Held

My Time as an Exotic Brunette

2016-04-05T21:25:00.001-07:00

Imagine with me if you will...a young wife and mother of a baby or two. This woman is also married to the youth pastor of a Baptist Church and is she rather insecure about everything I just mentioned and is way too busy helping at church. She loved helping out but she needed better boundaries.

Anyhow, imagine that this girl decides that she wants to replace her college/single life era email address with a more grown-up one specifically for church business. Plus, her old one just gets SO MUCH spam and it was hard to find the actual emails in all the garbage ones. Time for a fresh start, right??? Totally!

Now...what to pick for a new email name???

She wants something fun and unique that fits her personality. And then she remembers...her beloved mother-in-law has this cute phrase for when you do something kinda dumb but you aren't blonde...it isn't a blonde moment, it is an exotic brunette moment!!!

And yeah...in an epic exotic brunette moment to top all exotic brunette moments, this young lady creates an email by that name "exoticbrunette@hotmail.com."

Oh yes, she did.

She chuckled to herself, thinking about how clever this cutsey little email address was while she *immediately* emailed aaaaaaalll of her church people to let them know her new email address.

Oh yes.

She did.

And just about the time she got done transferring the email addresses and sending out the "change of email address" emails she realized just *what* she had done.

Oh.

Crap.

She then starts *freaking out* over what her email address actually looks like (because after all, it was rather the opposite of clever and cutsey!) just in time for her husband to call her and ask her what in the world she is doing and that their Pastor (and his boss) just called him with an awful lot of questions and while the husband knew the saying and knew what the young woman meant, and was able to explain the whole "exotic brunette" thing to this Pastor, he asked the husband to relay to the girl that it really was not an okay email address handle and please get a *new* email address right this very second.

Ummm, yeah.

So then happened a new email address with a much more appropriate name, a new address book transfer and a *NEW* change-of-email address email was sent out, complete with an explanation of what an exotic brunette is when you are talking about blonde moments. She clarified that she was really only the kind of exotic brunette that does *mentally* dumb things...like pick pornographic email handles completely naively.

Good grief. A tad bit humiliating, but no one really gave that poor girl grief about it. So nice of them.

The previously mentioned beloved mother-in-law thought the whole thing was hilarious. LOL

Not that I am this girl or anything...just heard her story and years later I'm finding it funny. ;)

Really, really funny.

Rugby and Me

2016-01-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken just before we took him to the vet. January 5th, 2016

This last Tuesday was just so awful. It became clear that our wonderful dog, Rugby was not doing well and we rushed him to the vet. We really hoped it was no big deal but we knew in our hearts that we would be getting the really bad "It is time to put him down" news.

He had done this to us two Christmases in a row though, he did something that scared us and we would rush him in to be told his arthritis was acting up and "Wow, he is doing great- especially for a dog his age!" This year, Christmas had passed without a trip to the vet and I was thankful. I knew he was going to leave us any day but thankful for each morning I awoke and found him sleeping soundly on the floor next to my side of the bed.

I wasn't always his favorite, you know. He didn't even like me for a long time. We know he was very badly abused before he ended up in the Pinetop, AZ Humane Society with the name, "Koda." We are guessing he was abused (tortured, even since he had had toes and pads cut off!) by a woman since he really did not care for adult females but loved men.

I will never forget seeing Rugby for the first time. Chastity was 10ish months old, walking and screaming in excitement about the dogs as we walked down the aisle with the dogs in their tiny pens. She was seriously screaming in such a way that every single dog was terrified and cowering in the corners of their pen, some barking at her to stay away.

Every dog that is, excepting one.

There was one dog there who wasn't afraid but instead walked up to the door to his pen, waited for her to walk over to him and then he stretched his long tongue through the fencing and licked her right up her chin and face as if to get her to close and thus silence the happy, screaming mouth. Lol!

Chase and (a very pregnant) I knew right then. He was ours. That was the dog we needed.

I took this pic after we adopted him but couldn't take him home yet.

The day Chase picked him up from the Humane Society, Rugby had just been fixed and was really out of it. On his way home, Chase stopped at his office at church for a minute to grab something and then took him home and locked him in the backyard since I wasn't home. (Where was I? No idea.)

Well, imagine Chase's surprise when his new dog, stumbling around like a drunk, shows up at his office 20 minutes later!

No kidding. He unlatched the gate and walked back to church while drugged up.

This was no ordinary dog. And we loved him.

2008

But like I said earlier, I was not his favorite. And he wasn't too sold on us really. He was nice and appreciated the food and pets but his heart wasn't in it.

He ran and hid every time I ran water, swept, vacuumed, closed a door, or moved too quickly. Poor baby.

And he was an escape artist! Boy those stubby legs could catapult him over a five foot fence in those days and he was constantly getting out and running away. I was getting to know people at the Day's Inn and Best Western on a first name basis when they would call and say he showed up in their laundry rooms. He spent weekends with strangers until we would finally get in touch with whoever found him roaming the busy highway behind our neighborhood. It was crazy.

And every time I would pick him up, they would tell me, "It is a really good thing he looks glad to see you because he is a great dog and if I thought you weren't treating him well, I would keep him."

He did always look glad to see me, and I was glad.

2006-back when he used to sit in the window like a cat. Notice how clean that window is!

Time went on and he stopped being so jittery and scared of everything. He still wasn't super attached to me but it was so cute, even then at the end of my pregnancies, he would watch me like a hawk. Just sit behind me, at attention, all day watching so intently you would have thought I was cutting steak to share with him. So funny.

It was actually unnerving our first few pregnancies together (he has been here for four out of five!) I would just have that being watched feeling and would look around, only to find Rugby's big hound eyes looking into my soul like a laser beam... Or into my belly like an ultrasound. Not sure. But it was intense and yet so sweet.

We would bring a baby home and he would sniff it a bit and check all the fingers and toes and then lick them right up the face a couple of times, just like that first time at the Humane Society. And that was it. They were in. He would give my chin an approving lick too. Chase and I were slowly becoming his people.

2011- He HATED having his picture taken. His ears are laid back to let me know he is not pleased.

From that moment on when he wasn't roaming around town, he was watching the kids, cleaning up after them and guarding them from cats, squirrels, and the UPS man.

We would take him with us on trips and when we were staying with people he didn't know, he would sleep outside the door of the kid's room, blocking the entrance to anyone who wasn't one of his people.

When we took him camping I always said it took years off his life because he was always so stressed and constantly doing a head count to make sure we were all there. We did a bit of lake camping and oh my word, everyone playing in the water really stressed him out.

Back then Chase was a youth pastor and Rugby became the youth group's mascot of sorts. He came to all-nighters and camping and hung out with everyone when they were at our house.

There was one time, the first all-nighter he attended (we hadn't had him very long) where he randomly walked up to my girl Desirae, peed on her legs and walked off.

.......We are all still really confused by that one.

I'm so glad she had brought extra clothes with her.

Rugby was also known for being a beast! It was so amazing the brute strength he had. Back in his escaping days he would get tied to a tree. There was not a chain strong enough to keep him there if he was in a mood to wander. He broke collars, steel cables, and big clasps regularly. It was nuts.

2009

I took his roaming really personally for awhile. By the time we moved to Texas though, I knew I was his and vice versa. He still roamed (that is how he tore up a tendon in his knee which led to the arthritis) but those days he always came back. He wasn't running away anymore.

This was after two pregnancies together, and a time I had been so sick (I don't think I have been that sick since!) and he got up in the oversized chair with me and put his head on my chest. That day was a big turning point for some reason. He was very concerned for me and I was glad to have him there with me. It is amazing the effect petting a pet can have.

Sometimes after that he forgot who was in charge and would take on this weird husbandry role. He would be all protector and in charge and I would be like, "DUDE. Get off the couch!" And he would look at me like "Woman, puhleese!" He would give me attitude if I didn't fall in line.

Such a chauvinist. ;) What can I say? I find it charming. Haha!

2011

Then there was the time I had gotten under the table to grab my other dog, Halpert. I grabbed Hal's collar and was going to smack his nose for getting up on the dining chairs and looking for food on the table. I smacked his nose once while squatting under the table, still holding his collar and all of the sudden he became completely insane and went wild, trying to kill me. He was jumping at my face and biting and tearing away at the inside of my wrists. I couldn't just stand up, being under the table, and Evan was just a baby, toddling a couple of feet away. He kept tearing up my wrists and I knew it would not be good if he got another good swipe in. I let go and fell back so I could get out from under the table and also kick him away if I needed to. The rabid-like dog lunged at me but didn't make it. Rugby jumped between us and they had a full-on, nasty dog fight while I got the kids up high and safe and made sure I wasn't bleeding too much or anything. Rugby was a much bigger dog and Halpert conceded and calmed down finally. I put him outside and called Chase. Poor dog had to be put down. That was really sad, I was hoping a pro somewhere could rehabilitate him but no such luck.

After all the ruckus, I got some very relieved kisses. And then more relieved kisses from Chase. ;)

Rugby ate well that night and I pretty much let him sleep or lay wherever he wanted after that. Including Chase's spot in bed. As soon as he heard Chase pulling out of the driveway for work, Rugby would be up in Chase's spot, giving me a kiss then getting comfortable on the blankets.

2011

Rugby was a Bassett Hound/Lab mix. One of the cutest things about him was his Bassett howl. It didn't happen very often but every now and then we would catch him howling, nose pointed to the sky.

We learned though that he was very secretive about his howls. More so even than when he was burying his bones. If he saw you watching him he would immediately stop. He would even play it off like he wasn't just howling and do this throat-clear, cough thing. Hilarious.

2015

He was so patient and gracious. He was always surrounded by babies and kids (I babysat a lot in addition to my kids) and they loved him, but tended to treat him like a carnival ride. Climb up, slide down, jump over, etc and he never hurt anybody. When he had had enough, he would slowly and carefully get up as not to knock any babies over and go back in my room for awhile. As he got old and had arthritis pain I worried that he might get snippy with Phoebe and Zoey for playing rough with him and understandably so, even! But he never did. Ever. He loved that they cuddled with him and rolled around on the floor with him and would give them a couple big licks up the chin when they were too loud or too up in his face.

Zoey, Pheobe and our Gentle "Giant."

Rugby and Zoey

Zoey tickling his toes (living in the travel trailer during our missions stint.)

Rugby loved bread. Like, LOVED BREAD. For years I would have to keep the bread on top of the fridge so he wouldn't steal it and eat a loaf or two for a snack.

He also lived for carrot sticks, and cabbage core. Oh my goodness, he always knew when I was chopping cabbage and would come running and sit and wait with big "Please, please, please, please, please!" eyes.

His hound nose got him into big trouble a few times, though. Oh boy!

Rugby and cabbage-a love story for the ages

On the other hand, it was handy a few times! When we were remodeling the kitchen some mice got in and Rugby turned out to be a pretty decent mouser! Especially considering he was a large dog! He would see a mouse and chase it, even to the extent of throwing the couch around with his nose to get to the mouse behind it!

There were a couple of nights where we woke up to a furniture massacre in the living room. Just Rugby, hunting mice. He caught and killed several. Lol.

Even when we were raising funds to be missionaries, Rugby came along. He took up a bit of room in that 30 foot long trailer that was housing the six and then seven of us, but I was not leaving him behind. He didn't mind what we were doing as long as he was with us.

2013

He was with me during this demonic attack while in our travel trailer. I didn't realize it was demonic at the time, there were voices outside and someone trying to open the door and then was shaking the trailer as Rugby went totally nuts growling and barking at the door and out the windows. We were at this place with terrible phone service and calling Chase to come quickly wasn't working because I wasn't getting through well. But he heard Rugby and knew something was really wrong, Rug never growled like that and so Chase high-tailed it back to the trailer.

If Chase hadn't heard Rugby carrying on like that he would have said I was insane. There was not a single foot print out in the snow around the trailer, not man, not bear, nothing. No evidence of anyone or anything. Just before Chase had gotten there, I had the thought that instead of praying for safety, I should pray that whoever was trying to get in would be scared off and leave and not come back. (Duh.) Once I prayed that, the trailer rocking and noise outside and at the door stopped. Rugby calmed down too. Later we were told that that kind of activity is pretty common for that neighborhood and used to be in their house and the homes of other Christians in the area but that it had been prayed out of those homes. While Jesus is the One Who saves, I was pretty glad I had Rugby there with me that day. Totally freaky!

When we eventually got settled in Colorado, Ruggie Buggie never tried to escape (or at least not hard. He could have gotten out if he had wanted to) although he did get out one day the kids left the gate open. Chase found him headed back to our house with this huge huge bone in his mouth. When Rugby saw Chase headed for him, he stashed the bone under the neighbor's bush really quickly and came running. Lol

After "hiding" his bone.

Rugby was also known for having a "tell" whenever he was naughty. He had this huge sideways smile that would give him away when we got home.

We would walk in and he would be standing there with this giant goofy grin on his face and we would ask him, "Rugby! What did you doooooo?!?!?"

Usually he had gotten into the trash (that hound nose!!!) but other times it was just that he had been up sleeping on the couch. A couple of instances, we never did figure it out. But he had done something he knew was naughty. Hahaha.

2015

That last trip we took him to the vet was both awful and beautiful. All of us were bawling when we told the kids Rugby was dying and we couldn't do anything about it. We hugged him and cried and said goodbyes, then the vet gave him the sedative shot and we hugged him and cried and told him how much we loved him and would miss him and said more goodbyes. Eventually he laid down and was going rather out of it and I laid down on the floor next to him and looked in his eyes.

Taken his last day with us January 5th, 2016

I thanked him for being the best dog in the world and for taking such good care of me and my family. I asked him who was going to watch me if I ever got hugely pregnant again. I told him I loved him so very very much and thanked him for always being there for me and told him I was sorry I couldn't help him get better this time. I just cried and rubbed his soft, thick fur and told him what a good boy he was. Such a good boy. The best dog ever and such a treasure. I told him that we had changed each other's lives for the better and I would be eternally grateful.

And then, he licked me.

Right up the chin.

Livin' La Vida Non-Toxic

2016-01-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

Many of (if not all) my friends know that I have been going down the hippie road for awhile. And while I like the crunchy lifestyle, it can be a bit polarizing and that isn't always good or necessary. Thankfully, I've found some companies that are for people in all walks of life yet produce products I can stand by 100% in all of my "non-toxic, all-natural, safe-for-you-and-the-earth" crunchiness. :D

I joined Young Living over a year ago and they have changed my life, my family and my home for the better! Essential oils truly are amazing and people use them in a ton of settings, from the home to the hospital. My team leaders are even veterinarians and use YLEO's in their practices! Coolness. <3 p="">

;)

They are amazing, natural and completely pure. Good for the support of any of the systems in our body.

At some point soon, I will put together a blog post of all the sciency-stuff behind why the oils work and also why Young Living oils are so far superior to anything you can buy in the store and superior to any other EO brand. (Although another company may be a better fit for your family-I totally get that!) I was determined when I joined YL that I wasn't going to go overboard or be a snob about it, but I am hooked and the difference is huge between YL and anything I used to buy (or a set I won from DoTerra.) So anyway, I love YL! More on that to come. ;) (Note: I should just say that like when using herbs or pharmaceuticals, you need to know what you are doing and not just go at it without knowing why or how. EO's can be dangerous if not used properly. Thankfully, there is a LOT of education that goes on with YL and being in a teaching group is a must.)

(Doesn't this make you wonder about the oils they sell at the store on the cheap??? If they are inexpensive, they are not the real deal! Read: Fake and full of toxins.)

The price was a hindrance to me for many years, and while it is understandable, I honestly regret not joining sooner. I would have saved a bunch of money on herbs, supplements, vitamins and office visits! Plus, the oils tend to last quite awhile! A drop here and a drop there, is no biggie. And the Rewards program with YL is FABULOUS. Earning free stuff when I buy is something that is awesome obviously! ;)

While I am still working through my health stuff, YL has been invaluable in the journey and literally has helped SO MUCH. I'm sure as I am going to some Functional Doctors now that are figuring out my root problems, I will be able to incorporate more oils to support the process!

The latest development in my journey has been joining Ava Anderson Non-Toxic at the beginning of this year! After years and years and *years* of looking for products I felt really really good about using, my friend introduced me to Ava Anderson.

FINALLY! Skin and makeup and gobs of other products that are safe to use and work fantastically!

I mentioned in a prior post about dealing with PTSD and well, some things have gotten considerably worse. There is a post coming about all of that too, but for now, just know that chemical anything treats me just horribly. Any kind of chemical smell makes me severely dizzy with a terrible headache and trouble breathing. Yucky yucky yucky. So my search became more important than ever for products that would do the job and not poison me (or my family for that matter!) Changing over to YL products and now AANT products literally makes me feel lighter and less burdened in my liver and kidney areas! There is just too much going on in my body and it isn't detoxing and cleansing itself well at all. (**Edited to add: I just watched this today and it is SUCH great info! These are my fabulous doctors. https://youtu.be/Kc5oZjQYx3U)
So obviously, YL and AANT for me are a godsend. And even when I get better and can detox myself without any help, I won't be going back. Why would I? I'm hooked. :)

My friend who introduced me to Ava Anderson Non-Toxic couldn't put ANYTHING on her skin without it causing major pain and goopy rashes and awfulness. Ava Anderson doesn't bother her at all! On the contrary, her skin is healing and looking young and radiant again!

You can read all about these harmful chemicals and their affect on our bodies and environment here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/ava-anderson-non-toxic/ava-andersons-ingredients-to-avoid-list/10153504777675982

My favorite products so far is the face cleansing set (cue angelic music) and the all-natural makeup!!! YAY! So happy to be able to wear makeup again. :)

So between Young Living (and also being an Usborne Books and More Consultant!) I was reeeeeeally NOT looking to join another MLM (although I'm not against them, obviously. I like the opportunity to help my friends and family make an income while staying home or in addition to their jobs or what have you. I've heard people talk badly about MLM's because of the mark-up on the products, but....everything everywhere is grossly marked up! Can you imagine the mark up on anything that is in Target when you consider it was prob made in China, the materials, the labor, the shipping, the stores, the electricities, taxes, paying employees, getting it across the US and into the pretty pretty stores....MARKUP. And as much as I love Target, I love helping my friends and supporting FABULOUS companies more. Ahem. *steps off soapbox.*) but Ava Anderson came along and the message is too important to ignore and the discount on the products I am buying made it totally worth it. So anyways, if you are looking for some safe products and support for a healthy body, these are my favorites (again, after years of scouring health food stores and reading labels and making compromises on products that were expensive and *better* than the mainstream products but still not safe enough.)

