It's Game Day!!

James says, "Roll Tide!" (Not really but he's having fun hearing us say it!!) Happy Saturday Everyone!

A Sunkist and a Crawl

James has started crawling. The first little crawl he ever took was going after a blue pool noodle. This week he has crawled even further going after an empty Sunkist bottle....he really likes bottles! Since then he has continued to amaze us and take off (and does it without crying) after things! Our baby is growing up!

Awesome Reminder

I came across this poem on a blog that I have recently started following (recommended by a friend) called Mothering From the Heart. It was written by Audrey Broggi whose husband is the pastor of Community Bible Church in Beaufort, SC. It is just an awesome reminder to make the most of the time that we have been given with our little ones. I think I'll go kiss and squeeze my little man (and my big man too!) just one more time before I drift off to sleep!

Too Busy by Audrey Broggi

Today I was busy, too busy to hear
Your laughter, your games, but your voice was so clear.

I worked and I worked, no time to relax
To tell you a story, carry you on my back.

I washed all the clothes, I scrubbed all the floors
I cleaned out your closet and your dresser drawers.

You cleaned up alone, you got yourself dressed
While I kept working and thinking about self.

When you asked me to color, I said, “Not today,
I’m busy, I’m busy, too busy to play.”

I took care of me, I did all my things
I hardly noticed when you started to sing.

I heard you pretend and I heard you play
All the while I kept saying, “I’m busy today.”

When night came along, I said, “Go to bed.”
You paused and I questioned, “Did you hear what I said?”

You got in that bed, you pulled up the covers
You wanted some time, You wanted your mother.

Yet I was too busy to take time with you
I just wanted to finish and get the day through

Consuming my thoughts was to get you in bed
I walked in your room and here’s what you said,

“Mommy, do you think you could stay just a bit?
Tell me a story? Read me a book?” 

You asked with such longing, how could I say no?
How could I ignore you, how could I just go?

I felt so ashamed as I looked in your eye
And suddenly I realized the day had flown by.

I stayed for awhile, I read all your books
I held you so tightly, I was glad for your look.

As you said your prayers, my heart felt such tears
For I realized the days were turning into years.

The man you’ll become is shaped at my knee
I mustn’t forget the man that you’ll be.

So tonight little guy, I’m stopping to touch
To pull you real close and love you so much

So tonight I will hold you as long as there’s time
For tomorrow will come when you’re no longer mine.

Yet I have today, I still have some years
I’ll spend them with you as long as you’re here.

When you grow up, you won’t need me the same
But I’ll never be too busy when you call my name.

I love you

7 Months of James

I haven't been posting much lately. Our life recently has been crazy and unpredictable but full of the grace and peace that Jesus gives. There have been and will inevitably be some changes coming in our near future but more on that later...

We have a SEVEN month old! I can't believe that 7 months ago today I was brining home my precious baby boy completely unaware of how life would change. The love I feel for him and the bond we share, it is truly unexplainable and so amazingly wonderful. I have never been convinced any of the things I've done in my life have been the "perfect fit" for me from teaching to even children's ministry but being a mom is absolutely what I believe I was meant to be and do. It is my greatest joy and privilege.

I think James woke up recently and realized he was 7 months old and everything should change. Here are a few of the things he is now doing:

