BIG little news!

No Other Gods

I've been in a Bible study for the last month or so called "No Other Gods" with some dear women. Here's a snippet of what it's about:

Our lives revolve around our deepest needs and greatest treasures. Relationships. Family. Financial security. Private hopes and dreams.Most of our desires are healthy. Yet these longings can become passions we not only pursue, but worship. And while idol worship may seem like ancient history, we still face the modern-day equivalent [version], as natural needs slowly consume our hearts and minds, competing with God's rightful place in our lives.No Other Gods offers a revealing look at the heart of a woman. Author Kelly Minter explores what happens when good desires become false gods, robbing us of an intimate relationship with our heavenly father.So discover the freedom in surrender. The healing in worship. And the joy found in exchanging everyday gods for the one true God.

I challenge you to dig into this if you think you don't have idols...I challenge you if you KNOW you have idols. Anyway, one of my biggest idols (and I knew this before we started the study) has always been food. I simply love food. All kinds of food...healthy food, unhealthy food...you name it and I probably love it...okay, well maybe not because I'm certain my husband can list about 14 wild animals that I wouldn't eat, but I can assure you my love for food was an idol. I would meal plan all my meals for the day and each meal included a dessert. Even when I tried to "diet" I would reward myself with treats. I'm not saying that any of these things are bad in and of themselves, but I constantly thought about what I was going to eat and I might not even finish one meal before I was planning the next. I thank the Lord for tastebuds and the ability to taste this food, but I have learned that my body isn't mine. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." (ESV) Maybe you've heard this before, just as I had, but for whatever reason, it struck home this time. I am NOT my own. My body doesn't belong to me. Because I am a child of God, the Holy Spirit resides in me. And doesn't He deserve more than a chocolate chip cookie infested temple? God Himself bought and paid for my body; what a remarkable truth. Not only did He purchase me, but He resides in my body! For the first time ever, I really wanted to take care of myself because of these truths. I don't care so much about the scale (although there is a certain number I'd love to see...however, something tells me that the Lord may not ever let me see that number or else I would idolize it) or being "skinny" or "ripped" or whatever else might have motivated me before. So, when my friend, Arica, asked me to do a reboot detox with Arbonne I was all on board. She couldn't have asked at a more perfect time. Maybe I've annoyed you with my posts of food and detoxing, but if I've encouraged one person to take care of their temple then it's been worth it (you can unfollow me if I annoy you). I want to take care of myself to the best of my ability for myself, for my family, for my friends, but mostly for the Lord. I've got one more week on my detox and then Lord willing, I'm going to resume a 75/25 lifestyle. What does that mean? It means that 75% of my meals in a week will be "clean" and 25% of my meals will have a little bit of unclean in them. This equates to about 4 meals a week which is TOTALLY doable. In 3 weeks, I've seen amazing, encouraging things in my own house besides losing 4.4lbs and 4inches so far! My toddler wants to drink nothing but water and an occasional Sprite when before he was drinking nothing but juice. He wants to try almost every thing I make for myself and that's encouraging! Today, he had avocado and salsa dip and said "more Mama!" I've spent so many years hating this temple of the Lord and now I realize no matter what my shape or size is, I need to take care of this beautiful temple of the Lord. I also don't want JohnDavid to look at his body the way I have...always demeaning it, hating it, and trying to fix the things I thought the Lord made wrong. There is an extreme side to taking care of my body and that's not my goal either. 1 Timothy 4:7b-8 says : "Train yourself in godliness, for the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds for the present life and also for the life to come." (HCSB) The Bible tells us that training our body profits little in this life, but that godliness profits us in both this life and eternal life. I don't think there's a thing wrong with exercising; I've been trying to do a little myself, but there IS something wrong with it when it becomes your idol. Yesterday I didn't really want to exercise, but I decided I would run down the hill in our yard and walk back up it for 15 minutes. After 3 minutes I thought I was dying. JohnDavid ran with me and cheered for me along the way. About 10 minutes in he asked to swing so I put him in his swing. I would push him, run down the hill, and walk briskly back and repeat this cycle. I made it 32 minutes. There were times I wanted to quit, but JohnDavid would yell from the swing "run Mama" or "hey Mama!" and I would be reminded that even though this is tough, he is watching me. Maybe you're watching me too; this is encouraging and challenging because I don't want to discourage someone or treat my body in a way that displeases the Lord. Maybe you struggle with food as an idol. Maybe you struggle with exercise as an idol. Whatever it is that you struggle with, I can identify, and I'd love to pray for you or help you any way I can. 