If you are looking to make some healthy changes in 2016, please jump right in and let me know how I may help! You won't regret it once you know how toxic our everyday products really are.

I love http://www.ewg.org/ and http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ for checking out the safety levels of my products old and new. Look up your favorite product and see what kind of safety rating it has or ask them to rate your product! (By the way, these are not at all affiliated with YL or AANT.)

Feel free to chat with me about any of this! I would love to hear from you on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/geans05

My Young Living sign-up page: https://www.youngliving.com/vo/#/signup/start?site=US&sponsorid=2387801&enrollerid=2387801

My Ava Anderson Non-Toxic site: http://www.avaandersonnontoxic.com/GinaWard

Much Love and a Happy, Healthy, Holy 2016!

Gina

Disclaimer: The information contained on this website is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information represents what I, an Independent Distributor of Young Living Essential Oils, have chosen to do to take charge of my own personal health and that of my family. Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products on this site are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using these products.

Information found on this site is meant for educational and informational purposes only, and to motivate you to make your own health care and dietary decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with your health care provider. It should not be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment. Individual articles and information on other websites are based upon the opinions of the respective authors, who retain copyright as marked.

Christmas Traditions and the WardCircus

2014-12-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

I am currently completely obsessed with holiday traditions and so I thought I would talk about some here on the ol' bloggity blog. Christmas traditions were I think one of the happiest parts of my childhood so they are a huge deal in my mind! :)

I think Christmas traditions should have a goal of drawing the family together, reminding us the Reason for Christmas, should be FUN and EASY.

Growing up our traditions consisted of:
-Advent. My Mom really went all out for Advent, not only did we do the wreath and candles, but she wrote a script and had mix-tapes with the songs that went along with that weeks theme. :) She is the Advent queen. :)

-Driving around, looking at lights.
All. the. time. Whenever we left the house pretty much. We loved it! We would pick our favorites and see them over and over again.

-Ornaments. Every year we would get a new ornament to add to our collection that would someday move with us onto our own tree as adults. We each had a theme, I got bell ornaments, my sister Lisa got angels, Tina got doves and Joey got drummer boys. Fun!
Sadly, our house burned down my senior year of high school and most of the ornaments were destroyed. :( I still get sad a little when decorating the tree.

-At some point my Mom found a kid-friendly nativity scene and she would hide the wise men around the house and we would find them as they were on their journey to see Jesus. :)

-When I was in Cubbies (so like 2 or 3) I made a little manger with popsicle sticks and straw and had a baby Jesus. We took it home and our parents would add straw to the manger as we did kind things, obeyed, helped Mama, etc. and then on Christmas morning, baby Jesus would appear in the manger. Honestly, I would like to revise this a bit to make it less works based but I am not sure how to do that yet. Any ideas?

These days, I am the Mommy. :) Mommies seem to be the ones that generally organize and get the season going, and that includes traditions! Yay! Fun job. :)
Around here, we have some traditions but I have really been working to add some more to our Christmastime season. ;)

-Ornaments! Imagine my surprise when I found out Chase's family had the same ornament tradition that mine did! :) They didn't have a theme, but every year they got an ornament from their parents and grandparents! Yay!!!
For our kids though, we did pick a theme just because I always liked having one. Growing up, my family wasn't huge, there were only four kids, but it was nice to have something that was *mine.* ;) So we stuck with the themes-at least for what ornaments we get them. Their grandparents and greats still give ornaments every year too and not all of them do the theme which adds some variety to their ornaments. :) So far, our themes are snowmen, stars, balls, Christmas trees, and snowflakes. I love it!

-PJ's on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition Captain Awesome started which is so cute. He picks out new jammies every year that they open Christmas Eve. I really watch the jammie sales before Christmas because they are crazy expensive for some reason. (The Shopular app is AWESOME.) This year we got them at Children's Place on flash sale for $5 a set! Woot! (And then, because for some reason by law, pajamas must be doused in a nasty flame-retardant chemical, I wash them a bunch of times before Chase wraps them up. Ha!)

When I asked about traditions on Facebook, a couple of friends said they did a scavenger hunt for the jammies. FUN!

-Last year we started a Random Acts of Kindness (or appreciation, ha!) and got a few done throughout the month. Simple things like writing sweet messages in chalk on people's driveways (like friends and our pastor) and dropped off homemade cookies and such. :)

-Reading the story of Jesus' birth from Luke on Christmas morning. Because, hello. :)

-We drive around and look at lights!

-Christmas Eve service and a Christmas Day service if there is one. Chase and I LOVE church on Christmas morning.

-I stole a tradition from my Mom-in-Love and cook the Christmas dinner for Christmas Eve so everyone can snack on leftovers and hang out Christmas Day and not be super busy in the kitchen all of Christmas.

-Something else my Mom-in-Love started was day after Christmas shopping!!! Now it is one of my FAVORITE things!!! We hit stores as soon as they open and score great deals on decorations, the next year's ornaments, the new baby's stocking, wrapping paper, etc. I have a ton of Christmas ~~crap~~ fun...and it is because of day-after shopping! We hit a coffee shop and then (depending on who opens when...) Wal-Mart, Target, Kirklands, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Kohls, Cracker Barrel (store part) and anything else that looks promising! Generally we go out as a "Girl's Day" but when we aren't all together as a fam we go out as couples (Chase likes picking the ornaments and scoring deals on outside lights too!) or with friends.

-We also have a lot of Christmas movie traditions...It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, The Muppet Family Christmas, The Bishop's Wife, Little Women, Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Clause, It's a Meaningful Life (a Veggie Tales movie,) The Nativity Story, The Santa Clause, Ernest Saves Christmas and my older girls like White Christmas and Holiday Inn and I take some time for The Holiday.

A new movie this year we are adding to the list is "Why Do We Celebrate Christmas?" from the "What's in the Bible?" series. (Have you seen any of the "What's in the Bible?" movies? They are fabulous!!! They go through the Bible book by book and teach about why, when, apologetics, Church history, science, Theology, etc. We love them! They give a *lot* of information but in an entertaining way. LOVE!)

Get Here

-This year we are doing Advent and are loving it SO much! We are using an Advent print-out poster with lessons, activity pages, etc. It is from Thriving Family magazine (is FREE) and you can check it out here. We LOVE the pictures, the kid's enjoy the activity sheets and the content is good for our two year old up through our nine year old.

We have several friends who love Truth in the Tinsel which has lessons and an ornament you make every night. FUN! Maybe we will do this one next year. It is an e-book you buy. You can check it out here.

Another sweet family is using the Jesus Storybook Bible in their advent. Every story in this beautifully illustrated Bible centers around Jesus and there are 24 stories in it before Jesus' birth! So they read a story every day and will end up with Jesus' birth on Christmas day. EASY! Check it out here.

-The last two years, I have been hunting down some traditions that are just for Captain Awesome and I as a couple. Here are some ideas for you in case you would like to join the fun:

Christmas Eve Traditions for Couples

The Sexy Stocking (wink wink!)

Fun Ideas

25 Activity Ideas

Light Scavenger Hunt Date Night! Ok, I am totally doing this next year! Who is coming???

Meaningful Christmas Traditions for Couples

And 101 Christmas Traditions for couples, families, decoration, food, etc. from The Dating Divas here! Lots of ideas!

Well, I believe that wraps up our growing list of traditions. :) What is a favorite Christmas tradition in your house?

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Now, to come up with some New Year's traditions...

It's Been Ten Years...and God is Still Faithful

2014-10-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Oh Friends, very honestly, I have been in such a funk lately and it has frustrated me to no end. I have been praying about it and soul searching and finally came upon this article and while I know quite a bit about narcissistic abuse now, for some reason, I hadn't connected the "abused symptoms" as what my funk was. Signs That You Have Been Abused by a Narcissist

And how do I deal with my own special brand of crazy? By sorting out my thoughts for a few days on my blog of course! ;)

So once I discovered that my problem wasn't just postpartum hormones and stress, (although they certainly don't help) it really frustrated me. I have been here...done this...had PTSD before...why am I here again?

Well, I think Darby's death (my mother's husband who died last month after a motorcycle accident) really brought up everything again from the death of my first step-dad, Eddie (the one who raised me and also was killed in a motorcycle accident, although he was driving drunk.) On top of that, today is the 10th anniversary of dad's (Eddie's) death. That always hangs over me emotionally during mine and Chase's wedding anniversary in September. Our wedding was the last time I saw him alive- he died the next month. So this anniversary hasn't been different, unfortunately it has been on my mind more because it has been ten whole years. Crazy!

So...don't think I am insane, but here are some of my thoughts in letter form to the step-dad who raised me:

Dear Dad,

In a few days, we will come upon the tenth anniversary of your death. I still feel sick thinking about it; a motorcycle accident. You were driving suuuuuuper drunk and probably passed out. You died all by yourself in the middle of the night on the side of the road. Awful for anyone to go that way.

Well ten years later a weird thing happened. When Darby passed away, it reminded me of you. I really didn't want it to- I liked Darby. He was similar to you in ways but different in many good ways. When he passed, I asked God why so soon. When you passed, I asked Him why He waited so long. (I'm not being hateful, I am sure by now you know the truth about what kind of person you were back then. You were a monster, plain and simple.)

I still don't know the answers to my questions about God's timing and really that is okay. I don't have to know. God has proven Himself (not that He needs to) to have perfect timing and knowledge of pictures much bigger than I can fathom.

But losing Darby the way we did, so close to the tenth anniversary of your death (Oct 27, 2004) reminded me of you and brought up an unimaginable river of memories and emotions that have resulted in the resurrection of nightmares, panic attacks in my sleep and every other symptom of PTSD. Honestly, I am so frustrated by it. I thought I was over these things and wouldn't have to deal with them anymore! But here I am. Really, I suppose it was naive to think I would just be "done" by and large with what consumed my life for such a big chunk of it.
And thankfully it is not nearly as severe as when I mucked through it eight years ago in counseling but it is sucking my life dry right now. And it makes me angry with you and devastated for us all, all over again.

On the other hand though, ten years later, this time is different in a few ways: I daily remember that I chose and still choose forgiveness for you when I'm angry. I remember that I decided it was not my place to be your judge and jury and God would handle it perfectly and to leave it with Him. God is gracious to remind me.

Ten years later and this time around I don't hate you, I am angry in new ways, I am finding- but I don't hate you.
I don't understand why you never allowed the Bible to do anything in your life other than use it as a powerful weapon to steal, kill and destroy. I am upset that I don't have much in the way of childhood happy stories and as my kids get older and ask me questions about my life, I only have broken stories to share and they can't even comprehend my childhood. (I am SO thankful for that!!!)
On the flip-side, my happy stories of God's redemption and making beauty out of ashes are more powerful, and those are the stories on which I like to focus and share. He has revealed and taught me that He is not a man- I went from believing He was just like you to knowing He is better than *any* man, even the best kind! His Word taught me that and healthy, godly men modeled it (the way men who truly love Him, serve Him and earnestly study His Word do.)
I truly feel like The Lord has restored the years the locust had eaten. Only God could make the truly vile and dead into something beautiful!

I guess my current anger deals mostly with how it all ripples into the lives of my children and husband (still and again) and also being angry with those who twist the Bible and use it to hurt and control those that would be under their care. I pray that that would be one sin of which I am never guilty.

So anyway, I am going through a refresher course of everything I learned about Who God really is, who I really am according to what HE says and not what you said. I am remembering what it is to rest in His Sovereignty-even in the worst situations. I have faith in His character and His promises of grace now and tomorrow. I am also remembering how beautiful my crazy life is now and not to take it for granted-it is a gift for which I am thankful.

~~~~~

Today I learned not to waste this "down time" by being angry about it or asking God, "Why?" (Although He can certainly handle the question) but asking Him, "What? What am I supposed to be learning and gleaning during this time?" And to just rest in Him and His faithfulness. He has got this. He has perfect timing and nothing escapes His notice. Joy comes in the morning. Instead of being angry I can choose to be thankful for whatever grand thing He will make of this-even if for some reason, I don't see it.

So for now, Dad...here I am. I'm thankful for the time you rescued my stuffed bunny when I dropped it in the road while riding your motorcycle on the way to preschool. I'm thankful you scared all the boys away and helped me wait for Chase and I'm truly, truly, thankful you raised me in church. Thank you. <3 p="">
I still choose forgiveness, not because I am great like that but because He is and He is forever forgiving me. I love you, Dad. I hope you found true Peace and Truth and are also resting in Him. I hope to one day see you again-the new you and share a hug and the knowledge of what He has done for us both.

Love,
Gina

So, dear Reader, if you can relate to my life right now at all (or even if you can't!) please check these out! They have been SO helpful to me the past couple of days!

Sunday's Sermon at our church:
To hear: Living by Faith, not Gratitude? Simple but revolutionary!!! Aaaah! So good!

Fabulous video:
To watch: Struggles With Depression

Another good one:

To read: God Loves You Through the Dark

I hope you are encouraged. I know it is cliche but it is true, God is good. All the time.

Love,

Gina

Phoebe's Birth Story- Part Two

2014-07-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

So if you read Part One, you know we are waiting on this baby!

At this point we have now hit week 42 and are officially overdue.

Both Dr. Bo and Kathleen talked to me about fearing labor or having an emotional barrier that was keeping me from going into labor but thanks to Hypnobabies I had never been so unafraid about labor! As I thought about it and prayed about it though, I realized I had quite a bit of hurt and disappointment with different things that I had not let myself really experience and I needed to deal with some things.

Kathleen told me to go home and have a good cry and I thought that was probably a good idea. The next day Chase took the kids to work with him and I watched a sad movie and bawled my eyes out. That really didn't do it for me though. When Chase got home we talked about the things I hadn't let myself mourn. I needed to mourn the fact that I was bringing this sweet baby home to a travel trailer. I grieved the loss of a not-yet home and that I was disappointed. It was part of God's plan but I really, really, really didn't like it. :)

I mourned for a situation with adopted family and our old church where Chase and I were married that was really going through some hard things and I grieved over a church home that I felt would never be the same even if it was still good and I just didn't understand any of it. Just hard things. I knew God was in control and that everyone there had peace about it, but it was hard.

And oh my, I hate to cry but when I finally let myself...boy do the flood gates open!!! So after a good cry and Chase comforting me, I felt much better.

Our dear friend Steve had been offering to let me ride the lawnmower for awhile in an effort to jostle that baby out! Haha! And that evening I took him up on it! There is a bit of property around where we were staying so I rode that lawnmower up and down and around and fast!!! Suuuuper bumpy too! It was a lot of fun actually. Then I slowed down a little and mowed the fields for awhile.

I had a lot of contractions but no labor. That was a Friday.

The next day Kathleen said that if baby didn't come by Monday we would go in and start pitocin to try to get me dilated past a three.

I. Was. So. Upset.

I totally understood the reasons but I haaaaaaate pitocin!!! Everyone else was relieved we were finally going to do something but I was ticked. This was nothing like what I had wanted or looked forward to or prayed for or prepared for. "Lord, what the heck???" Yeah. I'm pretty sure I said it to Him like that. More than once.

Saturday night we went to church at Imago Dei. They use a different church's facilities so they have services on Saturday night. I was really glad to be there because I love that church and I needed to spend some time worshiping and being encouraged and strengthened. The sermon was really great and it was convicting and encouraging but what got me most was a woman sitting next to me. She came all by herself and was visiting the church. She just hugged me as we exchanged names and started telling me what a great job I was doing (????) and that she was praying for me. She was so sweet, going on about what blessings children are. She was very strangely calming to me and really encouraged me. After the service she hugged me and held me tight and said I was heavy on her heart and that she had been praying for me during the service and would continue to keep me in her prayers. :)

The next morning came and still no baby but since it was Mother's Day we decided to go to my Aunt's church, Frisco Bible and surprise her! We had a great service there with great teaching and I had come to a "Que Sera Sera" kind of place with the birth situation. I prayed we would go into labor naturally but if not, the Lord was going to help me handle it.

We had a great lunch with my Aunt and her family, did some walking and headed back to the trailer.

I rested a little bit then decided to finish the mowing I started. I mowed and rode some fast, bumpy laps before going inside to take a shower. On the property where we were staying Steve has a BIG garage with a few bays and an apartment attached. I went inside the apartment to shower, jumped in and my water broke! At least I was pretty sure it did, since I had a big gush and then nothing for a bit. It was 6:15 pm and texted Chase (in the trailer with the kids) and Kathleen and finished my shower. Kathleen finished her dinner and ran down to the birthing center. I wasn't having contractions yet so Chase brought the kids in to get showered quickly before we left.

My water had definitely broken and I sat on the potty as much as I could while I helped the kids get in and out of the shower and dressed. Captain Awesome grabbed everything I would need and got it all in the car, got the kids in the car, brought me more clothes and yet another towel and got me in the car. At this point I was wondering if we were going to make it to the birthing center. Almost immediately after I got off the phone with Kathleen and told her I wasn't having contractions, they started! Big hairy ones and every two minutes and while my hypnobabies techniques made them feel like no big deal, I knew baby would be here soon! I prayed again to make it to the birthing center and in the water!

Suddenly my contractions stopped totally for the drive until we pulled onto the road where the clinic was and then up they started again, every couple of minutes! :)

We got there and inside about 7 pm and Chase got the kids situated in the next room while I was examined and they filled the tub. Kathleen said it would take about 15 minutes to fill the tub so I labored on the bed with my labor track playing and me just relaxing through my contractions. It was such an odd sensation to feel my body work SO powerfully but not have it hurt. At all.

The track kept using the "peace" cue word, which I told you before I had changed to "The Prince of Peace" and wow, I told you before I had just pictured him standing next to me and giving me peace but instead I physically and spiritually felt fully wrapped in His arms. Sounds weird and is still a little touchy-feely for me to even type it out, but it was true. The Prince of Peace that I knew Him to be and verses that taught me those things, the Powerful, Mighty to Save, God of Power and Majesty was there. Just like always only I realized it like never before. He was indeed my Hiding Place and Rock that is Higher than I. I can't even fully explain what it was like, but I feel like I got a glimpse of Heaven-during labor no less! Lol!

Chase would come in and check on me and hold my hand. I couldn't believe the contractions were REALLY picking up but still no pain! I kept waiting for the real contractions to kick in and hurt...I think everyone else did too. :)

The tub was filled and I could get in! I wanted to use the potty chair first, just to be sure we didn't repeat the last birth! (Haha!) On the potty I felt the need to push and told Kathleen. She very sweetly and excitedly said, "Well, we can use the tub of water for your herbal bath afterward." And some other worldly creature came out of me and said "OHHHHH NO! I AM HAVING THIS BABY IN THE WATER! I AM GETTING IN IN JUST A SEC!"

"Oh, okay!" Kathleen said as she backed away from me a little and smiled. So glad she doesn't scare easily at this point and is totally a trooper! :)

So I got in the water...the wonderful, fabulous, amazing water. Had some more nothing contractions...they were taking a LOT more concentration but they still didn't hurt.

And thennnn...the pushing happened. Honestly the pushing totally took me by surprise. I was not in charge of the pushing like my other births, the pushing was in control of me. It felt like a bus was sitting on top of me and squeezing me nearly to death. It jarred me and I lost concentration and it got SO painful! I suddenly realized that this huge baby was coming out of me and fast. I got very worried about tearing and full-on flipped out. The midwives, Kathleen and Lisa tried to calm me down and reassure me and then I heard my track playing again and heard "peace." Chase squeezed my shoulders, spoke some relaxation cue words in my ear, prayed for me and I was good again. I calmed down again between pushes and waited for a piano to land on me. Suddenly I was completely exhausted and didn't feel like I could push anymore but like I said- I was not in charge of the pushing. It just happened. A crazy powerful force would come over me and baby would come out more. My midwives mouths kinda dropped when I was talking to Chase and the baby and smiling in between pushes. We felt her little head in the water and got excited. Then a push would happen and it was all business. Very pressurized business, lol. I don't know how else to describe it. Pushing wasn't as easy as contractions, obviously but it still didn't really hurt...just was mega powerful. Then, tada! She was out! I pulled her up out of the water and then it gets blurry in my mind for a few minutes. Phoebe Mae was born at 7:54 pm. We called the kids in and they couldn't believe she was here and there had been NO screaming like last time! I was so proud and thankful and happy! We were supposed to sit in the water for a few minutes and were delaying cord clamping but my placenta detached early and we had to cut the cord and get out of the water to be sure to check blood loss.

Phoebe Mae 10lbs 2oz, 22 inches long

We got me in the bed and I got a shot of pit and another one to control the bleeding. Since we knew I am prone to hemorrhaging, the midwives got it under control right away with minimal uterus massaging. Also, there was no tearing!!! It was really fabulous. I got to nurse Phoebe right away and it was a little rough since she kept chewing on me. Kathleen noticed during Phoebe's exam that she had both a lip tie and a tongue tie and that is why she was chewing on me. She wasn't able to latch! She wasn't a happy baby her first couple of days but we had tie revision done and voila! She was a new baby-able to latch and nurse well and finally sleep. :)

Sidenote: We discovered while researching ties for Phoebs that Harmony had a tongue tie also and THAT was responsible for her speech issues! We had it fixed also and she is talking SO much better! :D

So...that is my birth story. So much answered prayer, if you remember the first post where I shared alllll the stuff I was worried about and/or wanted from this birth. This time I felt like a rockstar. It amazes me how God cares about what are my silly birth prayers in the grand scheme of things.

There is nothing better than to have a care provider that wants what you want, is very very competent and is compassionate. We have found that at Bella Births twice now and are so thankful for them!

Chase is stinking awesome. I say it all the time and it just keeps getting more true. This experience brought us closer still. I will see if I can have him share his side of the story sometime...I am interested to see what he will say.

Aunt Lisa the Fabulous!

It was so fun to have family come right away and see us!!!

My cousins came to meet Phoebe! Or "Fifi" as Tony calls her. :)

Another blissful part of the Birthing Center is the glorious herbal bath. Honestly it is kind of like sitting in tea. But it is awesome, lol! It just feels so good after labor! If you didn't get one after your birth I am sorry.

Dr. Bo finally gets to meet Phoebe and give her first adjustment.

After the bath and more checkups, we were given our discharge information and left around mindnight or one a.m. Some people think that is weird but it is so nice to go home to your own bed and spend the next morning as a family- at least if there is no medical reason not too!

So the whole birth and pregnancy was quite an experience. A lot of drama but it ended with a happy and healthy Momma, baby and family and THAT is quite a wonderful answer to prayer. :)

Thanks for letting me share with you guys!!!

Love,
Gina

Phoebe's Birth Story- Part One

2014-07-20T19:27:00.002-07:00

I know...this is only part one. But I felt like to really grasp HOW AMAZING this birth was you had to know everything that went into it and there is a bit of background.

This pregnancy was uneventful and crazy, peaceful and stressful, wonderful and difficult! Much like parenting I suppose!
We had just hopped into missions from the youth pastorate and moved our belongings into storage in Colorado Springs. We moved our family into a 30 foot long travel trailer and began traveling as we raised support for our new ministry position. We were advised to not have more babies, especially while raising financial support because many people do not agree with large, growing families and we agreed that while that is not necessarily a biblical mindset, it is probably a common one and we should wait for awhile and see how the Lord would lead later-after we were settled-in a house-and fully supported. Looking back I am embarrassed at my lack of faith and am glad God gives us what we need many times in spite of us.

So we were just living life and fundraising and praying.
And then I was late. And I could smell everything. And I had morning sickness. And we knew.

I actually never took a test, just watched my belly grow!

While we are always excited about a baby, this news was hard to wrap our minds around. We were still adjusting to life in 240 square feet and mostly we were worried about how everyone would respond. (Again-what a lack of faith! Who cares what people think about what the Lord has brought about?)
We were thankful though for an outpouring of love and support from everyone.

So life went on, and surprisingly I was pretty chill about the whole thing. We traveled from one place to another. Living with family or in our travel trailer or with the Cook's since we started in July last year.

God worked it out that I was in a house during the worst of the morning sickness...throwing up in a tiny trailer bathroom and tiny trailer toilet is so not easy.

He provided an amazing house in a community that loves us while Chase went to India so I wouldn't have to worry about everything that comes with living in a travel trailer...while pregnant...with four kids...in the winter. ;) Seriously, God takes good care of me. :)

I went to a few different midwives here and there for check-ups and our ultrasound during our travels, always hoping that we would be back in Colorado living in a home by the time the baby came and that we would figure out our birth plans when we moved back.

But then...week 32 came, Chase was leaving for India for 16 days and we were not living in a house in Colorado any time soon.
All of the sudden it hit us...soooo....this super cute baby is coming! What are we going to do? Where are we going to have this baby?

We decided to consider and pray about it and decide when Chase got back from India.

Zoey loving on "her baby" and my very weird belly button.

