1886. Charlotte Gleason embarks from England with conflicting emotions. She is headed for New York to marry one of America’s wealthiest heirs – a man she has never even met. When her doubts gain the upper hand, she swaps identities with her maid, Dora. But what begins as the whim of a spoiled rich girl becomes a test of survival beyond her blackest nightmare. For Dora, it’s the chance of a lifetime. She is thrust into a fairy tale amid ball gowns and lavish mansions, yet is tormented by the possibility of discovery – and humiliation. And what of the man who believes she is indeed his intended? Is this what her heart truly longs for?

While I usually enjoy a nice easy-read romance novel, I found that Masquerade by Nancy Moser left me wanting something more.  These two young women switch identities in an attempt to find love and adventure, but their youthful selfish outlook and somewhat shallow personalities made them difficult to like as characters.  Now, over time, they did grow in maturity through the circumstances they encountered and they were open to the direction and work of God in their hearts, yet I wish these areas would have been further explored in the story.  I particularly enjoyed a thread in the story where Charlotte Gleason is exposed to issues of poverty and social justice, and I found myself really being touched by this aspect of her journey, but I think I would have enjoyed it even more if this had been a larger focus, since it added depth and emotional impact.

As for the girls’ romantic endeavors, I think the historical setting makes the development of the relationships difficult to relate to, as courting and marriage were approached so differently in those days.  The important decisions about love and marriage seemed to happen based on emotion and infatuation, more than on God’s leading or on discovering a person’s heart over time.  Again, this is probably largely due to the culture of that era, but it made the romance portion of the story less enjoyable for me.  In the end, I think there were several ideas in this novel that were really good or had a lot of potential to be developed, and I still found the story entertaining to read, but I wouldn’t list it among my favorites.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available now at your favorite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

She has also been teething pretty much all month and has four teeth on the top to show for it!  This has also allowed her to start eating some new foods & loves chomping on rice crackers or a baby carrot or apple slice or french fries.   She often cries while we’re feeding her if we don’t go fast enough or when she’s done her bottle, because she’s so sad it’s over!  Here she is showing off her teeth in her classic under-bite smile.    Oh, and don’t you just love the little curl of hair she has in the  front – so cute!

She loves standing while we hold her hands and it makes her very happy to be standing, which is quite different from Justice, who would just go limp if we tried to hold his hands and have him stand or walk.  She’s also trying to crawl and will desperately try to move forwards toward a toy or something, but inevitably ends up pushing herself backwards into a corner.    However, she can scootch quite a distance acoss the floor while sitting on her bum!

Video – Bouncing

She’s responding to her name and laughing more and has added “mamamama” and “baba” to her extensive vocabulary of “dada”, “gaga” and “yaya”.    The videos below the pictures show her growling noises that she sometimes makes while eating that just crack me up (skip to about 0:35), as well as some funny noises she was making one day during her bath.

Video – Growly Eater

Video – Noisy Bather

She’s sleeping unswaddled on her stomach at night, but I’ve still been swaddling her for her naps, just because it seems to help her sleep better and longer.  She’s also learning how to open drawers and cupboard doors, except that most of them are already babyproofed, much to her frustration.

She loves sitting and playing in the water at the splash park and we’ve really been enjoying going there as a family once or twice a week!

Lastly, I’ve really been noticing several differences this month between Rayah and Justice as her unique personality is really becoming apparent.  She is more serious, more sensitive, more delicate, and more of a mama’s girl (“plays strange” with a lot of people and doesn’t like it if mommy leaves the room) while Justice is always laughing, is tough as nails most times, and loves people!  She’s also really funny – making Justice and Joe and I laugh a lot, determined, curious, and simply beautiful.

“All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise of your harps…
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’”
Isaiah 14:11, 13-14

“…You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you…
Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor…”
Ezekiel 28:12, 15, 17

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”
Exodus 20:4-5

The scripture tells us that Satan was a guardian cherub, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty who walked amongst the fiery stones on the holy mount of God and who played musical instruments, perhaps leading worship in heaven.  But somewhere along the way, he became corrupted in his heart because he allowed pride to seep in and cause him to consider his own beauty and splendor to be equal to or even greater than that of God.  In his heart he aspired to ascend God’s holy mountain and take over God’s throne so that he might receive worship for himself.  Somewhere along the way, he began to believe that his wisdom and beauty were of his own making and that he was deserving of the worship of heaven, forgetting that it was God who created him and gave him that beauty to begin with.

