Thankful Thursdays Top Ten #5

This week's thankfuls!!

1) I am thankful that when I get my daughter out of bed it is usually accompanied by this pretty face and not a fussy one:

She really likes taking her pants off lately.  I think it is because they are too long on her!

2. I am thankful for date nights with my husband.  We had a delicious dinner, time to chat and unwind and it was delightful. 

3. Plans with friends!  I have lunch plans with a friend today, dinner plans on Friday and family plans on Sunday - I love it!

4. A busy month of May.  Sounds crazy but we have a TON going on with the teen center in May.  I'm thankful for the ministry opportunities and the busyness that will make this month go faster so August arrives quickly :)

5. My Bible study girls.  I think there are three of them that are making great strides these days and it makes me thrilled to see the Lord working in their hearts!

6. A reminder to be cheerful.  I had a day of the grumpys yesterday.  I think I'm in a bit of a funk - nothing that some God time and a nice mocha couldn't cure.  :)  I was thankful at the end of the day to realize that none of it REALLY mattered and that my attitude was not contributing to my witness.

7. My kid's silly sense of humor.

8. Naps!  This week I've snuck in at least two short naps. I just get so tired in the middle of the day!  I'm hoping that this is simply pregnancy related - I HATE that terrible mid-day I have to take a nap feeling.

9. People with graphic design ability.  We are working on some new brochures for our ministry and I am LOVING what they are sending over!  If you ever need any graphic designers I've got three recommendations off the top of my head!

10.  The sun!  I can actually see it today and there has been no rain!  It'd be nice to make it through the day without rain, we shall see!

Thanks for reading!! :D

Walk with me.

Today I figured I'd give you a glimpse into my world.

9:00am
I don't get up until 9.  I'm not lazy I promise.  My husband and I are on weird schedules because he works late on the weekends and we've found it is easier to stay up/get up later than to try to adjust completely during the week.  He is also amazing and gets up with our daughter so I can rest.  I'm one of those weird people that need time in bed to sleep of course but it takes me FOREVER to unwind and be ready to sleep...and of course I'm awake at least twice in the night because I'm pregnant :)

10:30am
After my wake up I took a shower then settled in for my favorite part of the day :)  I got breakfast for me and my girl (rice cakes with peanut butter) then we watched Little House on the Prairie until 10am.  She woke up early this morning so is taking an early nap.  She went to bed and I pulled out my Beth Moore Bible Study on Paul.   Now it is time to get to work!  I have only 18 messages that came in while I slept (usually I wake up to 30 or so), shows to announce and promote and a few other random things to get finished!

11:05am
I have finished my emails!  YEA!  I am waiting on my Outlook 2007 to decide it likes me.  I installed it yesterday on my computer but it is being hateful.  Ugh, upgrades.

12:15pm
Outlook still doesn't work.  But I did get three shows posted (theatticclub.com, facebook.com/theatticclub) and get a bunch of other sites updated.  My father in law also decided he needed to comment on or like everything on my facebook.  He has 7 kids...I have 1.  Pretty sure I'll win that war.  I think I'll launch an attach around midnight while he is trying to sleep...or around 9pm on Thursday when he is dating his wife. Bwah ha ha.  :)  Kiddo is still asleep.

3:25pm
Since we last talked I have fed my daughter (yogurt, a roll and grapes), eaten lunch (bowl of leftover rice...healthy right?), attempted to get groceries, publicly boycotted Meijer and met up with a friend to pick up some supplies for an event on Friday night.  The Meijer lady made me mad...apparently the name on my ID that matches the name on my paper wasn't good enough.  I realize she is following policy but I know it can be done since it has been done before.  But whatever - Target and Walmart are fine stores too.  I also considered backing my car into someone that honked at me.  Maybe I should get off of here, take a time out and spend some time praying.  Can someone send me a shirt that says "I'm pregnant and hormonal, leave me alone."?  Ok, I think I'm going to go watch Sesame Street with my little cuddle bug and then get back to work (because after answering all my emails I'm back to 23.  The downside of answering them is it tends to create more :).

5:49pm
My dad just came to pick up the munchkin so I have a bit of time.  Lets see, Grace and I watched Sesame Street...I may have fallen asleep.  Then we got her some dinner (strawberries and grilled cheese).  Then we colored pretty pictures to give to my mom - she is getting her Mother's Day present tonight.  Now Grace is gone for a bit, the hubs and I will go out to dinner whenever he emerges from his office and life will be grand.  In the meantime, more work to get done.  I'm back to 22 emails.

6:09pm
I was going to type about how I may be overly sensitive but I don't think blaming a company policy on an individual and giving them grief about it is very nice...then I realized that may have been what I did to the poor Meijer lady.  Ok, still don't like them, nothing against her :)  Husband and I are going to try Bonefish Grill tonight...we'll see how it goes!  Gotta get ready to go.

