Such a Great Feeling

Its such a great feeling when...

You Love yourself

When it pleases you to make someone else happy

Can embrace the little things in life

Have so much love for someone you have never met

Can teach love (Bri'elle giving little sister kisses)

Share love, joy, moments, laughter, tears, with other great women -picture by Olga

This post was inspired after church three weeks ago. We have been in the book of Revelations. At first, I was a little scared to tackle this book that is said to be mysterious and can lead to fear by what it says, but I never really dived into it so I was excited at the same time. Now, I'm loving it and it may just be one of my favorite books. On this Sunday we learned about suffering {{God is speaking to me}}. I knew I had to pay great attention that this message is tugging at my heart. 

Not that I feel like I'm suffering but it has been a challenge these last 6 1/2 months and for majority of my life even at a very young age. I struggled for the longest time accepting what happened to me and most of it I kept inside. From what everyone else saw I was probably one of the strongest people they knew. As the sermon went on there were some things that struck me with the most pleasant delight of satisfaction. God will never allow us to suffer for nothing. God promises a reward for our suffering. Of course, a believer and follower of Christ knows that their eternal reward is the day we get to see His face and live for eternity in the streets of gold. But, I see that on this earth there is more rewards God gives us and its such a great feeling to know you have these rewards. Right now, I know that all the pain, loneliness, and worry is all a now factor meaning it has an end, and end that will bring great reward to not just my life but my husband's life, Bri'elles life, and anyone who is part of our lives will experience the reward that I (and Jay) have been given through the birth of our daughter. God has already blessed us and rewarded us with Bri'elle now we are being rewarded with another sweet great daughter. 

He is no fool that loses what he cannot keep here in this life to gain what he cannot lose, rewards in heaven - Jim Elliott

Lean on Christ - Focus on Spiritual Wealth - Expect Persecution - Stand Firm

To hear the audio podcast go here: How to Deal with Suffering

Parenting!!!

 - "What's the best part about being a parent?" -

God has been speaking to me again!
I feel this yearning for Him everyday!
I just can't get enough!
Teach me more I say to you Oh Lord!
So I may be that example of your parenting!

Parenting is unexplainable but when you are asked and start to answer mine would be something like this....
Irreplaceable.Magical.Joyful.

It was funny when this discussion was brought up I started to think what is the best part of being a parent? I have no answer for you because I love every part of it. The part where you fear for your child's life as she is climbing on top of everything or when they start to crawl and you are worried they are going to pick something up and choke. I love the parts where they get hurt and your job as a parent is to tell them they're okay and all it take is a kiss to make it better. The sleepless nights from newborn, to the flu, and transitioning to a new house and bed.

Every little part is the BEST...it's the BEST part of MY life

I have learned that no matter any given situation you need to rise up above the cause or the transgression you might have. The pain, the circumstance, and be thankful and blessed for it. God says he will always reward us for the pain and trials we go through. So why do we complain when we know there will always be light at the end of the tunnel, human nature I guess and mostly because a lot of us have forgotten about God or limited his powers.

Being pregnant this second time and being very close to losing this child - God has given me a lot of time to talk to him and discover that we need to put all fears, worries, and hope in him. He will reward us!

 The best part of parenting is the reward we have... our child(ren).

The day after I read the cafe discussion, Jay came home from work and was telling me about the conversation one of the younger (age about 22) girls had with him. She asked him if life wasn't the way it is meaning if he wasn't married and didn't have kids what would he want to do. Jay looked at her and said that his life is nothing without us and could never imagine a life without us. He is grateful for how his life has turned out. She wanted to know how having kids was and how much it changed your life. His response was that having kids is the best thing in the world. It changes your life completely but you will never want your old life back. Jay and I continued to talk about it and I told him about the cafe discussion. We both felt is was God reminding us of our reward and how we are so lucky.

One of the best experiences I was able to have last week was when I woke up while Bri'elle was still asleep. I went in the kitchen my decaf coffee was already made. I sat at my computer in the living room until I heard my little girl calling for me. The bedroom door began to open and I hear even clearer, "Mommy, momma, I wake". As I started for the door I see this cute, hair all in a mess, eyes barely open, little girl holding her blankie. She puts her arms out so I lean down on my knees pray to God that nothing will happen as I open my arms and let her embrace me. Bri'elle then said "Good morning mom, love you too". This morning was the first morning I have been able to hug Bri'elle and really soak it up since being pregnant. I loved every minute, I allowed myself to cry as I thanked God for that split little moment.

Bible in a Year

Bible in a year, what could be any better than that?

My friend Marissa had this idea she offered to a group of us girls to all subscribe. It was such a great opportunity to get some word in I couldn't turn it down. You sign up online through your email. The site sends you a daily email of your scripture until you have completed reading the Bible. For us girls its a great way to have communion together knowing we're all setting aside some time at some point during our days to read each passage. We then will get together to have some Bible talk. Since this is a recent project we haven't yet determined how we are going to go about doing it but we'll see. :)

Right now we're reading through Genesis. 

If you would like to join Bible in a Year - check out to get your Bible On!!!!!

I felt I really needed to do this for me. To really learn and absorb what God has to say through the history of the Bible. I went to a private school and we read the Bible a lot but that was how many years ago when I was in elementary school. I do Bible studies but reading it from cover to cover is different then selecting a section and reading it for lessons. You can gather information in a whole new light and personally I don't think I was reading the Bible as much as I would like. Now I find myself going back and reading the previous section to really catch what I'm reading. I've also started keeping track of the verses that I really like and that have meaning for me. Along with doing that I also take some notes. That way if I ever need to I can look at my notes for a certain topic or story and already know where to look. Sure, I can google it but for me its just is better to take my own notes. And with others participating what a good way to keep yourself accountable.