Get NAKED!

Let's all live in a nudist colony, no more worries about what to wear and cover up. Ok ok that is a bit extreme and I am totally kidding, yet if it were up to Nick, he would never wear clothes, ha! Back to the point, it all started in the garden, Eden, everything was perfect. We were meant to be naked, yes you heard it right, no clothes, no walls, no boundaries, no shame, no fear, just you complete in Christ. Think about it, "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed," it says in Genesis 2:25. The Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings, our God created us to be in relationship with him, unashamed until Satan came as a snake and Eve listened to him instead of her Abba. From then on, they were covered and ashamed and it was destined for each person from then on. 

So God saw this, but come on, God saw this coming, he knew it would happen, he knew that sin, this ugly thing that we live in now separated Adam and Eve from God. They were kicked out of the garden. Now, for generations until Jesus, the Lamb of God, died for us, everyone that wanted to come to God to talk with him had to go through a priest, who did a sacrifice and many other cleansing rituals. 

Now for today, we were meant to be naked right, I would have loved to be Eve, not having to stress over every day what to wear, whether I look fat, whether I am in style or fit enough. This is what I constantly stress about, covering up what God has made me to be with so much STUFF! In the beginning, Satan came as a snake, he is the father of lies, and he comes in so many forms today, speaking lies in every avenue of my and your life. Lately it has been the lie of having this pinterest perfect home, complete with the latest furniture, the latest art work that is put on the walls the way that article said to. I am sooooo frugal, yet I am almost willing to go spend money on things for my  house that will eventually go out of style, but more importantly they will stay hear, "where moth and rust destroy."  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be hospitable, but where is your heart, I am asking myself everyday, who are you trying to impress, will you be more loved when people see your house all done up like that beautiful one on Pinterest? NO! Will the Gospel be shared, be seen, will my God be glorified in all the stuff I store up here instead of storing up treasures in heaven, no. (Matt. 6:19-20)

Another struggle in my life has been looking pinterest perfect. Let's be honest, who in the right mind would pin all these incredible desserts and fattening recipes then pin this skinny, ripped, big-boobed girl  with the caption "that cookie doesn't taste as good as skinny feels." COME ON!!!! I lived in a community where mostly everyone dressed the part, stressed about every ounce, every calorie, every hour they work out and how many calories they burned. I was sucked into that, I used to totally stress, and sometimes still do. I love this post from Ann Voskamp, I love this line,“The curve of a smile is a woman’s most perfect curve and the only tag that matters is the one that says Robed in the Righteousness of Christ. It may not be easy to be a woman in this world. But it is always perfect to be a woman in His hand."

Then in church this morning, we were singing "You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham, one of my favorites, and God kept saying to me "You sing that I am beautiful, Caitlyn you were made in my image, so why do you bash and criticize every part of my beautiful art work?" Ladies, here it is, you are so beautiful, no matter the size on your jeans, no matter the number on the scale, because what is true beauty is fearing God! "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Let every person who comes across your path, who sees your smile, see Jesus in you and not you. Let them see that Christ is the reason you live, the reason you feast on the true bread of life, the reason you breathe, you move, you worship your creator. 

We are here for such a short time in comparison to eternity; we may have one opportunity with this person. But we are, including myself totally, missing it, we are clothing ourselves with things of this world, we are clinging to the sins of our past, we are ashamed, or we are putting up walls between us and God or others because of so many insecurities. Listen, children of the Living God, Christ has redeemed you, if you have declared him as your Lord and Savior. Why are we walking around clothed in the world, not living naked with the righteousness of Jesus covering us? He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, he gives us the strength. When we continually seek his face about all things in this world, Psalm 27:4 says it all. "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple." Lord this is my prayer that I would hunger and thirst for things of you more than any thing in this world. We love you Abba.

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10

-Caitlyn

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Quinoa Chili

Ok, so I am not as cool as all the other blogs that post their decadent pictures of their food, but I can give you an easy and phenomenal recipe!

My hubby loves it, and now my little 10 month old loves it! It is full of protein and veggies and so filling. It makes so much we freeze half and have leftovers for the next day's lunch. I soak and cook all my beans and don't use canned beans but you are more than welcome to. It is just more cost efficient if you go with homemade beans.
So enjoy, it is a variation of Sweet Twist of Blogging.

