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The fullness of time

Because of my introduction to Ann Voskamp and reading her blog aholyexperience.com, I feel as though this Christmas the blinder on my eyes have been yanked off. Ashamedly, I have thought little about Advent and the waiting of the King in years past. I've watched as the candles have been lit on Sunday mornings in the church service and at the moment thought about the meaning of each.. But this year has been different. Through this season I have  contemplated what it must have been like for God's people in the OT as they knew the promised one was to come-but they waited in the midst of God's silence-hoping, yearning, desiring, to see it become "the fullness of time". Oh what joy they must have felt when the heard it proclaimed that "Christ was born in Bethlehem". What prophesies from old must have ran through their minds. They were expecting this day but they just didn't know when it would come. I can imagine a family who had studied the scriptures-  hung on to the promises of the prophets for generations-what they must of felt when they realized their redeemer was here. Earth changed that day and nothing has ever been the same. Our God put on flesh and came to be near to us so his great rescue mission could be accomplished. While my mind has been in this place-thinking of what it would of been like to celebrate Christ's birth... I think of another advent that all believers are currently in.. The waiting of the return of our King. The same one who humbly came all those years ago and was laid in the manger... will come again to complete his mission.  He will come for his bride and make all this new! The earth once again will never been the same. What a glorious story we get to be apart of-this redemptive love story of our creator. So as you think this Advent season of Christ birth- and place yourself in that story-and think how they must of felt.. .Don't forget you are in the second Advent story-rejoice and long for the day when " the fullness of time" comes and Christ will return and reign forever.

The Unfolding of time

Isn't it funny how quickly we forget things? My girls are only 17 months apart and it feels as if its been forever since Riley kate was doing the things Hadley is now. I remember feeling this way the first week we had Hadi home. It was like I was a newbie all over again. I understand why my mom who hasn't had a baby in 27 years can't remember things like -"do you feed them fruit or veggies first?" While, I'm sure in twenty years I won't really care what solid food I started my girls on at 6 months- there will be some "small" things I would like to remember. There have been moments in the past few months that I have watched videos of Riley Kate when she was Hadley's age and actually ached to spend that day with her again. I can't believe how quickly both of them are growing up. I heard a speaker once say-The unfolding of time seems so odd to us because we are meant to be eternal creatures. We once were to live forever -before sin entered the world. I feel this.. I feed the oddity that comes with my girls growing and changing-moving from one season to another. Because I am the sentimental type, (which my girls probably might not even value) every now and then I am going to record the random-nothing-exciting events of our day. I stated at the beginning of the blog that this is mainly record keeping for our family-so I am aware that the next part will bore some if not all-my apologies in advance  :)
My dear girls,
    Today is December 13, 2011. Its a rainy, cold Tuesday and we haven't even gotten out of our PJs. You both woke up this morning around 8:30. We watched our morning show-Patty Cake (of course) and had breakfast. This morning you both had cereal and a banana. Riley Kate -you told mommy when you woke up that you had a dream about Patty Cake and daddy shut the door to the fridge because thats where she lived -(I dunno -it was your dream ). Hadi when you woke up this morning we cuddles a long time before you were ready to get down and play  ( I love when that happens) Mommy cleaned some this morning and you girls played well together-which doesn't always happen. You played well until, Hadley started stealing Mary from Riley's manger scene she was creating with her "little people set". We had a talk and unfortunately a spanking because there was pushing involved. Aunt Ashley and baby Madison came over for a play date. Aunt Ashley brought over two Christmas pillowcase dresses she made for all three of you. We tried them on and you looked so sweet! Riley you have played doctor, pretended to talk on your cell phone, and put your baby down for a nap today. Hadley you have pushed your bus, played with babies, and taken one step (no more), and played with your little red monster. You all loved having Baby Madison over and the three of you did well together. Riley we read one of your 25 (not exaggerating) library books we checked out- "Madeline" a few times today.You really like that book. You had a grilled cheese for lunch with a side of yogurt and have been napping for almost 3 hours. Daddy will be home soon!

Passing moments I don't want to forget #1

As we were reading the story of the birth of Christ before Riley's nap today we began talking about how Jesus came to rescue us.. I could see she was puzzled and didn't exactly know what rescued was.. so off my cuff I tried to think of an explanation that a two year old would grasp.. I choose to use the illustration of  her falling down the steps and mommy catching her..thats kind of like rescuing. I then told her that we all need to be rescued -that mommy does, daddy does, she does, and everyone is the world needs to be rescued from sin. She asked "catched?" I said yes we all need to be "catched" (excuse the bad grammar-she's two :)) Then with a twinkle in her eye she said "mommy catchup like for my chicken..." Guess we will revisit that truth a little later :)    