The bottom of the hill...JohnDavid is swinging in that big tree in front of the shed.

The top of the hill next to JohnDavid.

My swing loving boy.

Salt of the Earth

“Let me tell you why  you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness  You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." Matthew 5:13-15, Message Paraphrase

In the last few days I have come to a deeper understanding of what Jesus meant about being the salt of the Earth in the greatest sermon that was probably ever preached...the Sermon on the Mount. This understanding came from my toddler. I want you to know that I've not arrived at this understanding in a patient way. Jeremy built me a beautiful farmhouse table this January and my sweet mama bought me a decorative paper towel holder with a salt and pepper shaker attached. Super cute. What's NOT so cute is that JohnDavid LOVES to dump this salt out everywhere. It hit me yesterday that salt, as I was sweeping for what felt like 1852 time, no matter where it comes from, the beach (you know what I'm talking about...salt in every crack and crevice you never knew you had!) or the table, salt gets everywhere and almost impossible to clean up because you can't see it well...even if you vacuum I've discovered there will still be salt. I love salt, not to a bad degree but food without it is so bland. We, Christians, are here to display godliness and to flavor the world with the characteristics of God. Are you doing that? Am I doing that? Are we just dumped out on the floor instead of flavoring food? Or are we clumped up stuck together like moist salt unable to flavor the people we come in contact with? I'm challenged by the persistence of the salt and I realize that I can be useful or useless as a Christian in this world. I want to be a useful vessel for the Kingdom of Christ! What about you?? Choose today to be a useful vessel! Mirror Christ. Shine your light BRIGHTLY! It's interesting to me that salt is clear and hard to see. Is it hard for people to tell that you're a Christian? I'm asking myself that same question. We don't get seen by wearing Jesus t-shirts and bumper stickers...we get seen when we are loving people (flavoring) like Jesus did. No coincidence I'm writing this today on a day we vote. Christians in America rise up and flavor this nation with godliness; we need to demand our voice be heard.

JohnDavid's first fishing trip!

How in the word is it possible that he's big enough to take fishing?? I cannot believe in 7 weeks he will be 2! What a fun age! He loved almost every minute of fishing today! Life as his mommy is so much fun! 

An Unplanned Sabbatical

It's always so amazing how quickly time flies. I didn't intend for it to be 6 weeks until my next post but life happened and I'm okay with that. I've really tried to live in the moment in the last few years instead of following a strict schedule. I used to plan things SO in advance (not to be confused with being on time) and now I might be a *little* to lackadaisical, but I'm trying to find a balance. Although I still have to say I don't procrastinate AS MUCH as I used to. I love lists and checking things off. So, like normal, I listed a few "goals" or "resolutions" out at the beginning of the year and I've been surprised at my motivation to complete them...perhaps it's still because I don't spend much time on social media (although, I've spent more time on there recently than I care to, but it IS so much easier to plan events and send messages and yada yada, right??). Mostly, I think it's because I've recently begun a Bible study with a few girlfriends called "No Other Gods" by Kelly Minter and I'm discovering more and more "things," "stuff," "idols" that I have. I've realized to be lazy is an idol I struggle with. Oh, I struggle with food and social media; they are a close second and third...or to be more realistic, those three fight for first position among my idols. Anyhow, I wanted to share most of my resolutions and an update on them...just to share for one, but also to remind myself of where I was, where I'm headed, what I need to do, etc. 