2 cups/ 1 can of Red Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups/ 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups/1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained(I put these in almost everything, a bit obsessed!)
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 a sweet onion
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 tbs coconut oil
6 medium mushrooms
1 zucchini
2 tbs chili powder
1 1/2 tbs cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 pepper
1/2 can of water
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of uncooked, soaked, and rinsed quinoa

Instructions
1. Dice up your onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic. Melt your coconut oil in your pan and add everything except the garlic. Saute all that until your onion is translucent, then add garlic for another minute.

2. Pour all of that into your crockpot, then add the rest of the ingredients but hold the quinoa. Cook on low all day or on high for 4 hours.

3. You add the uncooked quinoa the last 45 minutes right before you serve it.

4. Feel free to top with sour cream (not fat free, you need the fat and the fat free or low fat has just added sugar yuck!), or fresh organic cheese, or fresh guacamole. Enjoy!

You can also do this on the stove, probably for 2 hours, up to you, just adds flavor the longer you let it simmer.

Eyes Off of Me

I haven't posted in a while mostly because I have not had the time. Being a stay at home mom is hard work, I feel as though the days fly by and I see that one basket that isn't folded, I will do it tomorrow. Then I see that I haven't vacuumed this week, ugh, I will do that tomorrow. Then I look down at my Bible on the coffee table, sitting in the same place that it was in yesterday, I will read it tomorrow.

We always hear there is never enough time in the day, and it feels that way often, but the Lord gives us the right amount of time to do what needs to be done, to live the way he calls us to live, and to love all the people we can love, right here, right now. I am so guilty of just rushing through the day-wake up, make breakfast, read the Word, journal, get Luke ready, go to the gym, come home, get him down for a nap, make lunch and shower, Luke wakes up, go to the store, come home, clean up the house before Nick gets home, make dinner.

You see I have fallen, fallen into the trap, the trap of the "perfect housewife." My mind is screaming at me, "Be perfect, look perfect, eat perfect, house perfect." Neil is our pastor and he did a sermon last week on the loudest desire and your deepest desire, those are my loudest desires, but my deepest desire is to bring glory to God.

He has shown me that in order to be a good wife and mother I must keep my eyes on Christ and off of myself. In reality, as all of us, I am a selfish sinner that fights with the sin nature in me. Paul of all people wrote about this inner struggle, this inner war raging within him in Romans 7. "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7:21-25


God calls me to rest in Him, I am not resting for sure. I go through every day at full speed doing all that I can to be perfect and then worst of all at the end of the day I am tired, shocker huh! And I give what little I have left to Nick which is usually sarcasm, anger, and little time because I am so ready for bed. I am guilty of living for myself. In Isaiah 30:15 God says, "In repentance and rest is your salvation in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it!" 


I am ready to repentant of my selfish ways, to rest in Him, my strength. I am ready to trust that my God is enough, even when nothing gets done, I don't look like a size 4, and I can't eat perfectly to a T. He is all that I need, my eyes look to Him!

Lord that is my prayer, help me, I can't do it on my own. You are my rock which I cling to and build my life upon. I trust you that you have a plan and will for my life and that it all comes down to bringing glory to your name. May my life reflect you, not myself, may people see the love, joy, peace, and hope of Christ in me. I love you Father. Thank you for this new life, may I live it fully. Amen.

Our Little Athlete

I am currently typing this blog while our little Luke is sitting up on his own! He is such a rockstar!
We are so proud and are just falling more and more in love with the mover and shaker. Did I mention, he NEVER stops moving unless he is asleep! Wait take that back we will sometimes put him in the crib and he would have turned a complete 180 degrees when we get him!

He really wanted the camera and was a little upset that I wasn't giving it to him.

Luckily he is not eating any solids, just good ol' breastmilk. Did you know that their stomachs aren't able to digest anything besides breastmilk until they are 6 months, wow! They are made to live on breastmilk alone til then! He is gaining weight at an awesome rate so there really is no need to give him solids. I always hear if you give him a full dinner of solids before bed he will sleep through the night, this is not true though so I am perfectly ok with just nursing.

He is over 17 lbs and 30 in. long, that's right the 90th percentile in length! He is getting a tooth, we are expecting it to cut through any day, that means, as you know, EVERYTHING is in his mouth.