~~~~~~~~~
If you know me at all, you know I have had some traumatic experiences when it comes to being a girl and also having babies, (just click on the "childbirth" label on the sidebar to read more about that.) So a safe, birth where I call the shots is very important to me. I research a LOT on find a care provider I can trust.

Now if remember my last birth, you know I had a great experience aside from some hemorrhaging after labor that was REALLY painful to get under control even with using drugs. (I literally begged them to let me die. And I was even holding my new amazing baby. It hurt that badly.) I was sore for weeks and it really took away from what was otherwise a really great birth experience! (By the way, the hemorrhage was no one's fault-just one of those things.) My midwife told me that based on my previous births and now this one it looked like I had uterine atony. My understanding is that that usually means the uterus is basically worn out after the baby comes and it won't contract anymore to shrink the uterus back down and so you bleed.
Sometimes it is also complicated by removing the placenta before it has detached and causes more complications. There are also other factors that can cause hemorrhaging obviously, but uterine atony seems to be mine.

Uterine atony can also hamper going into labor which is also an issue for me. While I believe my body is meant to go over 40 weeks, it is really really really hard to get contractions started and have them dilate me.

So. Knowing this about myself and wanting to avoid torture before and after labor I started reading and researching and reading more. I read about uterine atony, postpartum hemorrhaging, what the causes were, how to prevent them, etc. I read medical studies and what mainstream medicine says and what 40 page long forums of women talking about their experiences and what dr's and midwives did for them.

I found out that I love learning about this stuff. Haha! Once I embraced my role of being a woman and working with the body God gave me, a whole new world opened up! My Mom-in-love totally called it: we are looking into me eventually becoming a professional doula...*maybe* someday a mid-wife. We will see how the Lord leads.

Anyway, I think I will blog about that side of all this later-what I learned about causes, prevention and even healing. In my case, (and this is just based on my research. I am not trained or anything.) I believe my uterine atony is caused by an excessive amount of amniotic fluid, (always have a crazy amount that leaves the provider saying, "No wonder you were so big! You are all water!") a large baby, and then several pregnancies with no "uterine therapy" (I like to say) being done in between. It is just a lot of stress on an organ that is incredible but "human." :)

I will also say that many, many women are experiencing uterine atony after being induced with cytotec for their first birth and believe there may be a connection between that and never being able to go into labor naturally after that. It could totally be coincidental, but you may want to keep that in mind yourself. (Cytotec and pitocin were not made for labor induction, nor is that to be their primary purpose...sidenote.) I was given cytotec to induce my first birth but I don't believe it is the reason I don't start labor naturally. I say that because when my water breaks and all that pressure is relieved, my uterus hops into action and does just fine.

So that is what I decided- I would throw everything and the kitchen sink at my uterus and pray it would kick into gear on it's own or have my water break on it's own, but also recognize that labor very well may not happen until my water breaks so I need to throw everything at that to dilate enough to have my water broken if need be. My water had never broken on it's own before.

So I collected herbs and oils and date fruits (I will blog more specifically about what I used and why) and waited until it was safe and encouraged to use each thing and then went after it!

I nourished my body in this way as best I could and prayyyyyyed my body would cooperate. I prayed to go into labor myself and not to hemorrhage again.

The other big part of this story is Hypnobabies. Many of you have heard or seen me carry on about the documentary, "The Business of Being Born." Totally phenomenal-every woman should watch it. It is wonderful. In it, a couple of the moms interviewed mentioned Hypnobabies and the first time I watched it, not long after Evan was born, I immediately blew it off because it sounded New Age and like hokum. ;) I continued to blow it off through Zoey's pregnancy and it wasn't until I was pregnant with Phoebe that I heard Christian friends had used it and had 100% pain-free births! So yes, it piqued my interest enough to decide to at least look into it and actually make an informed decision. (Ha!)

What I found was really interesting. "Hypno-anesthesia" is a real, medical thing. Doctors use hypnotic anesthesia on patients requiring surgery that are lethally allergic to anesthesia. They train their patients to use hypno-anesthesia to anesthetize themselves for surgery! No one "hypnotizes" you and it is unlike anything you have seen on tv. It is a choice you make for yourself and actually anesthetizes you. Crazy cool! Totally makes sense to use it during labor, right?
Hypnobabies not only teaches you how to anesthetize yourself but also to look at birth without fear. The classes and reading material (which I didn't get to use) also reinforce the re-training of your mind in how you view birth. We are inundated with horror stories from well-meaning people and faulty information and images from media.
(Watch "A Baby Story" anyone??? Don't.) Hypnobabies teaches you to trust your body and the process. They are definitely not a homebirth or granola type thing. Most women use Hypnobabies in the hospital with their OB. HB doesn't care where or how you have your baby-just that you are at peace and well-informed about the birth process and comfortable in whatever situation you choose.

I also talked to my Christian friends (that I felt confident in their spiritual discretion) about their experiences and why it was "safe" and how it aligned with Christianity and the Bible. I really appreciated my friend Emily who shared that Hypnobabies teaches you to think about birth the way we are to think about anything: "Whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, praiseworthy..." and if I could go into birth trusting the Lord and not fearful for His plan for me than wouldn't that be the spiritual thing to do?
I started listening to the tracks shared with me and still waited to hear something major that would make it all turn out to be voodoo I shouldn't mess with but really, the only thing I disagreed with was one of the "birthing affirmations" that says, "I deserve an easy and comfortable birthing." I believe the Bible teaches that we deserve only hell. God is good to give us anything more than that-not to mention redemption of sin and punishment!!! So when that line was said, I always mentally changed it to "I can have an easy and comfortable birthing."

Hypnobabies is cool in that it is totally non-religious but you can make it religious yourself if you choose. It is great to learn to be more peaceful in stressful circumstances and even better if you focus on the Prince of Peace to do so. So I added in favorite verses on peace or depending on the Lord and the other verses I like to use while preparing for and during birth. The program uses the cue-word "peace" as a word you learn to use when you need immediate, complete relaxation physically, mentally and emotionally. During that training track I changed it to "Prince Of Peace," one of my favorite names of God and the picture of Him I lean on the most. Again, I used the verses that describe Him as such and used them to remind me of Who HE is and thus that I am safe and secure regardless of the circumstances. I hate to use the word meditate in the same paragraph as "hypno" (haha!) but my Prince of Peace cue word led into Bible meditation and thankfulness for Who He is.

Kind of funny, during those times of practicing the "hypnosis" and choosing to see Him in those moments of stressfulness or pain I would start to picture myself in His arms but always decided that was a little too touchy-feely and I wanted to just picture Him there next to me. Giant in my mind, but there, a perfect vision of everything every verse says about what it is to be Peace and Safety...but not holding me...just standing there in case I really needed Him. Haha! I will talk about that more later....

So I used my HB listening tracks and practiced and worried that I wasn't practicing enough or didn't know well enough what I was doing since I couldn't go to class or read the material. I watched videos on YouTube of HB births and some of an HB instructor and learned tips from her and still I worried it wasn't going to work and it would all be for nothing.

I just prayed that He would give me strength and peace for whatever kind of birth He chose for me if He decided an "easy, comfortable HB birth" wasn't for me. But yeah, I also prayed for an easy, comfortable, pain-free birth.

My other big thing was waterbirth! I have been wanting a waterbirth since my very first pregnancy and have never gotten one. It is probably the first "crunchy/granola/natural" thing I had ever embraced. For some reason being in the water is my very favorite thing- seriously even soaking my feet is just the best! I live for warm showers and baths and thank the Lord regularly that I live in a country where I can take them for granted. I LOVE swimming (as long as there is no threat of sharks...or snakes or anything else that will eat you...worrying about that really messes up the experience. ;) and just being around water. My top two camping experiences were ones where we camped next to running water- once the ocean in Del Mar and the other by this beautiful stream in the mountains of Colorado. Oh so the best!

Anyhow, I think you know what I mean when I say I love water. So the idea of a waterbirth (and hearing gobs of stories from women who all said you should never birth any other way) just made sense to me. Plus it is less painful, easier on baby and your body, blah blah blah WATER BIRTH.
And yet four babies and I still had never had one. In the hospital with the first three births I was allowed to labor in the water but not deliver in there. I am always an easy going, total push-over patient. I hate to feel like I am being a pain or in anyone's way, and that is amplified when I am the one that is supposed to be cared for. I just feel like I am being needy or something. Anyway...that does not apply when it comes to being in the water. The nurses would come and literally drag me out as I whined and carried on and asked how long I had to wait before they would let me get back in. I would turn into a total baby. Being able to labor in the tub was awesome but I never got to deliver in there like I wanted...even "accidentally." ;)

We were all set-up with Zoey-I was having my waterbirth!!!! And then the poop hit the fan...kind of. I already blogged that birth story! ;) Read that story here!
So no...once again I was able to labor in the water but that was it.

So again we planned and prepped for a waterbirth and I prayyyyyyed for a waterbirth.

The other things that were important to me that I prayed for:

-to make it to the clinic for one thing...because otherwise no waterbirth. (lol!)
-to make it with time to fill the tub...because otherwise no waterbirth.
-that we wouldn't have to use castor oil and if we did it wouldn't mess up....my waterbirth. (Seriously, I have a problem.)
-that even if it wasn't the pain-free birth I was working on and hoping for, that it would be a better example to my kids of what having a baby can be and that birth doesn't have to be scary and awful
-that it would be a good time for both my family and for my fabulous midwife Kathleen and her team. (Seriously, I don't like to be an imposition.)

