A Divine Portrait

Okay guys this is where I'm at....I'm totally, deeply, infatuated, sold out in love with God! I mean I've always loved Him, I've always had Him in my heart and all that, but I'm totally in love with HIM. Romans 8....I've read it a million times but I think that where I've been lately, spiritually, you know made my heart, my spirit need something that I didn't even know how to relay to God. So going to church these past couple Sundays has really been one of those times where I've known that God was speaking to me. He knows what I need better than I do and to see another layer of Him revealed has peeled another layer of callous from around my heart. Everything I learned today, I've heard before and probably knew, but it was where my heart was today, the Spirit had hold of me totally. He had control, my heart was with Him, not worrying or stressing or distracted. It was with Him, my eyes were on Him and that's why I think this lesson really spoke to me. Here's a few tidbits that really stood out to me today:

1. "don't be afraid" is in every book of the bible. How comforting, that in all 66 books of the bible, God addresses in some way our fear and reassures us to not fear. Sometimes, a lot of the time, that seems impossible because like pastor Tom said today, we tend to gauge our suffering by our last trial, while God on the other hand sees our life from beginning to end and the same time. He sees that we'll get through it and be stronger and closer to Him for it, but we see only with last trial and the "what ifs" of the current one.

2. suffering is "in bounds" in the christian life, not out of bounds. We tend to think that when were suffering its because we've made God mad, or we did something wrong, or maybe God in punishing us for something. The thing about this is that Jesus suffered. So if He suffered why wouldn't we. Period. But there's more to God. And justified as God would be to have us suffer for no reason, He doesn't. Suffering has a purpose, and it's never to punish us or make us afraid, God is so beyond that. Suffering can be to protect us, from overstepping boundaries or falling into a trap (2 cor 12:7). Suffering will usually help understand the situation better (job 42:3) , suffering forces us to align ourselves more closely with the Holy Spirit therefore depending more so on God.

There is so much more, but I really left with the overall understanding that I am a daughter of God, a co-heir with Christ. No matter what, when, where, who....no of that changes the fact that I am His daughter. I'll leave with this awesome verse, we've all read it, heard it but when we in the midst of a trial it can take on new meaning. And my prayer is that daily I will focus on the words, meditate on what they mean, even when things are good....

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

On final thought that just came into my mind....more than conquerors. I've heard it but never really thought about what that means. How can you be more than a conqueror? When you go into a battle as the victor. We've already won. Christ already conquered the grave, sin, the enemy and the world. So we are here in this present time, these daily battles as victors. Were more than conquerors because the end is already played out. We know who wins. We are sons and daughters of God!

Love you all!

Much ado about thursday

face

legs crossed at the ankle

his face with his arms up next to his cheeks

front yard being hydroseeded

Hey all! Well today was a fairly busy day. It was Chris's day off, and we planned on having the front yard hydroseeded because the water was off for so long here that the grass died. So that meant that Chris has to make sure all the sprinklers were working fine, they were, except some of the heads were clogged so he had to clear them out which turned into a huge ordeal. Typical. When you think something should be routine, it usually ends up turning into a half day ordeal, but he got them all working great and the lawn is offically on it's way. Now keeping all the kids off it will be another story altogether...but we'll get it.

My mom also came up today to pick up Hannah. She got to see the house and we visited for a while which was great. Hannah is going to spend a few days with my mom and dad (grammie and papa) and get totally spoiled I"m sure. But I'm glad for her. She deserves some time that just about her and will really have an awesome time making new memories with her grandparents. I'm tempted to call and see how she it, but I'm trying to not "be one of those moms" who calls when she's only been gone a few hours. I'll definitely text though (that doesn't count right :-) ).

I also had my second trimester ultrasound today! So fun to see Joseph again, and he's so much bigger now, weighing in at 1 1/2 lbs and totally adorable. I'm so in love with this baby already! And yes I said Joseph so he's still a boy, LOL! But everything looked great and he's still shy in utero at least. His little legs were crossed at the ankle for the longest time and when we were trying to get face shots he was hiding behind his arms. So cute (you'll see in the pics). The tech said he'd never seen a baby who seemed so shy in an ultrasound. So I thought that was really cute. Especially because at the other ultrasound he was the same way. All curled up, almost hiding. So we'll see how he is when he gets here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics and that everyone has a great day (or rest of it at least)!

ps-sorry about the ultrasound pics being sideways, I edited them in my pics but everytime I uploaded them to blogger they still came out sideways....sorry I tried!

Love and Blessings!

Kings of Kings

I was reading this morning about Jesus' name "The King of Kings" and what that means to us. That the most powerful ruler and king was also the most humble and seen by many people as weak. In fact He overcame the world by defeating sin. Not by being forceful but by humbling Himself enough to become weak and allowing His body to be broken and His Spirit to be separated from God. But in doing that, without words, He had shown Himself as the King of Kings only after allowing Himself to be forced to the cross.