Here are a few pics!

This is my old man face.

Add caption

Give me the camera mom!

As for the rest of the family, we are about to embark on a two income family, well kind of. I am going to training next week to be  Body Pump instructor, and hopefully be teaching this year sometime. I never thought I would be a gym rat and want to be an instructor. I was never an athlete, only did colorguard in high school but that is it. This is what I have wanted to do for so long and am now able to help people become fit and stay fit!

Life-Long Resolution Part 2

Your health shouldn't be just a New Year's Resolution but a life-long resolution. I have not always been this health conscious, I was overweight and never exercised, ate fast food and processed food, until I realized what I was doing to my body was not glorifying to God. The Lord gave me this body to take care of, so while I at one point was obsessed about the scale, counting every calorie, and being so thin, I have been convicted to not stress about the worldly image of my body but take care of it as God calls us to.
I hear it all the time, "I work out everyday but I can't lose weight, you look great after having a baby, what is your secret." It is not a secret, it is pretty simple. I don't eat processed, fatty, sugary, empty foods. Instead, I fuel my body with organic vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean organic meat, wild caught fish, nuts, and beans. I eat every two to three hours to keep my metabolism up and have protein of some sort with every snack. Honestly I do give myself sugar sometimes, that is my weakness, but only eery now and then. Ok, don't get me wrong, if you do exercise that is awesome! You are doing your body wonders and adding years to your life, but that is only half or less of the equation. You see you MUST eat a well balanced, whole food diet to first of all lose weight, then second, to stay healthy. I can name so many diseases that have been linked to not eating the right food, not giving your body what it needs and feeding it trash. I recently had a gallbladder issue. About two months after I starting having huge stomach aches every time I ate, come to find out, my gallbladder was inflamed. I had to get off of dairy, sugar, fatty foods, low carb, and drink a liver cleansing juice with grape juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, and a little bit of apple cider vinegar (which is so good for you to drink every day). I am ten times better now, but while I ate "healthy" before, I am really eating better. Diabetes, cancer, colds, gallbadder inflammation and gallstones, IBS, digestive issues, etc. are all linked to not eating whole and organic foods. Did you know that many people get their gallbladder taken out when you can quickly and strictly change the way you eat and get rid of the stones and reverse it! Here are two of my favorite blogs for great recipes and living a healthy whole life and raising a family on those foods. Also, you must be drinking enough water, the right kind of water, tap water is sooo bad for you. The fluoride among many other things in it are horrible for you. We recently bought empty 5 gallon jugs and are buying the purified water from the grocery store machine. It is glacier water and is purified I believe 5 ways. We just keep Nalgene bottles with us all day, we drink coffee in the morning and water all day, that's it. Our body is mostly water, don't starve it of that. It also cleanses and keeps you going! God gave you this body, take care of it, fuel it with the right stuff, not cheap, empty gas.

The number one New Year's Resolution is to lose weight, every year. So we see the gyms get packed and I can guarantee, most of them think that since we are working out we can eat what we want, I earned it! Right, WRONG! Yes, you do burn calories therefore you need to take more in, but it is the kind of calories you are eating that makes the difference. If I could be an encourager to every new person that comes in to my gym, I would tell them I want to see you here past February, many leave then. Either they get bored or it just isn't a priority. Did you know we spend more money on healthcare than any other country in the world as individuals and health providers, etc., we are the most advanced, yet we are the most unhealthy country in the world. That is shocking! Diabetes is 100% preventable with exercise and healthy eating. I work out 1-2 hours 6 days a week doing cardio for an hour every day and strength training three times a week. I realize that many people can't work out for that long every day, but you can do cardio for 30 minutes a day, wake up earlier, go after work, go during your lunch break. You are doing yourself more favors than you know. The endorphins that are released when you exercise give you more energy, give you better sleep, and you are in a better mood. Who doesn't want to be a better mom, wife, daughter, worker, student, this is one way to get there. I am a better mom and wife because I take the time to exercise and eat right.

I could go on and on about this, it's a passion of mine as you can see. In the posts to come, I will go in depth on different topics. But lastly I would like to mention the importance of sleep. Did you know you burn a lot of calories when you sleep? You need 8-10 hours of sleep a night, and it's best when you are consistently going to sleep and waking up around the same time. You can't lose weight or function well without getting enough sleep.