Resolutions for 2016:

1. Read the Bible through. Sadly this has been on my list for YEARS and I've yet to complete it. (to date, I'm keeping up with my reading (sometimes I have to catch up and read a few days at a time, but I'm trucking along and am in Numbers now!)
2. Read 20 or more books. (to date, I've completed 2 books and I'm on number 3. The first book I read was "You Can't Make Me But I Can Be Persuaded" by Cynthia Tobias. Easy read, but the logic behind it wasn't for me. I should mention it's about parenting strong-willed children. The second book I read was "Surprised By The Healer" by Linda Dillow and Juli Slattery. Hands down, this is my favorite book by Authentic Intimacy yet! Each of us is affected personally or relationally by sexual brokenness. There is ONE Healer and His name is Jehovah Rapha. I can't sing the praises of this book enough...not because of the bravery of the nine women who shared their story, but because of the One they point to in this book. I'm currently reading "Bringing Up Boys" by James Dobson and I love it so far!)
3. Become a little more domesticated, such as putting away peas, canning tomatoes into tomato sauce, make homemade buttermilk biscuits, and use my crock pot more.  (to date, I've not even attempted to be more domesticated yet...wait, I did make spaghetti sauce from scratch...does that count? I'm thinking this one will really be active in the summer when it's time for all those veggies! But I could get on the crock pot and biscuits attempts!)
4. Sell our house! (to date, our house went up for sale on Feb. 1! Super proud of this one!)
5. Save $1500 (to date, we have almost $500 saved up already and if we keep going at the same rate, we will save $3900 this year alone...perhaps wanting a new house has motivated me?? ;) )
6. Be present/in the moment more.  (to date, I'd like to say that I've done this well, but honestly, I feel that I could've done better. Thankfully, it's only February and I have time to improve.)

I'm so so grateful to God for all that He has blessed us with. I'm so thankful for a hard working husband (who is also a student!) who works so tirelessly to provide for our family. I'm so grateful for our little boy who is pure JOY! I'm so thankful that I get to stay at home with him and teach him. I'm thankful for our families. I'm deeply thankful for a few godly friendships I have with some precious women, especially one relationship that hasn't always been easy or fruitful. (if you're reading this, I truly love you, JW and I'm thankful for you!) I'm humbled by the Lord's goodness to me today. Maybe it's the "Love is in the Air" Valentine's thing...haha, just kidding...it's called "I've been saved by grace" and I realize what a GIFT this is!

My Favorite Tradition!

Tonight kicked off one of my most favorite times of the year...Christmas gatherings with family. When I was a kid we had so many places to be all in the same day, the 25th, so when I got married I set out to do things a bit differently. I don't like to be in a rush to open gifts or rush my time spent with family. I just want to soak it in and fellowship. Thankfully, it's almost always gone my way since getting hitched almost 8 years ago. ;-) This year is no exception...we had Christmas with Jeremy's parents tonight. I so wish my brother and sister in law and nieces and nephew from Arkansas were here to join us, but I am so glad that one brother and sister in law and two nephews are here! Tomorrow evening we have Christmas with the Sullivan clan...and boy are there lots of us! When I first met this bunch TEN years ago (wow time flies!), I was SO overwhelmed by the number of people in Jeremy's family. Ever seen a big flock of black birds flying together? Well, there's like 17,595 of them all at once...I used to tell Jeremy that's what his family was like. Fast forward to today and I couldn't be more thankful to be one of those black birds. :-P Anyhow, Friday morning we will have Christmas at our house with my family and we will visit my dad's side of the family around lunch. I'm so excited for JohnDavid to open gifts this year! I can't wait to see the look on his face when he gets a JEEP and a real beta fish (that I hope I don't kill)! Life is really so much more fun with a kid!

