My little boy is now 3 months old! The last time I weighed him, he was at 12 lb. 11 oz. and he’s looking less and less like a newborn.

This month seems to have flown by. We continued to have gas and breastfeeding problems, as well as napping struggles, but then this last week there appears to have been a turn-around for the better. Eden has started having some longer naps, which is a huge blessing, and he seems to be happier and more content – hopefully this upward trend continues! He has also started to self-soothe a little by discovering the joy of sucking on his fingers/fist, which is helpful for when he loses his soother.

He continues to sleep really great at night and takes a bottle once a week so Joe and I can go on a date! He usually eats every 3 hours, but is starting to do some longer stretches, sometimes more around 4 hours between feedings. He can now also handle being awake for longer periods of time and has started to show interest in toys, grabbing onto them or swatting at them. He did also have his first time in the Jumperoo and the Bumbo Chair – the jury is still out though on how he feels about them. Another adventure was going on his first bus ride – though he was asleep in the baby carrier the whole time.

I still live for Eden’s smiles – he definitely loves face-to-face time and his face just lights up when you give him your undivided attention and connect with him. He has an adorable, little dimple in his right cheek and his smile shines through his eyes as he makes amazing eye contact. You really just can’t help but beam back at him! It has actually spoken to me a lot about how the Lord loves each glance of our eyes and how the simplest look and smile at Him brings such joy to His heart. Eden can’t talk to me, can’t give me anything, can’t really do much of anything for me, but all he has to do is look at me and I feel so loved! This encourages me that I can do the same for my Father’s heart with even the smallest glance of love in His direction.

Happy 3 Months Eden!

Congratulations to Barbie!!

Please send me your mailing information so I can send the book out to you. I hope your friend is incredibly blessed and refreshed by it!

However, since I already received a copy of the book for my review, I would love to give away the additional copy I received for one of my blog readers! To win, simply leave a comment telling me about a woman in your life who you believe is “Already Amazing” and why you think so. Then maybe check out some of the gift items by DaySpring too – they’re beautiful and would make a great Mother’s Day gift or just bless a woman that you love and think is amazing!

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm Central Time on Saturday, May 12th. This giveaway is open to Canadian and American shipping addresses.

1 Peter 2:4-10

I am the Living Stone, the Chief Cornerstone upon which my Church is built. I am a sure, steadfast, immovable foundation for you to build your life upon. If you put your trust in me, you will by no means be put to shame.

Though I was rejected by men and by my chosen people, and though it grieved my heart deeply, it did not shake my confidence, for I was chosen by my Father who delights in me and who declares my worth as precious and elect. And I know that to you, my Beloved, I am precious to your heart. I feel your love and how you treasure me and hold me dear, and I too have chosen you to be my own special people, my treasured possession.

Unfortunately, for those who are disobedient and who choose to reject me, to them I am a stumbling block and a rock of offense. They don’t understand me or my words, because they refuse to accept them as truth and to see that my words are life. They want their own path and I become an obstacle in their way to getting what they want, so they allow offense to grow in their hearts and they miss out on the blessings of my word, to which they also were appointed.

I long for these ones to know my Father and to know me. I yearn for them to understand my value and that I am inviting them to come to me and accept me as their Living Stone. Pray for these ones that I love, that they would not stumble at me, but accept me and become living stones with the rest of my people, to be built up a spiritual house where I can come and dwell.

For I long to dwell in the midst of my people! I am the Master Builder who is building you up to be my living temple and a holy priesthood unto God. I have called you to minister and offer spiritual sacrifices to my Father as priests before Him, for He is worthy of your worship and He is seeking worshipers who will worship in spirit and in truth. I have chosen you and am making you a holy people of many nations, tribes and tongues, to become one body, my special Bride, who will declare my praises in my sanctuary and gaze upon my beauty.

I also desire for you to declare my praises to those who are still lost. Would you tell them? Tell them how I rescued you from darkness and brought you into my light! Tell them how much I love them! Tell them about the wonders of my Father. Tell them of my beauty. Tell them how I redeemed you and made you my own, when you were once my enemy. Tell them how I extended mercy and grace and my tender lovingkindness even when you didn’t deserve it. Sing my praises and proclaim who I am, that they may not stumble, but may come to me and receive life.