Let's not put your health on the back burner, make it a priority, make it a life-long goal to be healthy. Don't stress about the scale, don't count every calorie, while portion sizing it best, don't go overboard, but take good care of the body you are given. God made you you, and we should fuel it well.

-Caitlyn

4 months and counting

Ok, so I realize I am horrible at updating the blog with all things Luke. So here is the low down with the little munchkin.

Can't see it, but there is a tooth coming in on the bottom!

He is a super baby I am convinced, he has mom's thunder muscle thighs, a six pack of abs, and he has shoulder muscles. Ya, the last one is not true but it sure does look like it!
He loves to stand all the time, with our help of course. He is now 4 months and a week, so crazy how time flies!
He is sleeping great, just waking up once to eat then goes right back to sleep and wakes up at around 7-8 all smiles! I just love it, what a way to wake up, to a beautiful, healthy, happy little blessing named Luke.
As many of you know because I am such a proud momma, he is rolling over both ways now. Rather, he has learned to roll from his back to his front and hasn't rolled the other way in so long because he just loves his new trick.
He loves to laugh, he giggles at all the silly songs I sing and the faces we make, and loves peek-a-boo.
He is getting his hair in mostly on top but so cute and fuzzy!
He is doing great at the Y childcare, they love him and he takes a bottle if he is hungry, soooo helpful. This is a huge blessing, I can still have my hour or two everyday to exercise and be sane, I am addicted to endorphins. I know this keeps me healthy and makes me a better wife and mother.
He is teething like crazy, chewing and drooling on everything, bibs are now a part of every outfit. We feel it coming in, so cool!
He loves Baby Einstein and Veggie Tales, we only have one movie of Veggie Tales and I know the whole movie.
He got a new jumperoo for Christmas among many other toys, and while he doesn't last long in it somedays, he is a rockstar at that thing!
He loves his tummy time and has such a strong head.
He lights up when he sees his daddy and loves to have daddy time, so blessed to have Nick as his dad! I am so glad Nick is an awesome dad because he will be taking care of Luke for two days 8 hours a day by himself in February while I train to become a Body Pump instructor!

I am loving being a mother with every day that goes by, its crazy that a year ago on Saturday I found out I was pregnant, broke down crying, well I did. I didn't have this planned for my life, and now I look at our little boy and would never take it back. I really miss youth ministry and I know I will do it again some day and will volunteer when Luke gets older, but for now, being a stay at home mom is the best job, most important, and most rewarding job the Lord has and will ever give me.

He got his daddy's old rattle!

Santa's cutest elf!

Thank you Abba for your plan, it is so much better than we can ever fathom and can every make ourselves. You knew what was in store for our family before Nick and I ever met, and I praise you for every moment, good and bad. I praise you for the trials and the joy in every day you give us. Thank you for this sweet baby boy you have given us to raise. Let us do it well and according to your Word. You are our life, more than the air we breathe, more than the food we eat, more than all the delights in our life. Let our lives and the way we act towards others fully reflect our love for you. Let Luke see that this family, his parents love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. You are so good, Holy, Righteous, King of Kings, the Great High Priest! We love you and in your Son we pray, AMEN!


~Caitlyn

Life-long resolutions part 1

Your relationship with the Lord and aspects of it should not just  be a New Year's resolution, but a life-long resolution. I know many Christ-followers are making their New Year's resolutions and many are read my Bible every day, pray more, journal more, love others more, and go to church more. I believe that New Year's resolutions usually fail, because we are trying to do things by ourself. I love what Ann Voskamp says in her blog, "Trying harder only results in harder trials." We were not meant to do this on our own, we were given the Holy Spirit when we gave our life to Christ, but we as self-centered human beings set out to do it all by ourselves. You see we live in a world that screams self-reliance, self-power, self-centrality, but we are not of the world. Jesus asks of the Father in John 17:15-17, "¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[a] the truth; your word is truth." We can't be sanctified which means to be set apart or to be made holy, purified, without knowing and being in the Word. 


Ok ok, let me confess, I find it so hard especially now that I have a baby, to get in the Word daily. So I am writing this to myself as well. Here is my challenge to myself and every reader out there.

