Motherhood Gems~

"It is so NICE for me, mom!" Joshua

"Hey Josh, I saw on Nihow Kylan that the uncle said that it always helped make cleaning his room faster when he sang. So come on Josh let's SING!" Hannah

"MMMMM...this is yummy mommy. MM..mm..MM..mm..mm..MMMM!" Joshua

"Mommy? Can you make a big breakfast tomorrow with sausage and potatoes and eggs and pancakes and fruit and cereal?" Hannah (almost every night before I leave her room)

"LOOK HANNAH! I am going potty on the BIG potty NOW and I won't fall IN!" Joshua (nothing comes out yet, but their is progress in the right direction)

Those kids. I have been reading a lot in the bible and other christian books lately and over and over again I hear, "Be thankful for every moment in the day. Carpei Diem!" So I have been trying to be "present" each day and embrace my time with the kids. They are SO fun. Josh LOVES tickles. They can take him out of the worst mood. Hannah LOVES snuggle time and one on one time. We have been playing a little game, Hannah and I, that she started playing with my dad. Where I would say "I love you more than the world." and she would respond, "Well, I love you as high as the moon." She loves that game. I remember playing it with my dad when I was little. I want Hannah and Josh to KNOW that they are loved everyday. I took them out for milkshakes for thanking them and myself for cleaning the house. We went to Baskin Robins. They were oh so yummy. I can see the effects of mine in my tummy. lol. Then we went to the park, watched a movie, had baths, painted, cut hair, got into pjs, read stories and put them to bed.

This has been a pleasant day. = )

I Love It! ~

I have SO much to blog about these days. Last week was full of fun things to do, what God has revealed to me through the bible, and cute things my kids have been doing. I will probably be posting quite a bit in the next couple of days, at least that is my hope.

The first one is about my little guy Joshua.

(this picture is a little out of date) Anyway, we knew that it was probably time to take down the crib and put him in his own bed. He will be three is a few months and has been climbing in and out of it. Plus his leg has gotten stuck in the spaces more than once. So my husband took down the crib. We took Hannah's trundle bed and put it in his room. Added one of those bed rails to it and viola, a bed for Josh.

We didn't know how he would react to it. So we brought him up to show him his new room layout and he LOVED it! I almost thought he was going to cry he was so happy. He said, "AH! MY OWN BED! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT MOM! HUG!" He was super excited and couldn't settle down to go to sleep. When he finally did go to sleep he slept really well and in the morning at around 6:30am he knocked on his door to come out and said, "Mom? I am out of my bed now!" So cute.

These are the moments I will totally treasure when they grow up and become independent. I am thankful for this blog. It will give me lots of time to reminisce about their childhood. = ) Till next time ~

God Is Impressive! ~

Okay, I just had to blog about this one. God has been teaching me lately about obedience. If you have any interesting stories about being obedient to God's voice, I would love to hear them. = )

Today I didn't want to go to church. WHAT!?! A pastor's wife not wanting to go to church? How could that be?! Hey, I'm human, very human and I was tired, didn't get a lot of sleep. I was imagining how great it would be to wake up, stay in my pj's, watch tv with the kids, eventually make breakfast, and then sit and play with my children til Dad got home from church. But my little girl (I truly believe God uses our kids to get our attention) asked what day it was going to be after night, night. I told her it was going to be Sunday. She said, "Sunday, really! YEA! I get to go to class!" Oh brother. Okay so I knew it was important to go.

We got ready to go to the early service. I dropped the kids off and headed for service. I remembered that God wanted my sacrifice of praise today so I focused on the words we were singing and started praying them to God. It was very healing. The message was on Parenting, which I REALLY needed to hear. But when it was time to take offering I felt I needed to put in $2.00. But we tithe as a family. But I only have $8.00 left to get me through til Weds (payday). But I need to use that money for gas. But, but, but. Then I submitted and honestly with a peaceful spirit I gave those $2.00 into the offering basket. I felt good. I knew I was obeying God. I believed that God would multiply it and help us somehow get through til Weds. Well I found $10.00 extra dollars in my purse. Cool. I think we can make it on that.

