Fall has come to our house!

The weather is finally cooling off and really enjoyable. With the summer being so hot in Redding it feels like Fall is just now beginning. I was really missing the Colorado weather in September and knew the Aspens were just gorgeous then. The trees here are just beginning to turn and it looks like we will see some pretty reds, that will be a change from the golden array of colors I was so used to. Being at home with the kids is great, but I have realized that it is good if I have a creative outlet. So, I decided to make a fall wreath for the front door. I got some ideas from Pinterest but ended up putting this wreath together with what I found at the Goodwill and on clearance at Michael's. I clipped the flowers on so that I can easily take them off to use this wreath again for a new season. I like how it turned out and appreciate how the simple things can bring a smile to my face. I am in a season of simplicity and realize that when I embrace the simple- I smile more often! And I think my kids to do :-)

No Self Pity Here

Last Monday, I was having a hard time with my emotions lining up with reality. I was feeling like God was withholding some good thing from me, yet there was nothing in my circumstances of that day (or even of this season of life) to confirm that reality. I was just feeling "blah" and felt like I could make a long list of complaints. I had a phone appointment set up with my older sister for later in the day and I was thinking about the things I was going to complain about, but then realized that was not the type of conversation I wanted to have. It suddenly dawned on me that the way I was feeling and viewing life was consistently negative and I needed it to change. My sister has always done a great job at receiving me where I am, but I was starting to feel a bit embarrassed by the incongruity of my reality and my view of life. I knew I needed to get with God on this. So during the kids afternoon naps I set aside the time to process this with the Lord. I asked Jesus to come into this with me and He did! It was amazing. I became aware that I was partnering with self-pity and I needed to give up that partnership and replace the self-pity with thankfulness and empowerment. I realized that for me to live in a posture of self-pity makes me feel powerless, a victim of my circumstances. And that simply is not true. I get to chose how I will handle this life and I can live from a place of empowerment!

An update: Isaac turned 1 last Tuesday! Everett and Annabelle were excited about celebrating his birthday since they are old enough to understand. We had a low key family day and it was nice. I have always felt that the first birthday is more for the mom than the kid. For me it has always been such a time of reflection and thinking back to the birth of the child and what has unfolded in the past year. So part of the celebrating for me came in the form of Starbucks. To sit outside and enjoy a cup of iced coffee and then get a refill was SO NICE! God is ushering me into new places of freedom and joy. Part of the journey I am on right now is to get more healing in my heart to overcome some hindrances. While sometimes hard it has been a well worth it process as I am coming into new joy and deeper revelation of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Bethel has an incredible inner healing ministry called Sozo, check it out- http://bethelsozo.com/ I also plan to get trained up in this ministry so that I may help lead others in this process with the Lord. I think my 32nd year is going to be a big milestone!!

Holy Spirit GPS

After my last post on "Throwing Away the Map" I continued to process with God what I felt he was asking me to do and another word picture hit me. I was not just throwing away the map but exchanging it for a GPS device. It's the Holy Spirit version of a GPS. Now, I have only used a GPS while driving a couple of times and I did not like it. I hated being in unfamiliar territory, not really knowing where I was at, but knew where I wanted to be and just waiting for the voice to tell me my turn was approaching and then that it was time to turn left or right. As I began to ponder this over I realized that it directly applied to my new situation in life. I am in unfamiliar territory, I don't really have life figured out here, but I know what I want out of this adventure- a deeper level of relationship with God, new love for Him and greater trust. So it then seems completely appropriate that He has led me into a season on relying on hearing His voice in my day to days of life. Not just hearing for the big things, but in all things. He is proving himself faithful as I am leaning into this process. One morning I woke up feeling like taking the kids to a story time. It was either going to be Barnes & Noble or the Library. After considering the options and simply asking God which would be better, I felt like I should go the Library. Because of Isaac's morning nap we actually missed the story time, but as we were picking out books Everett said "Mom, that boy over there is from my class, his name's Jeremiah." This was the 2nd time I heard Everett say this because he also said it when we were at church on Sunday. Since we were at the Library it really perked my interest and I decided to introduce myself to Jeremiah's mom and confirm that they went to Bethel too. Turns out they do and have only been living in Redding for a short time as well. We exchanged contact info and arranged for a play date for the kids. I left the Library full of joy and so grateful that God gave me that encounter. We now have new found friends. Yeah! Things like that keep happening to me and God is really growing me in taking the initiative. So far, the friends that we have made here have been because I have gone up to them and introduced myself. And that is something that I have NEVER wanted to do, but somehow God is empowering me to do it. He is building my faith and trust and hopefully, you will be encouraged by this too. He is trustworthy and always good!