- Pulling up on everything (and making me so nervous)
- Beginning to crawl. He will get on his hands and knees and rock and then crawl just a little but gets frustrated if he is going after something too far away.
- Rolling over and over like a wild man.
- Pulls all of his toys out of the baskets and scatters them all over the floor.
- Just generally so active now. He doesn't want to be held for long and wants to be down playing.
- Will still let us rock him to sleep but wants to be put down shortly after falling asleep. I used to love to hold him for a while and just watch him sleep. I think my days of holding and rocking are numbered now and I'm trying to enjoy them while I can.
- He used to LOVE to be swaddled. I know we probably set the world record for how long we swaddled him but now he does NOT want to be swaddled at all. I am so glad!
- He is finally starting to sleep flat and I think his reflux is really starting to improve.
- He still is putting everything in his mouth. He now gets really upset with us if we take something away that he is putting in his mouth that he shouldn't be.
- Still no teeth yet. I have expected to see them every month for a while now but really think it could be this month
- Feeding solids has gotten interesting. He has now decided that he wants to hold his own spoon however he is not coordinated enough yet to actually feed himself. So, I am having to sneak a bite in with a spoon while he puts his spoon into his mouth. Any advice about this one, moms??
- He loves the TV remote. We gave him an old one to play with because he was so good at changing all the settings on the TV in record time.
- He is sitting up in the bath now and loves it! He doesn't like when it's time to take him out.
- He is wearing size 3 diapers now and still in some 3-6 month clothes and some 6-9 month clothes.
- He watched his first Alabama game with Daddy!
- I left him for my first official outing to a women's event at a church in town. I know you readers might think I'm sad that it took this long, but it was progress for us both and he did great with Daddy. I loved how excited he was to see me when I came home. :)
- He loves blowing raspberries.
- Laughing more and more at what we do! Making a lot of different sounds now.


James, Mommy and Daddy love you so much! We prayed for you but never knew just how much joy you would bring to our lives until the moment you arrived. You have changed our lives in so many ways. You have made us realize what a miracle life really is and you have helped us to embrace each moment with joy and worry less about the future. Always remember that we love you and most importantly that God loves you! You don't have to earn our love and acceptance. You have it unconditionally! Trust Jesus and follow Him all the days of your life. You are our good and perfect gift from above!

Encouragement for Young Mothers

I found this article on the blog of a young, Christian mother and I thought I would pass it along. It was an encouragement/challenge to me and hope it will be to you as well.

Guilt is a young mother’s habitual shadow. It has a nasty way of soaking through many of her efforts at nurturing, serving and loving others. “Am I doing enough for my children? For others? What do they think of me? What does God think of me?”

As a young mother everyone wants something from you—your family, your church, your boss, your neighbor. And most likely, you give way more than you ever thought you could. But along the way guilt nibbles at your soul, eating away your inner peace and joy. And it often lingers through the years, even after your children are grown and gone.

Dear young mother, don’t waste your guilt!

DON’T WASTE YOUR GUILT

Don’t waste your guilt, but instead listen to it and evaluate it. Take it out of the shadows and examine it in the light of Scripture. Lay out your feelings before Christ. Is this guilt legitimate conviction of sin? Then confess your sin, receive his forgiveness and ask him where and how he wants you to change.

But maybe your guilt is a nagging, self-focused fear that if you were just a bit better or worked just a little harder, then you would be noticed and admired enough to feel okay about yourself. That is false guilt, rooted in pride. It will hurt your family and hinder your relationship with your grace-giving Father. If this describes your guilt, then remind yourself that through Christ’s death and resurrection, you’re accepted by God. The solution to false guilt, as to true guilt, is the gospel.

Paul speaks of these two kinds of guilt in 2 Corinthians 7:10. There is a godly grief that produces repentance, and a worldly grief that produces death. Ask yourself this question: is what I give my time and energies to driven by life-giving repentance or life-depleting pride?

A YOUNG MOTHER’S PRIMARY MISSION FIELD

One reason a young mother can feel wrongly guilty is that she forgets that her first and primary mission field must be her children.

God values children. He places great importance on our teaching our children to love and serve him (Deut. 6:7-9). Jesus became indignant when the disciples didn’t value the worth of children in God’s expanding kingdom (Mark 10:13-16). And God tells us that children are his blessing to us (Psalm 127:3).

Mothering calls for the best in us as women. As mothers, we shape the souls of our children and ultimately influence the world. Children are our gift to the future. So accept your calling from God to serve your family. It is not godly guilt that would call you away from a wholehearted investment in your little ones for his sake. Don’t feel guilty over making your children your primary ministry investment when they are young. You are teaching the younger generation to form intimate emotional bonds with others. Your sensitivity, availability, devotion, affection, and unhurried attention are irreplaceable.

