Dealing with Changes in a Pregnancy....

I asked a dear friend of mine to write about the twists and turns that took place right before her delivery of her first baby overseas...enjoy!

After living in the Middle East and studying Arabic for a couple of years, my husband and I began trying to have a baby. We were blessed and welcomed our daughter, Raylee Anna, into this world on Mar 4, 2009. Getting pregnant, fostering the pregnancy and having a baby overseas can be somewhat of an adventure. Here's how it happened for us:

After being dissatisfied with the maternity hospital to which I had been going initially, early in the pregnancy, we decided to switch to a private doctor. The care was good, and our philosophies were the same until the 40th week came around. The baby's head was down, but she remained quite happy inside. However, the doctor was not happy and began making plans to go in an retrieve her. Our OB had pretty much decided that at week 38 the baby was too big, and her head wouldn't come out naturally. Little did he know, we had been asking God to allow us to have a natural delivery from early on in the pregnancy. It was the desire of our heart, and we had a peace that it was going to happen. I simply did what any good, very pregnant wife would do: ask my husband to call the doctor and tell him, “thanks but no thanks. We are going back to the original maternity hospital.” Everything worked out, and they accepted us back. At my first appointment back the midwife did not judge my belly to be too big, and even the ultrasound did not show my floating bundle of joy to be oversized. I was given 7 more days to process and a follow-up appointment. It seems like, gone are the days of non-invasive delivery. My mom was 12 days over due and 36 hours in labor with me, and that was judged to be normal. My attitude is that good things come to those who wait.

The next day after the follow-up exam, I really began to dilate. The ball had been set into motion. They admitted me into the hospital. The one thing we did not like about this hospital is that all guests, even husbands must leave at night, unless you are in the active delivery room. When 10pm came, my husband went to the car to wait. By 12am, I was calling him to come. We had made it to baby birth land. After he got there he started massaging while I walked, sat on the birthing ball and did what I could to move things along. Then at about 4am the doc came in and broke my water and brought on the pain. We had started with an Indian midwife, and it wasn't really the best fit. They told me it might be several hours more after my water broke, and I hadn't had any meds, so I agreed to a pain shot. It put me out. The shot did allow me to rest somewhat, but it made my husband really nervous. He knew my strong desire to deliver naturally and drug-free as possible, and time seemed to be working against us. Finally, a western-trained midwife who was more proactive came to my rescue. The shot began to wear off, and the pushing began. After about 2 hours, out popped a very healthy baby girl. She weighed 11 lbs and was 20.5 in. My husband cut the cord. She immediately began nursing with a very strong latch-on. Many were amazed at her size. She had completely flown under the radar, and we got the full desires of our hearts: natural birth and healthy baby.

Overall, it was a really good experience. We had some twists and turns along the way, but God remained faithful. We had to keep reminding ourselves to stay flexible and possess the ability to reason and problem solve while weighing all options. I'm happy with the way things turned out, and looking back, ultimately the birth story is now just a fun story to tell. Each new day, we write a new page of life with my daughter. Her beginning was important, but the real joy comes from everyday we get to spend with her on the outside of my tummy.

Rewind...Teaching My Toddler

This post was originally written by me (Christina) in September 2008. To update, my son is obviously a year older and has learned SO MUCH in the past year. He is now almost 3.5 and can recognize all of his letters and tell you the sound they make. Counting is a little more difficult for him (he must take after me!) so we've been working on numbers a lot lately.

The title of this post is posed as a question for a good reason. Like most first time Moms - I have no idea what this should look like. I'm certainly learning as I go! My son turned 2 in June and I've only recently been intentional about teaching him. A few weeks ago, I had a friend ask me if Will knew his ABC's or was counting yet. I laughed. Her son is three months older than Will and had also shown little interest. I wondered if it was a boy thing as I have friends with girls who have been much more eager and willing to master such skills.

