Sundays

Today was my first Sunday home with Priscilla. We are now home until spring. She was diagnosed with RSV on Tuesday. With her asthma it settles into her chest and stays there. We finished her round of Prednisolone this morning and I am praying that she keeps clearing up. Rob and I will be trading services depending on what he is needing to do. Today was a nice quiet day where I was able to accomplish many things!! After everyone else left for church, I put dinner in the oven, washed breakfast dishes and started lunch. Then I got Priscilla a bath, and rocked her to sleep. While she was sleeping I sewed Hannah 2 pairs of culottes and finished dinner up AND got to enjoy my meal with everyone before she woke up!

Tonight I am enjoying some time with Elizabeth, Emily and Priscilla! We are watching some movies on Netflix, and sis is LOVING that Hannah can't be the boss over the tv tonight! I do not enjoy missing church but I do know that is what is best for Princess P right now. We need to keep her from getting sick again so this is what we need to do. I am thankful that I have a Bible that I can read and the internet where I can watch previous services. Know that I am praying for all of my friends at church and for the services that I am unable to attend. God is so good to me and I know that I am blessed to have a wonderful church family.

I reached a small goal!

Tuesday morning I got on the scale, and what did my eyes behold?! 20 pounds GONE!! I reached a small victorious goal that I had! I was thrilled to see that I lost 3 lbs last week! Now I am working towards another 10 pounds. I set myself small realistic goals because I know if I look at a bigger picture I get discouraged when it doesn't seem to happen quick enough. My long term goal is to be at my goal weight by my birthday in August. I have 37 lbs to make it to that goal. To help me I calculated how much I needed to lose each week to hit that mark, and I found that I need to lose and average of 1.7 lbs per week! Very manageable if you look at it that way. If I do not make it I will not get depressed as long as I KNOW I worked hard to achieve my goal!

How am I working towards my goals? First and foremost I am WATCHING what I put in my mouth! I have always been one to enjoy healthier selections, but too much of a good thing is TOO MUCH! I was always a bottomless pit while growing up, the girl people hated BECAUSE I ate ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and did NOT gain weight! That all changed after I got married. I think it is true that you get comfy and don't mind gaining when you get married. I never got over 180 until pregnancy and THANKFULLY I only topped at 203 with Priscilla. Second, I am exercising with my Wii Fit, and am planning on taking walks as a family when the weather warms up. Lastly and most importantly I am getting closer to the Lord. Making sure I am building my relationship with Him and drawing closer to Him. I want my body to be the temple He wants it to be, and I know the Lord wants me to be fit and an example of good health.

These are my goals for the rest of January and all of February:
1- Average 2 lbs lost a week
2- Make healthier meals for my family
3-Lose 10 more lbs
4- Memorize 1 NEW Bible Verse every day
5- Have 5 different families to my house for dinner. This one is because I tend to close myself off to others and I know I need to reach out more to others.

Please feel free to ask me how I am doing. I will be quoting my verses to my husband. Accountability is a WONDERFUL thing so hold me accountable!!

10 Years Old!!!

                                                          I LOVE YOU HANNAH GRACE!!

Hannah singing her first solo in church!

On Jan 11, 2002, I was blessed with Hannah! I finally became a mother! What a joyous occasion!! It is amazing how women remember every detail of the day they gave birth, and I am no different. We went to the hospital at 4am to be told it wasn't time yet and to go home and walk. We lived an hour and fifteen minutes from the hospital so Rob decided to take me walking in Fort Myers! We went to Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco and then I watched him eat Bob Evans! I tried to eat a biscuit but with each bite I was sick. The last place he took me was to a "park" to walk the trails. By then it was about 2. I was ready to give up and go home. Before driving home I called the Midwife to see if they would check me before driving home. I went in and they said I needed to be admitted. Imagine my surprise when the doctor who saw me came back and said there was NO ROOM at the hospital!!! We had to drive 15 minutes to get to the other hospital. We arrived a little after 3, and the nurses wheeled me up while Rob checked me in. I was SO THANKFUL when I saw Mrs. Wills, and Theresa Wills walk in the room. (They got in there before Rob!) Rob had been in the room a matter of minutes when the nurse said I was ready to push, but TRY TO WAIT because my midwife wasn't there!! Mrs. Wills and Theresa were getting ready to leave, but I was SO scared I begged her to stay with me! My mom was still in Indianapolis, and I needed someone! Hannah was born at 4:03pm, yes, just an hour after we arrived I had my first child!