Throwing Away the Map

We have been in Redding now for about 6 weeks. So what I call "phase 1" of the move is mostly done. Just a few more boxes to unpack, which I hope to get to this week. With that, I consider myself to be in "phase 2" of the move which is discovering the new normals in the day to days of life. When we were in Cimarron, so far from town, I had to plan out everything. Food for the week, play dates, errands, etc. And now here I am in a city and I don't have to plan everything out like I used to. I actually can just do my grocery shopping based on the sales. However, that in itself is a mind shift for me. I just got so used to planning a menu for the week- all 3 meals of the day. Since I don't have to do it that way anymore I sense God is wanting me to tune in to Him in new ways. Instead of approaching my week with a "map" I think I just need to be more flexible, listening to His voice along the way. I can wake up in the morning and if the kids are asking to go to the park, I can take them. If they are asking to go the Library, I can take them. However, I am finding that we still just stay home a lot, but this is okay with me. On Friday I had such a strong impression ALL day long that I just need to embrace the season that I am in with 3 little ones, for it is only a season. It is actually a luxury that all I have to do is take care of my kiddos. To be a wife and mom is what God has called me to and it is my MAIN focus right now. Of course, there are the days that I want to get out, when get a little bored of being at home, but soon enough my kids will be school age and in activities and I think I will look back on this season as being the "good old days." I am finding there is a new level of joy in motherhood when I can throw away the map and just say to myself "What should we do today and how can we be a blessing?" I think God wants me to tune in to His voice, so that I can bless others in my day. It may be a phone call, it may be praying for the mailman (as he delivers mail in the box on my screen door- that is Awesome!), it may be emailing someone an encouraging word, or just playing with my kids. Whatever it is, I want to be ready to do it. Other things to celebrate: Todd got a job at Sherwin Williams. It is close to home so he can just ride his bike. He also got on with the facilities dept at church for an on-call position. And he has an interview with Parks & Rec this week for coaching. This is all really great because all of these jobs are part-time and we are hoping he can work a lot this summer since he will be back to part time only once school starts. A fun blessing of where we live is that we are close enough to walk to Safeway, which has a Starbucks! We also have a Jr. High school right down our street that has an awesome track and tennis courts. The kids think the track is really cool. Todd is grateful for the tennis. I just think it's really cool because Todd now gets to play tennis on a regular basis and that was a desire for the past year. It's like God just threw that in because He could. I love it when God does things like that. Lastly, Annabelle is potty trained!! WoHoo!! Only 1 in diapers now :-)

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day picture on the front porch. The service at church was really special. They had a special prayer time for the mom's. Those around us were to lay hands on us and pray that in this next season of life our secret heart desires would be fulfilled. I can get behind that prayer :-) Thank you Lord for my wonderful children. The kids are holding up what they made for me in their classes (except for the rose of course). They handed that out at church.

Are you thankful?

God is highlighting the issue of thankfulness in my life and in turn I am highlighting it to the kids. It seems no matter what, there is always going to be a circumstance in life that would like to steal from the ability to have a thankful heart. It is crazy how just one small area of disappointment or otherwise can taint my stance in life just enough so that I am not able to remember all the good things. When in fact, there is much more in my life to be thankful for than not. And Jesus talked about thankfulness a lot. Now that my eyes have been opened to this, I see it in my kids and ungratefulness is ugly. I want my kids to learn this lesson early in life. There is always something to be thankful for and really we need to cultivate a heart of thanks, which in turn will create JOY. I have been on the lookout for things to be thankful for. This morning it was simply that I had the opportunity to clean the bathroom floor. (I think any mother of small children (not to mention 1 of them in process of potty training) knows why this would make the list :-) One thing I am learning at Bethel Church is that when we know God's heart on an issue we need to declare it over our lives. Hence, the reminder on the chalkboard. (The chalkboard came with the house and is mounted on the wall in our dining room.) To see this reminder all throughout the day reminds me that I am thankful....even if I don't feel it, I can still declare it over my life and eventually, my heart will be overflowing with gratitude & joy. So, what about you, are you thankful? Here are a couple more pics of the house.