The bottom line is that the most important thing I can teach Will is scripture and biblical truths. I long for him to know the joy of Jesus. Krista shared some wonderful scripture in her post about this. As a teacher, I also want to see him master those preschool skills as well. Since formal preschool of any kind is currently not in the budget, I've been researching some preschool level home school options. Here is what we are currently doing and things I've found helpful.

1. In the morning from about 9-10am, Will has quiet time in his room. I've mentioned this before, but this is what we transitioned him to once he dropped his morning nap. It serves several purposes. First of all, he has learned to play independently. I frequently switch out toys from downstairs to his room to keep it interesting. Second of all, Adeline is also sleeping during this time so I get this time to myself as well. Lastly, as he gets older my plan is to transition this to a time where I encourage him to spend with the Lord. He already listens to praise music during this time, but I hope this expands to time reading his bible or praying once he is older.

2. Once his quiet time is over, Adeline is usually still sleeping. I have started to become more intentional about using this time for one-on-one with Will. We sit at the kitchen table and use this time to do puzzles together, practice his ABC's, counting, color, finger paint, other small craft projects, play with playdoh, etc. He LOVES this time right now. He is so eager to learn and has already mastered a 9 piece jigsaw puzzle!

3.

We have the "Hide'em in Your Heart" (vol. 2) CD. I think someone mentioned this in a comment on Krista's post, but I second that recommendation. We LOVE this CD. And did you know it was also a DVD too? It's a little outdated, but really great. Essentially, it's scripture put to songs. Will already can sing several of them and asks for this one often. I want to add vol. 1 to our collection as well. I think putting scripture to song is one of the easiest ways for ANYONE (not just my preschooler - me too!) to learn scripture.

4. My husband and I have recently started teaching Will's Sunday school class. Yes, we're crazy - 19 two year olds can be intense! But I love it and there was a huge need for teachers. I also love knowing what the lessons are and being able to reinforce those at home. Find out what lessons your child is learning at church and try to reinforce those at home. I know Will loves it when we talk about our time at church during the week.

5.This book has been recommended to me by several friends to teach simple (or maybe not so simple) biblical truths. I have yet to get a copy for us, but thought I would pass it along. There is also a book on Memory Verses and Prayers from the same series. Give us a review if you have any of these books!

6. I have recently begun researching home school options. (This could be another weekly topic in itself!) I do not yet know if we will home school. I am simply learning what I can right now. If we continue to pursue moving overseas - then homeschooling will become more likely. I recently found a great website, ABC Jesus Loves Me, with a free preschool curriculum. So far, I really like it! I've checked out some books at the library, but so far it seems to me that this website would provide all that we need for homeschooling during the preschool years. The curriculum includes a lot of scripture memory verses using simple nursery rhymes. I am not a singer - but I think I could teach these to Will!

Holiday Encouragement

A few weekends ago, my church held an annual women's event titled "Holidays Fit for the King." The morning includes a speaker and practical seminars. This year the speaker was a good friend of mine, Jenn. I asked her permission to share the text of her message on POH. I love how she used Proverbs 17:1 - and I know you will be encouraged too! Happy Thanksgiving!

I know that ladies attend Holidays Fit for a King to be inspired and encouraged, and to find some new ideas to incorporate into your family’s traditions. I would love to also offer some inspiration and encouragement.

I am by no means an expert at decorating or crafting or hostessing, which is why I’m not teaching a seminar! But I am a daughter of the King we are here to honor, and I believe we have a sweet and divine appointment this morning. I am excited to share some things that God has put on my heart as I prepared for today.

I entitled my talk Simple Christmas because I believe with wisdom and guidance from scripture we can really strip away the unnecessary in our holidays and be more available for the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us as we seek to shine the light of Jesus a little brighter. .

I have been studying the book of Esther for a good part of this year, and I happened to be working through the next-to last chapter right after Sarah asked me to speak. I had been praying for God to show me what He wanted me to talk about, and when I read the following verses, I knew the Holy Spirit was up to something:

Esther 9:20-28: Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. But when the plot came to the king's attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur .) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews took it upon themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants.

