Continuing the Refining

I don’t know where to start.  But do know that this is something I want to write about.  Have you heard about the Meyers-Briggs personality test?  Some people at work had it done and I thought it sounded interesting.  I found a free test online and it said that I am an ISTJ, introverted-sensing-thinking-judging, which makes all kinds of sense to me.  I like to think things through, figure out why something is done a certain way and want order.  Now, lets rewind to my life in the last year.  It has been so hectic and I feel like I am constantly treading water and getting nowhere.  I read that the biggest anxiety for ISTJ people is to be unorganized and have chaos…well, well, well, welcome my last year.  I mean, I sort of had it together when I had my oldest but when the twins came, it all went out the window.  But at the same time, I hate to feel that way because I do love them so much, but I keep thinking of how laid back (granted, this is in hindsight) that my life was and there goes the guilt cycle and boy, does the devil like to get a hold of that!  After much thinking and reading, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is God, growing me in places I didn’t even know about.  He’s steadily refining me and making me into a person that he wants me to be.  I don’t have it all together and I doubt I ever will at this point, but I do know that God has walked before me and he has a path laid out just for me.  I couldn’t do it without him.  I’m so thankful that he puts messages in my path (especially when I don’t have any idea that I need them!) and people to talk about their struggles because in the age of “everything’s perfect on Facebook” it’s easy to feel like you are the only one.  He’s brought people into my path that speak of grace and are real about their walk with God and it has given me hope and some new perspective. I have seen some people post their “word” for 2016 and thought that was interesting but as I was thinking about it, I couldn’t narrow it to one word so here they go:  

• real - I want to show the good and the bad, so people can see that my life isn't all put together all the time.  I try so hard but I will always fail and I want to show that it's ok to do that too.
• intentional - Be more intentional with my friends and family.  We've all fell into the trap to just send a text message or email and see how someone is doing.  It's ok to do that but not as your only line of communication.  I want to reach out to people who I haven't seen or talked to in a while, just to let them know I care.
• kind - I need to try to be more kind.  This one is  the hardest for me because I don't understand people and expect certain things, which is crazy I know.  I don't know where some people have come from or the hard things they've dealt with in their life so I shouldn't judge when I think their actions are dumb or not what they should be.  I have also gotten so focused on my family and myself that I have forgotten to reach out to others and be Jesus’ hands here on earth. 

This year, I want to make some positive changes that hopefully will shine Jesus’ light to others.  This thing called life is never figured out, we constantly have to change because God is always changing us for the better.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16 (NIV)

He's all we need...

God is always on time and He definitely knows what we need.  Every so often, I get weighed down by things of the world…they aren’t always bad things, but things that distract me from God’s word.  Whether it’s taking care of the kids, or cooking, or cleaning or at this point, just wanting to take a nap, they are the things that get in my way.  But thank goodness He always has a way to bring us back into focus.  He gives us a desire to want to be near him and to hear him.  I know when I was a young Christian I thought that was the most bizarre statement.  It wasn’t until I started studying the bible and getting into the word, that I fully understood what that meant.  Let me give you an example that I recently shared with a friend.

With having 3 kids under three (I still can’t believe I have 3 kids!), I feel so torn because I can’t spend the time with God that I feel I need.  There is always someone wanting mommy, or some chore that has to be done, or me just needing five minutes alone to regroup.  I long for the time where I could do my bibles studies with 5 days of homework…but in our life right now, it’s just not in the cards.  I felt guilty and really overwhelmed and then God does what He always does to show me/reveal to me what He wants me to hear.  I joke with a friend at church that God hits me over the head multiple times with a message before I “get it” and this is no exception.  I listened to a message at a conference this spring that basically said I don’t have to have a rigid study schedule to have a relationship with God.  I need to seek him when I can and live my life like I have a relationship with him; be the example to my family, and really everyone else for that matter.  It was so refreshing to hear that.  Then I started listening to a podcast of a mom who has great guests that are also moms and over and over they are telling the same story, a story of grace to mothers with young children who can’t focus for 2 minutes, let alone hours to study the bible.  My time is coming, when the kids can entertain themselves longer or when we can even study together.  I can’t wait for that!  So to sum it up, the same God, who wants us to walk right beside him, has the same grace during times in our lives to carry us when we can’t juggle it all.  We just have to keep lifting our eyes to him and He will help us through!

I’m not sure where he is taking me right now.  It’s definitely going to be an interesting journey.  But I do know that wherever I go, He always has his hand on me, leading and guiding the way. 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12 (NIV)

Be the change!!