** This post was influenced by the following scriptures: John 4:23; Revelation 7:9-10 **

As a mother, one of my primary purposes is to teach my children about Jesus and to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). I feel strongly that it is my calling to lead my children into the revelation of who Jesus is, how He feels about them, how He taught us to live, and to prepare them as best as I know how for His return to the earth. I also happen to believe that being part of a house of prayer is one of the best places to do this , although it’s more about a paradigm of living than about a location or type of spiritual gathering.

One of the reasons I love being part of a house of prayer is because the primary reason it exists is to minister to the Lord. This teaches my children about the ultimate value of worshiping God, adoring Jesus, simply being before Him and gazing on His beauty (Psalm 27:4), and that He is absolutely deserving and worthy of this kind of wholehearted, abandoned, affectionate love and worship from His people.

There are many other things I love about the prayer and worship and missions movement that is growing across the earth, which I hope to write more about, but for this post I want to focus on raising our children to be before the Lord. A mother we can learn from in the Bible is Hannah, who prayed and interceded earnestly for a son, that she might return Him to the Lord. When God answers the cry of her heart, she is faithful to fulfill her promise and brings her son Samuel, only a toddler, to the temple.

It says that Samuel “ministered before the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:11, 18) as a priest in the temple and that he “grew up in the presence of the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:21). In a day when “the word of the Lord was rare“, God knew that this young boy was one He could trust to release His words to and to whom He wanted to reveal Himself (1 Samuel 3:19-21) and He raised Samuel up to be a prophet to the nation who would anoint King David, who would in turn establish a place of unceasing worship and ministry to the Lord with hundreds of singers and musicians (1 Chronicles 15 & 16). This is what I desire for my children – that they would learn how to minister to the heart of Jesus, that they would grow up in His presence, and that they would hear and proclaim the word of the Lord as prophetic messengers who will prepare others to be ready for Jesus’ return.

A couple of weeks ago, we were driving to our house of prayer with our family and I saw a vehicle with the slogan, “Heroes in Training” on the back. It was for a company that provides first aid and CPR training. I began to wonder, what would my slogan be, as a mother? The phrase, “Priests in Training” popped into my head and I joked with my husband that we should have it put on the back of our van. Though a little cheesy, it’s actually true! We are all priests in training, for we are a “royal priesthood” and this is a crucial part of our identity, for it is what we will be doing for all of eternity – ministering to God, for He is worthy of it! This doesn’t mean offering animal sacrifices or hearing confessions of sin from people or wearing long robes – it’s simply about standing before God, in love and worship.

1 Peter 2:5, 9 …you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

So, moms, dads, if you minister to or simply love kids – what wisdom do you have to offer? What ideas do you have for setting your children before the Lord? How are you teaching your children to pray and worship and minister to God? I’m struggling to discover this for myself and often failing in my attempts, so I’d love to hear from you, while also sharing anything that I’ve found to be helpful or that the Lord has taught me. I know the desire that the Lord has placed upon my heart, but I’m also very aware of my weaknesses and am praying for the Holy Spirit to give me insight into how to accomplish this!

Well, not surprisingly, this post is a few days late, but last Thursday Eden turned 2 months old! He seems to have grown so much already and though I haven’t weighed him, I can tell he’s packing on the pounds! A couple firsts this month are his first bottle and his first time at home with the babysitter so mommy and daddy could have a date baby-free! He also had his first visit and overnight stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and his first trip to the park this spring.

The kids have been adapting better this month and we seem to have gotten through the initial transition with fewer emotional outbursts and general feelings of love and affection for Eden all around. Both of the kids love to hold him, though Justice can still only sit still long enough to hold him for a few seconds before he’s ready to take off again, while Rayah would be content to hold him for a long time!

The nights have been thankfully going really well and Eden usually goes to bed around 9 pm and has a feeding sometime between 2 and 4 am and then again between 6 and 8 am when the rest of the family is getting up for the day – so I can’t complain. Even so, my eyelids seem to always feel heavy and I feel like I could just sleep for days if I had the opportunity!