Many of us are familiar with that story and we might think ourselves wiser and above falling for the same deception, yet I’m afraid that the desire to receive worship is a common iniquity within us all.  As fallen, sinful humans, there is a part of our flesh that longs for others to recognize our beauty, our talents, our abilities, our riches, our admirable qualities, our power, etc. etc.  In fact, humans receive worship from each other all the time – politicians, musicians, athletes, celebrities, wealthy business people – and secretly, we love it.  We love to be admired, adored, praised and told by others how wonderful we are!  Now, I’m not talking about the healthy desire for words of affirmation and love from those who care about us – I’m talking about the deep, hidden desire that we wish wasn’t there that longs to be worshiped.

The Holy Spirit constantly has to remind me of this trap of the enemy, as it is so easy to get caught up in this, especially when you are involved in any kind of leadership role where people are looking up to you.  I don’t know about others, but I’m guessing that this isn’t uncommon even for worship leaders, musicians and singers whose sole purpose is to lead people to worship God.  Now, I believe that even deeper, there is the sincere and completely pure desire to have all worship go only to God and that He sees that desire more than He sees our weakness and sinfulness, so I hope I’m not communicating any sort of judgment or shame!  I know that God sees my true longings to praise and adore Him, but I also know that He is absolutely not willing to share any of His worship with me or any other person, and that He loves me so much, that He will do anything to rid my heart of these idolatrous roots!

Lastly, something I’ve been thinking about is that one of the attributes of God that makes Him God is that He alone is the only One worthy of worship or praise.  Like I already said, He will share His worship with no one – not an angel, not an animal, not the sun or moon or stars, not a demon, not any created thing in the universe, and certainly not any human!!  For Him to allow anything or anyone other than Himself to receive worship would mean that He would cease to be God, because then He would be saying that this thing or person is equal to or greater than Himself. 

However, there is one amazing exception to this, in that part of His perfect plan to redeem humankind involved sending His One and Only Son, His equal in every way, to become a man forever, and He set it up that Jesus will one day receive the worship and praise of every man, woman and child, every angel and demon and living creature, and they will all confess that Jesus is Lord!!!  Jesus is the ONLY man who is and will ever be worthy of receiving worship, because though He is now fully a man, He is also still fully God!  Through God’s sovereign and supernatural workings, He made it possible for a man to receive worship, while not relinquishing any of His own Divinity. since He chose to express His very own nature and form in Jesus, making what was once invisible now visible to mankind!  It’s sort of hard to wrap your mind around, but it’s pretty awesome!

In the end, I am so grateful that it is Jesus who will receive all the worship of all creation and that nobody and no thing will be able to any longer take any worship for themselves…including myself.

Back in Calgary a few months later and we found ourselves at a fork in the road with several different options before us.  Joe had been offered a really great job opportunity that would require us to move to a different city.  We were also being asked to help head up the leadership of a ministry by a great couple who had mentored us in prayer and intercession.  And then I think it was me who decided to throw in the monkey wrench of proposing that we move to Winnipeg to be a part of this new budding house of prayer.  The thought of it was scary and crazy, but so tempting!  Yet these other options were also really great and we were having a really hard time deciding which path to take?  Finally, we felt the Lord say that it was our choice and that He would bless us no matter which one we chose.  In the end, we had to follow the desire of our hearts to be in a place where the main focus was simply to minister to the Lord in worship and prayer – we could think of nothing better!

After taking a trip that summer to visit Sanctuary House of Prayer and meet all the awesome people who were a part of it, our decision was final and in September 2006 we picked up and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to join them!  I vividly remember the first time I attended and sat down in the back row by myself (Joe was still in Calgary and would be coming in a couple weeks) and as I opened my Bible and journal, with the prophetic worship happening on stage, I broke down in tears, I was so happy to be there!  It didn’t matter that it was small, that the sound system was terrible, that the musicians and singers were amateurs, that there was no air conditioning – these people loved Jesus, the presence of the Holy Spirit was there, and I felt His delight over it all.  Something in my heart came alive and I knew we were where we were supposed to be.

