer requests and praying for others in need. I have been so extremely blessed by simply having the opportunity to pray for strangers! It’s so weird, I did not at all expect to be so blessed by this; it’s amazing how the Lord works :).

My prayer is that others using the app are somehow blessed as well. I pray this app continues to further the Kingdom and connect others to Jesus Christ through the power of prayer!

Join the community. Get Prayd.

iOS Devices        Android Devices        prayd.net       @GetPrayd        /GetPrayd        +GetPrayd

 

Our Unexpected Journey

Jer 29:11

I wrote the post below nearly a year ago, but, until now, Mark and I just weren’t ready to share it.

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March 13, 2013

Throughout life’s journey, some situations go according to plan and others don’t. Many situations that don’t go according to plan are seemingly insignificant and easily brushed off. Others are more significant, and when they don’t go according to plan, we are hurt, sad, confused, angry, the list goes on. I believe it’s in these more significant situations – these unexpected journeys – that we can most clearly see God is in control, full control; a realization that can be extremely comforting.

Almost a year ago Mark and I started trying to have a baby, and thus began our ‘unexpected journey.’ We became pregnant really quickly and we were so excited (but also scared and nervous)! I remember seeing the positive pregnancy test – it was so surreal.

My first sonogram didn’t show a heartbeat. Mark and I were disappointed, but the sonographer reassured us that it was still early and that by next week we should be able to see a heartbeat. Continue reading »

Carry Me Now

The song Carry Me by Josh Wilson has really resonated with me lately. The words are so powerful. We have such a truly awesome God who never leaves our side. It’s so important (but sometimes so difficult, oddly enough) to trust Him in all circumstances.

Here are a few of the lyrics. I just love them.

Jesus calm my heart
Come near me please
Lord don’t let these worries get the best of me
Oh I believe, that You’re still here with me
Cause You meant what You said when You said You’d never leave

Carry me, carry me, carry me now
From my sinking sand to Your solid ground
The only way I’m ever gonna make it out
Is if You carry me, carry me, carry me now
God carry me, carry me, carry me now

I encourage you to click this link to listen to the whole song.

What songs have resonated with you lately?

 

three : sixteen

I’ve been awol! :/ These last several weeks/months have been extremely busy. Because of that, I’ve completely neglected my blog. This will likely be the norm for the next few months, unfortunately. But, today I have something worth blogging about! 🙂

Many of us know the famous 3:16 passage in the Bible…For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

However, I never knew there were so many other powerful passages that came from chapter threes and verse sixteens in the Bible. Today’s church service was titled “three:sixteen.” Below are the three scriptures discussed during today’s sermon regarding the Holy Spirit:

  • John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” – Luke 3:16 NIV
  • As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. – Matthew 3:16 NIV
  • Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV 

I encourage you to read your Bible. Read the passages surrounding the scriptures above to better obtain the context in which they were written. The Bible is full of truth. You may find yourself surprised at how applicable the information in the Bible is to your daily life. Give it a try! 🙂

I should be back here in a month (hopefully sooner!). In the meantime, share some scriptures you find powerful…