So this morning, I want to look at what Mordecai laid out for the Jews in why and how they should observe Purim, because I believe we can find some parallels and some inspiration for why and how we should observe Christmas.

The first thing Mordecai writes is for the Jews to “observe these days as the time when we got relief from our enemy, as the month when our sorrow was turned to joy and our mourning into dancing.”

I wonder what would happen- how would our Christmas be transformed, if we observed Jesus’ birth that way? We know that his conception and birth were fulfillments of OT prophecies. Jesus entering, as a baby, the world he created was simply amazing.

John 1:10-14: He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent,nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus’ birth was necessary for scripture to be fulfilled, and also for us as Gentiles, or non-Jews, to have full access to God. This moment, when Jesus was born, is when He became Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah paints a glorious picture of Jesus being with us, and of how He would give us relief from our enemy:

Isaiah 9:1-7: Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

I know I’m not the only one here who counts herself among the captives that Jesus has set free. I know there have been times in my life when Satan has had victory over me. But praise God, Satan’s victories were short-lived! I can say with certainty that the only reason I am standing before you today is because of the redeeming work Jesus has done in my life; because He gave me relief from my enemy.

Mordecai also reminds the Jews that their sorrow was turned to joy, and their mourning to dancing, or celebration as some translations say. Again, Isaiah prophecies as to how Jesus would accomplish this same thing for us:

Isaiah 61:1-3: The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
We all have ashes- some of our own making, and some that were not of our choosing. Regardless of how they came to be, Jesus came to turn our ashes into a crown of beauty. I hope you can rest in that today, and rejoice in that today and in the days to come.
There is a song called Ten Thousand Angels by Caedmon’s Call, and part of the song says, “so lift up your heart now/ to this unfolding/ all that has been broken/ will be restored/ here runs deep waters/ for all who are thirsty/ love has come/ love has come for you.” Love came by way of a young girl in a filthy stable so He could redeem you and me and turn our sorrow and mourning into joy and dancing. I think that’s cause for a celebration!


So now that we have established why we are celebrating, let’s get to the party!
Mordecai tells the Jews there should be feasting and joy. The Message reads that Purim should be "a holiday for parties and fun and laughter." That to me sums up the time between Thanksgiving and New Years. I love all the food, and getting together with friends and family.
I have learned in my own life that there are two ways to ensure a happy holiday season for you, your family, and everyone who is blessed to come through your front door.

First of all, we have to cultivate an atmosphere of peace. There aren’t many things in life better than a peaceful home. No matter what’s happening outside that front door, our homes can be a refuge for our family and for our friends.

Proverbs 17:1 tells us “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting and strife.” Because the most beautiful cranberry-glazed turkey won’t be enough if there’s tension in your home.

The very first Thanksgiving that Tim and I were married, we hosted his parents. I had never been the hostess for a major holiday, so I was excited to have guests and to show off my cooking skills. I seriously made every side dish I had ever eaten, including sweet potato souffle and mashed potatoes with gravy. And I didn't want any help from anyone! So while I had an opportunity to set a peaceful tone for my home and my family, I instead set a tone of busy, busy, busy!

Several years ago I discovered that Fresh Market will make your whole turkey dinner for you, and wile I do love to cook, I know myself well enough to know that my kitchen perfectionism serves no one well. So now when we host, I can focus on making a fun dessert or two, and leave the heavy lifting to the pros. I know that’s not the right plan for everyone, but it works great for my family, and my husband especially loves having fewer dishes to clean up!
In addition to cultivating a peaceful home, we also need to cultivate hospitality. Being hospitable just means that you treat your guests warmly and generously. So that’s something we can all do, regardless of the size of our home or the breadth of our baking skills.
Proverbs 15:17 speaks to this: “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.”