The Perry's

This past week was a sad week  as my cousin and her husband were told there was no other medical options for their new son and they said goodbye to their 28 day old baby boy-Justice Perry. I know many kept up with him through his facebook page or my status and prayed continuously for him, Sara, Troy, and big brother Noah. Although we miss Owensboro, I am very thankful to be in Nashville for many reasons and this occasion is no exception. Each time I visited Vanderbilt's children's hospital to visit with the Perry's I went desiring to minister to them but left filled and ministered to BY them. I am so thankful I was able to witness what God was and is doing through that family. I have heard complete strangers tell friends of friends that their family was changing Vanderbilt's children's hospital. They suffered well! While they never left their baby and were obvious concerned for him they used this trial as a mission field. They ministered to every other family up there. They were able to do so tirelessly. They considered others needs ahead of their own and asked for specific needs to be met for these other families. They were famous up there.. when i visited  people would stop them to give them updates or ask for prayer. I know it wasn't of their own strength -it couldn't be-it was too supernatural!! It was that of God Almighty's. It was very cool to see that fleshed out. On the Thursday night before Baby Justice went to be with Jesus on Friday, Aaron and I got to hold his hands and sing to him. I even showed him pictures of his cousins-Riley Kate and Hadley. His life renewed my walk with Christ and challenged my prayer life more than I think I am even aware.
When I think eternally or on a very large scale I quickly see how radically different it is from how I think 99.9% of the time. It hit me so hard on Friday afternoon after we heard Justice had died that as godly parents- our number one,  main priority is to raise children that will turn the world upside down for the kingdom of God. We are to raise them so that they will be used by God for God. That is our purpose for parenting- the end goal. I thought about baby Justice's life and even though it was only 28 days long-he did just that... his parents suffered well and through Justice's trial made much of GOD!
My Granny Powell (Sara's granny too) had 9 children-two of which died as children- she is familiar with this pain. She lost her mother, father, and husband within 11 months of one another. She battled and survived TB, was a hardworking farmer's wife who tended the fields, washed clothes on a board, made 90 homemade biscuits a day for her 6 growing boys, husband, and one girl (sara's momma). She is familiar with trials but has so much joy-because of knowing Christ. I feel like she has left a legacy for our family.  Our family of 70+ (Kids, grandchildren, great grandchildren) lost grandaddy ( granny's husband) 27 years ago and until Friday there hasn't been a death. Tomorrow afternoon he will be buried and tomorrow night a memorial service will be in his honor.. BUT one day-oh what a glorious DAY!

If you want to watch the service tomorrow night at 6:30 tune in at- www.epicchurch.tv and click on icampus to watch via livestream 

Its been a while since I've wrote -which makes me sad to have such a gap-but thats the way it goes with me. Every journal I have ever written  there are always large gaps of time when I go back and review it. 

Since I last wrote, we officially packed up our belongings and said goodbye to our home-Owensboro, KY. We were only there for three years- but in those three years we grew up. We went from a young married couple renting a an apartment to a family who delighted in making there a house a home. We also did  not have a single relative in Owensboro -but we had more family than we do anywhere else. Separating from the body of PVCC feels odd and like a part of us is missing. I realize I sound bleak and sad but we really are trilled about the new adventure God has for us-but the end of a chapter always is bittersweet. I guess the real difficulty is one chapter has ended but the other one has yet to begin. Since leaving Owensboro we placed the majority of our belongings in a storage building in Nashville and the girls and I are living in Hopkinsville with my parents-while Aaron has started his new job (which by the way he thinks he is going to like) and staying the work week with my brother and sister in law (who live in Nashville). We did this because we didn't want to make a quick decision about a place to live. I am glad Aaron had the discernment to suggest this option because we had assumed we would rent for a year or so -but after further investigating rent payment and the housing market it looks like it might work out in our favor to go a head and purchase a home. We are in the stressful/hairy process of trying to figure out all those logistics. We just completed week 1 of living apart and while it was hard -the girls and I had fun. We have got some great quality time with both GG and Pop and Mawlly and Papaw and had some fun play dates with cousin Addy and aunt Jamie. We got a month membership at the YMCA here which has a great pool, amazing childcare facility, and great workout equipment. We have been frequenting there. Riley Kate does not understand why in the world "GG and Pop's YMCA" does not give her suckers. In fact, she doesn't understand a lot about what's going on right now. She keeps requesting that we go to "mommy's house" even said she was going to walk there the other day.  I have explained to her that it's not our house anymore and that we are getting a new house. She completed my sentence yesterday that we we were going to get a new house and then asked if she were going to get a new B (blanket). I guess she thinks everything including B is going to change. She seems a little insecure and unsure of things right now but I think its more of Aaron's absence than the actual move. We did get in the car last Wednesday and she asked if we were going to "Eliza's house" not sure how she realized it was Wednesday and that we should be going to youth small group's at the Hylands... but she sure did ask that. Hadi is just doing great. That baby is so joyful and easy going. I can't hardly even think of her and not get a giddy smile. She is loving all the fun things to get into a GG and Pop's house.

When you think of us-please pray for our short separation and our big life decisions (as far as buying/vs renting). 

