Journey of a Heart Set Free

Moving ON...

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:19:00 +0000

I've move this post to: Journey of a Heart Set Free

Thank you for reading & I hope to meet you over there. :)

Reminder...

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:51:00 +0000

Just a reminder that I'm in the process of moving my blog here: Journey of a Heart Set Free. I've posted an update on my littlest Prince. Please come check it out!

Merry Christmas Break!

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:11:00 +0000

I am finishing up school for the semester, both mine and the kids' and getting ready for Christmas, which is sandwiched by two birthdays. Also on the agenda, after Christmas break from school (so... after next week!), I am moving all my blog posts and everything to Journey of a Heart Set Free . I am Learning so much in this process! Anyway, while I may be tempted to avoid my responsibilities at home, I won't be able to post again until after Christmas. SO, Merry Christmas to all!

Safe Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:00:00 +0000

For years our family has had an internet filtering program on our home computers- for obvious reasons. We had a subscrtption with NetNanny for quite a few years. This year when it came time to renew our subscription, I had some questions about using the program for mobile devices: smart phones, iPads, PSPs, etc (not that we have any of those things, but Hero is hoping to purchase an iPad in the not too distant future and Prince Valiant is saving his money for a PSP). Netnanny offers text filtering, but no website blocking on mobile devices.

So, I went hunting a comparable program which offers more mobile protection. I found exactly what I was looking for in Safe Eyes. It offers the same amount of protection as NetNanny did as well as the mobile protection we might need in the future AND the price was better, by about $10. I made the switch and we have been very happy so far.

Hero and I have talked about just dropping this expense from our yearly budget; I do trust that he can say no and turn his eyes away should he come across anything unacceptable online. We chose to keep this expense for two reasons: 1) to protect the kids, you just never know sometimes what might pop-up with a seemingly bengin webpage; 2) there is no reason to dangle temptation in front of anyone- this program offers our family another layer of protection and accountability.

I have been so impressed with Safe Eyes that I joined their affiliate program; just click on any of the links above and I will earn a small percentage of your purchase.

Bonding

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:59:00 +0000

I cannot believe that this little cutie-pie is 10 months old already! He took about 5 steps in a row this morning in his new adventure of walking. His favorite past time is to tear apart the house. Obviously, it has been far too long since we've had a little one in the house, as we have way too many "things" on low shelves, just waiting for little fingers (and his mouth) to explore!

I've been getting questions a lot recently about bonding with him, since its pretty noticeable that he is momma's boy. I can honestly say that while we were going through the paperwork for the adoption, and then waiting, waiting, waiting, I didn't spend much time worrying about if we would bond with our baby or not. I expected the bonding process to take time and ...well, be a process.

I've seen the bonding process at work before. Hero left for his first year- long deployment when Princess Francis was not even one month old. Needless to say, when he came back a year later, she was less than thrilled with this "man" in the house that she had to share her mommy with.

I watched as Hero tried so hard to get our princess to accept him, and love him, but she would have none of it. It took just about a full year for the two of them to bond. Though the process was a little painful for the two of them, the bond they now share has withstood a recent year- long deployment and many battles of the "will". She is now "Daddy's little girl" and knows that he absolutely adores her.

So, having seen the process at work, I was ready to begin the process of bonding with our son when we flew to Atlanta to pick him up. Imagine my surprise when, as early as the second night that we had him, he had bonded with me. I'm not sure if my voice resembles his birthmommy's, or what, but from that night on, only the sound of my voice could soothe him when he was crying out for comfort. Not even an inability to breastfeed him has hampered the bond between us. More often than not, I am the only person he will accept a bottle from, but that's okay I LOVE the snuggle time with him.

Now, I'm not saying that if you're contemplating adoption that bonding will be a piece of cake for you. In fact, I've heard of several stories where bonding with the adopted child was a very long process; honestly, that was what I was expecting to take place. Instead, God chose to bless me with a close bond with Prince Naveen right from the start and he is most definitely a wonderful addition to our family unit!