When Tim and I joined Providence, we were encouraged to be mentored by a couple who were further along in their marriage. The first time we went to our mentor couples' home, I felt a sense of peace and warmth as soon as we walked in the door. We then sat down to a meal of sloppy joes, canned green beans, and brownies from a mix. Many of us women would rather die than serve canned anything to guests, but I tell you that I have rarely had such an enjoyable meal. Our hostess made sure we were comfortable and at home, and she let the food take care of itself. On our second visit, she served Chinese takeout. The food was fine, but the hospitality and the fellowship were amazing!

I hope you are all encouraged to cultivate a peaceful and hospitable home, and a peaceful life wherever you go, which will make the feasting and the parties all the more joyful.
Finally, we come to one of my favorite parts of Christmas- gifts!
To wrap up his declaration, Mordecai encourages the Jews to give presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. Earlier in the chapter it is noted that Purim was a day for giving presents to one another.

It is a running joke among my entire family that I love opening presents as much as, if not more than, the kids. What can I say, I’m sure it stems from my childhood, and when I took that 5 love languages test, gifts ranked high as my number one love language. So I come by it honest! I do love the thrill of opening a box and not knowing what’s inside. But even more, I love finding just the right gift for the people in my life. I love it. But given that our family does not have an unlimited supply of cash, I have learned to be creative and frugal with the gift-giving. So we try and focus on quality over quantity.

Being the foodie that I am, I love that Mordecai tells the Jews to give one another gifts of food. I think that food is a great gift to give, whether it is homemade goodies or a gift certificate to a much-loved restaurant (or coffee shop!). I have heard the Barefoot Contessa say that she only gives gifts that can be consumed in one sitting, and we like to do the same when possible.

So this year I encourage you to drown out the voices telling you that the more gifts the better, and instead focus on giving gifts that will have lasting meaning. This is a great time of year to use the gifts and talents God has given you to bless others- I mean, cooking is an obvious one. But there are less-obvious gifts that can be utilized this time of year.

Writing (hand-written letters)
Conversation (sitting with the elderly in nursing homes)
Singing
Photography and scrap booking, crafting… etc.
These all entail the sacrificial gift of time, which can mean more than any shirt you might pick up at a store.

And speaking for gifts, Mordecai specifically tells his audience to give gifts to the poor. But Mordecai was not unique in this command- Solomon admonishes us to care for the poor,

Proverbs 21:13: If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor,
your cries will go unheard, unanswered.

Proverbs 29:7: The righteous care about justice for the poor,
but the wicked have no such concern.
James does as well: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
So what does this look like during the holidays?

It does seem like the needs of the poor are magnified this time of year- the weather is colder, and many of them are on the streets. And everywhere you look, there are reminders of the commercial side of Christmas, which only serves to remind those who have little just how little they have. I can’t imagine being a parent who has to tell their children that there won’t be any presents for Christmas- how that must crush the soul of a mama and daddy who just want their children to have a happy Christmas.

I don’t believe it is merely a suggestion, but a command from the Holy Spirit that we care for the poor and the needy. And there are many in our community. There are the perpetually homeless. I will put a plug in here for a ministry dear to my heart- the Raleigh Rescue Mission. They have a program where you can adopt a man, woman or child who lives at the mission and buy gifts for them from a wish list. You can buy one thing they need, or everything. This is a wonderful way for a family, or a small group or just you to minister to a person who lives in your city.

There are also many who are not homeless but who are facing serious financial struggles due to job loss and other life circumstances. We have a wonderful program here at Providence called Hope for the Holidays that will minister to people in close proximity to our church who are facing tough times.

Regardless of where you live, there are ample opportunities for you to care for the poor and needy in your city.

I won’t preach to you about what you should do with your time and your money this holiday season, but I ask that you would pray diligently and ask God what he would have you do to minister to the least of these. I can say with absolute certainty that you will be blessed.

Isaiah tells us, “…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

I do hope that this season we will all be deliberate in remembering why we celebrate Christmas, and that we have so much to be grateful for, even in the midst of trials.