Panera and Jesus

I am a frequent visitor of Panera-anyone who knows Aaron and I well will tell you that we like that place a little too much :). Before kids, every Saturday morning we would go to Panera get a bagel and coffee and get in the Word together. I think Panera and Jesus just go together.  Aaron and I  rarely get to go and linger -but we still go through the drive thru often. This week I have had other people accompany me to Panera for breakfast. Both yesterday and today I got to spend some one on one time with two girls from my small group. I don't think I have gotten to blog much about my group of small group  girls, but they are seriously AMAZING! I do not know where girls like this were when I was in middle school. Most of them have a solid foundation in Christ and the things that the Spirit convicts them of is so encouraging to me. They really strive to put off there old nature and put on the nature of Christ. My heart's desire was to walk with these girls throughout the rest of middle school and through HIgh school. However, we are moving in a couple of weeks and while I plan to stay in contact- the life on life interaction will not be as possible. There is seriously NOTHING I am more sad about concerning our move than leaving this group of girls. Yesterday I had lunch with a girl who is about to start the eighth grade. She has a friend who she desires to know Christ and she is living with that end as a purpose. She was telling me about some conversations she had with this friend and I was blown away by her solid foundation. Today I had breakfast with a girl, who I have been praying for (as has her mom) a lot over the past 6 months. Recently Christ has drawn this sweet girl to himself-and I am just "giddy". This morning while I ate breakfast with this girl I  recalled going for ice cream with her last summer-it was if today I was talking with a completely different person.

I have been re reading some parenting books and I sometimes allow myself to get defeated. I love seeing-good parenting fleshed out.   It is easy to get discouraged by the world and its comments. We hear when we discuss dating, discipline, restrictions etc .. 

"Oh we'll see what your going to do when they get that age."

"I would like to see you tell them that-they are just going to sneak around and do it"

"You are just going to cause them to rebel"

and while any of the above comments may play out as true for our children-its very cool to see God transform a young heart to desire the thing He desires-and therefore is in line with what the parents see as best. 

I will post a picture of my group of girls after tonight's small group. 

God's providence

I know God works in our lives everyday-carrying out his will and purpose. I know that if we could see with spiritual eyes that we would be in even more awe of our creator as we considered: if the truck was going a little faster it could of hit us in that intersection, if i had not of spilled that cup of coffee I wouldn't have been late and might have been involved in the pile up, if i had not been in the traffic jam i would have missed the opportunity to worship God to a song, if I didn't have a screaming baby I wouldn't have met the woman in the foyer who needed to talk.  But it is true, that this side of eternity we don't get to see as often as we would like, God's providence being played out. 

However, this week we were blessed beyond measure to see God providentially caring for his children. Let me catch those of you who are a little removed from our life up to speed.. 

1. Aaron and I moved to Owensboro 3 yrs ago May-mainly to be apart of Pleasant Valley Community church (where Aaron's bf Jamus is the head Pastor)  and find jobs here in Owensboro. 

2. In May 2009 Miss Riley Kate arrived and soon after Aaron got a job offer with the Owensboro Police Department. We bought and fixed up our first home -1927 Sunset Dr. 

3. Aaron left in October of 2009 for Academy training which lasted through Feb. 

4. He came home in February and well 9 months later-Miss Hadley Grace arrived 

5. All in all Aaron has loved the Police Department-but recently the hours and shift have become a little draining for our family. He works second shift (3-11) -which I need to tell you is his favored shift to work-but that leaves evenings and weekends without him. It isn't too horrible now, but considering when the girls get older and our in school (if we choose not to homeschool) they would go days without seeing their daddy was just something that bothered us deeply. 

6. Sometime early May-after a vacation from the police department- Aaron asked me if I recalled my brother (who works for Dell) mentioning that they were hiring back in March. Neither one of us really even remembered because we did not give it a second thought only two months prior. So to make a long story a little shorter :) Aaron made a phone call to my brother who informed us that he thought they had everyone hired but to send in his resume and they would go from there. That was on a Sunday night-Wednesday he had an interview in Nashville (one guy said, oh a Murray State grad. we will have to introduce you to Brandon Powell-Aaron nodded and later said that it was so hard not to say "yea that would be great since I've been married to his sister for nearly five years") and Thursday was offered the job. 

7. We met with a realtor on Monday and the following Wednesday ( May 25th) placed our home that we love so dearly on the market. We showed our house 8-10 times in the following 2 weeks. 

THEN at 2 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (now the real reason im blogging tonight) ...

I had gotten my house spiffy for what seemed like the thousandth time and was lugging the kids out the door because we had another showing. I felt good about this showing. I couldn't have told you why but I had an excitement that something good was going to come of today involving the house. My excitement was not contagious to my husband. He was a little discouraged in the house selling arena of life. At one week and one day of the house being on the market we had an offer. However, the buyer was wanting us to come off so much that it would mean we would be paying $3600 and they would have the house-oh and they wanted my patio furniture and my curtains. We said no-at first-but then after rethinking it over a weekend decided that it we would figure it out and it would be good just to know the process was over and we could move on. Our relator contacted them but they were "unsure" they were still interested. 