Sadly, Eden’s gas pain issues have continued, along with some other breastfeeding problems, which has made for a difficult month, but things seem to be improving slightly as we have tried a few different things that seem to be helping. I also took him to our chiropractor who noted that on one side of his skull, the plates were not separating properly, so with some adjustments and some home exercises to help make the plates move, it appears to have made him happier, since I’m sure that was putting stress and pressure on his brain and neck.

However, with all of the tears lately (his and mine), my saving grace has been the incredible, beautiful smiles that Eden has been giving me! I live for those moments when he locks his gaze with mine and flashes his sweet grin – it melts my heart and then he gives me wet kisses and we are friends again. My other saving grace has been that the Lord has been so kind lately, giving me wonderful touches upon my heart, sweet gifts of joy and feeling the presence of His Holy Spirit – for this I am soooo grateful!!

Happy 2 months Eden – I love you!!

With this heart-to-heart message, Holley Gerth invites you to embrace one very important truth–that you truly are already amazing. Like a trusted friend, Holley gently shows you how to forget the lies and expectations the world feeds you and instead believe that God loves you and has bigger plans for your life than you’ve even imagined

This book contained many Biblical truths that I was probably already aware of or knew intellectually, but which still have not made their way into my heart and which I continually need greater revelation of. There were many great reminders of who I am in Christ and that I don’t need to believe the lies of the enemy or of the world around me any more! Specifically, the most common lie that “I am not enough.” As women, this is something that I think we all struggle with in the various areas of our lives, whether we believe we’re not a good enough daughter, friend, wife, mother, employee, Christian, etc.

In addition to speaking the truth about who we really are, based upon what God says about us – that we are “already amazing” because God is amazing in us – Holley goes on to help you discover some of the unique things about yourself and who God created you to be. With several tools to aid you in finding out your strengths, skills, who you’re called to serve, your emotional style, how we relate to people as well as a few more areas, she encourages you on how you can truly embrace how God created you and begin to walk out His dreams for you.

But we will all struggle in living out our calling if we don’t believe that we are amazing because He says that we are and because He is the One who is amazing through us! While the style of writing and format of the book were a little different than what I would normally read and took some getting used to, I was encouraged and uplifted by the message and realized that it was something I needed to hear and which I need to now actually believe!

Do you believe that you are already amazing? Do you struggle with striving and trying to be who everyone else says you should be? Do you need to be reminded that the only One you need to please is God and He is already pleased with you? Then this book might be the perfect tool to help you start rejecting the lies and believing the truth about yourself!

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

For several months I had been collecting ideas on Pinterest for a drummer/rock ‘n roll themed birthday party for Justice, as he is an avid drummer and can almost always be found drumming on something with any number of objects. He drums with his actual drum sticks on his drum kit, but it extends far beyond that to drumming on the couches, at the dinner table, on his legs, on Rayah’s head, etc. etc. He’s got rhythm on the inside and has a bounce in his step and loves to show off his “beats”. He’ll also pretend to play a guitar on his shirt and sing songs – whether known ones or those of his own creation.

However, with a newborn baby to feed and care for, I knew I couldn’t do it all and decided to make it a very simple party with just two friends, no meal, and a choice few of the ideas I had gathered. So, first of all, we made little drums/shakers with drum sticks and each boy got a couple guitar suckers. I think they had fun, but it’s a good thing the craft was quick and easy, because their attention spans were equally short and they were ready to go on to the next activity – ha!

The boys then went to the basement to play and my husband Joe got out his guitar and they all ended up having a jam session together, all three boys drumming wildly as Joe played worship songs for them. They loved it!

Then it was time for cake! Homemade marshmallow fondant edible drum kit cupcakes to be exact! It didn’t take long for my hours of tedious labor to be devoured and enjoyed, but that was the whole point anyway and mostly I did it for my son because I knew he’d love it. I’m pretty proud of how they turned out, considering I had never done anything with fondant before and I was totally winging it.

After the sugar boost, the boys went to play some more and Justice opened his gifts and I think it was a great success!