Fast forward nearly 4 years and I don’t think any of us expected that we would still be in that small building with bad sound and no air conditioning – ha!  I think we’ve grown as musicians and singers over the years, but the most important thing is still that it’s all about Jesus, His presence, and ministering to Him.  Joe and I have had the privilege of hosting hundreds of prayer meetings in our own home as well, which has been an incredible blessing to us and our family.  There have been many challenges and trials, growing experiences, joyful and fun times, intense encounters with God, tears, laughter, and hours of prayer and worship that have brought us to a new season at our little house of prayer.  As of September, exactly 4 years since Joe and I moved here, we will no longer be able to use the building that has been graciously provided to us by the church who owns it.  We have longed and yearned and searched and prayed for a building of our own probably ever since we began, but the time has come where our prayers are now being lifted up in earnest, as we need a place of our own more than ever!

I wanted to share a little bit about our journey and how we came to Sanctuary House of Prayer because I wanted to give you a glimpse into why we love this place and why we are passionate about seeing this ministry unto God continue in our city.  Not only do we want to be able to continue to gather to worship and intercede on behalf of Winnipeg as we have been up until now, but we long to be able to one day do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Jesus said that He would return to the earth to bring justice in response to day and night prayer, so that is what we want to do!  Not only because we desire to see justice and righteousness established on the earth, but simply because He is worthy and deserving of non-stop, continuous worship and adoration!  In heaven, there is ceaseless worship around the throne of God, and Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “on earth as it is in heaven”, so we would love to see this happen here and now.

Recently we held an assembly where we gathered for a focused time of worship and prayer and brought in a guest speaker and worship leader, Justin Rizzo, from IHOP.  While he was here, he shared many things that really encouraged us in what we’re doing, but one thing that really struck home was a prophetic word he gave us where he shared about a vision that he had seen of a whirlwind of God’s presence that was in the place where we currently meet.  Similar to the cloud and pillar of fire that was with the Israelites in Exodus and which led them through the desert, Justin shared with us that he felt we would move when the whirlwind moved – as God’s presence leads us, that is how we will know where to go – it won’t be us moving and hoping He follows us! So, this is the place we find ourselves – needing to trust in God’s perfect leadership and that He will truly lead us to where He wants us to go.  He is not surprised by these events and He knows exactly what He’s doing!  He is the One who is building His house of prayer in this city and He wants it even more than we do!

So, for anyone who reads this blog, in the weeks ahead, I would like to ask you to partner with us as we pray and seek God for a home for Sanctuary House of Prayer…

1.  PRAY!  Please pray for a building for us, that we will find the right one, that the Lord will provide the resources needed, and that we will follow His leadership throughout the process.

2.  SHARE!  Tell your friends and your friends’ friends, your relatives and your relatives’ relatives, your co-workers, your neighbors – anyone and everyone!  You never know where there might be a connection that could help us find our new home!

3.  HELP!  If you see or know of a suitable building for sale – tell us, if you have millions of dollars you want to get rid of – by all means do share, if you have or know of a space for rent or lease or free – we’ll take a look at that too!  Any lead or donation or anything would be super helpful to us at this stage in our journey.

While we do not know exactly how the future will unfold, we are excited for whatever God has in store and to see how He is going to write the next chapter in our story.  Thanks for reading and for joining with us in this adventure!

Before I met my husband Joe, I knew nothing about the International House of Prayer (IHOP) and was simply enjoying life in Calgary, Alberta where I had been living for over four years.  I loved Jesus, was going to school for Computer Programming, volunteered part-time at my church, and figured I would probably stay there forever?  Then my life got turned upside down when this handsome, tall, charming man entered my life and swept me off my feet with poetic, romantic words from the Song of Songs, wooing my heart with words about my Bridegroom Jesus that I never thought I’d hear coming from any man!  To find someone who was this in love with Jesus felt like a direct answer to my prayers and it wasn’t long before I was head over heels in love.

During our dating months, I began to learn that Joe had learned all this wonderful language about Jesus as our Bridegroom from teachings he had listened to by Mike Bickle at IHOP and my first personal experience came when he bought me Mike Bickle’s 20 session series on the Song of Songs.  From then on, I was hooked, and soon began to learn all about intercession, harp and bowl worship & prayer, the End-Times, the Bridal Paradigm, and more.  Joe and I both knew that this was something we wanted to be a part of!