1. Dive head first!
    -Ask of the Lord for a hunger and thirst for the Word. He doesn't want you to read and meditate out of a sense of duty and obligation. We as a church I feel pressure every Christian in our pews so much to do the morning "quiet time" that they are pushed away towards things that they like to do. We enjoy facebook, pinterest, youtube, blogs, and tv that we spend more time on those than we ever do with our Creator. Wake up you sleepers! He wants you, he wants a relationship with you, he wrote a whole book full of truth for us, why aren't we diving in? Lord that is my prayer for me and everyone else reading this, that we would hunger and thirst for your Word. I pray it would come alive when we read it, i pray we soak it up deep in our bones, that it penetrates to the deepest part of our being, that we store it up in our hearts as your Word says. I pray that we would use it more than any other earthly "wisdom", that you are our ultimate guide our life, our tree, our base that we build everything on. I pray that we would love your Law! Amen.


2. Join a community
    No I didn't say commune, we aren't FLDS here. By this I mean, surround yourself with loving, Christ-following, godly, real, and encouraging friends. God gives us church, He gives us brothers and sisters in Christ to lift us up and encourage us, and speak truth to us. He speaks through them so be listening. At the same time ask the Lord to make you a great friend as well, loving and active in others lives. Put yourself last, serve others, love others. Let me give a shout out to my sister who is one of very few that gets it. She lives in a very low-income mostly african-american community, in an old house with two other girls. Down the street is the "boys house" where they meet weekly with all the neighbors, serve food, hang with kids. They just do life with each other and those they live around. I am in awe of her and her selfless faithful heart to do exactly what Jesus did. I live in suburbia and I confess I am nowhere near doing this well. I am a part of a group of godly young women who challenge and encourage me. But I am not serving those who are in need, who don't know Jesus. I truly admire her. So this is my prayer for all of us, Lord, may you surround us with people who love you and passionately pursue you. Reveal yourself in my brothers and sisters, let me open up my heart and mind to what others share with me. Let us prayerfully reach out to others, smiling, talking to, encouraging everyone around me, that our light would shine so bright that they know something is different because of Christ in us. Thank you Lord for all the friends you give us, let us not take advantage of them but put them first. Amen.


3. Talk to your Dad
   Man, he is waiting to hear from you. I always listen to James MacDonald everyday and he is talking now about prayer. He mentions that God already knows what we are praying for, rather prayer is for us. It is for us to commune with the creator of the universe. How awesome is that??? We were given the gift of Jesus, he died so that we could have eternal life and a relationship with the Lord now. Back in the Old Testament times, only the high priest could talk to God and he had to go through so many rituals to get to God. But now, we are able to talk to God anytime, anywhere, for any reason. Why aren't we doing that more?? I can tell you, because we have our priorities out of whack. We like our lives with busyness, so we don't have "time" to talk to God. This is for me too, if I was to not talk to Nick, my husband, we wouldn't have a marriage.  So why would I neglect and not pursue God in prayer. I can't have a great relationship without talking to Him. The Lord our God has paved the way, so lets walk on it!

Here are a few resources I use every day in my time with God.

I always pray for Nick using this awesome book, Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian.
I start off my quiet time with Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.
I am loving this incredible blog that kind of goes off of her great book. Ann Voskamp is very gifted with her words and is so poetic and seeks passionately after the Lord. Always reminding us to give thanks in place of fear and stress. So good for us busy moms! Blog is here and book is here

~Caitlyn

Overwhelm Me With JOY

Let me start out by saying I wish I had more time to blog and more talent. I am not a writer but love sharing my heart and some wisdom on certain things. So here we go, I am a wreck! Yes, we are all a wreck and this season, the Christmas season has reminded me more and more of why I need Jesus, because He is strong and I am soooo weak! When I was little I loved Christmas, when I was working and we had more money, I loved Christmas, but ever since we are a one income, 3 person family, I dread this time of year. The Lord is teaching me so much through these really pessimistic feelings though and I am so grateful.

For one, I am a selfish person. I am not good at gift-giving, it's not my love language, I don't want Chrsitmas gifts to be completely honest, and I am awful at buying or making things for those I love. Well, wait, I feel the obligation of Christmas to buy gifts or make gifts, when I feel like this season is about Christ and all year long I should buy things out of the goodness of my heart for my loved ones not because someone decided you must give gifts to everyone because it is Christmas. Although in this, I am understanding that I am probably the only one that feels this way in my circle, so I would really offend others if I didn't get them gifts. So God is helping me find a balance in it all.