So that is pretty much what my pregnancy consisted of...lots of research, worrying....and then prayer.
Also...getting super excited about a baby!!! There was that too, of course!

~~~~~
After Chase got back from India we decided to go back to Texas. I was 34 weeks pregnant at that point and we had had friends offer up a spot and hookups for the trailer if we needed them. We took them up on their generous offer and headed that way. I made an appointment with my midwife from before and made arrangements to use the Bella Births Birthing Center there in McKinney, Texas. Even though Kathleen was booked solid she so graciously made room for me and my birth. We picked up where we left off immediately. I just love her to pieces!

The other great thing about being in McKinney was I got to go see the world's best chiropractor, Dr. Bo Brantley. I tend to have a LOT of hip and pelvic pain during pregnancy and Dr. Bo knows how to fix it! Plus even better I love that he has lots of pregnancy and birth experience from his family and was a huge source of peace and encouragement to me. And even better than THAT, he prays over me and baby during adjustments. He is fabulous.

There in McKinney we have dear church friends and my fabulous Aunt Lisa and her wonderful family! So it was great to see and visit them while we were there! We visited churches galore and Chase worked a couple of different jobs during our time there as well as met with Pastors during the week. Our two favorite churches that we visited were Frisco Bible Church and Imago Dei -in case you live in that area and are church hunting. :)

My Aunt also threw me a surprise gift card shower that knocked my socks off!!! So many of her friends gave just knowing we were Lisa's and were in missions!!! The sweetest thing ever! We were also spoiled by friends there too! We are just so blessed by so many people in our lives. :)

Back to birth story...Week 40 came and went...and week 41...and I was obviously annoyed. I had really wanted her born in April. Preferably April 22 which was my Great Grandpa Joe's birthday AND Chase's Great Grandma Dot's birthday.
But no...we just waited-and took a lot of selfies. LOL

And I got bigger and more miserable and my family grew scared of me for reasons I did not understand. Strangers went from annoyingly telling me how huge I was and "Don't have that baby here!" And "Are you sure there is only one in there?"to avoiding eye contact completely and hiding their kids behind them as I waddled by. I must've been a tad grouchy.

We did everything from herbal tinctures that work 95% of the time to acupressure to walking to climbing stairs two at a time sideways. I did baby spinning techniques and the Miles Circuit to help her drop (and they did!) I used essential oils to turn her around into position and to start contractions but nothing. We even did the dreaded castor oil that I swore I would never do again. Nothing.
I would have contractions get to two minutes apart for a half hour and then nothing. I really believed labor wouldn't start until my water broke because of the uterine atony but I wasn't even dilating enough to have my water broken! This baby was not ready.

Some people were freaking out which made me want to freak out so I did more research on due dates and safety which reminded me that I was fine. Even ACOG states that you aren't even overdue until after week 42! We did non-stress tests and Phoebe was passing with flying colors. She was acting like a seventh month gestated baby and not at all like a 9 and a half! Suuuuuper active chicky!

So, since we were all fine (aside from me being angry) there was no reason to really push it.

So we waited some more...

Part Two coming Tuesday!!! What did you pray for during your pregnancies?

Love you guys!

~Gina

What Is Hypnobabies and How Does it Work?

On Christians Using Hypnobabies

My Pinterest Board on Everything New Babies, Birth, BF'ing, and Pregnancy

The Little Things and Struggling With Your Church

2013-09-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

For months I have been praying and thinking about how to write a post on this topic. Wouldn't you know, inspiration struck at 3:30 a.m. I am so glad we went to church last night so I won't be fighting sleep in church this morning. ;) Not that I ever fight sleep in church. :)

It seems today's church is making some great strides in really big areas: loving the widowed and orphaned, adopting, helping to meet the physical needs of the world around us- just generally being the hands and feet of Jesus. I think that is wonderful!!! I think we need even more "big picture" thinking from the Church and fewer selfish attitudes and mindsets.

That being said, Chase and I are seeing a common thread in our American churches that is exactly selfish attitudes and mindsets.

We love the "big things" which entail loving the world around us and we should-it is very biblical.
On that same hand though, we should love the small things which entail the local body in which the Lord has placed us. These "small things" are what I believe we should focus on for awhile. Your church is where the most growth should be happening. This is where love should be experienced the most. This is your family. This is where you hear from the pastor that answers to God for what he teaches you (James 3:1.)
This is your springboard into the big picture so we have to get this right. He who is faithful in the least is faithful in much...

Your local church is really no small matter. (I Corinthians 3)

In my mind, family is a good picture of the kind of relationship you should have with your church. A church membership is a big deal, and one that needs to be approached with great thought and prayer. Once you are in it. You are in it.
Leaving your church should also be approached with GREAT thought and prayer. Leaving a church is painful (or at least it should be) because of the relationships, service to that church and shared life you have with the people who make up your church. Leaving and joining another church feels like divorce and remarriage. It is a big deal.

Ephesians 5 is a fabulous chapter, one of my favorites since it is mostly on marriage. I think though we can also apply those verses to our relationship with our church family, because they teach us how strongly Christ feels about the Church and shouldn't we be like Christ and care about what He cares for?

Jesus loves the Church and gave Himself up for it.
~How are you (how am I) giving yourself up for the Church in which God has placed you?

Christ nourishes and cherishes the Church as His own body.
~How are you (how am I) cherishing your church and taking care of it as you do yourself?

Christ cleans the Church with the washing of water by the Word.
~How have you (how have I) washed your church body with the Word of God lately?

For better or worse, lately Captain Awesome and I have been inundated with people all over these United States asking our thoughts (ok, let's be honest-mostly Chase's thoughts. That is why I blog, haha! ;) on when it is time to leave a church. I think it is a good question because sometimes it is necessary, but let me follow up that question with some more questions to think about: (Don't you hate it when people do that???)

~Did God place you in that Church Body?

~Are your grievances biblical or preferential?

~Have you addressed your grievances with the Pastor and leadership?
THIS IS HUGE. DO NOT. Hear me, DO NOT leave a church without honoring your pastor enough to respectfully air your grievances and hear his explanations, reasons or thoughts. This is critical but is generally not done because it is uncomfortable. And honestly, this should be done long before you reach the point where you are considering leaving. Having a youth pastor for a husband was hard many times, but nothing was harder than when people pulled kids out of our youth group without an explanation, a grievance we could address or fix, or even telling us why. Please give your pastor and leadership a chance to explain their decision making process or recognize and repair the problem you notify them of. You would want the same courtesy. Romans 13:7

~Does only one spouse feel it is time to leave? If your husband does not think it is time yet, Honey keep your mouth shut. He is your spiritual leader and in charge of that decision. Even if he agrees that all is not well but it not ready to leave, let it be. Too many women are making this huge call (or pestering their husbands until they give in) and it is having devastating effects on the Church and their own families. Do not be that woman. Air your grievance, give your opinion and pray about the situation. Believe me. I know. SUPER hard to leave it at that. Spiritual discipline is hard, but the reality is that is not our call to make. Just one to support. I Peter 3:5

~Are there still good things happening in your church? Are some things still moving in a biblical direction? Is there hope? Revelation 3:2

~Is your pastor humble and teachable? (Not perfect, but being changed by God willingly.) Acts 20:28

~How much have you prayed about it? How much have you prayed for your Pastor and church body? How much have you prayed about the situation bothering you?

Do you hate this question as much as I do???

~What can you do to help the bad/unbiblical situation?

~Are you encouraging or discouraging your church body with your grievances? Are you working to maintain peace or are you causing further division?

~Are you able to serve in your church somewhere? (Maybe not your ideal position, but can you be involved?)

~Does God generally move us out of uncomfortable situations we don't like because we don't like them or does He generally help us through a situation for our growth, the greater good and deeper personal relationship with Him? James 1:2-8

And finally, (if you are still here, you are awesome!)

~How aware are you that Satan is out to kill, maim and utterly destroy your church? I am serious. If your church is preaching the Bible and equipping the body of Christ you had better believe there are forces out to destroy it any way possible. This hit me strongly very recently when we were staying on the property of a struggling church (I haven't updated this poor blog yet but we are in missions! YAY! So we are on furlough more or less. ;) two different nights my son and I had very out of the ordinary, intense, demonic dreams that really opened my eyes to the battle going on there that we couldn't see. My son does not have dreams that he really remembers at all much less could give me so much detail about and the detail stayed consistent when I asked him about it later. My dream was about people in the church family and my son's was about the people while in the church building itself.
There is a war for your church. What side are you contributing to? There is no neutral ground.

After all of those questions, you have probably guessed that we by and large don't encourage people to leave their church and that is an accurate guess. There are times when it is necessary but we don't believe it is the majority of the time.
Paul addressed many different churches for umpteen reasons and there was never an encouragement to split the church, leave the church, start a new church or cause division in the church. Or am I forgetting some verses? ;)
Chase also likes to point out that in Revelation when Jesus confronts the churches about their numerous sins, He never encourages anyone to leave or the church to shut down, rather to strengthen what remains, hold fast, and to seek His riches, His clothing and His vision. (Revelation 2-3)

I will also say that if after reading all of the above, you feel it is indeed time to leave your church, you need to be sure you are doing it lovingly, patiently and graciously.

You do not act as though the people still there are traitors, (no matter your reason for leaving) you do not cause further dissension among the body that is still there and you do not gossip about your now previous church and pastor. End of story. I shouldn't have to list verses for this one. Pretty Christian 101, right? I wish, but it is not always the case and unfortunately, I haven't left a church sinlessly myself. But our goal should always always always be unity, love, forgiveness, peace and grace. God bestowed all these on us when we could not have deserved them less...we ought to do the same for our church and church leadership at the very least.

Let's work on the small things. We need to get back to basics before we can make major strides in our world.

Where is the love for our church?

How should we respond when we struggle with issues and people in our local body???

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:17-18 ESV)

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6, ESV)

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12, ESV) (cited from Psalm 34:12-16. Isn't it awesome when the New Testament quotes or references the Old??? I love it.)

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21, ESV)

I know. The hard thing about church is that it is very personal. They are the family we chose and so when it gets dysfunctional or an individual hurts us it is personal. But this is life. People are people are people are people. No one is immune. No one is perfect. Everyone is hurting in some way. Everyone has blind spots. Everyone acts selfishly. But we need to give grace, forgiveness, love, truth and compassion to all-especially those closest to us, especially those who are of the household of faith.

Let us pray we will respond to church struggles with grace, love, unity, time and prayer, not selfishness, ego, vanity and impulsiveness.

We cannot expect to change the world with our love and unity if we aren't loving and unified at home.

The title of my next post is:

The Little Things and Struggling with Your Pastor

Stay tuned!

Love,

Gina

Breastfeeding and Faith

2013-04-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Now here is a topic I never saw myself writing about!

But here we are-baby number four turns one year old on Sunday!!! And yayyyyy! We actually breastfed for twelve months! We hit the goal! I am so. excited. about. this! Not only did we hit the goal but....we aren't stopping yet. I know! As crunchy as I can be I have never been super passionate about breastfeeding. Just haven't. But here we are and baby is not ready to stop and while most days I *am* she clearly isn't. And that is ok. I have done a *bunch* of reading on the topic and feel better and better about it. The hard part actually has been what other people think about it. Unfortunately the American majority for myriad reasons is grossed out by breastfeeding. I think it is especially sad for the Christian culture that should recognize that God created women to breastfeed their babies and that it is healthy, nourishing and part of His plan.

**Before I go any further though I should point out that while I am about to get soap-boxey up in here (gosh, my blog has been like that lately!) I am NOT judging formula feeding mothers. My first three babies were all formula fed at some point! My beef is not with you mothers, rather the culture that does not value God's order, the companies that look to profit, the hospitals, doctors and stores that throw formula at you at every turn and generally don't encourage bfing and the society that has gone so far down this road of packaged, processed food that we think formula is just as good as breast milk. And I will say also that there are legitimate reasons for not being able to bfeed. Again, I am not trying to shame any mothers. Just encourage and inform and hopefully change our culture and churches in this area. I hope before you stop you would seek help with a Le Leche League Professional-there may be a very easy fix to the problem you are having! And if not, I hope you will research commercial formulas and homemade formulas both. :) **

My sweeeet loves!

Anyhow, there are a bajillion misconceptions about breastfeeding (is it sexual? is it necessary past the first few months? why not just use formula? etc) Until rather recently, I used to think several of them myself!
I think this article explains away many of them quite nicely! Check it out!

And this article is about the science of breast milk It is AMAZING! The things they are finding about breast milk and allllll the things that are still a mystery to us are phenomenal! The author credits evolution rather consistently which is why I haven't shared it on facebook but I find it stunning how God created my body to make such a miraculous substance in such a miraculous way! It is just so cool!

My mom and aunt have always been staunch breast feeders when their own generation had widely dismissed it. Even still with their examples and encouragement I got caught up in the culture that has declared breastfeeding to be weird and unnecessary. I started out breastfeeding each of my kids believing it to be the best way, but until baby number four it didn't last very long.

With my first two daughters, before I had gone through my counseling and healing and such I *hated* breastfeeding. HATED it. It felt rather like I was being sexually abused all over again. I should clarify that what made me feel like that was the feeling of no control over my body, and that my body was being used whether I liked it or not apart from me, a person. NOT because of anything actually sexual. Since there is really *nothing* sexual about breastfeeding. (If you will remember, your primary sexual organs also have other jobs that are certainly not sexual. Same idea applies to breastfeeding. ;) Bfing my first lasted only three-four months because I got pregnant with number two and didn't know it. Bfing that sweet baby lasted a month or so more but I really hated it for most of that time. Bfing number three (after the counseling and such) I LOVED!!! I just loved it! I loved having an excuse to cuddle my sweet son and do nothing else. I loved how happy it made him and I loved the ease compared to bottles and formula and heating and carrying it everywhere, etc. But then we got thrush. And we passed it back and forth from his mouth to my bosoms (as we rather mockingly refer to them in my house ;) and WOW does that hurt. We tried allll kinds of things from what the doctor gave us to the limited crunchy remedies I could find and nothing worked permanently. We very sadly switched to formula after several months.

I wish I would have known what I know now about how the birth experience affects breastfeeding! I wish I would have asked for more help and support from my breastfeeding friends and family and I wish I would have been supported by the medical professionals we saw, the community in general and especially Christendom. :)

Check out this article on bfing and Judaism! The Jewish laws regarding bfing are really interesting and again, I wish Christianity would take it this seriously and recognize it as something so special.

A Tale of Two Rooms:
In the past few months I have been in a couple of different churches. Two of them had "nursing rooms" which I thought was cool. It is definitely nice to have a place to take baby when she is noisy or not feeling well or like the case of my baby currently, gets very impatient while I am getting ready to nurse and she gets rowdy which is distracting for the others around us. Anyhow, I explored both rooms and felt they were quite different. One room made me feel like they valued nursing mothers with everything in the room from the really comfy rockers to the decorations, to the lighting, to the changing table in there, to the tv that displayed what was happening in the service so the mother could still take part. I LOVED this room that was so comfy and peaceful and honestly never wanted to leave.
The other room made me feel as though that church was ashamed of their nursing mothers. Truly. From the furnishings, to the well...everything else, it seemed like this room was a corner for mothers to be shamed and not allowed to participate in the service. Now I really believe this is not their intent! And again, I think it is great that a room is even there if a mom needs one. But I sure did not use that room when I was there.

We need Christianity at least to get back to the fact that breastfeeding is normal. Kids should not have to ask what that mom is doing with their baby, they should know because it should be that normal. Christian men and women should not be offended by breastfeeding because it is how God created women to provide for their baby. Just because the culture oversexualizes everything doesn't mean we have to, right? Isn't that one of the major callings of the Christian life? Being different than the culture? Doing things the way God created us to? Now, I should clarify here that I am not advocating for uncovered bfing in public. Men are visual and prefer breasts sexually. Since we don't (or shouldn't) show them off when we aren't bfing we also shouldn't simply because a baby is attached. I understand a little of men's struggle with lust and don't want to cause any men in my life to stumble. :) When I am with a woman or two, I take less care to cover...because really we all have the same parts and even then, I don't let anything just hang out. These fabulous bosoms belong to Chase. For the rest. of. his. life. lol. For some reason that makes me laugh. ;)

Breastfeeding for me, like so many other parts of motherhood, is a serious exercise in selflessness. Sure, there are parts I enjoy and will miss when she is no longer nursing. But many times, it is work.
~While there are plenty of women that lose all their baby weight when they nurse I am not one of them. I hold onto almost everything and when I try to work out and maybe lose a few pounds I actually gain some! Yeah. So not cool. I am dying to get fit and slide into my regular clothes and wear one of my favorite dresses to church but it is not to be for right now. And it is ok.
~Since this particular baby is verrrrrrry slowwwwwly transitioning to real food we nurse a LOT. I really wish I could work on my house more and cook more and do pretty much anything other than have a person attached to me for a big majority of the day and night. But that is not to be right now. That is ok.
~Did you catch that I said night too? Yeah. She, me and Captain Awesome in our full-sized bed, nursing through most of the night. You can bet I would really love to have my own space and un-interrupted sleep again but it is not to be for right now. And it is ok.

It is ok, because I love my daughter. It is ok because this is the best thing for her! And it is ok because even though it is inconvenient, this stage is still short! Part of motherhood is learning to put another's needs ahead of our own so I am trying to keep in mind that like marriage, bfing might just be designed to make us holy more than happy. :) (Although like marriage there is plenty of happy too! Don't want to bum you out on bfing and make you think it is all doom and gloom! I love it and would choose it again!)

She is getting so big!

**What do you think? Have your views changed over the years of having babies? What do you wish someone told you about bfing?**

Girlfriend, We Chose

2013-04-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

We visited Arizona a few weeks ago for Grandpa Ward's Memorial Service. :) It was bittersweet of course to say goodbye for now but visiting with family was so nice. :)

On Sunday morning we drove up to Show Low (our old stomping grounds) to visit our old church home. Yay! Pastor Steve (one of my honorary Dads) was not there and I missed getting to hear him preach (they were on a missions trip in Mexico) but we heard a good sermon from Pastor Dan, the family pastor who came on staff after we left. :) He spoke on the book of Ruth which is hard to put in one sermon but he did a good job and I so appreciate a sermon where there is much Scripture involved and teaching on the original language, the customs of the day and a deep application for how this should change my life. All so important. :)