If I can share one more story with you- last Thanksgiving and Christmas was especially sweet for my family. At Thanksgiving we had almost every member of my husband’s family around the table, and we also had our sweet baby girl, Charlotte. Charlotte was born with a heart defect, and she had open-heart surgery at three days old. She came through like a champ and we were so grateful to have her home for the holidays. We knew that she would be facing a second surgery sometime after Christmas, so we savored every minute of her first. I am happy to say that last Christmas was her first of many, and she is just one of many reasons I am thankful to my Savior.

I also want to encourage you as you prepare for the holidays- don’t let Satan steal your joy! It can be easy to feel bad because you haven’t done one thing or another. So you don’t have an Advent wreath? That is okay!

Thank you so, so much for allowing me to share with you today! Happy holidays!

Rewind: How to Make...Felt Food!

This post was originally posted by Hollie during a "How to Make..." week. We are going to be having another one of those in a few weeks, so stay tuned! This post was about felt food, but you can find all of the "How to Make" posts here.

I made some felt food for a Laney's 3-year old friend Vivian. I bought a pattern off of Etsy for a very reasonable price. Click on that link and check out some of the coolest pieces of felt food you've ever seen. The pattern was emailed to me that day. You probably should buy a pattern for the very detailed pieces of food (like the banana I made that you can peel), but for basic ones like a donut or a fried egg, you can wing it.

You Need:



-artificial felt squares ( I bought mine at Walmart and Joanne's)
-embroidery thread (matching your felt, depending on the food you're making)
-embroidery needle
*you can use regular thread if you don't want it to be visible.
-Poly-fil stuffing
-velcro ( for pieces of a fruit to be put together -- slices of an apple or orange)





Here's the peelable banana I made for Vivian:






Here's my egg I made "off the cuff." I looked on etsy and did a goodle search until I found the right egg for me and tried my best to create it. It was so much fun! I wanted to make two sausage links and some pancakes (with a cube of butter and syrup) to go with it, but I ran out of time.


I can't wait to outfit Laney's kitchen with all felt food!! ( I will probably wait until she's two and a half or three years old)

Rewind...Breastfeeding

This post was originally titled "Breastfeeding while Pregnant" and was written by Leah. You can use the labels to the right to find all posts on breastfeeding. This includes some written specifically about weaning, low milk supply, pumping and other nursing challenges!



My two cents for this week deals with breastfeeding during the early months of pregnancy as well as child-led vs. child-encouraged weaning when mom becomes pregnant. My first post on breastfeeding, found here, has some great links to other resources if you want more to read.

My son Samuel was 10 months old when I found out I was pregnant with my second son. I started my period again when Samuel was 6 months old and only had it three times before I became pregnant again. Samuel was a great nurser and didn't show any signs of slowing down. I began to investigate 'tandem nursing' as a possibility. I spoke with some of the moms at my La Leche League group and read two books on the LLL reading list about tandem nursing. I wasn't sure if I would do it or not, but I wanted to know more about it.

First off, it is possible to continue nursing through pregnancy. Your body will continue to make milk, although there will most likely be a drop in production around 20 weeks. You should speak with your pediatrician about your child's nutritional needs. If you do experience a drop in milk production you may need to supplement. It is so important to make sure you maintain a good diet and drink plenty of water. You should be eating an extra 500 to 650 calories per day for your nursling, as well as the 350 extra calories in the 2nd trimester and 450 in the 3rd. God has made your body so that nutrients go first to your growing fetus baby, second to your nursling, and third to you. Eat up!

The next thing to consider is that breastfeeding can become uncomfortable once you are pregnant. It is possible that you will have sore nipples while nursing. It is also possible that nursing will be incredibly uncomfortable and annoying to you. This happened with me. Sometimes my skin would be absolutely crawling while Samuel nursed. This feeling passed eventually, but it was tough to get through. Another thing that you may experience is sexual arousal while nursing during the first trimester. It will totally wig you out, but it is normal and it will pass as well.

