Birthdays

This past month has been filled with birthdays. Friends, family, animals, mine and Chad's. I have been thinking a lot lately.... What is a birthday? The dictionary describes it as the annual day of one's birth. But I disagree. I think beside the word birthday, it should have balloons, a cake, friends, family and pictures of good times. That is always what a birthday was to me when I was growing up. Some say, oh it's just another day.... Well, you are very wrong if you say that. A birthday is a day you make someone feel special and celebrate them being born. I think it is a day you should let that person know how grateful you are for them and what they mean to you..... Today is Chad's birthday,  and I know he felt the love of his friends and family. And I let him know specifically how grateful I am that he was born...

 All of the above is the "earthly" birthday we celebrate. Where I have put my thoughts are the other "birthdays" we should celebrate. August 24th, 2008 is the day Chad and I both accepted Christ and became "born again" Christians. We absolutely acknowledge this day each year, but next year I think we will really celebrate. I am going to get balloons and a cake, and maybe even have a party. This is the "birthday" I am the most grateful for. This is the day God wrote my name in the book of life. This is the day that I felt peace over me knowing I made the decision to accept Christ as my Savior and saved a spot for me in heaven..This my friend..... is a day to celebrate...

Another "birthday" to celebrate are the one's that are probably the hardest to celebrate. That day would be the day the ones we know that accepted heaven as their home and have already entered the Pearly gates. You know there was a party when they arrived. Jesus probably greeted them while the Angels were singing.... I think I will start to celebrate those days as well....

I recently started reading a blog my sister told me about http://byrdhouse-byrdsnest.blogspot.com
after many many tears and heartbreak, I realized they will celebrate too. What an amazing faith in God this family has. Her faith is unshakable through out the storm. I pray I too could be so strong.

All of these days are considered "birthdays," and I am ready to celebrate them all....

Below are some pictures my friend April Fraley did for me.... They were a gift to Chad for his birthday....

Wrong Worship

After listening to the most recent video I shared on Facebook titled "Wrong Worship" (the link is below) it really made me think.... I remember so well a little over 3 years ago being in that EXACT place in my life. I would go to Church maybe 1 Sunday every 2 months, and I would leave and say to myself... I am going to try and get back next Sunday. I would feel so good after going and by Monday morning.... well, I had pretty much forgotten what was said or how I felt.... It was an inconvenience to "find time" to go to Church. I had too much going on... Chad worked alot... Cole really wouldn't like the nursery..... excuse after excuse after excuse... Thinking the excuses would make it all go away....

All I can say now is Thank you Lord for your Mercy and your Grace. I think to myself, WHAT IF God would have made the same amount of time for me that I made for him?.... And not only WHAT IF HE WOULD HAVE, but WHAT IF HE DID NOW TOO?.... I thank God for Chad. I thank God for giving me a husband that when he makes a decision, he sticks to it. There is no question as to "are we going to Church  this Sunday???" Or a time where we go like "good" Christians and then fall back into bad habits because I like to make my own decisions instead of following what God wants me to do.  I know myself well enough to know when I accepted Christ 3 years ago, I needed someone to keep me in check. If I didn't have that,  I would gone to  Church when it was "convenient" which would have been when I wasn't busy traveling to different places, staying up late partying like it's 1999, or just because Cole wouldn't sit through it... In other words, I would have been a back slider singing the "Wrong Worship" song...

I am so far from being a Perfect Christian, which is why I can still relate to the "Wrong Worship" song. There are times I just don't feel like Obeying. Instead of getting into the Word, I want to watch the DVR'd X-Factor or Pan AM! Instead of praying when I wake up, I want to jump in the shower before everyone wakes up and have time to get some things done... Instead of praying at night, I sometimes just want to go to sleep because I am so exhausted.... Instead of doing a circle of prayer with Chad in the mornings, I sometimes just want to get the kitchen clean from breakfast....