God has been working on me lately.  I have been so consumed in my own life, I have forgotten how freeing (is that a word?!?) it is to show love to others.  Maybe giving is my love language.  (I wouldn’t know because I didn’t finish the book!!!!)  Looking back over my life, I have recently realized that when I give back, or do things for others, I am not as focused on myself and feel so much better.  I realize that its sort of backwards, and as I am writing this thinking that it’s weird to say when I give to someone I feel better but it’s true.  And let me just say that I’m not giving so I can feel better about myself, I’m truly giving out of the kindness of my heart and the byproduct is that I feel better!  Man, this didn’t sound this complicated when I was thinking of writing about this!!  : )

For the last 3 years, a friend and I have done Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) for the month of December.  Again, God gave me a message (more than once), of people giving back by showing random acts of kindness.  When I read it, I was definitely interested because it sounded fun and it appealed to my introvert-self because they are random!!!  Win-win!  So that year, we decided to do 30 random acts in December.  I started a list of things that seemed do-able and thanks to Pinterest, came up with some more that sounded fun.  (I’ve kept every list I have done, just as a reminder for myself because I don’t want to reinvent the wheel every year!)  And what’s neat is that when you start making your list, you realize there are things you already do that can be considered RAKs!  That first year I think I did 23 of the 30, which could be seen as I didn’t make the goal but I had to remember that’s 23 things I wouldn’t have done otherwise!!  The next year I only did 17, but I had a 9 month old so that made it a little harder! : )  Let’s not even talk about December 2014!  I did a few that year but I’m just glad I was able to function because of the twins!  Haha!!  All this to say that I am excited to start anew with something that I’ve already done, even though I’ve fell off the wagon a little bit.  So, for any of your reading this (whenever you may read it), why don’t you start a Random Acts of Kindness month?  You can brighten someone’s day and give people some hope that there are still good people in the world today!  Be the change!!!!

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”  Hebrews 13:16

RAK Ideas

1.     Bake cookies for your neighbors

2.     Donate clothes to the needy

3.     Buy gifts for underprivileged families (Salvation Army, local shelters)

4.     Pay for someone behind you in the drive thru

5.     Leave an extra tip for a waiter with a note

6.     Send a card/letter to someone who may need it (Wounded Vets, elderly)

7.     Give money to a charity (St Judes, Relay for Life, etc.)

8.     Small gift/flowers for a nursing home resident

9.     Compassion or Samaritan’s purse has one time donation/catalog

10. Donate groceries/money at a local grocery store

Well, hello there!

Well hello!  It has been such a long time since I have wrote here, I really don’t even know where to start!  Talk about a blogging hiatus!  So much has happened since my last post and I have recently began to think that I really need to document again all the ways God has blessed me.  Especially since I have such a hard time remembering things now!!  : ) 

The first and biggest blessing since the last time I wrote is my son, Jude!  Shortly after I got married, I became pregnant and had a pretty uneventful pregnancy…thank the Lord!!  Well, let me back up a little bit…the only real problem that I had was that around month 5 or 6, I was checked for gestational diabetes and it came back positive.  Well, in the OBGYN world, that’s not a big deal, but in my world it was a HUGE deal!  Haha!  I had to watch what I ate so my sugar count wouldn’t get high, which is hard to do when all you like are carbs!!  Oh, and I think my Dr said that 95% of all patients end up having to take shots for it AND that they gain more weight, like that did anything to make me feel better!!  But God watched over me and gave me the will power to make it through the rest of my pregnancy without shots and with normal weight gain!!  Definitely a blessing!

Fast forward to bringing that little bundle of joy home, with the hormonal changes and fears of being a first time mom, things definitely weren’t like a Pampers commercial.  Again, God watched over me and brought specific ladies into my life that gave great advice, encouragement and helped me get over the hump!  Jude has opened my eyes to what true love is and I can’t imagine how much more that God loves us! 

Again, fast forward, we were planning to have a second bundle of joy and in January 2014, I found out I was pregnant!!  We were both excited, I was a little nervous because we just got our family into a great routine (hahaha…routines!) and wondering how I would share my time with another baby.  Well, again, God always knows more than we do.  When we went for our gender ultrasound at 18 weeks, we found out we were having TWINS!!  A boy and a girl! (I'll have to write more about this because it is a WHOLE other story in itself!) After the initial shock wore off, I realized just what God has given us.  He’s given us the awesome chance of raising three little angels to know him and love him and even though it’s a huge responsibility, it’s also the biggest blessing that he could give us!  So, obviously he trusts us more than we would ever trust ourselves!  J  Looking back it’s so funny to think that I had this second pregnancy all figured out and knowing God was chuckling the whole time saying, “You have absolutely no idea!”  It’s going to be an interesting few years, but I know God is in control and he has my best interest at heart!

Just thinking of all the blessings God has given me within the last two/three years proves to me how God really cares for us!  There were some times when I couldn’t see where God was taking me, but all I could do was hold on to the hope that God cared for me.  It’s definitely hard to do during the valleys of your life (sometimes it’s all you can do), but stay strong, He is a God of strength and love.  You just have to have the faith that He has our best interest at heart.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope and certain of what we do not see.  Heb 11:1 (NIV)

God is always there...

Hello friends! So many blessings are happening around us right now with our family! Like I mentioned in the previous post, Corey's oldest sister had her second son in February! He is such a cutie! And yesterday Corey's other sister had her first baby boy! We have so much to be thankful for as a family!