When we are showing the house I always try and get out at least 10-15 minutes before I know the house is to be showed so we don't have any last minute potty breaks, juice spills, etc.. I am walking out of the door and I see that a car has pulled up beside our house.. and in all honesty this was my thought -"Are ya kidding me?" I thought I had allotted plenty of time and here the eager beavers were here 20 minutes before the showing. So I quickly dart towards our car avoiding eye contact with the driver and passenger of the car. I am shoving (literally :)) the kids into the car when I hear some one very energetically say "Excuse me" I was so startled I jumped and scared the sweet girl, myself, and Hadley. The girl began to ask me questions about the house-the layout, the floors, etc.. so i tell her all the while thinking, "aren't you about to see it?" Anyway after a few more questions I begin to realize this is not the people who the realtor (not ours) is bringing over. I explained why I was confused and quickly suggested that we call George -my realtor- to see if he would come show the house after the scheduled showing was finished. We call and George is not available and so i ask-in true Ashley Grant fashion-if I can just show these sweet people the house. He agrees and Jessica (sweet wife) and Heath (sweet Husband) come over to the car where I am unloading the girls to go back inside. Heath notices a book in the floor board of our car "What is the Gospel?" I explain that  Aaron is teaching through this to the middle schoolers during sunday school at church. Immediately at that point (which I already had my suspicions) we knew as Heath says we were  "blood kind"-we were brother and sisters through Christ (our big brother).  

We continue to talk and instantly have a connection. Heath is finishing up his degree from Southern and Jessica is a teacher. I can tell Jessica and I would be the best of friends and they truly seem to love our home. They leave and I felt so encouraged just through meeting them. We exchange cell phone numbers and later they call and want to come pray with us and were hoping to meet Aaron (but were unable to do so because of work). They return the next day to have breakfast with us -They explain that they desire to do overseas missions in Morocco as soon as Heath finishes Southern. (Currently he has a job in town and is taking online classes) They explain that they are trying to figure out if renting or buying is the better option for them. They recognize the investment of buying but also do not want to be tied down to having to sell before they can go oversees. Each time (the evening and the morning) we met it felt as if we had known each other longer and longer. We were thrilled to tell Heath and Jessica about Pleasant Valley and they were excited about there being churches in this community that taught the full counsel of God's word and were cross-centered. Aaron and I were excited because we know that Pleasant Valley's leadership has been praying over certain countries to adopt an un-reached people group from and send teams of people too-one of those countries is Morocco, the country that Heath and Jessica want to go and live. Heath and Jessica explain to us that they love our home and want to buy it if they decided to buy as opposed to rent. Then, they tell us that they are not only interested in buying it but they want to give us our ASKING PRICE. They explain that the Lord has blessed them so much with good jobs and they want to bless us. Because of the work we put into our home and the type of loan we got -we knew that we would most likely be taking a loss on selling our home this quick from the beginning (not even counting the 8,000 from the stimulus pkg we have to pay back for not living in our home 3 yrs). We knew that if we just covered someone closing costs we were going to be out almost 2,000. So to hear that these new friends were willing to buy our home at asking price was incredible. Please remember that only a few days earlier we had tried to get in touch with the people who made us the previous offer which would have resulted in us being out $3,600. Jessica and Heath leave that morning committed to continuing to pray to see what God would have them do. Aaron and I do the same.. For as much as we needed our home to sell-we knew Heath and Jessica were going to expand the Gospel in Morocco and we did not want them to have anything hindering them. Later, they call and inform us that they are making us an offer. Instead of meeting individually with our realtor we did it all together. George (the relator) was blown away. He said in all his years of doing real estate he has never seen anything like this.  

After we sign the contracts and are leaving the real estate office we learn that Jessica and Heath are driving almost daily back and forth to Elizabeth town (where they are moving from) to Owensboro. Of course, we think of Brad and Marilyn Rhoads who have a basement that they are always so willing to open up to anyone needing a place to stay. We call and Brad-without hesitation-thinks it is a perfect idea.  So last night we ate a yummy meal at Olive Garden together and they followed us to the Rhoad's home-where they are welcomed to stay until the end of the month. I think Sunday they will be visiting PVCC. In summary: God is a good and gracious father who takes care of his children and we give him all the glory for doing so. 

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"

Matthew 6:25-30

A few of my favorite Moments from this past week

• On Monday we got together with the Edwards' family and had such a great visit. It is so much fun to watch our kids play together and we had great conversation too.

