Scripture for the Year

I can't say enough great things about the church we have been attending. It has been a blessing for us since moving here. Every Sunday is refreshing and gives us renewal as well as resolve for being a better Christian in our lives. I guess they have a tradition of encouraging their members to choose a Bible verse for the year to meditate on and help them in their lives.

About a month ago during a sermon about the Christmas carols, this particular scripture was brought up. Later that same exact day, I read this same scripture in one of the Karen Kingsbury books that I was reading (Christian fiction). Later, I had another encounter with this verse that I was positive was NOT a coincidence. So, needless to say, it didn't take me long to realize what my verse for this year needed to be. Romans is one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Joyful is not a word that I would use to describe my life, especially during the last few years. I've tried to count my blessings, but I wouldn't say I was joyous to the point of exuding that joy to others. Hopeful. . . . well, that's hit and miss in the past few years as well. Man have I struggled with hope, especially in the mornings of extreme sickness and fatigue. Faithful . . . again, I fail in my faith often, wondering what the purpose of prayer is or why I haven't been healed. I struggle and fail, but God's mercies never cease to amaze me.

While we were in KC awhile back, my sister and I took the opportunity to shop at Mardel. That store was made for me! I love it! It is a Christian book and teacher supply store. (It's owned by the same people as Hobby Lobby.) Not long into my shopping experience, I found a smooth ring that had the entire verse of Romans 12:12 (not just the location, but written out). Most people that know me know my lack of wearing jewerly- including my wedding ring. It irritates me and my wedding ring often scratches things or myself. This ring has been a God-send in many ways lately as I've been discouraged and can feel the ring on my finger to remind me to "be joyful, hopeful, patient, faithful, prayerful."

I'm still struggling, especially after being through an especially difficult week. I wonder when my reprieve is coming. When will healing come. Is there a miracle out there for me? How long must I practice being patient? (do you know how difficult that is???) How can I be faithful in prayer when I fail in my faith and question too often? This I know- the Bible has the truth- that whatever it says, I can rest on versus how I feel. Feelings fade and pass but the truth remains. God is working in and with me. I'm working hard to live out my verse this year. I might end up needing more than a year though to refine it. :)

Volunteering at the Sternburg

Malachi and I sure do enjoy volunteering at the museum. He mainly enjoys holding the animals and I help too. I've gotten quite fond of Cooper, the kingsnake. He is such a sweet snake- I seriously think he's the most chill of all the animals at the museum. Maynard is pretty neat too and he's another king snake, but Cooper is a little bigger and we just seem to get him out a little more.

 
Malachi also likes to meet friends at the museum to play. He especially enjoys his friends that like the animals.

Next year, I'm not sure what I'll do without being at the museum almost every day. I've grown quite fond of the turtles, mice, lizards, and even spiders!

Weird, Bowling, and Wilson Warrior

I can't believe how fast January is slipping by. I have so many check-up's and medical appointments scheduled in February that it hardly seems time. I've had 2 weeks with NO doctors appointments which has been NICE. The past few days have been rough, emotionally and physically and I think Sunday's Satan really tries to keep me from attending church. Every Sunday we have gone to church here, the sermons have been amazing- exactly what we needed to hear. I was struggling with patience last night and sure enough- today's sermon was mostly about patience- waiting for God's greatness and not settling for lentil soup (like Esau did with Jacob). I'm so thankful for the music and words this morning that resounded in my heart a new desire to be patient. . . whatever that means- I will learn as I continue to struggle and not feel well, I hope that I can learn patience in my perserverence.

A few weeks ago, I saw an idea on Pinterest for a snake wreath. I modified it just a tad but this is what Malachi and I came up with. We had fun creating it. However, it's been a few years since my teacher/glue gun days and I ended up with quite the ouchie on my hand that is still a nice blister. This will be a fun decoration at his birthday party that we've been planning.

Our church is doing a sermon/book study on the book "Weird" and I have loved having the boys learn the lessons as it applies to kids as well. Shawn has been listening to the audio book and I've been reading our paper copy. It is a great book and also convicting about being "weird in a God way."
 
This past Friday, Zachary was a Wilson Warrior. It meant that he got to put up a display case for the day and showcase some of his special things. Besides it being an early morning and the end of a particularly rough week for me, we got things displayed well and even had lunch with him. I am proud of him.
 
We also finally made it back to the league bowling. My boys have so many to make since I thought the season was over. My friend Melanie's son is on Logan and Malachi's team so we had to get team pictures.

What a busy, yet blessed weekend. God is good.

Photography by Jarin Gleason

My sister has recently studied and started to perfect her photography skills. I was SOOOO thankful that she was kind enough to give her time and talent to give me these beautiful pictures of my kids. I am so in love with all of them and probably will have to frame them all! :)

A few have just Logan and Malachi because they will be sharing their birthday party soon and I was hoping we could use some of these on their thank-you notes. I can't believe that within a few months I will have an eight and five year old! WOW! I can't say that it seemed like just yesterday they were born, but I can say that time does seem to be slipping through our hands much faster than I had imagined.

The boys had their pinewood derby races for cub scouts today. I took them bowling this morning so Shawn could work on some homework. After the exhausting week, this morning was much more tiring than I had planned. I missed the derby with a terrible headache and extreme fatigue. When I lay in bed and don't sleep though, I think . . . . a LOT and I analyze many things. I just wish I could research away this disease. I hate hate hate what it's done to me and my family. I hate how I can't plan things or always keep promises because I never know how I might  be feeling. Anyway, that's an entirely different post, so for tonight I'm closing with the fact that I'm focusing on being JOYFUL in HOPE, PATIENT in AFFLICTION, and FAITHFUL in PRAYER. (Romans 12:12) I try so hard. . .and fail, yet God still is a loving, comforting God.

Fun At Jarin's

Today has been such a LONG and rough day. I hate saying when days are tough because I don't like to complain. I realize I am blessed with so many things and people in my life. Today was just difficult from the start. I didn't make it up and vertical until about noon. The boys have been busy lately and I've tried my hardest to keep up with them. It has been an exhausting week again with Zachary and his school, which is such unneeded stress in my life right now. :(

We had so much fun down in KC a few weekends ago. It seems like ages now since I've cuddled with Mr. Liam. He's growing up so fast. Jarin took some amazing pictures of my boys and I'm so thankful for her time and talent. A few of the pictures that I took are below. She mainly had the camera out throughout the weekend so I'll try to post more later.

I took a few pictures during the photo shoot. They are no where near as beautiful of pictures as Jarin got, but you get an idea how much Malachi loves his rattlesnakes! :)




Most of the rest of these pictures were from my phone since I have been using that a lot more lately. I need to take a course about the DSLR to learn how to use it better. For now though, it is much handier to have my phone with me.




We visited the nature center by Jarin's house and the kids were so excited for the snakes that they had there. It was quite the deal. :)







They just so happened to be having an event where they were banding birds during our visit so the boys got to watch how that was done and recorded. The let each person take a turn releasing a bird after they had it documented and banded. It was really quite a neat experience.



They also had a snake "show" which was a lot of review information from what my boys know but it was neat just the same. Malachi had a difficult time containing his excitement for the snakes.



Finally, while we were in KC, I went to Target. I miss shopping at Target when we lived by Manhattan. While I was there, I found this cute hat and knew it was made just for Logan. Sure enough, he loves it! :)

I am thankful to have these memories and pictures to look back on during days like today. I'm reminded that days will return where I can get up and move around - even shop a little. I just need to be patient and hopeful, praising God for the ability to rest and be home with my kids. Thank goodness it's almost the weekend! :)