Sunday, December 27, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Where has my baby gone???
It feels like it's gone by in the blink of an eye. She is no longer that curled up little newborn with the bobbing head who slept 15 hours a day. Now my little girl likes to be free to crawl around the room, pulls herself up to standing position. I see her flirty smile come across her face when her daddy or brothers come into the room. She is clapping her hands, she sings, she babbles and she melts my heart hourly.
I get a few glimpses of that tiny baby when I am about to lay her down for her nap, she snuggles in and starts sucking on her lips.........so sweet! These past 8 months have flown by but I've enjoyed every minute of it.
A season for everything
I can almost pinpoint when I think this started. My high standards for myself and my family started to slip. I became alright with the status quo, I started letting my expectations slide, my ideals and beliefs became blurred with each passing bad decision I made.
We moved to our current location almost 2 years ago. This place was never really a choice for us but more of an obligation that we had to fulfill. We never purposed for it to be more then 2 years and I suppose the moment we stepped foot here I started the countdown to when we'd leave. Not smart.
It's been in the last few months that my husband and I have started to reflect on our present situation and realized we really dropped the ball here. We have a bunch of excuses as to why we let our kids spend ungodly amounts of time playing video games and watching TV-something we NEVER condoned before. We have tons of excuses as to why our health and well being have gotten out of control, we have excuses for everything and in the end we are left with the results of our excuses and it stinks.
I am happy to say my husband is a man of action and he talked me straight and continues to talk to me, to shake me out of the lull I find myself in. He has high goals for our family, for our relationship as man and wife, and for his kids. He is inspiring me to find that quest for excellence once again. Some days it's overwhelming because every area of our lives and family life needs an overhaul, and that's ok.... baby steps,right?
So this week I have set strict limits on TV and video games, we also have been turning off the TV, and I have noticed my children get along better when they aren't glued to it. There are other things we are doing, some I may blog about later once a final decision has been made. I don't want to be all manic about this, I don't want this to be the new 'thing' we are doing.....
We want the best for our family, especially our children, so we press on because they ARE worth it!!
We moved to our current location almost 2 years ago. This place was never really a choice for us but more of an obligation that we had to fulfill. We never purposed for it to be more then 2 years and I suppose the moment we stepped foot here I started the countdown to when we'd leave. Not smart.
It's been in the last few months that my husband and I have started to reflect on our present situation and realized we really dropped the ball here. We have a bunch of excuses as to why we let our kids spend ungodly amounts of time playing video games and watching TV-something we NEVER condoned before. We have tons of excuses as to why our health and well being have gotten out of control, we have excuses for everything and in the end we are left with the results of our excuses and it stinks.
I am happy to say my husband is a man of action and he talked me straight and continues to talk to me, to shake me out of the lull I find myself in. He has high goals for our family, for our relationship as man and wife, and for his kids. He is inspiring me to find that quest for excellence once again. Some days it's overwhelming because every area of our lives and family life needs an overhaul, and that's ok.... baby steps,right?
So this week I have set strict limits on TV and video games, we also have been turning off the TV, and I have noticed my children get along better when they aren't glued to it. There are other things we are doing, some I may blog about later once a final decision has been made. I don't want to be all manic about this, I don't want this to be the new 'thing' we are doing.....
We want the best for our family, especially our children, so we press on because they ARE worth it!!
Sunday, December 06, 2009
I have been looking for this song for YEARS!! Many a time the lyrics would jump into my head, I would try to google it, or youtube it and nothing would pop up. I suppose actually remembering the correct lyrics would have helped.. :O)
Anyway last night I was trying again and somehow I actually found it. This is what the song is about:
Elya was a school teacher in Russia, and as such, she had the children of Christians in her class, some who were in prison for their faith. As a teacher, she was supposed to discriminate against those children by withholding certain aspects of their education from them. Elya went on teaching them anyway, and was arrested and imprisoned for three years herself. (I think it was three years.) What an inspiration she has been to so many because of her courage and willingness to suffer for what is right in the eyes of God. She eventually was deported to Germany along with her whole family, some of whom had also been imprisoned at different times. We were able to meet she and her husband, along with her parents and her young children on one occasion while we were in Europe. That was a long time ago and, unfortunately, I do no have any contact information. The whole family was very humble and gracious. (Next to them, our relationship to Jesus and regard for God's word seemed very casual!) They stood while praying for the meal and the reading of the Bible beforehand. They had suffered much for the privilege of doing so and greatly valued the freedom to pray without fear.
This song really impacted me when i first heard it, I was a very young girl at the time but I honestly believe it was a catalyst for me going into short term missions.
Anyway, this song has sweet memories for me so I thought I would share it. Remember this song was recorded in the early 1980's so it's dated, but the words and the story are still as powerful today as they were then. Enjoy!
Anyway last night I was trying again and somehow I actually found it. This is what the song is about:
Elya was a school teacher in Russia, and as such, she had the children of Christians in her class, some who were in prison for their faith. As a teacher, she was supposed to discriminate against those children by withholding certain aspects of their education from them. Elya went on teaching them anyway, and was arrested and imprisoned for three years herself. (I think it was three years.) What an inspiration she has been to so many because of her courage and willingness to suffer for what is right in the eyes of God. She eventually was deported to Germany along with her whole family, some of whom had also been imprisoned at different times. We were able to meet she and her husband, along with her parents and her young children on one occasion while we were in Europe. That was a long time ago and, unfortunately, I do no have any contact information. The whole family was very humble and gracious. (Next to them, our relationship to Jesus and regard for God's word seemed very casual!) They stood while praying for the meal and the reading of the Bible beforehand. They had suffered much for the privilege of doing so and greatly valued the freedom to pray without fear.
This song really impacted me when i first heard it, I was a very young girl at the time but I honestly believe it was a catalyst for me going into short term missions.
Anyway, this song has sweet memories for me so I thought I would share it. Remember this song was recorded in the early 1980's so it's dated, but the words and the story are still as powerful today as they were then. Enjoy!
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