Second, is since we have a sweet baby boy now, I am really thinking about all the traditions I want to have with our family every Christmas. One being Advent, researching it and hearing more about it since we now go to a Methodist church, I really want to celebrate this in some form or fashion as a family starting next year. Another tradition would be having a nativity at the bottom of our tree because he is the reason for the season not necessarily all the presents. Then I would love to of course every year read the Christmas story, no not about Santa, but about Jesus in Luke. Another that I would love to do later on as Luke and if we have any more children get older, is to not receive any gifts one year and put all that money towards a family or more for their Christmas gifts. This showing that we have all that we need, and others need this more. I am continually asking the Lord to bring me joy in this holiday season and less stress or resentment.

Ok, changing the subject again, Luke is 3 1/2 months old and I feel as thought our lives have never been the same. Granted yes, we have a baby and it won't be.Yet, it feels like one attack spiritually after another, it is a very hard, yet rewarding season we are in. Just as I was getting over my gallbladder issues, Luke gets a cold that turns into ear infections and horrible chest infection. It is the hardest thing to watch your little baby suffer, not being able to cough anything up, watch him with a fever, and listen to his stuffy nose and then watch him scream bloody murder as you suction out all the snot. The joy of being a mom, it's just one of those things. Yet, he is coming out of this, he is a little stuffy and coughing a little but much better, the smiles are back and giggles and shorter naps. The Lord is stronger and will not give us anything we can't handle. He is fighting for us and we are standing strong in that promise.

The family before our Turkey Day 4 mile run at the Turkey Trot.

My boys are so good lookin in flannel!

Enjoying our Thanksgiving lunch.

Luke is getting so big, he weighs 13.8 lbs and is #2 diapers! He is such a joy-filled baby, laughs, smiles, giggles, and coos all the time. I love being a stay at home mom, wouldn't want to miss any of these moments. So proud he is rolling over from front to back, he did this at 2 1/2 months! We think he is going to be walking really early! He loves his bumbo seat, his little peacock toy, and standing on any surface with our help of course. The new thing is when he is in his bumbo, he reaches and knocks over anything in his path, vitamin bottles sugar container, candles, he knocks it over and loves it. All this while chewing on the bumbo because he is getting a tooth! I can't believe he will be able to eat solids in a few months, not that we will introduce it right away. We are watching him and when he is grabbing for it, we will start with sweet potato or avocado, no rice cereal for this kid! He loves to hear his name and turns every time and smiles, and the biggest smiles sometimes are when daddy comes home, he loves him. So thankful for this little bundle of joy, he is going to do great things for people and for Jesus with his love.

Oh I forgot to mention, I am below my pre-baby weight! Thanks to eating healthy, exercising, and breastfeeding I am getting my body back. As I was going through the gallbladder pain, I was constantly researching what to do and eat and not eat when I was hurting and found incredible stuff. This blog is so helpful on living and eating as the Lord has called us to do in a health perspective. We are given this body and are called to take care of it physically as we do spiritually. What we eat and put in our bodies shouldn't be junk put whole, real, unprocessed, and healthy food. We as a family are doing a lot more organics, less meat, more nuts,  and more fruits and veggies to feed our engines with good fuel not watered down harmful junk. I believe that while this is more expensive that the Lord with provide financially as we choose to take care of these temples. Not to mention we are doing it to prevent further diseases and illnesses. While I know we are not in full control, prevention is the key instead of getting sick and living on medication.

Til next time, have a blessed and merry Christmas.
Thank you Lord for sending your one and only Son to be born in a manger to an incredible mother and father who listened to your voice and obeyed. Thank you for bringing our Savior into this world over 2000 years ago so that we may have life and have it abundantly. May we as Christ-followers seek to love, serve, and respect others this season and every day of our lives. May we put ourselves last and others first loving them as we love ourselves. We pray for your kingdom to come! We love you Dad! Amen!