It makes me think of my own life as a mother to these kids that the Lord has given me. That I seem to lead by force and anger so much of the time, instead of following the lead of my Jesus who never forced anyone, ever to follow Him. Instead He leads by example and love, therefore, making us want to follow Him and emulate Him. He has a silent authority because His presence alone is enough and draws me to Him. I need to follow His example. I need to draw from Him daily and allow the Spirit to have His room in my heart so I can begin to emulate Him in my actions and thoughts. If I'm walking with Jesus, spending time in His presence and reflecting on His words I will begin to reflect Him because He's just that powerful! Then I will become the mother He created me to be therefore producing children with a desire to emulate Jesus as well.

It all seems so simple, but it's the hardest thing in the world to do when I'm not allowing my heart time with the Spirit. My heart becomes hard and so does my attitude. I cant do it left to my own devices, only with "the Helpers" presence and the words of Jesus will I have the strength and even desire to even begin.

Pastor Kurt taught us this concept from Romans 8 which was amazing. Another point to my spending time with Jesus is that He is so caring to give what I need when I need. Even when I don't know what that is! Reading this chapter in my book reiterated exactly what was taught on Sunday, how awesome and caring He is to show me what available to my heart if I just give Him time! He wants to give me what I need. Reminding me of something Pastor Kurt said on Sunday, that in the upper room during the last supper, the night before His brutal death, His concern was that His children are cared for and have a helper. That's the heart of our King!

I hope you enjoy my babbling, and if He's willing that it speaks to you in some way. Love and Blessings! Have a great day everyone!

Pics of the house....finally....

Living room from the top of the stairs
Master bath (sorry it came out kinda dark)

Master bedroom

Master again....

and again....

upstairs bathroom

David and Jeremiah's room

David and Miah's room again

laundry room

Jonathan and Nathan's room

downstairs bathroom

stairway

hannah's room

sitting room

Kitchen

Hello everyone! Today has been, for the most part, a pretty mellow day. Enjoyed the weather and the kids got along fairly well. It seemed peaceful. I got alot of unpacking done and finally got most of my willowtrees put too, which I've been waiting to do! So the house for the most part is done, just a few minor things to do and then were off to the yard (which anyone who knows us knows we actually look forward to that). Aside from that the kids went and played at their friends house for awhile and then their friends came here. Jonathan and Hannah ended up going back to their house to spend the night so I'm left with only 3, which seems so weird, but nice. So Nathan, David and Jeremiah just finished dinner and are playing outside now, so it's eerily quiet right now. I wish I had more to blog about but since I dont I'll put some pics of the house on, hope you enjoy. Have a blessed evening everyone!

Spilled cereal, middle fingers, 2-wheelers and birthday day shoutouts...curious....?

Happy Saturday! From the sounds of my house it's going to be an exciting one. Everyone was up by 7:30, had cereal and spilled it, which I got to clean, yay for me. We also had Jeremiah being a clown, as usual. He was arguing with me about being in charge. So I told him I'm the mommy I"m in charge your the 3 year old, while holding up my 3 fingers to show him. He says no I'm 3!!! But he's trying to pry up that second finger and he cant. So he just holds up the middle one and says see I'm 3 while running around the house. Of course were all busting up laughing because it just looked so funny. I would've taken a pic but I didn't want him to see it getting too much attention because then I could just see us out somewhere and doing that. LOL! Anyways, I needed that good, hard laugh this morning what a nice way to start the weekend.

Also David has learned to ride a 2 wheeler. I know I put it on Facebook already but I wasn't sure if I blogged about it yet. His training wheels were all bent and not functioning,(due to his big brother riding his bike because it's smaller and they can jump it) but he was none the wiser. So he get on and takes off. So I tell him let's take off those training wheels, and he looks down at them like "i need them". So we take them off, and off he went! Yay for David, he's sooooo proud and so are Chris and I, anyway, enjoy some pics of him!

Also today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday to you Mama! I hope you have a great day and get to do something special. I love ya!

Everyone else, I'm going to cut it a little short this morning, as I have 4 little people in line waiting for the computer. But I wish you all a happy saturday and a great start to your weekend.

Father God, thank you for being my faithful rock, as always. I'm sorry that I seem to focus on the negative lately not remembering the enormous blessings that you've given me lately. Give me the kind of heart You have and I pray I make you proud today!

Love and Blessings everyone!

My very early morning...