Anyhow, something struck me during that sermon in a new way (God's Word is awesome like that.)

Lately I have heard several people express their disappointment with God that something in their life was bad or hard- not what they wanted and not what they expected. It was messy, it was awful and they felt like it slipped through and God hadn't noticed, or He was picking on them for some reason.

Just like Naomi in the book of Ruth! If you aren't familiar with it, it is a quick easy read! Go read it!

I will wait. :)

Ok, so did you catch what Naomi said? Her family moved to a pagan land because their was a famine in their own country. While they were there her husband died. Her sons married outside of the faith and then they died. Naomi then declared that the "hand of the Lord has gone out against me." (Ruth 1:13) She asked her daughters in law to return to their own homes since she was going back to Bethlehem where she belonged and could not provide them with more husbands (as was the custom of the day for the protection of the women.) The rest of the story of Ruth is fabulous as we see a young widow cling to her mother-in-law and beg to go with her and says, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17)

Naomi allows Ruth to return with her and they both experience the grace and provision of God and a new and godly husband for Ruth! Ruth then becomes the Great-Grandma of King David and is found in the lineage of Christ! Not bad for a poor, pagan widow, right??? I love that there is none too lost or small or wayward for our Lord to reach down, touch with grace and make part of His kingdom. :)

Anyhow, back to my original point. Naomi makes several statements about the Lord's mistreatment of her before God works it all out before their eyes. Not only does she say that the Lord's hand was against her. (Which Pastor Dan said the original language says it is more like pressing down on her than simply against her. She had lost everything. Her husband, her sons, her provision and protection. Pastor Dan pointed out that a widow then was not like a widow now in America but like what you would see in third-world countries. She had nothing. No way to provide for herself and no one to protect her. Nothing.

She told the people of her home when she returned that "the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” (Ruth 1:20-21)

This is the part where I get on my soapbox. I am tired of hearing people disparage the Lord because they are experiencing the consequences of their own actions. There. I said it. Now to be fair, we don't know for sure that the deaths of Naomi's husband and sons was because of their decision to move outside of God's will and move in with godless communities. Perhaps they would have died all the same in Bethlehem had they stayed we don't know for sure. But I am inclined to believe that the premature death of her sons had something to do with the culture they were living in.

Are there times of "famine" in the life of a Christian whether financially, spiritually, physically, emotionally, or relationally? Absolutely! God even ordains them at times for our own long-term well-being! But is it ever ok to abandon what the Lord has for us (living in Bethlehem through the famine) and decide to go the way of the world and what seems to be working for the culture that knows not God? NO.

And just so you know, I am speaking to my own heart too as I stand here on this soapbox. We *cannot* shake our fists at the Lord and ask Him where He was when WE CHOSE sin over what He had for us. They are just consequences.

For-instance,

Did you see those major warning signs about that man before you married him?

Did you ask the Lord what He thought?

Did you maybe think you knew better than God and the wise counselors around you?

Did you marry him anyway?

You chose, Girlfriend!

Did you listen when someone shared with you how to be a better friend so you wouldn't be lonely?

Did you take it to heart or did you remain selfish, back-biting and thus lonely?

You chose, Girlfriend!

Did you decide that the culture knew better than God's very Word and had sex with someone you were not married to?

Are you reaping the consequences of that by experiencing single motherhood, std's, guilt, and/or problems with your spouse?

You chose, Girlfriend!

Did you decide that in spite of what the Bible says about respecting your husband you are going to constantly belittle him at home and in public?

Do you really have to wonder why he doesn't act loving toward you or doesn't try to change to be better?

You chose, Girlfriend!

Did you decide to leave the raising of your children to church, school and media?

Do you like how they are turning out?

You chose, Girlfriend!

There are so many more examples of this in our lives. Girlfriend....we chose.

**So please, if we are frustrated with God let's calm down a second and seek to discover who is really at fault for the way things are in our lives.**

Now, sometimes God does allow things to happen in our lives for our own good and for His glory and in that case while He can definitely handle it when we get angry with Him and ask why, at some point we need to remember that He is Sovereign. He sees the big picture. His thoughts are not our thoughts and neither are His ways our ways. And we need to even thank Him and praise Him for those times eventually (the sooner the better!) God is not mean and vengeful without cause.

However, if we have looked honestly at the situation, I think more often than not we are reaping the consequences of some sinful behavior on our part. The amazing, incomprehensible news is that there is grace and forgiveness for us when we pull our fists out of the sky and repent! He does not enjoy seeing us struggle through the muck and mire (Psalm 69:2) and fall into pit after pit. (Psalm 30:3) No. He longs to restore us, (Psalm 80:19) heal us, (Deuteronomy 32:39) forgive us, (2 Chronicles 7:14) set our feet on the rock, (Psalm 40:2) put a new song in our hearts, (Psalm 40:3) make our faces radiant and unashamed, (Psalm 34:5) light our path, (Psalm 119:105) set us soaring like eagles, (Isaiah 40:31) make us strong, (Zechariah 10:12) help us to stand firm in truth, and arm us with everything we need to remain true to what He has planned for us. (Ephesians 6:10-18) He even wants to restore what we lost. (Joel 2:25)

Amazing, no??? So if this truth struck a chord with you join me in repenting, asking the Lord to forgive us; help us to learn from this so we do not repeat it; give us grace; and help to do what we can to right the wrong.

He can heal our marriages, our hearts, our children and be everything we could possible need. He is miraculous and bigger than we can begin to imagine. Let's allow Him to do so in our lives, shall we? :)

The end of Naomi's story though is interesting. She admits "the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” But I find the end of the book puzzling:

Ruth 4: 13-17 says:

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

So even after the Lord provided for her and continued the family line, she never admitted really to God's faithfulness? She needed the women around her to tell her how the Lord had been faithful through it all? She was so bold and bitter to proclaim how the Lord had hurt her and yet we see that hadn't really been washed off. Oh that we would not be so blinded and bitter!!!

Girlfriend, let us choose differently!!!

Anyone have stories they can share where they experienced consequences for sin and the Lord healed and restored???

A New Life, a New Experience (and lots of poop.) A Baby Story

2013-02-23T20:14:00.001-08:00

( I was going to include some pics but the uploader isn't working right now so I will have to add them later. :)

Hahahaha. That title makes me laugh. I can't imagine the A Baby Story people ever running footage of this birth. Funny funny. Anyhow.

About ten months ago Captain Awesome and I were blessed with sweet baby number four! She is the coolest thing to hit us since number three! ;) I have posted in the past about my birthing experiences and many people were curious about this go-around because I was delivering her in a birthing center without any drugs. I KNOW.

I decided to do this for many many reasons. Namely, I have had just ok experiences (and a rather traumatic experience) in the hospital with my pretty cool ob/gyn (twice) and a terrible midwife (once.) But I really didn't want just an ok experience. I don't want to feel pressured to have the baby when they want me to the way they want me to. I didn't want to be scolded by nurses for doing things they way I want to or not letting them do things I don't want them doing. I don't want to be pushed into formula feeding or vaccinations or unnecessary procedures. Just LEAVE ME ALONE! But the problem is....I have a very hard time telling people that, especially when I am all preggo and emotional. I tend to cave in to pressure to keep everyone happy with me. But I have some non-mainstream ideas about medicine and my body so what was I to do???

So anyhow, I may get into the why's and such later but for now that is where I was in the decision making process. ;)

We found our birthing center by driving by it long before we had decided to have another baby. I knew I was checking it out the moment I got pregnant! So I did. Bella Birthing Center in McKinney, TX is the BOMB. It is run by midwife Kathleen Mayorga and I love and adore her. We met with her and did a mutual interview. She checked to make sure I was a healthy, natural candidate and I put out my feelers to make sure she was truly natural and knowledgeable. My last midwife was kind of a nightmare. (Watch for those hospital midwives...) Kathleen answered all my questions and said lots of things that reassured me she knew what she was doing: she is extremely knowledgeable in the areas of herbs, natural pain relief, how to detect an emergency situation (long before it is an emergency situation) and had an emergency plan if the need arose. She also did home births if I chose to have one. Plus her pricing was great! We don't have insurance so this was also VERY cost effective. She also gives a minister's discount. SCORE.

I had been doing a bunch of research into epidurals and the problem with unnecessary interventions in the birthing process and felt confident that we were much safer avoiding the hospital. Chase didn't necessarily agree but he supported my decision to go to the birthing center. Because he is Captain Awesome. ;)

If you really want to know my reasons for avoiding the hospital in a nutshell, watch "The Business of Being Born." It is on Netflix. ;) (Disclaimer: this is about women in labor so it has plenty of nudity and some language. ;)

Here is a short clip:

So my pregnancy moved along, slowly but surely. Getting ginormous and enjoying everything (well...some things) that goes into growing a new life. Mostly getting kicked from the inside. That is the BEST. I love it.

Anyhow her due date was coming and there was no sign of baby. She was still sitting really high although her head was down. Then she was facing the wrong way which Kathleen said was a sure sign that baby is not ready. I tried to make her be ready and rubbed some lavender oil on my back and while she did flip around, she did not want to come out.
My due date came and went and still no baby. I started taking herbs that are supposed to kick start labor. Nothing. I spent hours rocking on my hands and knees. Nothing. Chase rubbed my feet. Nothing. My AMAZING chiropractor (Dr. Bo Brantley in McKinney whom I highly recommend) was adjusting me two or three times a week and praying over me and with me. Nothing. Every "induce labor" trick we were told or read about we tried. (Except acupuncture. And only because we didn't have the money!) Nothing.

I totally started to feel like there was something wrong with me. I was broken. And then my mom told me that my great grandma carried my great uncle Mark for 12 months. Thank you Mom, for the encouragement. Hahaha. I prayed to the Lord so hard that this would not be a 12 month long pregnancy. My great grandma is a saint. Period. :)

Then Kathleen gave me an herbal tincture that was 90% effective at inducing but wouldn't work unless the baby was truly ready. Well guess who wasn't ready? :) Haha. I can laugh about it now. Thank goodness. :)

A few days later we went into uncharted territory- a place I swore I would never go. I would read about it and shake and say "No way, Jose!" but now we were desperate. This baby was going to be big and we were nervous about her getting bigger. There were concerns that if she didn't come soon I would have to go to the hospital and be induced anyway. (NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!) So we prayed and prayed and talked them into more time and did the unthinkable. Castor oil.
Let me tell you (in the least graphic terms possible) that that was the most disgusting pooping experience (and drinking experience) in my life. Also....I drank waaaayyyy too much. Apparently you only need to drink a couple of ounces for it to work and I drank like eight. So yeah. My bum has never been so sore. But the idea is that it makes your insides move so much that they cause contractions...which they did...and then they stopped. By then Kathleen had consulted with some other midwives who reminded her that two weeks late is not so bad. (Kathleen really does not see many women go over that much...or get as big as I do. Well she never said that last part.;) But she was willing to wait a few more days since this baby was obviously still not ready or else we would have had a baby by then! Supposedly castor oil ALWAYS works. Ha!

So days went by and my bum started to feel better. (lol) We walked a LOT. A LOT A LOT. And I was so miserable (it was SO hot!!!) my trying-to-be-healthy diet pretty much went out the window and I gained more weight. Hahaha! But still no baby. Every day I begged her to pleeeeeease come out and meet us and I begged God to pleeeeeeeease let her come out now. But no.

So about the time my bum felt as good as new, it was time to try again. Lol. So we doubled up on the inducing herbal tincture and the castor oil (MUCH less oil this time!) And we walked. And we walked and we walked and we walked. And contractions started happening! But they would stop as soon as I sat down so we walked and walked and walked some more. We got to the birthing center about 6 p.m. and walked and rocked on one of those awesome birthing balls. And drank more tincture. And walked some more. And ever so slowly there was progress. The baby came down and we were able to break the water at 11 p.m. I knew if the water was broken things would really get moving. And they did. Labor kicked into high gear and an hour and a half later I was in the birthing tub trying to breathe through my contractions. We were planning for a water birth and I was SO excited to be in the warm water. Labor is so much better in the water. It made the contractions much more bearable. Kathleen told me to lay on my left side and then left the room for a bit. About 30 seconds into lying on my left side I felt what I can only describe as "lock and load." I felt her head turn and then was like sucked down further and I felt the need to push. Chase yelled that I felt like pushing and Kathleen and the other midwife said "Reallllly????" all excited. But I didn't just feel like pushing, I HAD to push. I am pretty sure they were saying something about moving to the toilet to push but it was too late. I pushed. The baby did not come out but a whole bunch of other stuff did. (Labor is beautiful, eh?) Thank you, castor oil.

I can't believe I am sharing all this...but you all asked and I try to keep it real.
So then I was hosed off and moved to the toilet to push some more. Before the tub was even clean I was feeling it, the ring of fire. I had never felt that before! I had always had an epidural. And I knew what that meant, crowning. So they began moving me to the bed and I yelled that Nooooooo, I wanted a water birth. They told me there wasn't time and they were sorry. I was so upset and disappointed and now freaking out. In the books I read and the videos I watched the women were in pain but had time between their contractions to get calm again and to focus on pushing this baby out but there was NONE of that with me. No time in between contractions. Just time long enough to yell that I changed my mind...she could stay in there...I didn't want to do this anymore...make it stop etc. Not at all what I had pictured or was comfortable feeling. I hate being out of control and I was long gone. I was crawling up the wall or trying to and Chase was trying to get me to calm down but there was none of it. None. I think I yelled "YOU FLIPPIN' CALM DOWN!!!" in demon back at him. ("Flippin'" is a major honkin cuss word in our house, so excuse the language. ;)

It was bizarre. I felt cracking and popping and thought I was going to actually split in half and die But then Kathleen kept telling me "Grab your baby! Gina, grab your baby!" And once it registered what she said I reached down and grabbed my baby under her arms and pulled her the rest of the way out. And it was amazing. I only pushed for about 10 minutes. I guess the upside of having your contractions super close! ;)

Something I didn't expect was that it continued to hurt down there (which, duh' but no one ever mentions it or says anything on the birth videos so I was surprised.) and the umbilical cord was touching me and it bothered me and hurt a LOT. I wanted to jump out of my skin it bothered me so much. That surprised me too. But I had my BABY!!!! And she was GORGEOUS! She looked at me like we were long lost best friends meeting again. So funny and strange and wonderful. It was love.

The placenta came out easy breezy (or the "ugly twin" as my OB used to say! lol) and I overheard the midwives discuss that it would be perfect to show medical students what an "old placenta" looked like. A textbook example of an old placenta. It was good the baby came out when she did. :)

We delayed the cord clamping until it has stopped pulsing and Chase cut the cord. Then she weighed in at 10 pounds 4 oz. TEN POUNDS AND FOUR OUNCES!!! I am just so glad I didn't know she was that big beforehand. Hahaha! And 20 1/2 inches long. The most barrel-chested baby I had ever seen in my life. Nearly perfectly round and SO stocky.

Meanwhile I am bleeding and not stopping. Ugh. My uterus got the baby out and was done. So Kathleen did the "massage"-the-uterus thing....but like it had never been done to me before. That tiny woman has got serious strength. Wow. It hurt SO bad I wanted to go back to labor. I was holding the baby with one hand and trying to pull Kathleen off of me with the other. I begged her to stop and let me die. She said she was so very sorry but no. It was awful. Awful awful awful. She kept massaging and the other fabulous midwife got the pitocin ready. Using pitocin the way it was actually meant to be used! Haha. But I was annoyed to need it at all. After what seemed like forever (but just a few minutes) the bleeding stopped and so did the torture. I know I am probably sounding harsh right now. Believe me I am thankful for Kathleen and her work! But it really took me awhile to process. It was another situation where I couldn't control what was happening to my body or what someone was doing to it and that really does a number on me. (Probably normal, right?) It was something else that was unexpected that I had no control over. It just happens. It is labor. Even still-I would do it again instead of a pit/epidural birth at the hospital. In a heartbeat.

So anyway, a few minutes went by and the baby, (who we named Zoey) started to crawl up me to breastfeed! Amazing. I had heard of new babies being able to crawl up to feed but had never seen it. SO cool. And just like that she was eating. :) Definitely the easiest start to breastfeeding I ever had. (Maybe because she wasn't drugged??? ;)

After she was finished Chase woke up the kids and brought them in to see their new sister. It was about 2 in the morning by then. (Zoey was born at 1:10 if I remember correctly.) They counted her toes, fully inspected her and gave their approval. Then went back to sleep in the clinic's waiting room. :)

By 3:30 we had been fully checked, fully informed and were released to go home!!! That was the best. I hated the two days in the hospital with a new baby....I always just wanted to go home. So I was so happy that we were able to go home and go to bed with our new baby.

Recovery for labor was easy breezy. My underside felt so much better so much faster than the previous times. I generally even felt loads better than the times before also. What really hurt was the bruising and swelling from stopping the bleeding. I couldn't move without my middle being in mega pain for two weeks. That was the worst of it. If I would have been thinking I would have taking some homeopathics for pain and bruising and swelling but you know baby brain! :) Also, I wish I would have known about belly binding. I think that may have helped too.

So next time, if there is ever a next time I would like to do some research on getting my uterus to be more proactive. It doesn't like to start labor and quits a little early. Looking back it has been like that for every delivery. If anyone has any info about things I can do I would love it. :) I hope to go to Kathleen again and use the Bella Birth's Birthing Center because I LOVE her and I LOVE it there. Again, I would still choose the natural labor I had over any of the non-natural labors I had previously. :) And I would choose Kathleen over my previous providers. Hands down. :) And no, I was not paid or anything to say anything. I just love her.

Her name is Zoey Dorette:

Zoey is from the Greek word, Zoe which means life or more specifically, the kind of Life you can only have through Christ. As in, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him with not perish but have everlasting Zoe."

Dorette is a form of Dorothy which also comes from Greek and means "Gift of God." We chose Dorette after her Great Grandma and Great Great Grandma Dorette on her father's side and her Great Great Grandma Dorothy on her mother's side. All very special and precious women to us.

God is unbelievably good to us to entrust us with another life. Unbelievably good.

Thanks for sticking around for this long, often gross story! :)

If you want more info (and humor) on healthy pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding, check out my pinboard /HERE

If you want to see some really cool pregnancy and baby products or crunchy ideas check out my pinboard HERE

If you want to see some of my favorite pics of bellys, babies, families and whatever else I love, check out my other pinboard HERE

Newsflash: I am a GIRL

2013-02-23T17:28:00.000-08:00

I can see the shock on your faces as you read the title of this post. You will gasp in bewilderment and maybe feel faint at this astounding revelation. Okay, probably (hopefully! Ha!) not. But this was kind of news to me.

God always uses pregnancy and birth to teach me something...and baby number four was no different. Can you believe there is a new baby this blog knows nothing about? So sad. Maybe someday I will have internet at home again so I can blog more. :) Anyhow...we have a new baby! (Well...she is almost ten months old now. :)

An hour old...in an herbal bath. :)