Then, this is where it got good. I was going to take my kids back home and not stay for the second service. My kids usually have to stay for both services because I am usually on worship team with their dad. So I thought it would be nice for them to get out early. I went to get my daughter and she asked if she could stay for one more service. Well, okay. Then I went down to check on her brother and he was doing fine. So alrighty then. A little bit more of a break for me. he he. I started mosinging around talking with people and getting ready for the next service. As I was walking around, one of my voice student's dad pulled me aside and said, "I am glad I caught you, I barely see my daughter anymore (she's a teenager. Ya know.) so here is your check for this month's lessons." WOW! Money! Just kidding. Money isn't everything, but the COOL thing was that God provided and Multiplied those $2.00to be more than enough to get through.

Remember Chris Tomlin's song "Enough?" He showed me that today! Isn't He impressive! Test God and be obedient to His voice and He will show you too how amazing He is.

Have a great Sunday!

Computer Idol ~

Hey there, I've been reading a lot lately in The Heart Of Worship Files and my bible so I get them confused sometimes, but somewhere in one of them I read about idol worship. I don't worship idols. I worship God. I write worship and praise songs about God. I don't have a problem. Denial! I was convicted about how much time I spend on the computer. But it is not the time that is the problem. It is the compultion to go back to it again and again. When I am stressed I want to go on the computer. When I am bored, I go on the computer. When I what to connect with people, I go on the computer. I didn't realize it was taking up so much of my time. I finally decided to leave it in the other room last night and read instead.

Do you know how much peace I felt? There is peace when we slow our minds down and relax, reflect, renew our minds. I learned that God wants to be the one to run to when I am stressed. He wants me to sing to Him, talk to Him, read about Him. God wants to be the one to go to when I am bored. To learn about Him, to write and sing about Him. God wants me to go to Him when I want to connect with someone. He wants to talk to me, to listen to me, to embrace me.

This is such a hard lesson to learn because it takes discipline. I might be really good at going to Him one day, but the next day might be completely different. I am so thankful to be covered by God's grace everyday. I sure do need it.

This has been on my heart and I wanted to share it with you. I don't believe God is asking me to give up the computer. The computer is such an awesome tool and resource. But when it is the default button and God isn't then I need to reevaluate how much time I am giving to it and if it becoming an idol in my life.

So I better get off the computer now!!!!!! lol.

I Asked, He Answered ~

Before I get to what I wanted to write about, I have been thinking a lot about our little blogging world we're in. It sure is strange, don't you think? I read other blogs and start to feel like I really know these people. But then reality kicks in and I only "know" them through the computer. So I am sorry to anyone whom I might have been a little too friendly to. I have come to realize that it still is so important to develop friendships outside of my computer, in person, so that is going to be my focus from now on. I had thought about stopping, but this has been such a wonderful way of communicating that I have decided to continue on. I still love reading so many of your blogs. Your lives are truly wonderful and inspiring. Thank you for sharing pieces of your life with us all. (okay I am back to the topic at hand)

I asked and He answered. YES! God is truly AMAZING! I need to document this because it is beginning to fade. A while back I had a very difficult time I was going through. I found myself on the floor in my room weeping uncontrollably. I like to be in control of everything so this was uncharacteristic of me. I asked God to please speak to me through His word because I needed to KNOW He was listening. I heard a voice say Revelations 2:5 (but I then read verse 4 which was what spoke to me) "4But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love]. You see for the passed few days I had been listening to Michael Olson's song "First Love," over and over and over again. It was the song I was clinging to and weeping with. In the verse you can see it said "Your First Love." Now that is not a coincidence. I knew God was listening. Isn't that cool!

God hears. God is with us all. He is amazing. I know He loves You and me intimately.

Lara~

What Am I Waiting For?

Good question. I am waiting for God. I am in a waiting room. I have told you a little about my singing/songwriting journey and that is part of it. There are things that are being worked out right now, but God hasn't opened any specific doors yet, so I wait.

I find myself walking through each day without dwelling on the future too much because I can't see the answers. It has been good.

Yesterday I felt God telling me to take a break from the computer all day and spend time with Him. So I did. That was so hard to do. But I had some wonderful times of prayer and hearing God speak to me through His word. It was a good break. I know He hears my prayers. I know, He knows what I am listening to in my worship times, what the kids and I are doing, how I am feeling. I asked Him to reveal Himself to me two days ago and He did. (I'll write more about that soon). So since I am confident He knows, I wait.

Let's just say I am growing in character. = )

Lara~

God Can Hear Me ~

Hey there, okay so my last post was about how hard waiting can be. I have felt like God hasn't been listening (even though deep down I know He has). My feelings

I just wanted to say that waiting and being patient is very, very , very hard.

That's it. = )