Faith over Fear

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:26:00 +0000

It may sound odd, but homechooling is one of those areas of my life filled with fear. This may be why I'm Always on the lookout for “the best curriculum”. I research until I go crazy and then drool over expensive curricula we simply cannot aforrd- fearing that our lack of funding will ruin our children's future. I love reading other people's blogs about what they use, how, and when.

After much reflection and soul searching, I've realized that I do all of this from fear (or maybe even terror). ;-) Hero is the proncipal of our little homeschool, but the day-to-day teaching and training falls squarely on my shoulders. I truly enjoy teaching our children and having them home with me, but the weight of responsibility can sometimes be overwheling, to say the least.

The fear strikes hardest when I turn my focus from what I should be doing. It begins with looking to “just see” if there's a way I can improve what I'm doing to teach the kids. Before long, I'm not just “seeing” what others are doing differently, I'm comparing what my children know and can do with their children. This comparison mentality is what leads me into the trap of fear.

Oh, I know that each family is different and that what works for one child doesn't necessarily work for another- with a completely different personality. It's just that my heart doesn't always know what my brain does. This is where my faith must conquer my fear.

I can feel overwhelmed, and lacking in wisdom, finances, patience, resources, etc, but I know that God has called me to homeschool our children. I am fully confident that He knows how I feel; He also knows what circumstances really are, and He can see the bigger picture. Knowing all this, He still blessed our family with the four children we have and called us to homeschool.

Trusting God, His love, and His plan isn't always easy, but it helps me to get out of that trap of fear; sometimes it helps me to avoid the trap altogether. “Faith is the victory!”

I'm back...

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:48:00 +0000

Yeah!! I am able to get into my blog and write! I am now also able to visit the blogs of my friends and ALL of my favorite places again.

I had to switch from Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome. After much researching, I found out that the problem I was having was just a Firefox malfunction. After a few (several, actually) emails to Firefox about this particular problem- and NO response- I made the decision to try something new. ...and it works beautifully.

There is always change in life; some changes are welcomed and even anticipated with much joy, while others are dreaded and feared- greatly! This change in internet service providers was neither... I really don't care either way, I'm just glad to have my “virtual” world back to “normal”. ;)

Before I was so rudely kicked out of my blogging world, our family was headed in the direction of selling the house and getting things ready for Hero to be able to physically attend Seminary. After talking with a Realtor and praying about it, our plans have changed.

Yes, the prayer should have come before the taking down of pictures and packing of boxes. But if we always did the right thing first, we would not be humans in need of Grace and Mercy.

Actually, our biggest reason for wanting to move and attend Seminary has vanished. Hero was terribly unhappy with his job. Since we've been directed to “bloom where we are planted” for now, Hero has jumped into church ministry- with both feet- with our home church and other churches in the area. No, not as a pastor or any paid position, just heading up ministries all over the place.

Hero says he has never felt so fulfilled in his life. He loves being able to work at his job to earn a living and then spend much of his time furthering God's Kingdom. I am excited for him! Though to be completely honest, this new phase in our lives has been a little hard for me to take at times... but that is another post altogether. :)

For now, this is where we are staying- continuing education online, and praising the Lord for working in our lives by slamming doors shut when we shouldn't be going through them.

I figured out how to get back in....

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:55:00 +0000

Yeah!!!! I'm in my blog again! But some of the functions are missing.
For quite a long time now, I've been unable to get to my blogger dashboard or to the posts. The pages would load up, but then get stuck going through "google- analytics.com". I'm still trying to figure out where this problem is coming from.

My short-term solution is to disable JavaScript when I want to get into my blog. Unfortunately, in doing this I've lost many of my posting functions (ie. can't load up pictures).

I just wanted to share with you where I've been and let you know that I'm working on it and will hopefully have a solution soon. :)

In the mean time if anyone knows more about this then I do (that should be just about everyone), please let me know if there is a better more permanent solution to this problem.

Bittersweet

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:37:00 +0000

Steps one and two on the How to sell your house list are to Detach and Depersonalize. I accomplished both at the same time yesterday! :)

Depersonalizing the house simply means to take down all our family photos, family heirlooms, military displays, chore charts, pictures hanging on the fridge, etc. That was bittersweet! We've been in this house for 6 and a half years- that's the longest that I've lived in any one building since getting married!