This leads me to really think.... What if God did the same to me.... What if he didn't feel like blessing me with my health today because he was too busy blessing the ones who gave him their all? What if he didn't feel like keeping my children healthy because I was too busy abusing my own body? What if he didn't feel like blessing our family with an income because he was too busy blessing the ones who weren't being greedy? What if..... what if.... what if.......???? And we still choose to do what we "feel like doing"..... I could be selfish and say, you know what.... I am tired of not doing the things I did in my past. I had fun, I didn't hurt anyone, I am a good person.... and I am saved now anyway, so I am not going to hell..... I am going to look up and say God, Thanks.... But No thanks..... I will deal with it when it is my time to do so..... I could do that....... Thank God I choose not to.... Because it is a choice. It is a personal choice we all struggle with everyday.... When deciding what I will or won't  partake in, I ask myself 2 questions.... 1. Could I witness to someone by doing what ever it is I am about to do? Could I be an image of Jesus Christ and draw others to him???? and 2. Do I want my children to be like me? Or do I expect more from them? They will be exactly who I am.... I can't say "do as I say, not as I do".... Or will I? I thank God that my desires have changed.

Oh Lord, I pray that others will see the "wrong worship" song and think to themselves.... Is This Me? And I pray you deal with their hearts like you did mine...
http://www.firstorlando.com/Ministries/Support_Ministries/Music_Worship/Resources.aspx

What it means to be a Mom...

My entire life, all I really wanted to be was a Mom. When  I was small, I would carry around my babies and talk to them all day long. I would set up my barbies and play house, and would always make sure all of the Skippers and Courtney's and Scotts (skipper's friends) were happy with their Mom. I would be devastated when my Dad would come in and tell me it was time for bed! WHAT! that meant my "make believe I was a Mommy" was over for the night... It was ok though because I would always tuck the dolls in before I actually went to bed......

I can remember like it was yesterday, pretending to be my Mom.  I would baby my brother, Charles, until he was babied out. I would feed him, change his diaper, change his clothes and even dress him like a girl when I wanted to have a daughter during my play time! :) (sorry Charles.) Being a Mom is pretty much all I ever wanted. I have found list and list of names I had written down which were the names I would be naming my children... If I had a girl, he middle name was ALWAYS Nicole. Sometimes her first name was Kirsten, sometimes it was Kelcey, and even sometimes it was Chelsey. ( but I ended up with a Sydney Ruth) I guess back then I didn't think I would have a boy because those names were rare to write down, but either way I had it all planed out.

So, what about being a Mom is so attractive to little girls??? Let me tell you. This little dream becomes a reality and everything your ever dreamed of becomes so much better in real life.... For me, What does it mean to be a mom? I will tell you as I type with one arm propped up on my oldest child as he lays beside me in my bed sound asleep. It is what a Mom does when her child has been sick and all he wants is to be comforted by his Mom....

It means, having the most precious souls in this entire world need you and want you. It means to have them call your name over a hundred times in a hour and each time you answer them as if it were the first time they called. It means sleeping through a Tornado, but bouncing up in the bed because you no longer hear their breath in the monitor. It means loving and caring and holding and giving and nurturing and pampering and spoiling and praising and disciplining these precious ones into responsible, loving and caring humans. It means being responsible for a life that only God could give you. It means waking up every morning and lifting my hands up high to say "Thank you Lord for trusting me with your children." It means laying my head down at night and looking up with a tear in my eye and saying "Thank you Lord for trusting me with your children."  It means waking up in the middle of the night and walking in their rooms just to touch them and feel their little hearts beat. It means cooking dinner and waiting for them to eat to make sure they didn't want yours, it means leaving for a trip alone and never really wanting to be alone, just wanting to know you still can be. It means dropping off your baby for his first day of kindergarten and crying all the way home. It means hearing your child is sick at school and your heart breaks for him before you even see him. It means taking your daughter to her dance class and catching yourself grinning from ear to ear even when her rhythm isn't exactly right. It means playing babies with your daughter just because you know she probably wants to be a mom as bad as you did. It means coloring with her even when you have a million other things you need to do. It mean pushing back bedtime so you can giggle over hearing your baby say his name for the first time over and over and over again. It means saying NO when you really want to pick them up and kiss their neck and say yes It means talking baby talk just like he does, just to get a response from him...... It means all of this and so much more.

Lord, I am humbled by your Grace. I am humbled knowing you gave me these three babies to raise and trust that I will raise them to love you and honor you and teach them to share your word. Lord, I get chills down my back when I think that you chose me.... YES ME to mother these perfect, beautiful, joyous children. What did I ever do to deserve it? That's right.... I don't deserve it..... I have been given Mercy and Grace and you love me so much more than I could ever love, that you trust me with them. Thank You. Thank You.

It is said that Gods Love is described as a Mother's Love for her child.
God said in Isaiah 66:13,"As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you.”
Thank You Lord... Thank You....

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been. ~Robert Brault,