• Tuesday we took Riley Kate to the doctor and she was 36 inches tall (95th percentile) and 24lbs (20th percentile) 
• Riley Kate and I had a fun day Wednesday playing in her pool while Hadi slept. We bought her a sprinkler beach ball with some birthday money and tried to play with that too, but she hated it :(
• Riley Kate has always been finicky- she has never liked messes on her hands on feet. We have always laughed at her about this. Well it has been taken to a whole new level this week she had a come apart in the bath tub because she found literally a speck of dirt-that i'm sure came off her.. Later in the week-when we were playing in her pool-she had to make sure no grass got into her pool from her feet-and when it did-pool time was over. We were even at a friend's house and there was a scratch on their wall and she said her favorite phrase, "What happened mommy?" On Friday we went to the park and she saw marks on the slide (like just wear and tear marks) and she refused to go down the slide-she thought it was poop. My favorite was one night she was eating a snack at her table and I was doing the dishes-she comes up behind me with literally one strand of my hair and says "mommy, trash". 
• Little Miss Hadi has had a rough week of teething this week-and has been abnormally fussy. I thought God had placed within this child the inability to be fussy-but I was wrong. She has been chewing on everything and has had a low grade fever-but that has not stopped her from jabbering up a storm... It has been different this week than in the past-more like words. She is also crawling everywhere and I'm not even kidding trying to pull up.. She turned seven months this week.. I cannot believe it. Aaron and I see that Hadi and Riley look similar but no one else really does.. 

• Me and the girls visited my Nana and Papaw in Russellville this weekend and it was so much fun. I plan to blog about my Nana and Papaw next time (so stayed tuned). My Nana has always delighted in her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren are no exception. I had a few good moments I won't forget with my papaw too-(see next post)

• On the way home from Russellville I had a moment that was not a favorite but I thought all would enjoy a good laugh and I believe I may laugh as well in YEARS to come. We had started the journey home and all was going well.. Riley and I were singing and Hadley was snoozing.. When all of a sudden Hadley wakes up screaming. Knowing that this was unlike her, I pulled over to check on her and I found what I had predicted would be the culprit- a poopy diaper. So in efforts to clean her up I remove her from the car seat and bring her around to the passenger side to lay her down and change her. I had changed her right before we left so i new the wipes should be right inside the diaper bag.. I open the diaper and begin the process-when to my surprise NO WIPES!! I had left them laying on my Nana's guest bed. So I did what any good mother would do.. I turned to Paci wipes as my next option.. I figured if they are safe to use on things that go in your mouth that why not on your booty. I get Hadley settled and I am about 25 miles from home. The crying doesn't stop because I can tell she is ready for some food.. (had given her a bottle before we left but she was ready for her baby food). Not more than 10 minutes later Riley says mommy I got to poop.. I said okay we will pull over (I had the potty chair with me) when the road construction stops (the  left hand lane was shut down). Before, I could get to a place to stop I smell this horrible makeyouwannapassout smell coming from the back seat.. And my finicky daughter is sitting as still as possible . .She looks at me and says "Beans Mommy!" I guess I should explain that she has called her poop beans since the time I tried to make her eat refried beans. Guess she thought I was feeding her poop that day. I instruct her not to move and continue to book it home-i  had like one more paci wipe and a whole car seat full of "beans". Aaron was at work when I got home so feeding one, cleaning another, and getting everything settled when we finally arrived at home was very comical. This morning I woke up with a goose egg on my head and remembered that while i was trying to change Hadi on the parkway I hit my head on the car door.. Gotta love it :)
• This week Riley Kate and I have started singing twinkle twinkle little stars when I am washing her hair- it distracts her from her hatred of having her hair washed.I love it because I can stop singing and she keeps on and finishes the song. Also, we have been reading I Love you Forever every night. (Prior to now, she wasn't interested in that book when I would try to read it to her. )
• One last thing -Riley was singing to her babies (as usual) one day this week and said-"God Paid it All" wrong lyrics but correct truth :) 

Riley Kate's Big day

Riley Kate's actually birthday was Friday but we celebrated with family yesterday. And we couldn't not have asked for a prettier day to grill and play outside. She had an absolute blast and was worn out by the end of it all.. Here are some photos from the day..

Her daddy grilled for us-some yummy cheeseburgers and hot dogs

Her and cousin Addy played

and played 

and played

She rode in her little red wagon...

with BB as the engine

her engine got tired :) He is such a good uncle!

Aunt ashy and Baby Madison were there to celebrate too!

Everyone enjoying the food daddy cooked ;)

Hadi enjoying her food-thanks aunt Jamie!

Riley enjoying her cake ball.

People used to say I had this man wrapped around my little pinky... but i think she's got mommy beat :) 

Even had so dear friends drop by 

Worlds BEST Molly and Papaw :) 

so glad Nanny and Papaw could make it!





Poor GG is not pictured... i think she was too busy-she did have three grand-babies in one place :)

can't believe our baby is two :)



just for fun here is a picture from last year to show how much she has grown...

Remembering the day a Mommy was born

Today is Riley Kate (my oldest) second birthday. As I write those words and read back over them it almost takes my breath away. I know two is still little but I have seen-first hand-how very fast two years goes and each day she grows more and MORE :) independent. I think we have already had the "terrible twos" like three times :), but she for the most part is a complete joy. The way she is able to express herself and her creativity -crack us up!  So here is the story of Riley Kate..