Tonight we are having her birthday bash with her closest friends! I am a very proud mama! She is a blessing to me, and I am so THANKFUL that God trusted her to me. Things are not always easy, and as we start to enter the CRAZY hormonal years, I am sure more adventures await us. I pray that God will ALWAYS give me the right words to say as I deal with situations arise!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

As we start a new year I am looking forward to changes that WILL happen! Hannah turns 10 in 9 days, Priscilla is quickly getting more mobile, and we are going to start redoing some things in the house! Today we took a peek under the carpet to find a parquet floor under it! It will need some work, but I am excited to do it.. There is paint on it, but it will be wonderful when it is done!

My main goal for 2012 is to loose ALL of my excess weight! I want to be slim and trim by my 37th birthday in August! I did gain 5 back over the holidays but that will be easy to get back off! My minor goal is to get completely organized in the house. I have done a pretty good job since we moved, but I still have some tweaking to do in my room and the basement.

I am excited to see what the new year has in store for our family! Most of our kiddos are to the age where they can start inputting things that they want to see happen too. I know God will continue to bless us as we strive to live for Him! I pray that my children grow closer to the Lord, and allow me to continue to train them to serve Him!

May God bless each of my friends and family in 2012! Draw closer to the Lord, and never forget to tell your family you love them! You never know how long you get to have them for.

Pictures!

Taking pictures is ALWAYS fun!! I took some of the girls yesterday and this is what we got! They each have their OWN personality and don't hesitate to show it! I will be posting pictures of their program from last night!

Thankfulness Challenge

November is always considered the month of Thankfulness. You find that people from all walks of life will put aside anger, malice, bitterness, etc., and find SOMETHING to be thankful for! I am sure on each social network you will find daily posts of what people are thankful for. I am one of those people who is finding something to be thankful for each day. I have been wondering what would happen if we decided to make EVERY day of the year Thankful Day! Imagine the change we could have in our attitudes if we decided to do this. I know there are days that are difficult to find something to be thankful for. Some days we LONG for an ending to! I know that when I look to be thankful for something it changes my day! It can be as simple as I am thankful my husband remembered to set the trash on the curb! When we look for things to be thankful for it will change our outlook on situations!

Challenge Time

In I Thessalonians 5:18 it says In every thing give THANKS: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I think this is one of the hardest things to do! When trials come in my life it is hard to be thankful for them. I think of this verse and think seriously?! you want me to be thankful for..... I think all of us get to that point in life, but when I get to that point God reminds me (sometimes not so gently) of all that Job went through and still thanked God. I want to challenge each of us to adopt the thought of a YEAR of THANKFULNESS. Every day we need to find something to be Thankful for. I am going to buy a small notebook and make it my Year of Thankfulness book. I think it will be awesome to write in it each day and have something to look through on the days that we are struggling. Please join me for this challenge! Let's see if we can help ourselves by looking for things to be Thankful for even on the days of gloom.

Just some Thoughts

This week we lost a very close friend of the family, Brenda Schwab. While reflecting on things that different people have said about her, it has made me stop and think about my life and what people might say about me. Would I be called a Prayer Warrior, good friend, sweet lady, encourager, spiritual, close to God? All of these things apply to Brenda. I know there were many times that I would call to encourage her and she would encourage me! Yes, the one who was very sick would say thank you but then ask me how things were going with me and my girls! After that she always let me know she loved me and prayed for me each and every day. She knew the music schedule and prayed for each person on the day and service that they sang. She prayed over the prayer list daily, and especially prayed for our Pastor and Mrs. Tidd daily and during church services too.

Then I got to thinking of Brenda seeing Jesus for the first time and hearing the words Well Done, Thou Good and Faithful Servant! The song Thank You for Giving to the Lord comes to mind and I know that there are people in Heaven due to her faithfulness in praying. I have seen posts from missionaries reflecting on how they knew Brenda was praying for them! I never heard her complain or question God about her situation. I am sure there were times that she prayed to be well so she could serve like she once did.

Brenda wasn't a missionary, or a pastor's wife BUT she allowed God to use her where she was. As a member of Lighthouse she did all she could to be a help to the staff and members. In my eyes she is a hero of the faith. She did everything she could as a Christian wife, mother, sister, aunt, friend! Brenda had many titles and I am blessed to have called her friend. With the example that she gave us I strive to be more like her. I want to leave this earth and be known as a Prayer Warrior! I thank God that He allowed me to know and serve with Brenda! I pray for comfort for my dear friends family as they walk this road together. I know God will give them the peace of Romans 8:28 and the strength they need to get through the next few days.

We Love You Brenda and will MISS you greatly!