After we got married, we seriously considered moving to Kansas City so that Joe could do an internship at IHOP, but we felt like the Lord told us to stay put.  We then got involved at our church in a leadership role for the prayer ministry of the young adult service and we started to implement anything and everything we could from IHOP’s harp and bowl worship and prayer model.  We loved it and were experiencing some really enjoyable times of prayer!  But we longed for more…

In January of 2006, as I was reading the blog of an old friend from highschool (Kristi), I discovered that her husband(Shane) was going to become a full-time intercessory missionary as they launched Sanctuary House of Prayer back in Winnipeg, Manitoba!  Joe and I were so excited just to hear about another young, married couple with the same desires and passions and that there was going to be a house of prayer in Canada!  We had not heard of anyone else doing anything like this in Canada and were simply happy for them.  As we made plans to visit my family for my dad’s birthday that March, we knew we just had to get together for coffee with Shane & Kristi to chat with them about their new endeavor.  When we met up at Cora’s for brunch, we immediately connected and felt like there was finally someone speaking our language!  They encouraged us in what we were doing back at our church and we encouraged them in what they were doing and we left that coffee date not thinking much of it.

To be continued…

(You can read Part 2 here)

¹³ During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁶ So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. ¹⁷ “Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it.  Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.  2 Samuel 23:13-17

A few days ago, the Lord spoke to me through this story and began to stir some things up in my heart.  In this story, we read about King David, who had among his armies 30 mighty men, 3 of whom were the greatest of his warriors.  David, in a moment of weariness and longing, expresses his deep thirst.  As a King, he could have commanded, demanded, and forced any of his soldiers to do his bidding and fetch him what he desired.  Yet, all he did was sigh and wish aloud, perhaps not even thinking anyone was listening or expecting that anyone would respond. 

His request for a drink of water wasn’t as simple as it sounds – in fact, it was rather absurd and unreasonable!  He didn’t just want any drink of water – he wanted it from a special well near the gate of Bethlehem – perhaps a place where he had received a refreshing drink at another time when life was simpler and more peaceful.  Instead, he was now in a time of war and struggle with his enemies and this well was behind enemy lines.  It would be no easy task to retrieve this drink!

Yet, I have a feeling that these three mighty men loved David a great deal, and cared for their King and Commander.  I imagine that when they heard that he longed for this drink, all they wanted to do was to be able to fulfill his desire and answer his request to bring him the thing that would give him pleasure.  While they may have considered the cost it would require of them – their time, effort, even their lives - they wouldn’t let that keep them from immediately responding, without hesitation to his smallest wish. 

This is something that I long for in my life, that I would have that same love for my King and Commander, Jesus Christ.  I want to be one who leaps to answer the simplest or most seemingly impossibly large request that comes from His lips.  I want to be one who would do anything, go anywhere, give everything for the sake of bringing Him pleasure and responding to any desire of His heart.  I want to answer His request, without hesitation, no matter the cost to my time, my energy, my reputation, my bank account, or even my life. 

But the story doesn’t end there.  After the three mighty men retrieve this precious drink of water, risking their lives for it, David cannot even receive it from them and pours it out as an offering to God!  I don’t know what they were thinking in that moment – if they were in disbelief, shock, or anger – when it appeared that all of their effort was wasted and for nothing!  Yet, I have a feeling that when the Lord asks me to do something, at times it may very well appear to be just that.  What if He asks me to pray for a sick person and they don’t get better?  What if he asks me to give money to somebody who then squanders it?  What if he asks me to forgive someone who doesn’t appreciate it?  What if he asks me to open my home to someone, only to have them steal from me or take advantage of me?  What if he asks me to open my heart to someone, only to have them hurt me?  Is it all a waste??  Is it all for nothing???

I don’t think so, but even if it is, I still want to say “yes” to this Man, simply because I love Him.  Simply because He’s beautiful and wonderful and deserving of it.  Simply because He’s my King.  He’s worthy of wasting my life on Him!

I wish I was there, but I am so far from it!  Lord, help me to be like David’s mighty men!  Help me to be like the woman of valor that You are looking for! 