I wanted to share an ornament tradition that my mother started with us. Every year for as long as I can remember, my mom has given us (my brother, me, Jeremy got added to the list when we got hitched, and JohnDavid now as well!) an ornament for something that was significant from our year. For instance, when I turned 16 and got a drivers license, my ornament that year was Santa driving a red convertible (the only red convertible they would buy me). Or the year I got a cell phone, I have an ornament with a mouse and a phone. She's bought us "just married" ornaments, "soon to be parents" ornaments, and SO many other special things. I just love love love this tradition. I also buy ornaments for Jeremy and JohnDavid. Here's a pic of a few ornaments to explain what I mean:

Top left: from my mom to us in 2012 when we both killed a deer. Top right: from us to JohnDavid this year to remember his tractor fascination. Middle left: from me to J in 2009 when he became a deacon. Middle middle: for us in 2011 when we got a motorcycle. Middle right: for J last year when he was on a workout obsession! ;-) Bottom left: J's love for grilling in 2010 and JohnDavid's obsession with Nemo this year from Ma, and bottom right: when J became a teacher at the college in 2009.

This year was a little hard for me to decide what to give Jeremy so I ended up just buying a family ornament. This ornament will always be special to me...it bears the short memory of our second baby. I couldn't decide what to write on the baby's hat so the lady that I bought it from just wrote Sullivan <3 . I suppose it'll do...although I've thought about erasing "Sullivan" and just putting the heart on there. I really am at peace with the Lord's sovereign plan for this child...but I find myself pondering tonight what the gender of our baby would be, what those kicks would feel like, how sweet that round belly would be, how JohnDavid would love this baby so much...

I hope that the Lord blesses my womb again someday, but should He choose not to, He is still good. I'm ever so thankful for the one blessing we have to hold each night and for the one blessing we will get to hold someday. 

What Christmas traditions do you have and love?

She's So Right...

I was reading an article from www.gospelcenteredmom.com just a moment ago and her article couldn't have been more relevant for me in this season of parenting. The saying "the days are long but the years are short" is oh so true. JohnDavid is now 20 months old...that's 4 months shy of TWO! I can't remember life before him and it seems as though I've always been his mommy, and yet it really does seem like he just got here! Anyhow, this stage of toddlerhood for us has it's difficult moments, hours, days, and weeks. As mommy, I'm included in the difficult moments. I'm not always the mother I should be. It takes so much persistence and consistency to parent, especially biblically, and though I'd like to think I'm doing a good job, there are times when I'm not simply because it's easier. I very much appreciate her aspect on disobedience and how sinful we all are, even those tiny precious babies of ours. ;-)

http://www.gospelcenteredmom.com/2015/12/parents-stop-expecting-your-kids-to-obey.html

Happy Friday, friends. We're off to our choir Christmas party.

Book Review

I meant to post this a while back but life happened. I wish sometimes that my brain could type out my blogs for me as I think them. ;-) I like New Years Resolutions (or goals)...I don't have a clue why because I don't keep any of them but I guess in my head new beginnings are encouraging. One of my goals for 2015 was to read LOTS of books (like 30!). Twenty months into this stay at home wife/mom thing and I'm still terrible at realizing how much time I have or don't have and how to use it. I'm going to tame my number down for next years' goal. Anyhow, I did FINISH a book recently and thought I'd review it a little bit.

The book was "Paper Towns" by John Green. I read "The Fault In Our Stars" and really liked it so I assumed I'd like this one too. WRONG. I really liked the plot but it didn't go anywhere at all. And the language was SO awful. Every word imaginable was used...GD, F, etc. and very crude sexual statements. I wanted to read a few more of his books this year but I'm really not getting in a hurry to do so after reading this one. I can't say that I won't give his books another try but it'll be a while!