It was October and Aaron and I had moved to Owensboro the previous June. We had started talking about the idea of starting a family in the near future but were still taking measures to prevent that. That August I started my first year teaching. I was teaching 4th and 5th grade reading in a small country school in Henderson Co. (My 4th and 5th graders that were in my class will start 7th and 8th grade next school year )  The commute was tiring and the lack of job opportunities for Aaron was very stressful. He was waiting tables from like 3-11-and i left home in the mornings about 6:15-6:30. Needless to say we rarely saw each other and I at times felt as if my world was crumbling. One September night, I met a Murray friend (whose family lives in O'boro) for coffee at Starbucks. During the conversation we talked about anything and everything but before we were finished we began discussing babies. She and her husband had been married just a little bit after Aaron and I had. We both expressed our fear of having trouble getting pregnant. Mid October the same friend I had coffee with, called me to tell me she was expecting. I was overjoyed for her and told her it wouldn't be long until we started trying that we were no longer taking birth control. I then began to think and decided that actually i could be pregnant already because i was a few days late. She encouraged me to take a test-so i rushed out and bought one (all while Aaron was at work) and sure enough I was. My friend and I were due within a week apart. (We calculated and figured out that God was already forming our little miracles inside our wombs during our conversation back in September.)  There are lots of moments when I am very thankful my life is not recorded on video but when that stick said "pregnant" I would have loved to have had that recorded.  I  went back and forth between freaking out and rejoicing. Like a mad woman I jumped back in my car and raced to walmart to get more tests (I had to be sure) and just in case I really was I picked up a card for Aaron. The tests all confirmed that i was so I wrote in the "Congratulations on the new baby" card and literally paced the floor until he came home. I remember him coming home and taking forever to empty his pockets-which back then he did every night when he got home (to count his tips) . I told him I picked up this card "just because"-he sat on the chair reading it -looked at me and said- "Are you for real?" (I played several tricks on him before :)) I showed him the stick and I remember him just hugging me as tight as he could. 

The night we told our parents 

I taught..We heard the heartbeat... Aaron began looking for another job..We had Christmas..... A MONSTER Ice storm happened...We found out it was a girl....told school i was not coming back (which now seems like it should have been more difficult considering Aaron didn't have a job) .Aaron interviewed for 15000 jobs.... I taught... Aaron got another non-permanent job...

Then .. May arrived -Riley Kate was not due until June 17th.. but May was a huge marking point because it meant school was almost over. We had finished testing -so all that was left was field day, water day. rewards day, talent show,etc.. I was looking forward to finishing up and having the next few weeks to rest up before the arrival of our baby. Oh i should say here that sometime between Jan-May I had an ultrasound which revealed that baby girl was breech. So my doctor had informed me that unless she turned that i would be having a dreaded C-section. I had opted to have my doctor try to turn her (as painful as I had heard that was -I thought it would be worth it).  Anyway May 27th was the last day of school and boy was I ready... i think that was rewards day...anyway it came and went and we said goodbye to the students by doing a kick line as the busses rolled away. Yes, thats right preggers in a kick  line=attractive :) I stayed a little after and packed up my car with a lot of my things so that I wouldn't have to do it the next day (teacher's closing day). On my way home I talked to several people rejoicing that it was my last day of school-including my friend who is a labor and delivery nurse. I had told her about some "symptoms" that had been going on with me earlier that day-and she told me she thought I needed to go to labor and delivery. I had thought my water was broken once before at 29 wks -and had gone up there-and it wasn't. We actually had just gotten the bill and i was determined not to pay an unnecessary visit up there again. So I went to her house... she confirmed that she thought my water was broken..and I needed to go.

Aaron was at work-my friend Annie drove me and dropped me off (so we wouldn't have two cars)-and Aaron met me up there. My mom was trying to make it to see me  before they took me back but she was about 7 minutes late (they wouldn't wait for her-apparently its not good to be hanging out with a broken bag of water ??)

And at 6:59pm my precious baby girl took her first breath. She cried and it was the sweetest noise i have ever heard. They held her up for me to see and Aaron quickly got her and brought her to me .. When I laid eyes on her I was in love. She was 5lbs 8oz and 181/2inches long-turns out i had a septum in my uterus which gave her only a little space to grow. Friends and family were all waiting with cameras when we got to our room. Due to her being early we had some feeding issues to work through and she had a touch of jaundice. And while those things seemed so hard at the time (like feeding her around the clock every 21/2 hrs with a special needs feeder and then pumping after that) those days seem so short lived now. The day after Riley Kate was born, Aaron got a a job offer with OPD.
  These past two years she has filled our hearts with so much joy-she is spunky but sweet-aggressive but gentle. Its fun to see how uniquely God has made her but how we can pick out various attributes of the two of us in her both physically and in her disposition.