What about you?  Have you heard Him whisper a request lately?  Have you heard Him express His longings?  What will your response be?

1.  Big Boy Bed. Shortly after he turned 2, Justice officially transitioned from his crib to his big boy bed!  He loves his sports bedding, jumping on his bed, climbing on his bed, rolling around on his bed, etc.  He also LOVES snuggling and every nap and night he asks, “Snuggle with mommy/daddy?”  It’s very sweet.

2.  Terrible Twos?  He started throwing some pretty epic tantrums, falling to the floor, yelling, crying, etc., but thankfully these did not occur too often in public.  Mostly it was at home, happening in respones to any occassion where he did not get his way.   He also learned the joy of saying, “NO!” repeatedly and began to hit, kick, swat, bite, and headbutt!  While it drove me a little batty for a couple months, with some consistent and firm discipline, along with much prayer and supplication, things have improved dramatically and he is learning to be much more obedient.  I think our biggest struggle at this time is getting him to come to us when we call him – all he ever does is run away from us!

3.  Singing Songs.  Justice has developed a real love for songs and will often request his favorites, one of which is “Happy Birthday”, ever since his birthday party.   He also loves the ”Bob the Builder” song, “Jesus Loves Me”, “Jesus Loves the Little Children”, “Father Abraham”, “Jesus is Alive”, etc.  I love listening to him try to sing songs on his own and how he loves listening to the worship music from the prayer room!  In addition to singing, Justice also loves instruments – whether it’s Daddy’s guitar, Mommy’s piano, or anything that you can hit with a stick and it’ll make a noise.

 
(Video of Justice playing drums)

4.  Dancing!  Justice has developed quite the unique dancing skills!  His signature move is jumping up and down while pointing up to the ceiling with his hands, alternating between the left and right, while throwing in the occassional hip twist motion – it’s quite entertaining and tiring to watch!   He loves to dance whenever he hears music or even just a good beat.  He has endless amounts of energy and has dubbed his signature move the “hotdog dance” after the one he watches on Mickey Mouse Playhouse.

(Video of Justice dancing)

5.  Running!  “RUN!  CHASE!!  GET YOU!!!”  These are the repeated commands we hear shouted with much enthusiasm multiple times every day!  Usually this is followed by the name of whoever he wants to chase him, such as “RUN!!  MOMMY!!  RUN!!  DADDY!!  RUN!!  RAYAH!!”  His favorite is when Rayah “chases” him, as we hold in our arms and run after him.   He could run all day long and nothing makes him happier than to have somebody run after him.  But it’s really only fun if we also catch him.  If he finds he’s been running too long, he’ll stop so we can catch him and inevitably tickle him like crazy!

6.  “TRUCKS!!! MOTORBIKES!!! ECHOVATORS!!!”  Justice has an obsessive passion for pretty much any type of motor vehicle of any kind and loves to yell them out very enthusiastically every time he sees them.  It makes for very interesting drives as he has to point out each one – and he knows them all!    Truck, big rig, echovator (excavator), backhoe loader, tractor, car, motorbike, bike, combine, skidsteer, cement mixer, dump truck, ambulance, fire truck, garbage truck, etc. etc.  He loves it when we go driving by construction sites and also had a great time visiting a local fire station with his Uncle who is a volunteer fireman!  (Click on the photo to see the full-size version & his great expression!)

7.  Escape Artist.  Justice has escaped the house on several occassions – one time we found him on the neighbor’s yard barefoot in his pajamas.  Another time he ran outside naked after his bath!  Another time he was in his pajamas and has the foresight to put on his rubber boots to go out in the rain.   We have had to be much more diligent about locking our main entrance doors and making sure the fence gate is always closed!

8.  Mud & Water.  Justice loves playing with dirt, water, and consquently mud!  He’s eaten his share of mud pies already this spring and will often get completely drenched after playing with his water table.  For his love of water though, he doesn’t seem to enjoy being wet, as he will then come inside and tell me, “Too wet! Very wet! Change?” 

