Friday, September 28, 2012

For HIS glory and our GOOD.

     Today I woke up with an extremely heavy and burdened heart. I know the Lord has placed specific people on my heart for a reason. I actually received a text this morning from one of the sweet friends that the Lord has made my heart heavy for. I was in the middle of praying for this friend when she texted me. I didn't notice she had texted me until after I was done, and I responded asking how she was to find out she is not doing well at all. Becoming worse in many ways, and I will be honest my heart was crushed. I now know why she was placed so heavily on my heart. All I could do was sit here and cry. Cry out to the Lord.

    There are so many people around me who are lost, hurting, sick, struggling, broken marriages, etc... Lately, I feel like the sufferings of others have been made more apparent to me, and this morning it hit me hard. All I could do was sit and cry out to my GOD. I don't understand why some suffer more than others, or why certain people suffer in certain ways. But what I do know is that our GOD is good. Its all for HIS glory and our good.

    It is okay to be burdened and pray/cry out to Jesus about these people, but I was gently reminded by HIM that it is not my job to "save" them. As I feel so heavily burdened I, myself, have to take rest in Jesus knowing that he has a plan and a purpose for each and everyone of these people.

Isaiah 43:11 I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.

     I have to rest in knowing that Jesus is the ONLY answer for these people. He is the only one who can bring these people comfort, peace, rest, strength, endurance, healing, restoration, etc... Christ is the only one who can save them. I will continue to cry out and fight for these people, and I pray this for those who are going through these trials...

     I pray that the ones who are lost, come to know Christ as their Savior. I pray the ones who have a personal relationship with Christ already RUN TO HIM and NOT from Him. I pray that all of those that I am praying for find peace, restoration, comfort, and strength in Him.

There is hope my sweet friends. Rest in the arms of our sweet Savior.

Romans 12:12
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.


Hebrews 4: 16
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.



1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.


Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who were called according to His purpose.

Matthew 6: 34

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Philippians 4: 4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 13
I can do all things through HIM who strengthens me.

James 1: 2-4
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

1 Peter 5: 6-7
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Lamentations 3: 22-25
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him."
Proverbs 3: 5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,and do not lean on your own understanding.
1 Chronicle 16:11
See the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

adjusting to life with 2! :)

Being a mommy of a 2 year old and newborn keeps me quite busy so my blogs will probably not be as frequent. With that being said.....
I am so beyond blessed to have my two little boys!! They amaze me everyday and I am so thankful the Lord entrusted me to be their mommy!! Jude is so sweet, but knows what he wants! For example, he only likes to be held certain ways, hates the swing, will scream his head off if he does NOT like something!! He loves to be snuggled, which I LOVE! Here are some of Jude's newborn photos!! I am so smitten with this little boy, and its still so surreal after 9 months of a difficult pregnancy that He is here healthy and perfect! :)


As much as I love my boys I will be honest and say going from 1 to 2 children has been challenging! The transition was a made a little easier by having my amazing husband home for 2.5 weeks, meals from my church family, and having family here to help for a couple of weeks! One reason it has been challenging because I feel like the boys often need something important at the same time. Although, other aspects of being a mom of two are easier such as knowing different things to do to calm Jude when he is fighting sleep or upset. Having Jude in our family now has been an adjustment for everyone especially for our sweet Josiah. He has surprisingly done well though. At first, he was really jealous when daddy held Jude and would always say "daddy give baby Jude to mommy." That only lasted about a week, which I am so thankful for. Josiah, at first, was scared to touch Jude, but quickly warmed up. Now he is totally smitten with his baby brother and loves to hold, kiss, and even tries to play with him. He also has done well with being patient when he wants something and I am feeding, changing, or soothing Jude. I am so proud of my sweet Josiah!

Psalms 127: 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, a fruit of the womb a reward. 
    
Postpartum: I will be so thankful when my hormones return to normal! I have not had too many emotional days like I did with Josiah, but I have still had a few weepy days and moodiness. I hate it! Anxiety has kicked in about sickness such as the flu or whooping cough especially as we are entering the season for these things because these things can be serious and/or fatal for Jude so I am having to CONTINUALLY put this anxiety into the hands of my good God. I have to constantly be in prayer about it or I will become a hermit like I did with Josiah. I know part of my anxiety comes from having Josiah hospitalized at 10 days old with a stomach bug, and it was horrible. I also don't like the postpartum phase because of ppd, which is always at the back of my mind since I suffered from postpartum depression with Josiah that started around 5-6 weeks after delivery and lasted a few months. This time I am trying to prevent it by walking daily, reading the Bible, and praying. 

I have enjoyed taking walks around my neighborhood and Josiah loves our walks! Jude falls asleep in the stroller, which is a plus because it gives Josiah and me lots of time to talk, and we have turned our walks into a little adventure!  

The Lord taught me so much through my pregnancy with Jude such as patience, humbleness, and reliance on Him. He is STILL teaching me these things. I have to be reminded that I am NOT super woman and somedays I will not be able to clean, dinner sometimes may not be as homemade as I WANT it to be, etc. I have to rely in HIS strength to make it through each day especially the challenging ones when boys are fighting sleep or Josiah is being defiant. God is such a good God and I am so thankful that He continues to teach me new things through each season of my life. 

I absolutely LOVE my family. The Lord truly has given me an amazing family and I am undeserving of them!! <3 Thank you Jesus! :)