After the party, Justice then got to go with his Daddy and Grandpa to see the Monster Jam show. Typical to his personality, even though we know he was extremely excited, he just sat there in serious wonder, just taking it all in, sitting on the edge of his seat without breaking a smile – lol. After the fact, however, it was all he could talk about and for days he was telling everyone about how he saw the Monster trucks and how awesome it was.

I love my little boy who is growing up to be a handsome little man. He is both raw, wild & untamed while also being extremely soft, tender and sweet.

As those who know him will vouch, he roars at everyone all the time! Sometimes he’s a lion, other times a tiger, or a dragon or a bear – depending on his mood that day. At home – he roars at Rayah, when we go to play places – he roars at the poor unsuspecting kids, when we go to the house of prayer – he roars at everyone there, when we host a prayer meeting at our house – he greets everyone as they come in the door with a roar. I’m not sure if he’s trying to be intimidating or show off his strength or if he’s just being a typical boy.

But then he’s incredibly sweet, loving to give hugs and kisses and tell you he loves you, calling Rayah “sweetie” or “cutie” and still loving to snuggle and play with my knuckles, just as he has since he was an infant.

He loves all sports and is quite athletically inclined. He loves playing with his cars and trains, creating train tracks and crashing the cars. He loves stickers and painting with water colors and learning how to write his letters and numbers.

He’s got an AMAZING memory that completely baffles me, as one with a horrible memory. He will recall events from months ago, with stunning clarity, at the most random of times. I’m constantly surprised by what he’s able to remember and perplexed by what triggers these memories. Just today he started to tell of how he broke one of my bowls (probably over a year ago) by dropping it on the floor in the basement and how I responded by saying, “BAH! Justice! What did you do??” LOL.

He loves swords and “shooters” and fighting, especially the story of David and Goliath. He likes to play in the mud, run fast, and play “chase”.

He’s fiery and passionate with deeply felt emotions. He’s strong-willed, creative, expressive, aggressive and funny! He says the most amazing meal time prayers, often saying things that are deeply profound that strike my own heart with revelation of Jesus.

I love my boy! I love his big, bright blue eyes, his incredible, charming smile and who God has made him to be. It was fun celebrating him and reminding myself of why he is so special.

On Monday, Eden turned one month old! It feels like just yesterday that he was born and this month has flown by. He’s had a few typical firsts – first car ride, first stroller ride, first injury (from mommy – oh dear!), first bath, first poop explosion, first massive projectile puke across his entire crib – you know, usual baby stuff. We also had several visitors who came bearing meals and gifts, which was fantastic!

Adapting to life as a family of five has gone fairly smoothly, but it has of course had its challenges too! Justice loves to hold his baby brother, if only for a few seconds at a time and can hardly wait until he’s old enough to play with. We’ve also noticed though that when Justice isn’t getting as much quality time with us that it’s difficult for him emotionally, so we need wisdom for how to help him process his feelings and how to make sure we still make that extra effort to play with him.

Rayah is quite enamored with “Baby Eden” and I thought it was quite funny when I was breast feeding and she asked if Eden was eating my tummy? lol. She is rather independent, so she hasn’t shown a lot of interest in Eden yet, but she is usually quite concerned if he loses his soother and will try to help put it back in for him.

Nights have been lacking in sleep, but when I’m not completely exhausted and actually have the ability to open my eyes, it’s been nice having my iPhone this time around, as I can read the Bible, read a book, check my email or Facebook, etc. while I’m feeding Eden.

Unfortunately, we appear to be having similar gas issues with Eden as we did with the other two kids, but I’m praying for healing for his little tummy and grace for mommy and daddy! I’m trying to trust the Lord in the midst of it and believe that He is helping me and enjoying me, even when I feel frustrated, anxious and weak.

One of the hardest things for me is learning how to let go of my plans and how I want things to go and what I want to get accomplished. I’m often having to put off things on my to do list or learn how to be okay if things don’t happen when I would normally want them to, which means letting go of control and learning how to relax and not get too angry or anxious when things don’t go as I had hoped. For example, this blog post has taken me three days to put together!

But in the midst of the challenges, I am simply delighting in my new son and falling in love with who God created him to be. I’m also realizing how the small things I do to serve my husband and kids truly does count as ministry to the Lord and He loves it!