9.  Big Brother.  Justice is learning to be a very good big brother!   He loves it when he can make her smile or laugh and one time, he said to her, “C’mere Rayah!” while stretching out his arms to her.  So I sat him down and put Rayah in his lap so he could hold her, and then he said, “Back and forth, love you forever” from the popular children’s book by Robert Munsch where the mother rocks her baby “back and forth” and sings the song I’ll Love You Forever.  It was so sweet!  He will often bring her toys to play with, which can be very helpful!  Unfortunately, in the pictures below, he also decided to share his muddy shovel with her.

10.  Athletic!  Justice not only loves running and dancing, but he loves anything athletic!  He has learned how to do somersaults, likes to buck like a horse, loves to kick and throw any type of ball, can do a one-handed dunk with his little basketball into the hoop, loves to climb anything and everything, and basically keeps us on our toes at all times!

11.  Funny!  With his extensive vocabulary that just keeps growing and growing, he is often saying funny things that make us laugh.  Most of his sayings probably come from books we read him, movies he watches, or things he hears us saying, but they sound so comical coming from him.   Like the time he put the phone to his ear and said, “Very interesting!  Are you kidding?” or the time he randomly said, “Sky falling! Holy smokes! So smart!” or my personal favorite, when he said, “Don’t hit JESUS!” while swatting vigorously at the air!    He often asks, “What happened? What’s the matter?  Why you do dat?  Where’s ____ (Daddy, Rayah, Gramma, Grandpa, etc.)?  Sound like fun?  Go for ride in the van?  Try some?  Pwwwwweeeeese?”  Some of his other favorite sayings are, “Sure!  Oh my goodness!  Yes I can!  Apologize!  Oh jeepers!  I think so!  Woohoo!”  And lastly, since we are often having to tell him to stop hitting, or stop whining, or stop kicking or whatever, he has taken to telling others what he wants them to stop doing, like to Rayah, “Stop crying!” or to the birds, “Stop chirping!  Stop flying!” – hahaha!

12.  Potty Training!  We have been in the throes of potty training for the past two weeks, and while there have been times of utter frustration, we seem to be making great progress and I am very proud of him!  I will probably write an entire post about our potty training adventures, but so far I think it’s going really good and we’ve had several accident-free days!

What else can I say other than “I love this kid!”

Eating/Drinking – Rayah is eating a good variety of solid foods and has liked everything I’ve given her so far.   Also, as of June 8th, she is officially weaned from breastfeeding and loves drinking her bottles of formula.  She looks so cute holding it all by herself!  She has eaten some rice cracker by herself too. Along with be weaned, I cut out all night-time feedings – hooray!

Health – in May she got a bad yeast infection on her bum that just didn’t want to go away, so that was a bit of a battle and meant that we needed to used disposable diapers so that we could use cream on her bum.  Since then, we haven’t gone back to her cloth diapers and probably won’t go back.  The same thing happened with Justice and once you switch to disposable diapers, it’s hard to be motivated to do cloth again.   It seems like she’s also been teething for 3 months straight with nothing to show for it, but FINALLY it looks like another tooth is about to break through any day now on the top!  Also, I’m not sure how much she weighs – I need to go find out – but she is a big, fat, cute, heavy, chubby muffin! 

Firsts – Rayah went swimming and swinging for the first time!  She looks so adorable in her little pink tankini.  

She visited Auntie Nicole’s house for the first time.  She had her first nights away from mommy & daddy so that we could attend a conference that our house of prayer put on.  She did good with Grandma, but unfortunately she decided to play strange with Grandpa and would just wail and cry whenever he tried to hold her!    She also got a bumbo chair, which she has mixed feelings about, but which is super handy!

Sleeping – Rayah now goes to bed at 7:30pm and sleeps until 6:30am, which is soooo wonderful!  Her napping has fluctuated in consistency, but she has been doing really good lately.  We cut out her evening nap, so now she only has 2 naps every day at 9am and 1pm and she usually naps from 1 1/2 – 2 hours, sometimes more.  She definitely sleeps much better than Justice did and most of the time I can just swaddle her and lay her down and she falls asleep on her own, which Justice never did until MUCH later!  She has rolled onto her stomach in the night while still in her swaddle, which she hasn’t been too happy about, but has then eventually fallen asleep again.  I tried to put her to sleep unswaddled for her naps, which she was okay with one day, but then raged at me when I tried it again the next day, so I will keep on swaddling her for a bit longer.