Since I may not be free again between date, picking up the muchkin and bed I'm going to go ahead and post this now! :D  Hope you had a good day!

Gotta Be Something More

I'm having one of those days.  I spent some time talking to God about it already.  Ya know, those days where you think is this it and am I doing it right?

Sometimes I wonder if, like the country song says there's gotta be something more, gotta be more than this.  And not in a discontent way.  I love being a wife, mom, working with teens.  I just wonder if I'm doing it right, good enough, am I the right woman for the job?

Do I love my kid in the right ways? Teaching her? Training her?
Do I show my husband love and respect in ways that are meaningful to him?
Do I invest enough time in the teens that I work with?
Do I demonstrate a godly lifestyle before them that I'm proud of?
    (and in a not ashamed of kind of way, not in a PROUD kind of way)
Do I love the people around me in real, tangible ways?

Do you ever have days like that?  Fortunately I know that God desires obedience and that being obedient means bringing Him glory.  So, I suppose my outlook should be...

Do I love my kid in a way that will point her toward the Lord?
Do I show my husband love and respect in a way that is honoring to God?
Do the teens see Christ in me as I work with them and live life in front of them?
Do people know that when they call me I will respond as Christ would respond?

Obviously the answer isn't yes to all the questions all the time - but at least I know that I have a goal to aim for and that there IS something more than just this earth.

Why I have Grace.

Grace Louise - September 16, 2009

I always love to hear about why people choose their children's names.  My Grace was going to be Madalyn until about month 7.  Then, a random late night face book chat changed it all.

One of my dear friends was having some issues planning her wedding.  It seems her mother in law was being a bit of a handful.  The discussion soon turned from her wedding to my baby and she asked how I would work after having a little one.  I said, I wasn't sure and I would definitely need some grace during that transition time.  Then I stopped.  GRACE.  I ran downstairs and told my (ever so patient) husband that I thought our baby's name was Grace.  He thought and prayed on it and said yes, Grace it was.

See, before we were blessed with this young lady we had another pregnancy.  In June of 2008 I got my first positive pregnancy test.  I was ecstatic!  Because of some issues with me we went in for an ultrasound for dating and found out we were at just 6 weeks.  This was early enough for us to see the little blink that was the baby's heartbeat but they were concerned about the heart rate and we had to go back a week later for another ultrasound.  At that appointment, they could not find a heartbeat.  We were heartbroken and after I did some kicking and screaming I came to the conclusion that although I DID NOT LIKE the situation, I had no choice but to admit God was in control.  Then, when we found out we were pregnant in late December we were happy but nervous.

We went through the same scary situation with this pregnancy.  An early ultrasound for dating then a follow up one to check on her heart a week later.  That was the longest week of my life.  After making it through that ultrasound I went to every appointment just a little nervous that something would be wrong. 

On September 16, 2009 our fears for the pregnancy phase were over (we still have to think about boys and dating and life!)  but our Grace Louise was finally here.  Her middle name is my middle name, and my mothers.  Her name Grace - well, I found this definition of the word grace: the free and unmerited favour of God shown towards humankind. And really, I think that sums up our baby.  This hit home so much more after the loss of our first baby - the Lord in His goodness gives us precious gifts that we are not able to earn and that we certainly don't deserve but he entrusts us to take care of this little life.  We are so blessed!

Elizabeth

Sleepy Sunday?

I had a LONG day.  It is now 11:48pm and I just got home from work.  I have 7 minutes to type this while my pasta is cooking on the stove.  I am grateful for the people who work alongside of me - their cheerful attitudes and willingness to work kept me going much longer than I would have on my own.  I wasn't even doing most of the walking and my feet HURT tonight!  Praise the Lord for servers.

Tomorrow's Bible study is "How we know the Bible is real".  What a tough topic to teach.  I always want to say - it just is!  But I suppose the fact that they want me to "prove it" at least means they care.  Tomorrow will be lots of studying!  (If you have any brilliant wisdom feel free to leave me a comment!)

Here are some pictures of my kiddo.  She got a new Elmo doll and a stroller to push him in.  I just saw them a few minutes ago.  That stroller is teeny tiny.  I'm sure it will be a loved toy for the next few years!  Oh, and in other unrelated news I think yesterday was my last wedding ring day.  Last time I was pregnant I had to have my wedding band cut off because I couldn't get it off my finger.  My engagement ring is now off for good and I'm checking the band daily to make sure we don't get stuck again!

Grace pushing Elmo while wearing my mom's slippers.

Happy girl!!

This is also an almost-Easter-Do-Over picture.  That was her backup Easter dress that I think will now be her 2 year old birthday party dress unless I find another one I like.  It is SUPER cute in person and I think I can get an awesome bow to match the one on the front of the dress :)  Yep, planning her birthday and it's 4 months (and the birth of a baby) away!

Alrighty, my 7 minutes is up and I'm hungry!