Good Morning everyone, yes, I"m up and blogging by 6:30 in the morning. It's not a bad thing really, it's a very good thing. I was given a very interesting night due to the late nap of a certain 3 year old. He was great, just feel asleep too early so he woke up too early, but watched some tv and fell back asleep, he was awesome. But I kinda tossed and turned and was woken again by the cat who I fed and let outside. Leaving me on the couch at 5:15 in morning completely awake thinking, "this is an opportunity, take it". Not to go back to sleep but to feed my soul, which has been in desperate hunger lately. So I prayed this morning to my wonderful father who is always there patiently waiting. And I prayed for a God-centered day, not a "heather-centered" day and many, many other things. Then I began reading Romans 8. And was struck by a certain verse because during my prayer the song "I want to live this life as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to you"....in repeating in my head. So when I read Rom 8:8 I am struck...."so then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." I really need a God centered day, life for that matter, but baby steps right? Anyway, I am grateful for my early morning, for my opportunity to start my day with my Father and feed my soul. I want to take opportunities and turn them into something holy and pleasing to God, even the ones that seem bad initially. Happy Friday everyone and praying for a God centered day for ya! Love ya!

Ahhhh..... Vacation!

Hey all! Yes were moved and back from vacation already, man time really cranks by! It was a blessing through and through though and despite the ocassional whining or arguing it was a weekend full to the brim of memories and that's what we wanted. As all good things it had to come to an end but I'm grateful for the opportunity to have shared that with my husband and kids and will treasure it forever.

I believe we saw every exhibit and show, literally. The only show we missed was the awesome pets show because we left to eat. But I guess that's the one show you can miss at SEA world. But we saw and did everything else which was awesome. The kids even had time to play in the water and run around at the bay of play.

Trying to even decide what was my favorite is almost impossible. Although I will say my conclusions were confirmed that I made when I was little and went with my family 20 years ago, dolphin and shamu trainer have the undisputed best job in the world! Even at sea world with all the people and constant moving around the Lord spoke to me. And it was through the beauty of these majestic animals. To see all He has made on display in such a beautiful setting and the relationship between these trainers and these dolphins and whales is really something to reflect on! All were made by our Father and are spectacular! All that aside, we had a wonderful time and safe traveling home as well. I hope you all enjoy the pics, there are quite a few, so I put a link to the left that will take you directly to the album. There are many in the beginning that are of the night before sea world. We took the kids to La Jolla and watched the sunset and the waves crash. It was a great way to start the weekend and all the kids absolutely loved watching the sunset! Anyway I hope you all enjoy the pics and love and blessings to you all!

Love, Heather

The Long Journey Home

What beautiful words, "home sweet home". A long journey it was but praise God and His faithfulness, were here. We did it. And it was hard. It still is. There's a lot on my plate right now but I'm thankful for it. Just managing my time and energy is becoming a chore. However I have to thank the Lord for his blessings! And there are so many.

We leave tomorrow for our Sea World trip and were so excited. The timing leaves a lot to be desired but we need to get away and just have fun so were doing it. I will have pics of that I"m sure, just as I'll send pics of the house too. Bear with me and my lack of updating. Once things calm down a bit I'll be back to my usual almost daily posts.

Thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts for us. We appreciate you all so much and hope to get together with everyone soon. Blessings!

Love, Heather

Hmmm to much to fit into a catchy title :-)

Hey everyone, again long time I know. I'm must update you all before you think I forgot I have a blog. I'm here just super busy and overwhelmed at times. The big move is on Sunday so I will be without internet until thursday (the 11th). I hope to have pics of the this house all packed and the new house all full of stuff, but my camara is broken. Yes yet another thing we have to figure as this a time requiring much photo documentation. Ahhhh! I'm hoping my old camara will do the job until we get a new one or figure something out with the old one. Our San Diego trip is next weekend....yeah, I"m thinking not the best timing, but that's when hubby's days off are, so we dont have much choice. I'm thinking maybe it's a good thing. To get us away from the stress for a few days. Stress can really overshadow a blessing, and that's really sad. Pray for me there please.

The baby (Joseph) is doing good, growing like crazy I think because I feel like my belly is beginning to stretch and I"ve now been "blessed" with wonderful night full of heartburn! Yay~!!! LOL! What else can you do but laugh?

Our kitty Shiloh took off last friday and showed up on our doorstep on Wednesday morning! I wish I had a camara on that little thing to see what adventure she got herself into, but she was fine with no injuries either. Perfect timing on her part because little does she know were outta here in a couple days. I think that thought is part of my stress. As excited as I am to have been given the gift of owning our own home, leaving this neighborhood is extrememly hard. I know everyone and trust them. And feel safe with my kids playing outside and going to the neighbors houses and stuff. So it's going to be very bittersweet to leave.

Anyway, I just wanted to update you all let you know I"m still here! Love to you all and many blessings in His name!