With everything that I removed from walls, shelves, and appliances, memories came flooding back. I have to admit that I shed a tear or two. It is difficult to say, “Goodbye” to our lives in this house and let go so that someone else can now picture their future here (and desperately want to buy it). ;)

As I sadly look around the house without my kids' beautiful smiles greeting me everywhere, I realize that this is a process. It is difficult to let go, but letting go makes room for excitement about what the future might hold. I'm so thankful that these were the first steps... it actually makes it easier to face the next task on the list: De-cluttering.

De-cluttering, for me, takes focus, stamina, and patience (lots of it!) with the children while I am trying to focus on the task. De-cluttering is not my forte, but I believe in Hero's dream and want to help him- so off to work I go!

Sell the house? Where do I begin?!

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:08:00 +0000

Yesterday I told you how overwhelmed I was now that I have about a month to whip this house into “show shape”. I did a little research (mostly just to hid from all the to- dos swimming around in my head) and I stumbled across How To Prepare Your House For Sale By Elizabeth Weintraub, About.com Guide, it was a very interesting article. So I thought that I might try following some of the advice.

In this article the author suggests that I take the following steps:

1. Disassociate myself from my the house- it's now a commodity, not my home.

2. De- personalize the house- take all family pictures and such down and pack them up

3. De- clutter- (ARGH!) Do what I've avoided doing for that past year and a half, and throw junk out! ;)

4. Re- arrange bedroom closets and kitchen cabinets- I've read elsewhere that I should remove 75% of what's in there and pack it up, throw it away, give it away, or sell it

5. Rent a storage unit- hmm.. how to fit that that into the budget? Adding this to my prayer list

6. Remove/ replace favorite items

7. Make minor repairs- mostly Hero's to do list

8. Make the house sparkle- won't it look so pretty?!!

9. Scrutinize- think like the seller

10. Check Curb appeal- could we just point out our gorgeous view of the River instead???

That's a long list, but definitely doable! I won't be doing everything exactly as suggested, but this gives me and my brain a great starting point! And the best part is that even though my brain is still going crazy with to- dos, I'm no longer feeling overwhelmed and afraid of the task at hand. I'll blog about it as I go along... maybe someone will be able to use some of the tips that I learn along the way at some point.

Baby Teeth and Other Household Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:06:00 +0000

First, you can't wait to see their adorable teeth...

Prince Naveen finally has cut his first tooth!!! I haven't been able to see it yet (he's pretty defensive about his new treasure) but I was able to feel it today. I can't wait to see his new toothy grin!

...then they look so cute without them again! :)

Since we are on the subject of baby teeth, I think that Princess Frances will need to get two of hers pulled out by the dentist (I'm shuddering, just thinking about it!). She has new teeth that grew up behind them, and they aren't even loose yet. Poor thing! I'm already praying for the dentist because my little princess can throw quite the fit about things like this.

“In other news...” :)

Things are changing on the home front! For a while now, I have been praying for Hero; he's been SO discouraged with his job. It's very frustrating to watch him go off to work each day to a job that he really hates anymore. He works with the local mentally ill population, and while he loves working with his clients.... he hates the office politics and the mounds of endless (needless??) paperwork. So, I've been praying; really my heart's desire has been for him to be able to GO to Seminary full-time (he's been studying online thus far). Frankly, it seemed impossible and I've been praying for a miracle.

One of the reasons this desire seemed impossible was that Hero wouldn't even talk about selling our house and leaving our small community. He would completely shut down the conversation as soon as it started. Let me tell you- the nearest Seminary is about an hour and a half drive away. Anyway, I prayed for a miracle and for the wisdom and self- control necessary to not bring up the subject again. If God was going to do a miracle, I was just going to watch- well that was the plan, anyway.