When you experience a decrease in milk production, or the taste of your milk changes, your child may cut back on nursing or refuse all together. If your child is 12 months or older at this point, you can decide to gradually or abruptly wean. If your child is younger than 12 months, you will need to talk to your pediatrician about supplementing with formula.

Some women decide to continue to nurse for comfort and the immunological benefits of breastmilk. Once your baby is born and your milk supply returns both children will be able to nurse without adversely affecting the other. This is what I was considering at first. It is a personal decision you will have to make yourself. There are definitely pros and cons of each.

I ultimately decided to let Samuel self-wean once I was into my second trimester. Technically, it was probably a mix of child-led and child-encouraged weaning because I initiated some of the cutback. After Samuel's first birthday, towards the end of my first trimester, I noticed that Samuel was nursing for much shorter periods of time. I had always initiated a nursing session with him (I was still nursing every 3 hours during the day), so I decided to let him go for awhile and see how long it would be until he fussed to nurse. Over three days I saw that time greatly decrease until he no longer fussed or indicated that he wanted to nurse. At that point I was only nursing him in the morning when he got up and at night before bed. I cut out the morning feeding next by feeding him milk and breakfast as soon as he got up. He didn't fight it at all. I finally cut the night feeding by just cuddling him for a bit but not rocking him and then putting him to bed awake. He did fine (mind you, this is also the time we finally did CIO with him - they coincided). He didn't nurse for three days after that. I offered once more to see what he would do. He put his mouth to my breast, looked up at me and giggled, and that was it. He was done. I didn't experience any engorgement because my milk was almost completely gone at that point.

Please ask questions or share your weaning while pregnant stories if you could. There is definitely variety on this point of breastfeeding.

If you want some further reading, check out La Leche League's collection on the topic:

La Leche League Breastfeeding During Pregnancy

Rewind...Titus 2: Being Pure

For Thanksgiving Week, we are doing another week of rewinds. We hope you enjoy re-visiting some popular topics of the past. This first post was AWESOME and was written by Stacey during our discussion of Titus 2. You can find the rest of the posts on Titus 2, here.

When I first began studying this passage and I looked at the word “pure”, I thought, “Oh this will be easy…keep your mind pure, thoughts pure, be modest…no big deal…not a lot to say…should be a fairly short and easy post!” But as I began to pray over it, search the scriptures, and talk with my husband it was apparent that this one word, PURE, has so much depth and meaning for the Christian woman.

The King James word for pure is the word “chaste.” It sounds very old fashioned but the literal meaning is “to be faithful to their husbands.” At first glance for the Christian woman this doesn’t sound very difficult. Many times I think we think of being faithful as something like this: “I am faithful to my husband…I don’t cheat on him. I don’t really even look at other men. I mean, who has time to look at other men or cheat when I have all of these small children with me all of the time!?! But I would like to focus on two aspects of being faithful that many of us may not have thought about but are real issues in our world today.

“Reigning in of our thought life”
First, while some women may struggle with sexual lust, I don’t think it is the most common form of unfaithfulness to husbands. I do think that it can be more common for women to be unfaithful to their husbands in their thought life about aspects of other men. For example, have you ever thought, “Wow, I wish my husband were like that guy…I wish I were married to him!” While those thoughts are not an outward sin, they are a sin of the heart. When Jesus was teaching about purity in Mark 7 He says, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Another “sin of the heart” that also may come across outwardly is our motive for how we dress. Do you find yourself sometimes thinking, “I may see him…whoever “him” may be…maybe I should wear this or wear that so I can look better in front of him.” The simple truth of 1 Samuel 16:7 is relevant for the Christian woman: “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Adherence to a code of rules in itself not only fails to please God but it is of no value in restraining the flesh. Is your thought life in check? Do you desire aspects (personalities, traits, looks) of other men? Are you faithful to YOUR husband in your thought life? If not, confess that right now. Make your heart pure before a Holy God.