It was this pregnancy that I really took control over how and where I was going to deliver this baby. You may recall I had a rough time with delivering the Purple Princess and had to conquer my fears and go back to the hospital to deliver my little Knight in Training. (That story here) But in a new place I had more options and really did not want to put my pregnant laboring self and new baby at the mercy of medical staff who think they know more about how I should be having a baby and how to treat said baby than I do. I always get pressured to do things I don't want to do and feel like I should be having a baby when they want me to instead of say, when baby is ready. I could talk so much more about all that and have no problems answering any questions you may have but I realized in this process of choosing a caretaker and birth place that I was finally coming to grips with something. I am a girl. I have been denying this fact for decades as best I could. I spent years actually believing that God made me a girl because He loved me less. I came to terms with the "fact" that He loved every other girl the same as boys except me...He made me a vulnerable, easily abused and manipulated girl because He loved me less. So being a girl became bad.

Just wait, it gets worse.

Later on when the whole monthly thing started (you know.....the monthly thing.) I referred to it as "my shame." Seriously. Drama much? But I was-totally ashamed and now plagued with this annoying, disgusting reminder that God made me a girl and didn't love me as much. My period was some kind of unchosen penance. So I did what any other crazy, dysfunctional person would do. Denial. I paid no attention to my cycle or any other thing that was up with me physically. I tuned out what my stupid female body was telling me and concentrated on what the upside of being a girl could do: control the boys around me. You can tell I was a very healthy, happy teenager, right? ;)

She is pretty new here with Captain Awesome

In college I started dating Captain Awesome and continued in my denial cycle. I found after several months of dating that we would regularly have the same conversation. We would be taking our almost daily walks around campus only during this particular conversation, emotion would flood out of me. I would cry and vent and yell, "I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!"
To which he would very calmly (and probably fearfully-ha!) reply, "Wellll...Babe do you remember that we had a very similar conversation about this time last month and then a few days later you felt all better?" Then he would look at me and wait for the light bulb to come on where I would realize he was telling me that I was PMS-ing. !!!! While I was mortified that not only was my period coming, but my boyfriend knew, (!!!) I was very glad to have him do that because then I would remember to go buy stuff before I needed it. Otherwise I was always in trouble. Also, keep in mind that we were not allowed to hold hands much less be sexually active so the only reason he would know that is because he was more in tune with me than I was.

Yeah. I was that in-denial.

And except for poor Chase having to have "the talk" with me every month, being in denial didn't really affect that much-until I started having babies. Having babies is kind of a female deal...well a totally a female deal. But I didn't want to be a female...I just wanted the babies. Haha! So when it came to my dr's, and prenatal care I put very little thought or effort into how it was all going to go down. The first two times, (despite my knowledge of how bad it is to induce or have your water broken prematurely, or have your baby in the hospital in the first place. ;) I just basically let the caretaker run the show. Whatever they thought or wanted. I was just the shell who wanted to end up with a baby. Truly. Do to me what you must.
Then I realized I was actually harming myself further and allowing myself to re-live past abuses by not taking some charge in this whole baby-having process. (Again, that story here)
Plus, it was affecting my babies too I learned after more study. So for baby number four I found an amazing, very knowledgeable midwife who had a birthing center. A birthing center was the perfect fit for us-not the hospital but close to one in case of emergency and not home where I would be distracted by the dirty dishes but very relaxed and homey. It. Was. The. Best.

So much sweetness :)

One day during pregnancy I was praying about the baby and her birth and "realized" (God basically whispered it to my soul) that to let my body do what it was designed to do in labor I had to accept that my body was female. Female. A girl. A woman. Female. (I am still reiterating it to myself.) And that not only was it female but God designed it that way.

Because He loves me.
And it is beautiful to be a girl.

He showed me that I have been given a gift. That verse "Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control." (1 Timothy 2:15 ESV) took on new meaning for me as I looked back and saw how God taught me, healed me and molded me especially through pregnancy, and delivery. I studied that verse a bit in context and read some commentaries on it and it seems everyone has a different idea of what "saved through childbearing" means. I just think it is referring to the special way the Lord can reveal Himself to women if we let Him. It can be a sanctifying process. Being in labor is such an out-of-control experience (which I am soooo not fond of not being in control of what is going on with me) you have nowhere else to turn but to pray God brings you through it in one piece. And pregnancy can be scary too, I feel so much more defenseless and vulnerable when I am carrying around a huge load of baby with me. It always seems too, that when I am pregnant all these stories appear on the news about sick people kidnapping a woman and ripping her apart to steal the baby inside. Freaks. Me. Out.
Being pregnant and/or delivering your baby is one of the can't-get-away-from-it times when the Lord reminds me of Who is really in control and whether or not I really trust Him. But He is there, carrying me and making Himself known to me. He gives me grace, courage, faith and reminds me that even if something unspeakable happens to me or my baby-He has got this and it will end up being okay.

He uses this time to save me...from myself, my fears, my past, my failures and reminds me that He is giving me the opportunity to put more faith in Him, to love Him more, to pray more, to rest in Him more and give birth to a tiny life I want to give back to Him. It is beautiful and I would totally miss out if I were not created to be woman.

I am a girl. I am learning to love it. And I am so proud that I took control of being a girl and had a baby my way. (That story is coming soon I hope!) I am a girl. I am a wife. I am a mom. I am a rock star ;) I am so thankful Jesus made it that way.

My Littles

p.s. I also think that not being able to have a baby can be a "saving" or sanctifying experience for women albeit incredibly painful. He teaches us and shows us His love in so many special ways-especially when it is not a situation we would choose for ourselves. We still must have faith and trust in Him and His plan. He has still got this. No matter what. :)

This God—his way is perfect;

the word of the Lord proves true;

he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30

You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand supported me,

and your gentleness made me great. Psalm 18:35

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him. Psalm 28:7

Some of My New Favorite Reads:

2012-09-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

Thought I would jot down (for journal's sake mostly and in case any of you were interested) my recent reading! I used to be a major book-worm but not so much now. But this is a start! :) Hopefully I will read more and more. Anyhow, here you go. (And the links are to check out that book on Amazon.)

Ok, so have you read Bonhoffer by Eric Metaxus yet? Because if you haven't you need to drop everything and read. this. book.
Bonhoeffer-Pastor-Martyr-Prophet-Spy

And after you are done with that here are some others I am enjoying lately. (You know, because breastfeeding leaves me with a lot of reading time....and Gilmore Girl's time...and Pinterest time when I can steal Captain Awesome's phone away from him ;)

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Even if you have read it before ten times it is still awe-inspiring, gut-wrenching, encouraging and amazing. If you haven't read it before, read this true life account of a family that were arrested for hiding Jews from the Nazis and sent to concentration camps where they lived and many died teaching of Jesus. Since her "accidental" release, Corrie has crossed the globe sharing God's forgiveness and love and Jesus. Love this book. One of my favorites. :)
The Hiding Place

Another one by Corrie that I read recently is In My Father's House. This book is also amazing in that she recounts her life up to The Hiding Place and all the unique ways God prepared her family for what was coming. Remarkable. Plus I marvel at this family's complete surrender to Christ and the hundreds of people they touched before the war was even a possibility. Easy easy read but powerful.
In My Father's House

I am currently reading another one by her right now. Haha! The In-Loves got it for me for my birthday!
I Stand at the Door and Knock

These are never before published, just-recently-found devotional writings of Corrie!!! AAAHHHHHH! It is like holding buried treasure in your hands. ;) Yeah, I am a nerd.
These devotions come straight from her old daily radio broadcasts in Germany I believe. (At least they were originally in German.) Sometimes it is a little awkward and you can tell something may have been lost in translating it to English but it is still powerful enough to kick my tail every time I read it. Funny, for awhile every devotion was on Surrender and I would be all, "Surrender, again?!? I get it! I get it!!!" and then like the 7th devotion on surrender came and I was all "Ohhhh, wow, I need to surrender!" :)

And then I have recently read a book by someone other than Corrie! I know- there are other books out there! ;)

This one is a much more recent autobiography than The Hiding Place and is a lot more light hearted.

I Am Hutterite

Totally fascinating. Recounts the story of a woman who grew up on a Hutterite Commune. (Hutterites are the not-so-distant relatives of the Baptists of looooooong ago. You know, when Baptists were being martyred for their belief in adult baptism by immersion?) When she was 10 years old her world turned upside down and her family left the commune for freedom. Besides being totally fascinating (definitely pro's and con's to living on a commune, and I had never considered what it might really be like to live that way- or leave when that is all you know) it emphasizes forgiveness, growth in Christ and freedom. LOVE this book.

As for my web-reading I have a couple of staples:

http://www.creativechristianmama.com/ New to this blog but I am loving her. We could totally be best friends. She posts it all- super granola remedies, nourishing recipes, and Bible Studies! LOVE! She is the blogger I would like to be someday. ;)

http://biblicalhomemaking.blogspot.com/ New to her too but I love her. Although there is no way we could be friends because she is too stinking BEAUTIFUL. I mean it. Check her out for her jaw-dropping beauty and stay for her amazing content. :)

http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com/ Ahhhhh!!! Love this woman, her heart for the Lord and her UH-MAZING free printables! Seriously....so cool! Months of good reading material here, folks!

Need some pro-life reading? This blog: http://www.liveaction.org/ will BLOW your mind. Follow them on fb too.

Then there are my new healthy life philosophy blogs:
http://www.modernalternativemama.com/
http://www.modernalternativekitchen.com/
http://modernalternativepregnancy.com/
http://modernalternativehealth.com/

Lovelovelovelovelove!!! And while the posts are always really good and informative, my favorite part of these blogs is following them on fb and being part of the community over there. You have a random question? (Anything from I have a bad hangnail, to slugs are attacking my tomatoes, to my daughter isn't sleeping through the night to, my husband has really really REALLY bad pneumonia, what do I do?!?) Ask it on the appropriate wall and you will generally get a whole lot of naturally minded people to give you their experience, advice and info on that topic. Awesome. Except for my pregnancy appointments none of us have been to a doctor since we have lived here and these blogs are partly why. :) Not bad for a fam with now 6 in it, right?

Oh, and another new one: http://thenourishinghome.com/
In love with this one too!!! Totally nourishing recipes with a PRINT OUT MEAL PLAN. NO LIE. She also links it with all the recipes you will need. Using this week's right now! Plus she is a HUGE proponant of getting your kids in the kitchen and teaching them to cook. Not to create kitchen slaves (although who said that is a bad thing.;) but to teach your children the how and why of healthy eating-what healthy eating really is and they are much more apt to eat something they made themselves. I really need to work on this area with my kids and she has lots of articles that teach fun ways to get them cooking. SCORE.

So anyhow....while I am prob leaving a bunch out. These are my latest, newest reads. Enjoy!!! Come back and share if you read any of these because of this post! ;)

Love y'all!
Gina

Just Gonna Praise

2012-09-25T18:50:00.003-07:00

***I wrote this post a reeeeeeeeeeally long time ago but didn't write the end until now. Definitely for the best. You know God and His timing. ;) ***

There are so many good things going on in my life right now...

1. A new baby girl is expected in our home in a few months! I cannot even begin to tell you the excitement in our home about this!!! The cool thing about this one coming so much later than the other three is watching the three be SO excited about this little lady. Harmony is always studying the Week by Week Pregnancy Book, they went through the baby name books and picked names (which is actually pretty funny considering the younger two don't read yet!) My stomach has never gotten so much attention ever!!! At dinner the kids argue over who will sit next "to the baby," they always hug and kiss her goodnight and they like to "hold her hand" when crossing the street! :) They make sure I am eating food she likes and are checking off lists of things she will need to live in our house. It is the coolest thing ever.
With every pregnancy, Chase has gotten more excited and he was so ecstatic to find out he is getting another girl! So he is busy loving on me: checking off lists to make sure I have what I need, I am getting the food I like and have a hand to hold. He is just so stinkin awesome.

2. Life in Texas is good! It hasn't been anything like we expected (but when is anything just like you expect? Uh-never.) We trusted God that He knew what He was doing when He moved us from our home and church we adore in Arizona to a completely new place-Texas! And of course He knew what He was doing! He does what He does for our best interests and for His glory. Next month we will have been here a year and are feeling like we belong. We have a sweet church with sweet people. Pastor Stan is one of the most humble men I have ever met and I have a lot to learn from him. He is fabulous! His wife, Becky is amazing and I love her to pieces!!!
I am really enjoying my Sunday School class and am making friends-which is a really big blessing because you all know that a stay-at-home mom could use an adult conversation every once in awhile! ;)
We LOVE our teens here. They are passionate about changing the world and we are praying that with Christ's help they do just that! It is so hard to be a teenager and it is much harder here than for our teens in AZ. I don't know if it is because we were more rural there or because it is such a Mormon community there or what, but the difference between the North Texas culture and the White Mtn of AZ culture is night and day. Really interesting. Anyhow, just means we need to be praying even more and sharing truth with our teens even more fervently.

3. We have had the super amazing blessing of knowing my dad and his family! A couple of months after we moved here I got a message on Facebook from my Dad! As in, my biological dad that I have never met (at least not since my very first Christmas!) It has been so cool to know him. He apologized for a lot of things and has been working his tail off to make things right...but I am happy just to have him. He texts me just about everyday and calls often. He checks on me when he knows I am struggling and was patient with me when I went into "relationship self-destruct" mode. I had big plans to guard my heart so it really scared me when I fell for him so quickly-I am definitely not used to giving "strange" men such power over me. But I gave in. At some point he may really disappoint me or hurt me but he is only human and I am just as likely to hurt or disappoint him so...just the way it goes. :)
I do think God and His timing are funny. He always has the best timing. I waited to have my dad my whole life...just NEEDED him. And it wasn't until after I had learned a few things about Christ being the only One I need, He is the Savior-not a dad, not Chase, not my pastor, not any other family member or friend could be all that I needed-that is His job and only He is capable of satisfying and bringing that kind of wholeness...anyway it wasn't until I had learned a bit of that that God brought my dad into the picture. Boy should my dad be glad!! Haha! God also did that out of mercy for him too!!! ;)
Anyhow, I love my dad. He is definitely the best. I am looking forward to meeting him in person one of these days. :)
Another cool thing about knowing my dad is knowing about more of my family! Get this-after my dad emailed me I got an email from his sister, my Aunt Lisa! Guess where she lives??? In the town next to ours!!! No kidding!!! She is the coolest thing since chai tea (which if you know me is an unbelievably big compliment!) Her super cool family has welcomed us in and we just love them! Lisa has a women's prison ministry in Dallas which -I cannot even begin to tell you the cool things happening down there!! Hopefully soon I will write about my experiences there. God is moving and working suffice it to say for now. ;)
Aunt Lisa and her faith is such an encouragement to me. I love people who admit that they are a mess and that makes God even cooler because He loves them anyway! Makes me feel a little less like a weirdo. By the way, I don't really think she is a mess...but her saying it makes me feel better. ;)
I also am getting to know my Grandma who is quite the sweetheart! I am hoping to meet her someday soon!
I also have another sister and brother!!! I got to meet my sister Alecia a few weeks ago when Aunt Lisa flew her and my super duper cutie niece out for the weekend! It was so cool to spend a couple of days with my sister and get to know each other! Kinda funny, day one was spent asking a million and a half questions about the other one, their family, childhood, other siblings, mommy stuff, relationships, religion!!! It was fun! She is a sweetheart and we have lots in common and got along well. She lives all the way in Washington which is just too far away! :(
I also have a 14 year old brother and we kinda talk on Facebook-you know, as much as 14 year old boys talk on Facebook...to weird girls. He is cute though, I want to kiss his cheeks! Is that allowed or would that REALLY freak him out?!? ;)
Anyhow, it is nice to have more family!!!

3. Have I mentioned that I have the best friends ever?!?! My girls in AZ still put up with me even though I am so far away and have been gone a year! They are always there when I need prayer, an ear, a laugh, or a lecture! (Sometimes all is needed!) They are a remarkable group of women and I am so thankful for them.
There are also some amazing friends here in Texas too!!! I am friends with ladies here that would let us move right in off the street with them-seriously, they did that! My friends here adopted my kids and take care of us. I have been known to call one of them too in the even of needing an ear, etc.... Gosh I am sounding needy.
Anyhow, God has blessed me with friends near and far and an always looking to add some more! (You know, it is always best to spread out the neediness so it doesn't eat alive a couple few people! ;)

4. God has given me His Word! I am going to be real- over the past several months Satan has worked overtime it seems to rob us of joy. I am not being dramatic. It has been scary, depressing, discouraging...not everything has fallen into place like we expected when God moved us.
We would hear discouraging news about our old teens, we would get discouraging news about our house in AZ, things didn't immediately get great with our teens here, we moved into a house we hated thinking it was temporary only to find out it may be a whole lot more permanent than we ever could have dreamed. Members of our family and friends have had horrendous, heart-wrenching loss that we just couldn't fix...and it goes on and on and on... And for the past several months every time I have been super duper happy-a light shines through and reassures me that we have not been forsaken and abandoned-God IS taking care of us! And then halfway through my praise-chorus we get more bad news, another insult, another loss, another problem to fix. So now I am getting dramatic. But in all seriousness, that is how it has been. Literally half way through a praise chorus! It has been miserable. God is so gracious to give us those glimpses of His love and provision. And sometimes His provision isn't what we want-it IS what we need. It isn't what I expected, but He is teaching many lessons on perseverance, trust, contentment, faith, prayer and praise. I hope I am picking up a few things!
But I say that His Word is a blessing to me (finally getting back to my first statement on this point) is that it always has the answers! ALWAYS!!! Honestly I don't always think to look there first for direction, encouragement, lesson review etc. But that is also the point. I have been asking God for more and more love for His Word-that it would be a part of me like nothing else. What better way to nurture a love than by driving me to it??? Seriously! He is making me so hungry for HIS peace, HIS direction, HIS reassurance that I am His and He is mine, He is even making me hungry for correction. I want Him to point out where I am not reflecting His image, fix it, and then get the glory!
Now I know this is all kinda basic Christianity, but it has been deeper. It has been a hold on for dear life kind of ride. And now I am thankful. Chase may forbid me from praying to love God's Word more, (haha!) but He is not letting me get comfortable in my relationship with Him-and I like it that way.
Praying scripture has done wonders for my soul. There have been so many days where I want to talk to God, but I don't even know where to begin or am overwhelmed with thoughts, worries, frustrations, what other people are thinking or am just plain exhausted. I know talking to Jesus and giving it to Him is the answer but what do you do when there is so much???