We just celebrated our 12^th anniversary this last weekend and got to spend some much needed time alone(ish)- we still had the baby with us. :) It was very relaxing, and fun to be just the three of us. As we were talking during this time, this desire of mine for Hero to GO to Seminary just sort of spilled out. But Hero was ready to listen- and act! He is ready to move on now and can see that we need to sell the house and leave the area, if we are to accomplish his dream of becoming a full- time military Chaplain.

So the following are steps to his dream:

Step One: Put the house on the market within a month, and pray for a miraculously quick sale, and maybe even enough extra $ to pay off the adoption

Step Two: Apply for Chaplain Candidate program

Step Three: Apply to Seminaries and apply for family housing

Top choices: Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary- in NC Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary- in CA

Step Three: Find part-time job in town of Seminary, preferably a part- time ministry

Step Four: Move into school housing, and finish Seminary(about 2 more years for an MDiv)

Step Five: Finish the equivalent of two years of ministry experience (2 yrs full- time, or 4 yrs part- time)

Step Six: Join military full- time as Chaplain, and receive first assignment (Yeah!!!!)

Through the new GI Bill, Hero can go to school full- time and receive 80% of his housing benefit while going to school. This will enable him to be able to GO to Seminary FULL TIME and only have to work very part- time!!!

Right now, I'm overwhelmed with ALL the work required to put this house on the market... and do it the right way, clutter- free, staged, continuously spotless, etc. With four kids (one of whom is 7 months old and trying to take his first steps), a dog, and 100 degree weather, I'm working my tail off! But it will be worth all the effort, to see the smile on Hero's face when he goes off to school to follow his dream!

Joy Cometh

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:48:00 +0000

Joy Cometh

Though bitterness threatens to overcome,

And now my heart is breaking-

Joy cometh.

I cannot see through the darkness

And fear shadows my Hope,

even so, Joy cometh.

Now I see dimly in a mirror

And can only endure because I KNOW

Joy cometh.

When Love breaks through the darkness

And brokenness heals the scars,

Joy cometh.

Pain will prove its worth,

When my Savior's face I finally see-

Joy cometh.

Inspired by the Bible Study: "Living Beyond Yourself" by Beth Moore

This came from my heart while going through the healing process during My Journey to Healing, and was on my heart to share with you today. God bless you and remember the everlasting JOY will come!

Independence Day Festivities

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:19:00 +0000

Laughter, the Best Medicine

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:35:00 +0000

We were watching a movie together; before the movie was a message/commercial about illegally downloading movies and how wrong it is. The end of the commercial displays this message: Rate I: illegal downloading is inappropriate for all ages.

Prince Charming: "What does rated I mean?'
Prince Valiant: "Illegal downloading is inappropriate for all ages, which means that even mom and dad can't watch that movie."

;)

Seeing the Wonder

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:17:00 +0000

I have been busy keeping up with everyone around here and trying to enjoy the wonderful excitement that an exploring baby has. Prince Naveen examines everything with such determined focus and wonder; the rest of us get so much joy watching him as he learns about this world around him and how is does and does not work. :)

I'm a little jealous of how this Cuttie- pie looks GREAT in ANY color!

Just last night, as he was finishing his bath, I pulled the plug out of the drain; he saw the little whirlpool over the drain and tried to catch it. He was having so much fun until the whirlpool and the water disappeared! He tried to give one final splash in the now empty tub, and looked at me with wonder as he realized the water was gone and had gone down the drain. There went his little fingers, trying to explore down the drain. :)

I had forgotten how NEW this world and everything in it is to a baby. Praise the Lord for reminders of how Creative and Wonderful He is!

Our Memorial Weekend Project

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:49:00 +0000

Here is a video slide-show that Hero put together of his past year in Iraq. He found the making of it to be very therapeutic. So, most of our weekend was spent putting this together, finishing it up, and then figuring out how to publish it, so that we could share it on DVD and I could post it here.(I tried to get it on here yesterday- Memorial Day- but just couldn't figure it out in time) :) Enjoy!

I want to say, "Thank you!" to all of the families who have sacrificed their loved ones to fight for our country and the freedoms that I get to enjoy today. You are in my thoughts and prayers, and I can never thank you enough.