I'm currently reading "See Me" by Nicholas Sparks. So far it's been great but Nicholas Sparks has a way of suckering me into these books that end terribly tragic. :-)

Your Grace Is Enough

I had an outpatient test done today and found myself increasingly nervous while on my way to the hospital. I'd shared my appointment with a few family members and a few friends a few weeks ago and asked them to pray while I myself have been praying as well. I asked those same people today to pray for me today before my test since I was nervous. I dropped JohnDavid off with my mom and continued on my way to the hospital. I wanted to sing to the Lord so I hit play on the CD player not knowing what was on there and every song I sang (5 in total before arriving at the hospital) was spot on to my heart, His glory, His will, His love, His peace...and by the time I arrived in the room awaiting my test I found myself no longer a ball of anxious nervousness. Jesus is the Author of Peace; He is Peace and I had peace today because I have Jesus. What about you? I'm so thankful to have a husband that prays for me and sends me encouragement straight from Scripture. I'm so blessed to have a godly man that always points me to Jesus. I'm so thankful for all of my family and friends that prayed for me today. I'm so thankful that the God of this Universe not only heard my petitions and the petitions lifted up on my behalf but He answered them! Doesn't that astound you? That the Creator of all things we know hears the prayers of His people and He answers them. I received very good news from my test and I'm also thankful for that, but like I shared yesterday: if God took everything I have away today He would still be good because of Who He is. I want so badly to be smitten with this God that loves me and you SO much. Christmas is a beautiful season and I love to spend this time of the year pondering more of Christ the King. Overwhelmed with thankfulness once again.

To God alone be the glory for the things He has done!!!! With His blood He has saved me, with His power He has raised me! To God be the glory for the things He has done!

THANKSGIVING!

We had an absolutely wonderful relaxing Thanksgiving and I hope you did too. We went to Lake Guntersville and stayed in a GORGEOUS lake house. It was so fun to have all my nephews and nieces, my sisters & brothers in law, and in-laws all in the same house. I am glad to be back home because all those kids together is pretty loud and eventually we'd need our own space! ;-) lol. All kidding aside, it was a great trip and I'm looking forward to the next one...which won't come nearly as soon as I'd like it to. The guys and kids loved fishing off the dock and the girls enjoyed the guys not being too far away! Our fishermen like to spend all day doing their hobbies so it was nice to be close.

I've been trying to get our Christmas tree up all week with not so much progress. I love this time of year but it takes a lot of time and energy to put up a tree(s). I'm not sure how those of you who go all out do it! 

I've been overjoyed with thankfulness to God this week for allowing me to stay at home with JohnDavid. I had someone tell me a few months ago that they'd never seen someone enjoy motherhood like I do. While I'm certain I'm not the only one who enjoys motherhood, she is right that I very much enjoy it. For as long as I can remember I've wanted to "just be a wife and mommy." I know I am so much more than "just a wife and mommy," but I don't desire anything else. And I owe it all the God. He's the Giver of all good gifts and I've certainly been blessed. I have to address Him being the Giver of good gifts though, if He took it all away tomorrow, He'd still be good because that's Who He is. 

I let JohnDavid "decorate" his tree today nstead of doing it for him and the outcome is indeed precious! He didn't want the ornaments hung on the tree but rather stuffed IN the tree. So, there's one side FULL of balls and an upside down snowman and another side with only the ornaments I hung. :-) I hope I remember the way he got so happy over this tree and how proud he was of himself. I hope I remember so much about this toddler stage...the way he signs "more" and "please", the way he says "I wuv oo", the way he runs/waddles, the way he squeezes our necks so tightly, the way he holds my hand, the way he belly laughs and squints his eyes when he's laughing, how tender hearted he is, how silly he is, how much of a jokester he is (and is going to be!), and oh those priceless kisses. Lord, please let my memory not fail me and let me soak all this in! 

Anyhow, time to go finish our tree *hopefully*!!! Happy Advent Season!