My Top Ten Favorite Things About Riley Kate 

10. She loves her "B" (her blanket) and rubs it so sweetly when she is sleepy.

9. She gets slap happy and can't stop laughing when its passed her bedtime 

8. She is very sharp and doesn't miss anything. 

7. She repeats EVERYTHING 

6. She mocks me especially 

5. She like routine 

4. She is really weird about messes and dirt (overly so)

3. She loves her sleep 

2. She loves her baby dolls 

1. She is a performer and LOVES being the center of attention

Loving slow-my children

Why is something so sweet and delightful so hard to do at times? Loving my girls slowly brings me so much joy -although many days unfortunately my love for them looks more like a train speeding full-force down a track (I will explain why in the near future).
I am going to share a story that was told to me that was read from a book...I would love to give the book credit but I honestly have no idea where it came from or if I will get anything but the main details correct. But anyway the story went like this-
"A family was dropping off their oldest son at college on move in day when they passed a fresh peaches stand and decided to stop and partake. The family looked around for a moment and theses peaches looked so yummy. The lady who was selling the peaches said these are the best peaches ever. She said they are juicy and delightful. The family said well we will take one a piece . The lady looked at the mother and said you better get a whole bunch and enjoy them while you can because the season is almost over and you will miss them when its fall." The story went on to relate that to our children. The one who was sharing the story asked a question that hit home to me.. She asked us to recite apart of the book "Goodnight Moon", which Riley Kate and I read most every night and of course I chimed in- "In the great green room there was a telephone and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon." She reminded us that one day we would say Goodnight to moon for the last time. This simple story motivated my heart to slow down. I remembered thinking as she shared, how most nights tired and to the point of exhaustion, I  race through the story. Oh how I desire to eat every "peach" with my children (a.k.a.love them slow). I hope this encouraged you to do the same.  Sit down and play and eat some peaches.

Loving Slow-Loving my Husband (Part 2)

So apparently I am real slow...at blogging that is :)
But I wanted to keep up and further explain my life's goal in loving slow. Just a clarification if you haven't read my other posts -this "loving slow" thing is not something I do all the time unfortunately, its not something I have mastered, and honestly some days I stink at it. It is the exact opposite of what is natural for me- but how I want to live like this so bad.
     Loving Aaron -aside from Christ-is my favorite person to love slow but he is also the one that I neglect to love slow the most-although he on the other hand does a fantastic job of loving me slow. As I reflect on why this is so, i can only concluded that I let the "urgency get in the way of my priorities" (quoted from my dear friend) I desire and plan to love Aaron slow each day and give him my full attention when he is telling me a story from his day or an idea he has but then.... a glass of milk is spilled, someone is crying, everyone is napping and i really need to get a shower, or some other "urgent" agenda item needs to be completed.
       We were blessed to be apart of a Marriage Bible study led by one of our newest pastors and his wife last fall (this couple seriously has the most amazing marriage) and they challenged us wives to love our husbands slow-and although I am pretty sure they didn't use that phrase-that is exactly what the challenge was. Instead of doing the dishes while he watches the game, forget the dishes for the moment and just go sit beside him and watch the game. If you hate basketball(or whatever it may be)  -learn to love it! He wants not just someone-but you-his wife-to be his buddy. Marilyn also challenged us that no matter what we are doing when he begins talking to put what we are doing down, turn and listen and be fully engaged. What if our husbands are really needing us to actively listen and after only a few moments of what we feel is just going to be small talk they reveal something they are struggling with, an issue at work, or whatever -and we miss it because that soap scum ring was just really bugging us.
      Before we got married Aaron and I read several books and had amazing counsel from Bro. Ricky Cunningham of Hardin Baptist. One of the things we discussed and read was how obviously different people receive and give love. Almost five years have gone by and we were laying in bed the other night and it hit me I totally am loving Aaron the way I want to be loved. It's almost as if I forgot what his love language was and instead displaced it with what I thought it should be---mine. I have found that doing that-loving someone in a way they don't necessarily receive love-- is like banging your head against the wall. Let me put some flesh on this- scenario : I work hard all day to make sure the house is spotless... i think wow Aaron is going to come home and the house is going to be a "sanctuary" for him. He will surely know how much I love him because his sheets smell like downy and his shower like comet. I work tirelessly thinking I truly am loving him sacrificially. You may think this sounds silly but if I came in after a long day this would truly make me feel so loved and appreciated.  Aaron comes in and says, "house looks nice".. While he appreciates the house being clean it does NOT make him feel more loved. He would much rather me rest and be refreshed and ready for a night out or a long night watching movies and talking-than to have a spotless home.