Development – Rayah has mastered sitting on her own, which has also made life much easier!  It’s so great to be able to sit her down with some toys around her and have her sit and play contentedly.  I love watching her play with her toys and discover new things! 

She has also laughed a couple times with a new chuckle at something Justice has done that she thought was funny.  She tends to be more serious than Justice and it takes more to get her to laugh, so I’m always trying to pay attention to what she finds amusing – mostly she just likes getting tickled!   She likes to clap her feet together and can stand on her own for a short time while holding onto a couch. 

She has played strange with a few more people, but not everybody, so I’m not sure why she picks certain people that she doesn’t like.  She is definitely a mama’s girl and hates it when I leave her sight and will wail and cry – sigh – this is something I never really had to deal with with Justice, since he always loved all people.   Lastly, in addition to gurgling and blowing spit bubbles, she has a vast vocabulary consisting of “dada, yaya, gaga”!

Other – We had our dedication service for Rayah where we took time to dedicate her to the Lord and have friends and family bless and pray over her, for her future and destiny, and for us as her parents, that He would give us everything we need to raise her well, for His glory!

I apologize for the lack of writing on this blog – my mind and time has been rather consumed as of late with the many different events and projects going on at the moment.

1.  My sister-in-law came for a visit!  In May, Angie and I planned to surprise my husband Joe and it went off without a hitch – he had no idea!  It was so great to have her out from B.C. and spend time with her – the kids loved having her around too! 

2.  My little sister gave birth to twins on June 8th!!  I am so excited to be an Auntie to these precious little babies – my nephew Mason Carter and my neice Ainsley Sage.  I just wish they lived next door instead of a 45 minute drive away so that I could go squish them whenever I wanted!

3.  My little brother is getting married!!  In February, my brother finally proposed to his long-time girlfriend, who has felt like she was a part of our family for a long time already and they are getting married on August 21st.  We are all very excited for them and looking forward to the wedding.  It’s a busy time for our family with many bridal and baby showers happening all at the same time!

4.  I’m trying to live a healthier lifestyle.  Myself and a few friends have started our own little fitness club, for lack of a better term, where we are trying to implement healthier choices in the way we eat, move, and think.  We are going to try to add one new healthy habit in each of those three categories each month and keep each other accountable.  This month we are working on eating more fruits & vegetables, stretching, and having gratitude.  In addition to these, I’m trying to drink more water and go for walks more often.  I bought a pedometer to track my steps and have set a goal of 10,000 steps per day, but I’ve only reached it once in the last 2 weeks – ha!  Overall though, I am feeling good about the small changes I’m making and setting my sights on long term results that last throughout my life.

5.  We’re thinking about building a house!   When we bought the house we are currently living in, it came with a double-wide lot, so we’ve had this big empty patch of grass next to us that’s just been begging to be developed for some useful purpose.  We have agonized over what to do with this lot and have wanted to be wise with how we use this resource that God has blessed us with.  We are looking into what it would take to subdivide our property into two separate lots so that we could potentially build a house and seeing if we can afford what it would cost to go through with such a big project!  I’ve been making many phone calls and emails, doing research on the internet, and drawing up potential plans.  I waver between excitement and dread and we are just praying for God to lead us perfectly in all the decisions regarding this possible endeavor.  If we were to go through with it, the plan would be to move into the new house and rent out our current house.

6.  We’re thinking about adoption!  I’ve been on a personal journey with discovering the heart of God for the orphan over the last couple of years and we find ourselves being drawn more to the possibility of adopting ourselves.  While the reality of this dream may in actuality be years down the road yet, it is something that is continually stirring in my heart and something that we are slowly working towards.  It is difficult to trust God with the timing of this, as well as the how and where and who and all the other questions that inevitably come with such a life-changing decision.  In the mean-time, I am sowing “adoption seeds” by giving to other people’s adoptions and sponsoring children and doing whatever the Lord leads us to do for the cause of the orphan across the earth. 

7.  We’re playing outside and don’t have as much time for blogging.   With summer upon us, Justice could spend all day, every day outside!  He’s constantly begging to go play in the “back yard”, on the slide, or go for a walk in the stroller.  We discovered a new park nearby too, so we’ve been enjoying going there and watching Justice learn new things on the play structure.  Rayah simply loves the swing and kicking her legs!