Thank you also to all who were praying for Hero as he was in Iraq!

Planning our first official "Gottcha Day"

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:40:00 +0000

Our adoption attorney has contacted us to let us know that we are getting close to finalizing our adoption of Prince Naveen! :) We were given the option of finalizing everything through the mail, or finalizing at our local courthouse in an official ceremony. Of course, we opted for the ceremony! Now we are just waiting for official word on the date and time....

Hero is planning a big celebration lunch, grilling the salmon and halibut that my Auntie from Alaska brought to us a few months ago- which have just been sitting in my freezer screaming, "Eat me!" I was also thinking of doing something special along the lines of purchasing fabric for a special quilt, cutting it into squares and having everyone who comes to the celebration sign or write a message on the squares with fabric pens. I will put it together sometime before he's 18- hopefully. ;-p

Meeting at the courthouse with family and friends for the official ceremony and a celebration lunch at home afterward, I'm thinking that is probably enough for our first "Gottcha Day" celebration. But, I've been thinking about the years to come. I have heard of many other adoptive families celebrating either the day that the child came home, or the date of the finalization of the adoption; I've never heard (or paid attention to) how they celebrate this special day each year. I don't want it to turn into another day of getting presents- like a birthday. So, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas, or has heard of how other families celebrate the day their child became officially theirs.

Caution: Kids in Training

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:19:00 +0000

The past few days have been nuts! The older kids who are normally so helpful, have not been. For some reason chores are not being done at all, not done properly, or I'm fighting rotten attitudes to get anything done. I'm having trouble reminding myself that the hard work is worth it; they are in Training.

It seems as if when I ask them to help, I end up making twice as much work for myself. (UGH!) For example, I asked Princess Frances to change the baby's diaper; she chose to do it on my bed, and play with the baby-while the dirty diaper was off and before the new one was on.... you can guess what happened! I had just changed the bedding yesterday. Then I went down to the laundry room to find wet clothes on the floor that had somehow not made the very short journey from the washer to the dryer. (Dee-ee-eep breath!) These are just two of the many examples that I could site from the last couple of days.

Proverbs 22:6-" Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Ephesians 6:4- ...bring them (your children) up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

Reminder to self: this is when consistency is tough but vital! Training happens just as much now as when things seem to be going smoothly along, perhaps even more so. I am choosing not to give up and attempt to do it all myself- even though it would be easier for the moment. The long term goal is worth the extra effort for the next few days. :)

So now, I'm off to pray for strength and wisdom, and to oversee the chores and make sure that they are getting re-done the right way.

Update: I'm starting to prep the kids' school work for next week. Check out our main memory verse for the week: Hebrews 12:11- "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." :) God's timing is pretty awesome!

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Just wanted to post my new favorite picture of my littlest blessing....

Gettin' Crafty for Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:05:00 +0000

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, getting to spend time with your moms, kids, and families.

I have been a little "off" lately. It was last Monday before my brain realized that Mother's Day was approaching- fast. Last week was crazy busy: our church had a week long revival, the baby was sick, and there was a last-minute trip to Kooky's (my mom's) house. So, Friday morning dawned before I had a chance to think about Mother's Day gifts.

Hero and I have had sort of a competition this year in coming up with inexpensive, yet meaningful gifts. This holiday counts, and since I'm a little competitive... I had to come up with something that I didn't just go out and buy. So this is what I came up with- tote bags. Not very grand, but they turned out cute, and I was able to make them both in one day. Both Hero's mom, Grammy, and Kooky were thrilled with their bags.

I was thrilled to be able to start and finish a project in a day. It's been far too long since I've been able to find the time to sew and be creative. So, I felt pampered by the time I got up on Sunday.

This Mother's Day was made even more special by the fact that Prince Charming and Princess Frances were baptized during our morning service. I would show pictures, but I forgot my camera, and am waiting for Kooky to email me the pictures she took... hint, hint. :) It was a great weekend!

I should start thinking about Hero's Father's Day, NOW, or it might "sneak up" on me too.

ALWAYS on the move...