    And while this next part might make my grandmother blush- we also must intimately and intensely love our husbands slow and with great attention in the bedroom. This might be the most important part of loving them. Loving them slow in this area is being intentional about carving out time, it is initiating to them throughout the day via text, phone call, etc.., it is dying to yourself and elevating their needs above your own. Lisa Hyland-whom I refer to often-was challenging a group of women to think about our husbands as buckets and we get to fill them up. We don't want to only fill them up half way- so the world can fill them up the rest of the way, we don't even want to fill them up just to the top but we want to fill them up so much that they are overflowing. So that when they are in the world and Satan tempts them they are so full they can't even think about partaking.
    One way that helps me to stay focused on Loving Aaron slow is trying to think of ways to bless him. Whether its cooking his favorite meal or planning an outing for us. Sometimes my idea bank runs dry... Post ideas and lets encourage each other to bless our husbands this upcoming week and love them slow.


oh and here are a few books that have been recommended to me-most of these I have read-a couple are on my "need to list"

His Needs Her Needs-William F. Harley
Love and Respect-Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Sacred Marriage-Gary Thomas
The Fruit of Her Hands-Nancy Wilson
Creative Counterpart-Linda Dillow
Feminine Appeal- Carolyn Mahaney


and here are some sermon series links-


http://www.owensborochurch.com/audio/by/album/song_of_songs
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/the-peasant-princess

Why Loving Slow Part 2-Loving God Slow

Before I begin let me re-say that the majority of thoughts and ideas I will be sharing over the next several posts are combined thoughts coming from godly counsel, amazing books, and sweet conversations with a friend. I feel so blessed and recognize that it is clearly God’s grace that I have heard these things and been encouraged to flesh them out.

As easy as it is for me to abandon or misarrange priorities in my life- I am convinced that my top three priorities in ranking order should be: my relationship with Christ, my relationship with Aaron (my love), and my relationship with my children. It is interesting that if we operated in this correct order a domino effect would occur. If I am walking intimately with Christ and he is satisfying me completely then my cup would be full. Then as I go through my day my heart would be turned towards Aaron and his needs. I would be willing and desire to serve him and elevate his needs above my own because Christ has done that for me. I am not looking to my relationship with Aaron to fulfill me because Christ already has. Every sweet way he cherishes me, serves me, and dotes on me –just makes my cup overflow. If Aaron and I are inline with one another and both growing towards Christ our relationship with each other will then in turn be of great benefit to our children. So after considering the “domino effect” I concluded that obviously that’s what I desired.

There are so many days that come and go where I love God FAST and I mean really FAST. I might read a set of scripture say a brief prayer and honestly check that off my to-do list . Sometimes I even put it off to the end of the day and choose a sink full of dirty dishes over spending time with the Creator of the Universe.  There are other days where the Spirit pricks my heart and by God’s grace my time with Christ is so sweet and intimate.  Oh how I long for the latter to overshadow the others.

In God’s sovereignty, I heard a man talk back in October.  This man is a friend of a friend and I cannot even remember the man’s name honestly, but I will never forget what he taught me. He taught me one practical way to love God Slow. He didn’t use those words and in fact it wasn’t until 5 months later that I had even begin to think about loving slow. But as I thought about what it would look like to love God slow, I remember what this man had opened my eyes to. What this man had described was something I had heard mentioned growing up in church but never knew how to do it-what he taught on was meditating on scripture. I knew about memorizing scripture and the importance that served, but had never understood the difference. Recently,it is as if I cannot get enough of you Psalm 119 and it is clear all throughout that chapter the importance and blessings from meditating on the Word of God.

He defined meditating on God’s Word and gave some examples that really helped me.  

What is mediating on God’s Word.........

1..  -Meditating on God’s word is slowing down
- It is the difference in taking a long bath as opposed to a quick shower.
- It is the difference in taking a jet plane from California to Florida or driving for days stopping at  small towns along the way, lodging with them, and fishing and talking with the locals.
- Its taking God’s word and digesting it.
 

How to:

1.     He gave the advice that taking a psalm or proverbs and just chewing on 6-7 verses throughout the day.  Thinking on each word and the implications of what each passage is saying.

2.     He used Psalm 1 as an example.

“Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in^(E) the seat of^(F) scoffers;

2but his^(G) delight is in the law^[b] of the LORD,

and on his^(H) law he meditates day and night.

3He is like^(I) a tree
   planted by^(J) streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
   and its^(K) leaf does not wither.
^(L) In all that he does, he prospers. 4The wicked are not so,but are like^(M) chaff that the wind drives away.

5Therefore the wicked^(N) will not stand in the judgment,
   nor sinners in^(O) the congregation of the righteous;
6for the LORD^(P) knows^(Q) the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.”

-He asked us to think about what it meant to be blessed. To define that word and think on how it is to be around someone who is blessed. We also looked at what a blessed man does not do.

-He then had us look at the progression of sin- the man first walks with wicked, then he lingers a little longer and ends up standing with sinners, finally before it is all said and done he is sitting with scoffers.

3. My favorite thing that he did with us was he read the description of the tree and has us do a quick sketch of what we thought this tree would look like.

Unfortunately, since October I have lost my “notes” of everything this wise man said-but this is what I took from it. I would love to hear ways that others meditate on God’s word and favorite verses that you meditate on. Also, please share ways you love God slow-whether its being still before him, walking and praying, etc.. 

There are so many facets and aspects of God and because of Christ we have access to him. We get to spend the rest of our days here and in eternity loving God slow.