MOTHERING: PLAIN HARD WORK

On the other hand, Paul’s word to me as an older woman is to “train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled” (Tit. 2:4-5).

Why does the apostle have to tell us older women to teach these things to the younger women? Because it can be hard to love your husband and children. In fact, it can be easier to minister outside the home. Why is it more rewarding for us to plan a ladies’ retreat for two hundred women than it is to plan an indoor picnic with our preschoolers on a rainy afternoon? I think it’s because the rewards are more immediate and the demands are not so steady.

Being a young mother is plain hard work. At times it feels like slave labor! Young moms can identify with the cartoon of a toddler looking at a wedding album with his daddy and saying, “So that’s the day Mommy came to work for us!”

But God has called you to this ministry. He knows there are no neutral moments in a young child’s life, whose experience is one of continuous need and development. Your children will bear the imprint of your mothering throughout their lives because much of human behavior springs from imitation.

You are the only mother your children have. Your ministry to them is the deepest expression of your love for them. Raising your children has to be done right the first time around. It is one of the few places in life where you can not say, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

You have received this commission from God. As a mother your privilege is to teach them how to respect their daddy and be kind to their siblings, how to choose good nutrition and wholesome entertainment, why they should value courtesy and orderliness, and which causes are worthy of their efforts, their reputations, and even their very blood.

Are you discouraged as you spend day after day immersed in the mundane tasks of mothering? Then think of the honor of guiding the spiritual and intellectual and social development of young minds and hearts. Think of the thrill of teaching them eternal truths from God’s Word. Think of the importance of teaching your young children how to live under authority, and of preparing them for future relationships by teaching them about love and trust. Think of the delight of sending one more godly, vibrant, strong, secure, loving young person into this needy world with the courage to live well for Christ’s sake. What a worthy investment!

WHAT YOUNG MOTHERS NEED: A HEART FOR THE HOME

Another challenge for a young mother is cultivating a love for the home.

God has called us to love our children from home base (Tit. 2:4-5). We can’t improve upon God’s design! This means more than staying at home. It means fixing your heart on your home. Women can leave their homes through more avenues than work or outside ministry. Cell phones, emails, and chat rooms can take a mother away from her primary ministry, too.

Ministry means being “all there.” It means rejoicing that you get to show your children how to peddle a tricycle, make their bed, build good memories, and share their toys with others. You serve your family, and ultimately your heavenly Father, by helping your child do that puzzle for the seventeenth time, by washing those sticky fingers, by planting a little garden, by acting out Bible stories and praying together, and by preparing for their daddy’s return as the highlight of your day!

What is the alternative? “A child left to himself disgraces his mother” (Prov. 29:15).

Remember this: you have the privilege of passing on to young hearts a sense of God! Should you feel guilty for that? As you let your children experience intimacy, nearness, and availability in their earliest years with you, you can point them to find those soul-necessities in Christ, their Savior, as they mature. And then you have the delight of sending them out with a light in their souls to bless this darkened world.

Someone is going to be influencing your children, inculcating values and imprinting standards on their impressionable young minds. Let it be you!

THIS SEASON IS JUST A SEASON

Does this mean you will never invest in others outside your family? Goodness, no. But if you are a young mother, use your primary ministry of mothering to guide your choices about where to serve Christ now. Don’t let anything woo you away from your unique role as a wife and mother.

This season in your life is just that—a season. And each season is a divine calling from our Creator and King. Organizing a new church event is important. Teaching your little boy to be kind to his sister is also important. But which one can best be done by you during this season? Serve God well by ministering to your children first. Very soon they will be grown and gone and all those uniquely teachable moments will be gone. And you will have ample opportunity to serve Christ outside your home in the seasons ahead.

“But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7).

By Jani Ortlund

Give Me Jesus....

The prayer of my heart....

Video Update (Part 4)

Here is the final video of the four! Here is James drinking water from his sippy cup!