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:45:00 +0000

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:18:00 +0000

Ever have one of "those" days?

Catching up

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:12:00 +0000

I sort of fell off the face of the blogging world last month. I have no good excuses; I've just been enjoying all the kids and trying to keep up with the housework and homeschooling.

Prince Naveen is growing so fast! He rolled over just the other day; I don't think he meant to and he was surprised at the change in his perspective, giving me a most bewildered look. I rolled him back over to his tummy and he promptly did it again- confusing himself once again. He has been careful since then NOT to roll over, silly little guy.

The older children are all doing really well and we are making a lot of progress with our schooling recently. The most significant improvement has been in their spelling/ reading. Prince Valiant has always been an avid reader (devouring books faster that I can get them to him), but not a great speller. However our spelling curriculum is really starting to kick in and he is now spelling almost as well as he's reading! Prince Charming and Princess Frances are also doing well with spelling and have finally gotten over whatever hurdles they were facing to start reading. They now love reading- everything... every scrap of paper that comes into the house, every sign and billboard that we pass, etc.

I will soon have to post about the class that Hero taught on Iraq last month as part of our homeschool group's "Tour of the World". I learned a lot during the week before that class, as he had me making "authentic" Iraqi dishes to share with the other families. It was a lot of fun!

Well, I have to go, the baby is awake again and I get to go snuggle him for a while.

Encouragement

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:01:00 +0000

My heart has been heavy lately with the desire to intentionally disciple my children in their relationship with the Lord. I have been praying for wisdom and to be able to see more opportunities to bring them back to the Word and apply God's Truth to different situations in everyday life. I often feel as if I'm just not doing “enough”.

I have been dealing these past couple of months especially with Princess Frances (a lot) in the areas of honesty and submission/respect for authority. In the past week or so I have noticed her really trying to submit and be honest; it's been refreshing! I have also noticed her trying her hand at relating things back to the Bible or comparing certain situations to our walk with the Lord. It's very cute and she's often, well, a little off in her analogies.

As I was quietly laughing to myself about another mixed up analogy the other day, I realized that she has probably picked this up from me. I guess I'm doing more of the intentional discipling than I had thought I was. It is still on my heart to do more, but I'm so thankful to see evidence of the fruit I keep hoping to see in my children's lives.

I felt like it was a “Good job” from God. So often I dwell on how inadequate I feel in this parenting role; I feel God's leading me to learn more, disciple more, trust more, lead more, submit more, etc. It was awesome to feel like, though I have so much more to learn, I am moving in the right direction. Praise the Lord, that He loves me enough to encourage me as well as guide me in His will!

How about you; have you felt encouragement from your Heavenly Father recently? Have you been looking for it, or listening for it? Or like me do you get so caught up in what you must do better at that you miss His special message of love and encouragement meant just for YOU?

God Always Has Our Best in Mind

noreply@blogger.com (LizyBeth) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:52:00 +0000

'Aint he a cutie!!

Prince Naveen has had a very stuffy nose lately. As you can see it doesn't keep him from being a happy baby most of the time. He really only gets fussy if he has to wait for food, or when I try to help his stuffy nose out with infant nose drops. He got very frustrated with me yesterday as I tried to hold him still, put the drops into his little nose, and then use the “bulb- thingy” to suck out some of the gunk. However a few moments later we were all done, and he was able to drift off to sleep, being able to suck on his pacifier and breath at the same time.

Clearing the gunk out of his nose was frustrating for him, but I knew what was best for him-even if he didn't trust me; he slept so peacefully after our little struggle. Watching him sleep and reflecting on the ordeal we'd just had made me stop and think about my heavenly Father. How many times have I struggled and gotten frustrated when God was only trying to clear the gunk out of my life?

That thought made me take a step back and realize that there have been so many times in my life when I have gotten angry and frustrated with God for making me do something or go through something I did not want to go through. Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.) and Romans 8:24 (And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.) come to mind right away as I think about this.

God always has my best interest in mind. He longs to see me resting peacefully in Him. All I need to do is trust that the trials that He allows me to go through are for my own good- to clear all the gunk out of my life.