God led me to the back of "Get Out Of That Pit" by Beth Moore. I am going through that book with a couple of my girls and I picked it up one day, flipped through and found the praying scripture section!!! It is perfect! A section each day for confessing, praising and asking. Exactly what got me through some days without getting horrifically violent or dramatically hysterical (let's not forget there are a lot of preggo hormones running around right now-Chase will tell you!) His Word is perfect, sharp, true-miraculous. Ahhh!!! It is just good stuff! Also, when I realized the wonders of praying God's Word, I was led back to a book I used many moons ago called 31 Days of Praise and wow. SO many good scriptures to pray and the preface is AWESOME. There she talks about how when we are discouraged we especially need to praise God and how it changes our attitude and strengthens our faith by telling Him how awesome He is! How often the last thing we want to do is praise God...I know I would much rather throw a pity party and eat an obscene amount of cookie dough ice cream, personally. ;) Pity parties don't help us though and they certainly don't serve others! I want to be a usable vessel that He will use, so I need to be full of praise, His Word, and faith. Again, basic but down to the nitty gritty. So.......I choose praise thanks to His grace. And I am so thankful for all He is doing in my life. Every bit of it.

Love y'all!!!
Gina

p.s. Here are the links to check out the books I mentioned! ;) Let me know if you read them and what you think! :)
Get Out of That Pit
31 Days of Praise

Penny the Supermodel

2011-10-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

Meet Penny. The coolest, weirdest cat ever.

I thought I would take a picture of her weirdness since for some reason she was relaxing on the legos...maybe it was like acupuncture or something.

Anyhow, she suddenly started posing and intentionally looking beautiful. Seriously.

And she just kept posing...

Check out the lip pucker in this shot...

She decided she wanted another photographer when I wouldn't pull the fan out to blow her fur a bit.

But she is a cool cat anyway.

And yes, of all the things I could have blogged about after the months I have been away from it, I did just blog about my cat. Weird, I know. ;)

The Ice Storm, The Interview, and the Cow-Moving to Texas

2011-05-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

So...here we are! :) We arrived on the 2nd of February. We literally slid into town during a record breaking ice storm! It was quite the trip. Chase and our dear friend Dan, left driving the U-Haul and Dan's suv all loaded down. A few hours later, my wife (her nickname) Jen and I left with our passel of 6 kids, ages 6 and under.
Yeah. We are crazy. But it was so wonderful of these amazing friends to help us move to our new home. And I really enjoyed being able to have a looooong visit with one of my dearest friends. Plus, trial and error has taught us that two moms and six kids are actually easier than one mom and three kids. Ask the people who work at Ikea. Long story.
Anyhow...it was snowing when we drove away from our home and was storming on the east side of Albuquerque.When we stopped there for gas, I was interviewed by a news reporter about how it was, traveling in the storm. The second he turned on the camera I completely lost my mind, and Jen had to whisper to me all the answers to everything he asked, including, "What is your last name? Can you spell that?" So whether or not my clip actually made it on the air I don't know, but I doubt it. ;) But we did share with him that we had seen lots of vehicles slide off the freeway and that the blowing snow was a serious menace.
We got back on the road and several hours later, we made it to the Texas, NM border!!! :) Our drive took considerably longer than the men, because we took an excruciating amount of potty breaks. The next day, we wised up and put all the kids in diapers-yup we did. All six. And the drive went considerably faster. ;)
It was a pretty scary drive. The roads were insanely slippery and it was SO cold!!! The temp was in the negatives the whole time. At one point I couldn't see to drive because of all the mud caked onto my windshield. So I pulled over and Jen dumped a cold bottle of water onto the windshield and before I could wipe it off, it froze. At least it was clear though, so we got back on the road.

In Wichita Falls, we stopped for some lunch and to see my Aunt Debbie and cousin, Jason. It had been years since I had seen them and they had never met my kids. We slid into the parking lot, slid into McDonalds and let the kids play for a bit while I got to visit! ;) It was so nice seeing them again, they are a couple of the sweetest folks ever! I just love them! And it is so nice that they are only a few hours away and we get to see each other every now and then. :)

We got back on the road and caught up with Dan who had had car trouble. We ended up following him all the way to our new home town. It was terrifying. He drove a bit faster than I was comfortable with and really pushed me to just get there. But I was glad he did. ;) We had a couple of close calls, the one I remember the most was when a semi came into our lane and tried to push us off the freeway...scary. But God took SUCH good care of us. We got to the Day's house safe and sound...and exhausted.

This may be one of those you-just-had-to-be-there things, but I have to tell you about something Harmony said. Keep in mind that we had been driving through Texas aka Cattle Country for EVER. We saw cattle EVERYWHERE! Even the day before in New Mexico...lots of cows. Lots. For hours all we saw were cattle and fields. On the evening of the second day we were driving the car and all six kids were quiet. I think the boys were all sleeping. (Which explains the quiet.;) Jen and I are chatting it up when all of the sudden from the back of the suburban, Harmony exclaimed, "LOOK!!!! A COW!!!!!" We died laughing. We were wondering where she had been that whole drive and how she missed all the cattle. I still have no idea...

I was nervous about staying with the Day's. They so graciously provided several rooms and a bathroom and the whole house basically at our disposal! But I had never met them and wasn't sure how it was going to work. Especially with my three little ones and Jen's three little ones...all of which had been on lock-down in a car for two days. But the kids were great and the Day's were AMAZING!!! Mr. and Mrs. Day are some of the most fabulous people ever and are now some dear friends. After Dan and Jen left (which I don't want to talk about... :( ) We stayed on with the Day's for a month until we moved into a rental right across the street. I told you, they are awesome! I am not sure anyone else could have handled us for all that time. Thank you Dan and Jen! And thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Day!!! We love you all so much! Thank you for all you have each done for our family. We have been so blessed by each of you. :)

And we are loving Texas (except the tornados we are currently dodging...) the people and our church and the area....we just LOVE it here!!!

One Enchanted Evening!

2011-01-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

When I first moved to Show Low, Arizona I didn't have much in the way of friends. I had my new husband and had a new church family. Three weeks into our marriage we got pregnant with my Pink Princess!

And then it started...friendship! I started having things in common with the women around me and many of us became fast friends! There was particularly a group of us that I dubbed "the Fab 7" several years ago. Through the years our group has grown and our circle of friends has grown but like the ladies of Wisteria Lane (I did-I just made a Desperate Housewives reference!) the seven of us have remained friends and stay close.

During the packing and moving process I have been reminiscing about all of the things we have been through and done together...

Pretty amazing really, in the last six years we have

had babies,

lost babies,

lost parents,

battled cancer,

dealt with our pasts,

been through counseling,

been through several moves,

struggles in our marriages,

struggles with our teenagers,

struggles with each other,

started homeschooling our kids,

stopped homeschooling our kids, (:

and just life in general.

But what struck me as I reminisced and what is so amazing to me is how faithful God has been through everything. Here we all are-

still alive,

still friends,

still married,

still in this church,

and more in love with our Lord than ever before.

How amazing is that? He answered those prayers that we prayed together countless times. I think those are some of my most treasured memories. Apart from all the play-dates we had when our kids were smaller, and the bunko parties, and the movie nights...(Ok, so we have had some serious fun together!!!) I love remembering the times when we got together for coffee and to pray. To pray for our families, for our husbands, for us as moms-some of the most powerful times we shared. And the times we got together just to pray for Deana and her cancer. I just get chills. I have been taking Deana for granted lately, but it really wasn't that long ago she was fighting for her life and we were all terrified of losing her.

What amazing, special friends I have here. I will miss them so much! And yet it is so exciting to be able to move somewhere new and make MORE friends!!! :) Whoo hoooo!

So back to the evening I was originally posting about: (:

When the rest of the group found out I was moving, my amazing friend Deana (the planner extraordinaire!) decided that before I left we needed one last dinner party with the gals that started it all. Everyone pitched in and threw me SUCH a lovely party!!! They went with an Italian theme and we got to use a clubhouse up in Pinetop for our festivities! :) (Thank you Stacie!!!)

These were SO yummy!!! Thank you Misty!!!

Isn't this lovely???

Seriously beautiful!!!

Drinks and hor d'oeuvres

Shay's famous spinach dip!!!

Then in case the dinner wasn't enough, I got PRESENTS!!!!!

Here is the frame Dawn made for me and they brought pictures of us to put in there. :) BEAUTIFUL!!!! Dawn, you are AWESOME!!!

And LOOK how cute this gift bag is!!! Turns out that it held the coveted "Lynell Original Apron"!!!!! I have been secretly pining for one for YEARS!!!! You can read about it and see it on her (fabulous watch-out-Pioneer-Woman) blog: http://wranglersandribbons.blogspot.com/2011/01/crafting-therapy.html I have pretty much been wearing it non-stop since!

Chatting it up:

Besides seamstress, she is also a fab photographer !!! Seriously, watch out Pioneer Woman!

Main Course: YUMMO!! Deana makes the BEST Italian food!!!

And Dessert: ohmygoshamazing! :)

There was SO much laughter and food and visiting! It was a totally wonderful night!!! I am so blessed to have these woman in my life. And I love that while they are so sad I am moving, they are praying I make new wonderful friends in my new church and new home! :) They are just awesome!!!

I LOVE you guys!!! Thank you so much!!!

Books to Read in 2011

2011-01-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

Since I became a mom I have been pretty terrible about getting books read. Unless it is Fancy Nancy or Dr. Seuss I am just not reading all that much. And it has been ok to take a few years off and have babies, but now that the kids are getting older I want to set some goals and keep in mind some books I want to read.

So here goes:
The List So Far:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578565812/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-6&pf_rd_r=1R3T3J9YRPF57S1XAGYZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938731&pf_rd_i=507846
I started this one technically in 2010 but I haven't gotten too far just yet. ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Goes-Everything-Healthier-Cleaner/dp/1416578455/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295464178&sr=1-1
Apparently this book is everything you never wanted to know about toxins being in your food, water, clothing, mattresses, cleaning products etc....all the chemicals we put in our systems every day and how to avoid that. :) Stay posted, I will write a post someday on all that I have been learning and why I love Arbonne. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Joyfully-Home-Young-Ladies-Vision/dp/1934554502/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295464201&sr=1-1
Totally looking forward to reading this book! I LOVE her blog! Her dad's book:

(which I gave away before I even finished reading it...I need to get a new one! LOVE this book!)
http://www.amazon.com/What-He-Must-Be-Daughter/dp/1581349300/ref=pd_sim_b_1
totally changed our church in so many ways! Fathers stepped up and became better leaders,(but not dictators) parents got more proactive in the dating-courtship process and families are just getting closer! Awesome!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Bonhoeffer-Pastor-Martyr-Prophet-Spy/dp/1595551387/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295464219&sr=1-1
Ok so my husband actually got this one for Christmas...but I think I am going to borrow it for a bit! ;) I LOVE World War II History and the fact the Hitler killed him a couple of days before the war ended-just out of spite is intriguing.

Right now in my devotions, I am going through:

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Spiritual-Gifts-40-Minute-Studies/dp/0307458709/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295465097&sr=1-5
I am really enjoying it too! :) I love Kay Arthur! Her books, "Lord, I Want to Know You" (on the names of God) and "Lord, I Need Grace to Make it Today" (about grace and applying it to your life) were huge in my life and taught me sooooo much and changed my life drastically. :)
So I think the next devotion book I will do will be:

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Help-Grow-Spiritually-Strong/dp/0736925988/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295465124&sr=1-1
Looks good! :)
I also want to do this one this year:

http://www.amazon.com/My-Utmost-His-Highest-ebook/dp/B0049U4WA6/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295465344&sr=1-4
I have heard SO many good things about this book! I am really excited to read it...and who knows...after Bonhoffer and Chambers I just may be up to reading some Tozer! :)

http://www.amazon.com/Duggars-Counting-Raising-Americas-Families-How/dp/141658563X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295467042&sr=1-1
Someday I will write a post on the 20 and counting things I love about the Duggars...but for now, I want to read their book! :)

http://www.visionforum.com/browse/product/?productid=96752
I am dying to read SO MANY of the books that Vision Forum has to offer...this is just one of them. ;)

My "Fun Reading" List:

http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Jane-Austen/dp/1936594293/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295467131&sr=1-3
How sad is it that I have never read this book?!?!? This is the year!

http://www.amazon.com/Mansfield-Park-Penguin-Classics-Austen/dp/0141439807/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295467176&sr=1-1
Ok, silly reason for wanting to read this one...I have taken several "what Jane Austen book is your life" quizzes on facebook and Mansfield Park is always the answer...I must find out what this means. ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Dog-His-Victor-Brodt/dp/1452839948/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295467940&sr=1-1
I am SO looking forward to reading this one! It was written by some dear friends!
You MUST read the AMAZING reviews this book has gotten and read it for yourself! I am thinking I will start this one next!

Alright...so besides the books I flip through on cooking, cleaning, gardening, and other homesteading topics, this is my list. Pretty daunting considering the only things I read through completely last year was "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and the "Lord I Need Grace..." one I mentioned earlier. Ok, that isn't quite true...I am having plenty of others come to mind... anyhow. FUN! I love to read!

Does anyone else have anything they plan on reading this year???

Steps

2011-01-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

That song, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in His way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth Him with His hand." has been encouraging to me today and I thought I would find more verses on "steps" since ours are rather "unsure" at the moment. ;)

Job 34:21

“For his eyes are on the ways of a man,

and he sees all his steps.

Job 31:4

Does not he see my ways

and number all my steps?

Psalm 37:23

The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

Psalm 37:31

The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

Psalm 119:133

Keep steady my steps according to your promise,

and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Proverbs 16:9

The heart of man plans his way,

but the Lord establishes his steps.

Jeremiah 10:23

I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

1 Peter 2:21

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

And the kicker...

Proverbs 20:24

A man's steps are from the Lord;

how then can man understand his way?

Miscellany Monday-When the Husband is Gone...

2011-01-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

Yay! I thought it had been so long since I had joined in on miscellany monday that I really should today! :)
Click on the button to read more miscellany and post your own!

So this afternoon (because it was afternoon by the time I could do it) I jumped in the shower. Once I got in the shower I realized:
1. My husband went out of town and took his razor (which I have been using-he just LOVES that we are that close.;) and I forgot to put mine back in the shower.
2. A baby that had been exploring my house earlier that morning had taken my shampoo out of the bathroom and into the living room and I had forgotten to put it back.

So...conundrum: do I now wet and naked go traipsing through the house to retreive said items or do I wash my hair with my body wash (!!! I know!!!) and not shave since the Hubster isn't home anyways....
Well, I went with the body wash and no shaving...so if I look unusually frizzy and hairy when I run into you at Wal-Mart later I apologize and now you know why. ;)

Funny, I thought going without shaving would be freeing and liberating.
It isn't. It is poky, uncomfortable and I shouldn't raise my arms to wave hello even in a short sleeved shirt. I may just shower again later. ;)
   ~
After my shower, I pulled out my new uber comfy aeropostale workout pants and threw them on. Notice I called them "workout pants" instead of "sweat pants." Sweat pants sound dowdy...workout pants sound dowdy too, but dowdy with a purpose. ;) Workout pants convey mental images of me in a perfect pony tail effortlessly jogging around the block with my dog and jogging stroller-even though I may only get some painting, packing, and photo editing done tonight when I get back from Wal-Mart. Although taking all three kids to Wal-Mart in Show Low and all the snow out there could be considered light exercise. So there we go. Maybe I will even let the dog ride along.
   ~
Last night, the kids and I played Just Dance on the Wii. There is seriously nothing cuter than watching my three munchkins dance to that game! It is also funny the songs that are their favorites. All three kids LOVE "Cotton-Eyed Joe" which is the one they do best at.
Harmony's favorite is the one she calls "The Football Dance" I have no idea why she calls it that because it is the disco song and dance "That's The Way (Uh-huh) I Like It." Maybe the character's afro looks like a football helmet???
Evan loves "The punching one" aka "Eye of the Tiger" which Chas calls "I am a tiger."
Chas also requests "Pump up the Jam" which I think she thinks is talking about the jam that goes on a sandwich.
They don't like it, but they dance to the Beach Boy's "I Get Around" just for Momma. :) What sweet babies! :)
   ~
I posted this on Facebook the other day, but should document it here in my journal...a week or so ago my extremely mild-mannered son came STOMPING down the hall way. I could tell in his step he was unhappy about something. Then he stomped up to me and angrily yelled, "MOMMA!" Taken aback at this unusual behavior, I asked him, "What is it baby?"
He angrily yelled back "I LOVE YOU!!!!" And then he stomped off! I sat there stunned for a second and then had to laugh. After a second I yelled back, "EVAN!!! I LOVE YOU TOO!" He stuck his head around the corner and yelled "I LOVE YOU!" Like he was still angry. And now it is our bit. We randomly yell angry I love you's back and forth almost every day.
Today the girl's tried to join in, but he got really upset that they were moving in on our bit. He told them to "shhhhh!" LOL Having a boy is so much fun! :)

Being a mom is so much fun! :)
Happy Monday!

~Gina

So we are moving!!!

2011-01-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

I thought I would answer a bunch of questions and in a nut-shell tell you about the circumstances leading up to this!

So the news: We are moving to Texas!!! Telling the teens last night was one of the worst things EVER. So awful.

But here's the story:
Yep, out of the blue Chase was asked for his resume three times in a week! He didn't even have one so we whipped one up, talked to Pastor Steve and sent them out. Fairly quickly two of the options were shot down but the church in Princeton, Texas was seriously considering us. If you are wondering how and why they heard of us, some of you might remember Lynn Hoskins. She used to come to our church here before she moved to Princeton. She said that one day the Lord just impressed on her heart that she should be praying for me and Chase. She didn't know why until two months later when their youth pastor resigned! A light went on and she talked to Pastor Stan about us. They received a bunch of resumes but really liked us. (what's not to like???) We exchanged questionaires, had a skype conference call with their calling committee, and Pastor Stan and his wife Julie were able to come and visit Calvary awhile back. It "just happened" that they were going to be in New Mexico for a missions trip anyway. ;) So we talked with them and asked a bunch of questions and answered a bunch of questions. Pastor Stan met with Pastor Steve and they had a good talk. Next thing you know, we left early for Christmas in Houston in order to go to the Youth GroupChristmas party in Princeton, Chase was going to teach Sunday School the next morning and give his testimony in the church service. We LOVED the teens...the church...the community and felt right at home. The church was going to vote on whether or not to call us the following Wednesday night and we would pray about it some more.
Well as it turned out, two people voted undecided and everyone else voted yes to calling us! Which is still amazing to me...anyhow. We prayed some more and sought counsel some more and talked to Pastor Steve again. We asked what his thoughts were and if he had peace about us leaving. He expressed that it was the last thing he wanted, but through the whole process he had never been able to find a problem with the pastor or church or process or us leaving. In fact, he told us that two months prior to Chase being asked for his resume (which we realized later was the same time God told Lynn to pray for us) Pastor Steve felt like God was telling him that we would be leaving soon...

So we prayed about it some more, felt like this was something that God had completely orchestrated from the beginning and we accepted the position.

Funny too because our major three concerns and prayer requests for our family have been: to be closer to the Ward side, to get Chase back in school for his Master's degree, and to have a better schedule with more time to spend as a family or down time. We have really been wanting to start family devotions and the best time is in the morning except that that is the worst time because Chase's days start anywhere from 5:15-8:00. It just hasn't worked...and it doesn't help that he typically works 70 ish hours every week. Our kids are young and we need more time together.