As promised, I would like to share how evident God is in everything that we do, even if we don't immediately realize it. Back in February, I was working for a company and wasn't excited about going to work, but thankful I had a job considering there are so many people who don't. A new job would be nice, but I wasn't aggressively pursuing it. Maybe complacent would be a good word for the situation. One day a friend called and said that the company (Company A) she is working for was looking to hire someone as a contractor, and she wanted to know if I was interested. I told her yes because it's something that I would like to do and I would be getting experience in things that I haven't done before. She said someone would call me to set up an interview and talk more specifics. Two days later, a lady called and got my information. She said she would pass it on to the lady who would do my phone interview. So, I prayed about it, giving it to God because I have learned that it's always best to leave it to him and not let "me" get in the way! But I didn't hear from the lady for a week, then two weeks so I thought it wasn't meant to be.

During that second week, my previous employer (Company B, a contracting company, not confused with current employer!! Haha.) called, asking if I was interested in going back to work for them in the office. I didn't have any complaints about Company B, so I told them I was interested in coming back! I thought "maybe this is why God was holding me back". Like I could ever know what God knows!! : ) After a couple of calls back and forth, I verbally accepted the offer and was waiting on the offer letter in the mail. The day before I received the offer letter, Company A called back asking if I had heard from the lady scheduling the phone interview. I told her I hadn't and that I had accepted a job at Company B, so to me, that was the end of that.

The next week, I filled out my paperwork for Company B, set a start date and thought I was ready to go. Meanwhile, Company A called Company B to ask if I could interview for them since they are a contracting company! So long story short (even though this has been a little long), I still got the job I wanted at Company A, working for Company B. : ) I wonder how many ways I could've messed all that up, trying to interfere with God's plan and doing things in MY time frame. He had it all lined out and I feel like he blessed me more because I trusted him. I really love my job and the people here are so friendly. PLUS, it's 5 minutes from "our" house and that's amazing!! God is so amazing and he's always there! He's in control, we just need to really lean on him and he'll lead us through!!

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him." Jer 17:7 (NIV)

Bloggy Hiatus

Well, I didn't realize I was not going to blog for 5 MONTHS!! So much has happened that I can't begin to explain in one post!! So I'll do a recap and "hopefully" I can blog more to catch you up!!

• Well, January was pretty low key, if you want to call it that. Of course, wedding preparations were being made like nobodies business so that added the stress of finding "the place" on "the date". It was a little much but we figured it out!! Mardi Gras season was starting and that is always fun!!



• February - After 3 years, Apple finally made all my dreams come true. I got an iPhone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if you can understand my excitement!! Everything I have now syncs together, Calendars, contacts, EVERYTHING!!! (Ok, I have to make this disclaimer...my iphone comes second to Corey! Although without it, I'm not sure how I would function now!! Haha) We also had a new addition to the family!! Corey's sister had a cute baby boy!! (I'm an aunt now! Haha!!) And at the end of the month we had my first wedding shower!! That started the almost weekly wedding events that would lead up to... dum, dum, DUM...the wedding!!



• March was jammed packed with activities! We had another wedding shower for my family and friends, a bachelorette party in Houston and a lingerie party at my house. (The last hooray at my house...sniff, sniff. I'm going to miss that place!) Oh, and during all that craziness I got a new job!! Which is definitely going to be a blog post in itself. It's got God all over it, so of course I have to share!! : )



• Then April was finally here. It FLEW by!! All the hard work and preparation was over in the blink of an eye! Friends have said that they hardly remember their wedding day because it happens so fast, that it's a blur and it is so true!! I wish I could rewind and replay everything so I could remember. I'm glad we had a great photographer and videographer!! Can't wait to see everything!! We also had an amazing honeymoon in Puerto Rico!! We stayed for the week and relaxed and did all the touristy things! It was pretty awesome! And since we've got home, it's been full speed ahead!! I've had so much stuff to do, I'm still waiting for the lull! I'm thinking that it's just not going to happen!! : )



• May is officially my birthday month!!! This year it was a little harder for me to get into it. I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older, or that I've had so much stuff going on...I'm hoping it's the latter!! I just LOVE to celebrate my birthday! So we had a couple of dinners with family and friends then I planned a night at Painting with a Twist for the girls!! It is so much fun and I recommend it for anyone! I definitely want to do it more! Let me know if you go, and I'll go with you! : ) Last weekend, we went to the beach with friends to celebrate the awesome May birthday's!! It was a lot of fun!! I'm ready to enjoy the summer!!

Well, since I wrote this it doesn't seem like that much, but trust me, it's felt like ALOT! We've had baby showers (with more to come!!), Relay for Life (another blog post!!), baptisms and just hanging out with friends and family! It's been pretty crazy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!! And God was evident in everything that went on! The last post I wrote talked about the verse Proverbs 16:13, about God establishing my plans and I really feel like he did these last couple of months!! There were so many things that just happened to "work out", to be a coincidence. It was God.

It's really weird looking back because I didn't really freak out or get too obsessive during all the wedding stuff, and that's CRAZY considering my OCD tendencies!! It was totally God. I'm so thankful for his grace.

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord; the one whose confidence is in Him." Jer 17:7 (NIV)