“Releasing ourselves sexually to our husbands”
Did you know that giving yourselves sexually to your husband is an act of purity? 1 Corinthians 7 discusses the topic of marriage. Right before that, in chapter 6:19 it says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” Right after this passage, chapter 7 says, “The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband….do not deprive each other except by MUTUAL consent and for a time…so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self control.”

It is an act of purity when we give ourselves with freedom sexually to our husbands. The “marriage bed” is a very private and intimate place just for husband and wife. While I do not believe that “outside” things such as pornography should be brought into a marriage to spice things up, I do think that couples should seek to be creative and spicey in their sex life. Ladies, men want action…men want spice….men want variety…men want you to be desirable. No man wants a “boring dummy” to lay there and take it. I once heard a woman say to me, “Well, if he needs it that bad he can take care of it himself in the shower!” When I heard her say that it really broke my heart. Sex is not for a man alone in the shower!!!!! Sex between a husband and wife is a holy thing. God designed it that way. While your sexual scale may not be as high as your husbands, God’s Word tells us that our bodies don’t belong to us alone. We are to give ourselves freely to our husbands. Do you find yourself making excuses to not have sex? Do you reject ideas of “spiceyness” that your husband may have? Do you have the attitude that he can “take care of himself in the shower?” If you struggle in this area, give it over to HIM. Ask God to make you desire your husband sexually. Be willing to try new things….step out on a limb and be creative! :)

Well, I have certainly stepped out on a limb for sure with this post but I have prayerfully considered every word and my desire is that we would all be chaste women, faithful to our own husbands, and desiring for our lives to bring ultimate Glory to God through that faithfulness in purity.

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and PURE devotion to Christ.” 2 Cor. 11:3

Miss Thang!

Our Home Transformation

We bought our house in suburban Chicago last June. The home was built in 1953 and had one owner for 55 years. When we looked at the house for the first time, we definitely picked up on that right away! But we could look past the dated cosmetics and see ourselves in the house. Our first idea was to take down a wall that separated the kitchen and the living room. We ripped up the carpet in the front room to expose the hardwood floor. Once we took the carpet out, we had to figure out a way to transition from the hardwood in the living room to the kitchen (remember, we just ripped out the wall!). The guy that was doing the floor suggested we put in new hardwood in the kitchen. Well, if we were putting in a new floor, now would be the time to put in new cabinets as well. And on it went...ha, ha. We completed gutted the kitchen and put in all new cabinets and countertops. We are really pleased with the results. Actually, we are so happy with how everything is turning out as we work little by little. We are in love with our little house!

Here's some before and afters for you:

Our kitchen before:

The dining area in the kitchen before:

The kitchen completed gutted:

The kitchen after:

The wall that separated the kitchen and living room:

The wall coming down:

Oh,look! Hardwood floors under the carpet!:

The living room looking into the kitchen:

A little vignette on hall wall below the stairs:

The main floor bath before (there was actually wallpaper on all four walls AND the ceiling! And the toilet and tub were yellow!):

The main floor bath now:

One corner of the basement before:

After:

The other corner of the basement before:

After:

And the last part of the basement that I've set up as a craft area (and what will eventually be our homeschool area):

The upstairs bathroom before (blue fixtures!):

The upstairs bathroom as it is today (still need to strip the wallpaper but it is not easy to get off!):

We have two bedrooms on the main floor. Here's Joel's room (work in progress):


The other room belongs to Jonathan, a college student who lives with us. Here's his room:

We have two good-sized bedrooms upstairs. Samuel has two twin beds and a toddler bed in his room. We are hoping to put both boys in the same room once Joel is out of his crib. We even call the toddler bed "Isaac's bed" - the next name on our list if God gives us more children! Here's that room:


And here's the master bedroom:

Tour of "Mommy's House"

First off, when I was taking these pictures I felt very silly! I thought, "No one wants to see what our little townhouse looks like!" But then I remembered how I myself love to see other people's homes, simply because I'm nosy! I'm hoping there are at least a couple of you out there that are nosy like me.