Well guess what? All three of those were answered by moving to Faith Baptist in Princeton! Chase will have time this fall to go back to school and the commute would be MUCH shorter than if we were in Show Low. Chase's parents are about 3.5 hours away from Princeton...and they are hoping to move closer at some point. And Faith is SO relaxed! Life just moves more slowly there and there aren't as many hours needed in the office.

So anyway...our prayers were answered...not like we were thinking but I guess we should have been more specific! haha! ;)

Anyway, in case you are wondering, Princeton is just north of Dallas. It is a town about the size of Show Low but with 1 million or so people in the surrounding like 20 miles. I like Princeton because it is small enough it really has a country feel but I would only be 15 minutes away from THREE Targets and a Hobby Lobby and a Whole Foods, and a couple of malls! AWESOME!

So our last day at Calvary is the last Sunday of January...I believe Chase is preaching that day. We pull out of town on February first and our first day at Faith is the first Sunday of February.

I am excited about the new teens and new church and being closer to the in-loves, but I am really very very sad about leaving all my friends, our teens...and what I believe is the best church and pastor ever! Calvary and Pastor Steve are not perfect...but I have never seen or experienced better. (Or anything even remotely close!) We have been soooo very blessed and even spoiled here! I would like to take Calvary and just combine it with Faith so I don't lose anyone! :)

It is also hard because we have no idea what we are moving into! We really want to buy this house: http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/TX/Princeton/1100-N-6th-St-402_11484404.htm But we can't buy anything (or rent anything other than a 750sq. ft. apt) until our house here sells. We are hoping to get it on the market next week after we finish up some projects we have had going . Please pray!!!

It must just prove that I am a girl to be so excited and depressed about the same event! Because I AM excited too! I have been missing the Princeton teens since we left...they are just a great group of teens! I am really excited to work with them and their parents! It is just hard to say goodbye and pack up everything I guess.

Anyhow, enough rambling...I need to get back to packing! ;)

HELLO BLOG-LAND!!!

2010-11-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, I have SO much to blog about and so little time! :)
I am still working on my breaking generational sins series and also my rock-music series. Hopefully I will be able to wrap those up soon! So stay posted! ;)

In the meantime though, I wanted to share that I have been so encouraged in my walk as a youth pastor's wife. I feel that I have been through so many transitions since I became a youth pastor's wife. It was never something I had even considered or thought about. Since I was a small child my focus has always been on children. I loved kids of all ages and was so very burdened for them. I went to Bible College planning on being a missionary who worked in orphanages in other countries. I still have a heart for orphans and missions, but as my relationship with Chase developed while we were in college, God showed me that I was called to Chase. I was called to be his help-meet in whatever ministry he entered. The first of which has been youth ministry...

I jumped into this really naively. I expected teens to be grateful, courteous and lovable! HA! Plus, I didn't like teenaged girls when I was one!!! To top it off, I was pregnant all the time and still holding onto a life of legalism instead of God's grace.
It was pretty miserable. I enjoyed aspects of youth ministry and I loved the teens and wanted to help them...but it did not go well.

As time went on and I went through counseling and received grace and truth into my life, things got much better. I started to fall in love with youth ministry. I enjoyed having teens in our home and in my life. I loved the opportunities to talk one on one with the girls and let them know that I understood what they were going through. I hated it when they left for college. I miss them.

I say all this, because I realized a few weeks ago that this process has progressed even further. One afternoon I got a frantic phone call from one of my girls. I couldn't make much out at first except "Help...Don't know... Nervous...FREAKING OUT!!!!" I tried to calm her down a bit so I could figure out the issue. It turned out that this young lady had been asked out on her first date! She and this young man had been getting to know each other and he was spending lots of time with her family. The young man had approached the girl's dad and asked for permission to take her out.
"And he said YES?!?!?!" I was shocked.
"I KNOW, RIGHT?!?" She was pretty shocked too.
The dilemma was that she wanted to dress up a little bit, but not too much and she wanted to be cute AND modest. Would I please help???

And that was a turning point. She came down and we went through my closet, we freaked out, we reminisced, she tried on 10 different outfits and we finally came up with something perfect. I still haven't gotten it back yet! lol!
We talked about purity, standards and the future. It was awesome.
It was the kind of relationship I have always wanted to have with the girls but didn't know how to get there.
As I was sending her back down to her house, she asked if I would come down when they were leaving for their date and take a picture. Of course I said yes!!!

This fabulous young lady is currently in Ethiopia...helping out in orphanages and a women's home. ( Don'tcha LOVE it???)

Please be praying for her, for this short-term trip, and that she brings me home a baby. ;)

Then last week, I was approached by one of the young men in our youth group. He is interning at the church a day or so a week. He is finishing up high-school then plans to attend a Bible College where he can pursue youth ministry. :) He has been courting one of my teen ladies for about a year and a half. They are making plans to get married this summer before they leave for Bible College together. SO cute! I am head over heels for this young lady. She is just phenomenal. So talented and intelligent! She knows her Bible frontwards and back and has a real relationship with Him.She writes some of the most amazing hymns. Just beautiful. Anyhow, the fabulous young man asked if I could help in the "popping the question" process! My job was to get her to the proposal spot, then act as chaperon/photographer! How cool is that???

I LOVE my ministry! :) It still has rough days and times when I wonder if I am making a difference at all. But God just keeps equipping me and teaching me and making me a more usable vessel. So yeah...I am excited.
The way He works is truly remarkable...

The Adventures of Dawn and Gina- The Re-Purpose Addition

2010-08-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

Totally cool, our adventure started when Dawn came over today to see me and gab and visit and such and she was admiring my newly re-decorated dining room! A Fabulous friend gave me the benches that now act as Dining Room chairs so my table is more in the corner and out of the way.

Anyways Dawn noticed that my hutch was no longer in the Dining Room and hadn't realized she had walked right past it! It was shoved in the corner between two couches until I could give it away or figure out what to do with it. I just didn't have the room for it. Dawn just looked at it and in a matter of minutes had come up with a plan of how to make it more usable for me! We took a few measurement and then suddenly sprang into action, and pulled off doors, pulled out shelves, moved the piano, stained some wood, found a new shelf, figured out the miles and miles of wire and cord that is our entertainment center and voila!!! (Sorry, bit of a Run-On Sentence!)

Here is the " entertainment center" before...

Talk about crowded, cluttered, crazy and not so cute!

We were temporarily using the piano as a entertainment stand because we needed to get the piano out of the bedroom to give piano lessons! HA! Kind of awkward giving kids piano lessons in the bedroom...not a good idea.

Plus, we really didn't have anything to put the tv and such on...so the piano was an ok fix for the time being...even if it did look pretty bad.

Here is my hutch backed into a corner until I could find a purpose for it. Before I took this picture, the inside was equally crowded, cluttered and not-so-cute as the entertainment system...

Here the hutch is in the process! We took off the doors, removed the lower glass shelf and moved it across the room!

Soon after, we recruited the help of Dan and Craig to come and help us drill the big holes the wires would all go through and to firmly attach the upper shelf we stained. Thanks guys!!!

And here we go!!! :) I have moved my pictures and shelf from the wall and added my Willow Tree Nativity Scene (because it is just too pretty to only use at Christmas!) on the very top! Everything fit PERFECTLY!!!!

Sooner or later we are going to tackle this puppy again and give it a makeover! Maybe a gray color (or white, or black) with some distressing and an AMAZING wallpaper back??? Totally excited!!! :)

Plus, I now have even more stuff to put out in the Yard Sale I have coming up! I LOVE de-cluttering!!! Who knew???

Now where do I put this piano???? :)

Breaking Cycles of Generational Shame and Abuse- Statistics and Profiles

2010-08-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

Just the other day I was accused (by others and myself!) of being paranoid and looking at the world through the lens of shame and fear. But the more I think about it and the more research I do, I am deciding that I am NOT paranoid, but am working to break the generational cycles of shame and abuse and I am NOT looking at the world through the lens shame and fear but the lens of experience.
Experience can be a thorough teacher. In my case it has taught me that enough is enough-I don't want my children caught up in generational sins, experiences and lifestyles that are contrary to God's Word. I want my family and home to be healthy, happy and informed.

Today let's be informed! :) I wanted to share with you some statistics and profiles of abusers so you too can break or prevent cycles of shame and abuse.

Statistics on Abuse:
(Taken from http://www.darkness2light.org/KnowAbout/statistics_2.asp )
The statistics are shocking

1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 18. (96)
1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 18. (96)
1 in 5 children are solicited sexually while on the internet. (30, 87)
Nearly 70% of all reported sexual assaults (including assaults on adults) occur to children ages 17 and under. (76)
An estimated 39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today.(1)

Even within the walls of their own homes, children are at risk for sexual abuse

30-40% of victims are abused by a family member. (2, 44, 76)
Another 50% are abused by someone outside of the family whom they know and trust.
Approximately 40% are abused by older or larger children whom they know. (1, 44)
Therefore, only 10% are abused by strangers.

Most children don't tell even if they have been asked

Evidence that a child has been sexually abused is not always obvious, and many children do not report that they have been abused.
Over 30% of victims never disclose the experience to ANYONE.
Young victims may not recognize their victimization as sexual abuse.
Almost 80% initially deny abuse or are tentative in disclosing. Of those who do disclose, approximately 75% disclose accidentally. Additionally, of those who do disclose, more than 20% eventually recant even though the abuse occurred.
Fabricated sexual abuse reports constitute only 1% to 4% of all reported cases. Of these reports, 75% are falsely reported by adults and 25% are reported by children. Children only fabricate ½% of the time.

Consequences of child sexual abuse begin affecting children and families immediately. They also affect society in innumerable and negative ways. These effects can continue throughout the life of the survivor so the impact on society for just one survivor continues over multiple decades. Try to imagine the impact of 39 million survivors.

Profiles of Abusers:

(taken from http://www.childluresprevention.com/pdf/Profile-of-Molester.pdf )

How many victims does a child molester average?

Interviews guaranteeing complete confi dentiality and immunity from prosecution, conducted by Emory

University psychiatrist Dr. Gene Abel, uncovered that:

Male offenders who abused girls had an average of 52 victims each.

Men who molested boys had an astonishing average of 150 victims each.

Only 3% of these crimes had ever been detected.

How do child molesters get into situations where they can exploit children?
Few child molesters are able to resist their powerful urges to initiate contact with children and will go to great
lengths to do so. Common strategies include:
-Befriending parents, particularly single parents, to gain access to their children.
-Offering babysitting services to overextended parents or caregivers.
-Taking jobs and participating in community events that involve children.
-Attending sporting events for children and/or offering to coach children’s sports.
-Volunteering in youth organizations, offering to chaperone overnight trips.
-Loitering in places children frequent - playgrounds, malls, game arcades, etc.
-Spending time in Internet gaming and social communities, learning the online interests and lingo
of youngsters.
-Becoming foster parents.

What is the most common method used by child molesters?
Most victims of abuse are groomed over a period of weeks, months, or years. The Affection Lure is used both offline and online to seduce unsuspecting youngsters in need of love and attention. Child molesters have repeatedly told me: When there’s a physically or emotionally absent parent in the picture, it makes the child more vulnerable than ever.

Wouldn’t a vigilant parent be able to detect a child molester, just by their actions?

Not necessarily. Remember, sex offenders who prey on children:
-are notoriously friendly, nice, kind, engaging and likeable.
-target their victims, often insinuating themselves into that child’s life - their family, school, house of worship,
-sports, and hobbies.
-are professional con artists and are expert at getting children and families to trust them.
-will smile at you, look you right in the eye and make you believe they are trustworthy.

Also, keep in mind that 23% of all sexual offenders were under the age of 18.
I also learned from the U.S Department of Justice that the overwhelming majority of sexual abuse incidents occur in the home as opposed to a school, store, outside, etc. (http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227763.pdf )

Here is what Dr. Phil says about it: (and I am not saying he is a good source for all your problems, but I agree with him and his research here.)

(http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/266)
Dr. Frank Lawlis, chairman of the Dr. Phil advisory board and Dr. Phil's mentor, offers some insight into the development of a sexual predator:

"The typical sexual predator is very immature in his or her understanding of intimacy. It is like they really want closeness, but they lack the skills to feel satisfaction and trust. These feelings of frustration erupt into anger many times, and it is in this stage that the individual can become dangerous. Their acts are desperate. They try to find intimacy and caring for themselves, but when they can't find it in appropriate ways, they demand it or find a child who has little resistance," says Dr. Lawlis. "It is common to find parents of sexual predators also weak in skills of affection. Consequently, they cannot train or offer to meet these needs for their child. And then the cycle continues."

There are some common characteristics of sexual predators. If you're worried your teen may be a sexual predator, look for these warning signs:

Refusal to take responsibility for actions and blames others or circumstances for failures

A sense of entitlement

Low self-esteem

Need for power and control

Lack of empathy

Inability to form intimate relationships with adults

History of abuse

Troubled childhood

Deviant sexual behavior and attitudes

From the book, Protecting Your Children from Sexual Predators, by Dr. Leigh M. Baker.

Other Tips on Spotting a Sexual Predator:

Often offend where they won’t get caught — when they have misdirected people’s attention
Often married or in relationships
Offend when the victim is handy
Not always strangers, often family members, family friends and neighbors
Most attracted to adults
Good manipulators (seduction is an integral part)
Overly self-indulgent
Arrogant
Sexualize, objectify women
Users of various kinds of pornography
Typically known as rationalizers, intellectualizers, justifiers
Great helpers — are there to lend a helping hand — prey on people in need, when they can insinuate themselves in your life
Use stressful and vulnerable situations to get in — they find a need they can fill and they use that to get next to the victim

Dr. Phil reminds parents they must watch everyone in their child’s life!

In the future we will discuss what makes healthy homes and healthy children. :)

But we do also have to realize that there is a balance between doing what you can to protect your children:

-being educated

-being godly

-being watchful

-having a healthy relationship with your children

and trusting God with the matter.

I know of many parents that did their best to protect their children and sexual abuse still happened. You have to trust that even if the unthinkable does happen, it did not escape God's notice and He works all things together for good to them that love Him and are called according to His purpose. It is totally an opportunity for the Lord to produce holiness in your life and the life of your child, and it is an opportunity to experience who God is in a completely different way. Let's not forget Who His Son was and the abuse that He experienced on our behalf.

Let's Break These Cycles! Who is with me????

Miscellany Monday- and Day Ten!

2010-07-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

I am linking up again with Miscellany Monday!!! I LOVE reading other's miscellaneous thoughts and happenings! Too fun!

So anyways, here is a taste of my randomness!!
1. Where I live, we get some serious monsoon rains and I am in HEAVEN. I LOVE rain. The smell, the look, the way it cleans everything up and makes it greener. I love that it makes our hair soft and the dog fur soft. So amazing!
But lately it has mostly been teasing. BIG beautiful, gray clouds, some lightening and a few sprinkles. SO COOL! But torturous nonetheless. I am still waiting for the daily multiple down-pours of water that usually comes during monsoon season. SO EXCITED! One of the things I love about where I live. :)

2. Last night after church, my sweet boy Van fell out of the Suburban. He has the hardest head I have ever known anyone to have and it HURT. He somehow fell face first even though my brother and I both thought he hit the back of his head. It really looked like it.

Here he is soon after... :(

Poor baby. He bit his tongue, scraped and bruised up the right side of his face and hit HARD. He was upset for a really long time...I felt SO BAD! I took him home and read online about concussions and symptoms to look out for. I fed him M&Ms (which has NEVER happened before) he got to stay up late with Mommy and watch some Elmo and then Mommy shows. Then he slept in our bed so I could keep an eye on him and wake him up to make sure he was conscious and so on. He is doing better today but looks worse I think. His right eye has gotten really swollen and bruised...I think it is going to be a pretty good shiner. And yes, that is a barrette in his hair to keep his hair out of the goop. Last night when I put this pic on facebook, he kept pointing to it and saying, "Evan, ouch. Evan, owie." And I felt bad all over again.

3. My middle daughter Harmony hit her private part on a chair this morning. It took me awhile to figure out what she was talking about because she was calling it a "diamond." ????? "Mommy, I hurt my diamond!"

I am not sure where she got diamond! lol! I try to teach my kids the proper wordage for their body parts because I heard that pedophiles are less likely to mess with kids that call their anatomy by the proper words because it indicates that the family talks more openly and honestly than others about sexuality, and safety regarding sexuality. But despite my best efforts, my oldest daughter Chastity has always called it a "Gyna." I could spell it with an i, but then it looks exactly like my name.
Awkward.
Today though, my oldest daughter was concerned about Harmony's "diamond" and asked about it. Only now Chastity is calling it an "angina." (Isn't that a heart condition????)

Someday maybe they will get it right, but until then I will be glad that unlike my stinkin' adorable niece, my kids don't call the UPS man, the "penis man." LOL
My sister was getting REALLY concerned who the "penis man" was and then they figured it out...
Sorry if you were offended. ;)

4. I have been participating in a 30 Days of Music challenge! I did miss yesterday, but today I am on day TEN!!!
Here is the list again in case you want to join in:
day 01 - Your Favorite Song
day 02 - Your Least Favorite Song
day 03 - a song that makes you happy
day 04 - a song that makes you sad
day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone
day 06 - a song that reminds of you of somewhere
day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event
day 08 - a song that you know all the words to
day 09 - a song that you can dance to
day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep
day 11 - a song from your favorite band
day 12 - a song from a band you hate
day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure
day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love
day 15 - a song that describes you
day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate
day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio
day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio
day 19 - a song from your favorite album
day 20 - a song that you listen to when you're angry
day 21 - a song that you listen to when you're happy
day 22 - a song that you listen to when you're sad
day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding
day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral
day 25 - a song that makes you laugh
day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument
day 27 - a song that you wish you could play
day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty
day 29 - a song from your childhood
day 30 - your favorite song at this time last year

Today is, a song that makes me fall asleep...I got nothing.
So I guess instead I will share a song I sing to my kids at bedtime...I once told the kids that I sang this song to them when they were each in my tummy and now they want to hear it all the time. I do skip the first verse because that is more for teenaged girls than in-utero babies and small children. ;) But he did write this for his teenage daughter so...anyways!

"Fingerprints of God" by Steven Curtis Chapman

chorus:
And I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God

verse two:
Never has their been and never again
Will there be another you
Fashioned by God's hand
And perfectly planned
To be just who you are.
And what He's been creating,
Since the first beat of your heart
Is a living breathing priceless work of art.

Happy Monday!!! If you want to share your own bit of miscellany, click on the typewriter button above to link up!!!