Secondly, the title of this post just made me smile when I thought of it. Will calls our house, "Mommy's house." Not Will or Adeline and especially not Daddy; just "Mommy's House." Our neighborhood is also "Mommy's neighborhood."

Ok, onto the real post. The first picture above is simply for comparison. It was clearly taken PRE-kids. Two of the five pieces of furniture above have been kicked out due to space/safety issues since having kids. I think we took this picture right after we painted the living room GREEN. (Herbal Garden by Behr, in case you are wondering.)

I didn't repost any pictures of my current green living room, but you can see them in last week's post on toy organization, here.



I love to do a seasonal centerpiece, but I am lazy and don't have a lot of money. This year I had the idea to pile little pumpkins (from a HUGE bag that cost $1 at Target after Halloween) in my trifle bowl! A larger pumpkin and jar of candy corn make up this year's Fall centerpiece!

I can take ZERO credit for this one. My mother in law (Hey Gigi!) made this banner with my kids on Saturday night when she babysat. It is made of paper, folded over some twine-like string and decorated with leaf and acorn shapes. Buttons are glued on to spell out, "Give Thanks."

Here is a close up (a bad one!). Fun side notes is that she used those same leaf and acorn shapes for our rehearsal dinner invitations five years ago! (We got married in October!) How cute is this little banner??

Our bedroom, complete with the pack n' play for the little girl that I keep. The bedding is about 4 years old now, but I still love it. The furniture was my grandparents and is quite old. It's been mine since I was 9!

Our "master" bath. It is quite small, but it is attached to our room, thus giving it a "master bath" title. Nothing special in there, although the flooring is kind of exciting. It came with CARPET (all of our bathrooms did) and we replaced it with a remnant from a redo my parents did in the home I grew up in.

Other view of the room.

Adeline's room that was never meant to be her room. She was born in March of 2008, the same month we put our house on the market. She was sleeping in our room and this room was half baby (only a changing table and rocker) and half office. Eventually we shoved a pack n' play in the office too after she got kicked out of our room. Again after that, I got tired of the "half nursery" and we shuffled rooms around again. Here we are 20 months later and the house isn't sold and her room has slowly become a pink, girly room!

One remnant of the old office is the world map still hanging on her wall! The bookshelf in her room was also used by Will in his nursery and was made for my Dad by my Great Uncle about 70 years ago!

Adeline's curtain was a $5 pottery barn steal from the PB outlet in TX (Hey JoNeel!). The afghan hanging on her rocker was given to me as an infant.

Will's room (the color is definitely not this bright - my camera was dropped by a certain 20 month old this week...and its been a little funny)! You can see his little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree he is getting to decorate this Christmas - just added this week.

I updated his room a little recently with some Nemo prints on the walls, the rocket stuffed animal thing and a photo board.

The kids bathroom is even smaller than ours! This curtain is from Target and I went with the animal theme in the bathroom.

My favorite part are these real animal pics taken by my mother in law in Kenya! The kids really like them too.

I hope you made it through all those pictures! You can be nosy and ask questions. Or even better, you can let me be nosy and post a link to your blog where you give a tour of YOUR home!

Tour of Homes 2009

This week we are going to have a little fun posting our favorite decorated room in our homes. I am set to start us off for this "Tour of Homes 2009." I am so excited about mine because it was a task that took 3 1/2 months to finish and we love the finished product!

In May we started a room make-over project for the kid's rooms. We moved Matthew Ray to his own room and put the girls together. We had some amazing friends from FSU come and visit and they helped us tackle our project!!

This is how it all began....

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The finished product:
The beds took the longest...we ordered them from a carpenter who took pictures from Ikea and Pottery Barn Kids and created this version! We love, love, love them!!!
Since these pics were taken we have added very trendy white stools to their desks...at the time of this writing the room is a disaster so these pics will do! :)
Matthew Ray now has his own room which didn't take long at all...we just painted a pink wall chocalate brown, ordered new bedding for him and added his name. Boys are so easy!