Lord's Army

I always love to sing the song "I'm in the Lord's Army" to Luke. I truly believe that he is going to do mighty things for God's Kingdom and the enemy has nothing against him. We pray for him that he would walk in faith and not by sight, that he would be bold and courageous, a mighty man of God! We love to see him grow and learn as God grows him more than we can see right now. He is such a joy and we love to look at all these smiles.

The joy of the Lord is our strength, and he is full of it!

On a personal note, this has been one of the hardest months physically and emotionally since he has been born. Luckily he was sleeping for 9-10 hours a night so I was able to sleep, so blessed. Yet, I have had horrible stomach aches for almost nonstop and its worse after I eat. After going to the ER and GI specialist, it was the chiropractor that finally figured out I have a very weak gallbladder and it is most likely inflamed. I am praying that it's not gall stones, as I research, it is very common after and during pregnancy because of all the hormones. I go in for an ultrasound on Tuesday, so we will know for sure. While being sick has really been hard, I am very limited on what I can eat, and have not been able to work out or do much at all. You see after you work really hard to lose weight and then get pregnant, you get down on yourself as you see the post baby body. 

So looking back, talking with friends, and really praying, I believe that this physical illness is only of the enemy. I know this is spiritual warfare and I am on the frontline now to fight with God behind me. I am healthy, I eat healthy, I take care of myself, we were actively pursuing the Lord and raising up Luke as we could to love Him. Satan hates that and he got me right where he knew it would hurt me emotionally,  physically, and spiritually. I started to believe all the lies, then realized that where I am weak, He is strong. 

This week I have been focused on Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

Along with the full armor of God in Ephesians, I am praying and surrendering this battle to the Lord, I will fight with what he has given me.  I am a beautiful daughter of the Most High King and nothing will defeat me because God is for me! I pray that anyone in the valley knows just who they are in Christ and that Satan has no hold, he has been defeated! I am in the Lord's Army, YES SIR!

Happy Turkey Month!

We have arrived, to November that is. What a joy October was, but let's be honest we can't wait for family time and delicious food. So back to October, Luke is now 2 months old, he is growing so fast!

He is holding his head up so well although he has been doing that for a while, and he loves to stand, with our help of course. His favorite thing to do is the play mat, he loves the lights and a little rattling elephant, he intentionally swats at it and laughs, so cute! We went to our two month doctor's appointment and he is a healthy 12 pounds and 24 inches long, yup in the 80 percentile in length!

On another note, my husband is a rockin' athlete! He is running his first half marathon next week, and did his first bike race today! He rode 26 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes, ya he is a beast. I am so proud of him, he is a healthy and fit man taking care of himself so that he can live a long life and be able to play with his kids and later grandkids.

I am so blessed with the family I have, thank you Lord!

Dear Friends

This time last year we were looking at jobs everywhere in the country from Dallas to Michigan I had applied and interviewed everywhere. This was bittersweet because the Lord has really given me an incredible group of friends and loving community that seeks after the Lord with all that they are. I had this in college and was so blessed to find this here in Katy so quickly! When we found out we were pregnant and we told everyone we were staying because I would stay at home with Luke, they were thrilled and little did we know how much of an impact and blessing they would be to us. I can call or text any one of them with a prayer, for help, for encouragement. I can call any one of them in the middle of the night crying because of my crazy hormones or a crying baby that can't be calmed. I love them, each of them is so different yet so precious to me!

I have no idea what I would do if I was in Michigan when I found out I was pregnant. Lord I thank you for all my friends and all the mothers who have mentored me, loved me, reached out to me, and prayed for me in every circumstance. Being in community like this, surrounded by God-fearing women, has been a crucial piece of my spiritual formation and I am so thankful for every woman that has been in my life! I love you all!

"A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:7

5 Weeks Old

Already 1 month!

Our little baby is growing up so fast, he is so long and his cheeks are so chubby! All I want to do is kiss his cute little cheeks. We have recently fell in LOVE with the Moby Wrap, it is a miracle sleeper. When I know he is sleepy and fussy, just put on the moby wrap, which I have mastered, then slip him in, then in a good 2 minutes or less he is out. I can do laundry, cook, blog, read, do dishes, and even take a little siesta in the recliner with him in it, oh ya not to mention shopping. See it is amazing the various looks and comments I get when I am carrying him in it, one lady thought it was a dog, seriously!

On another note, Nick turned 26 last week and it was his first birthday as a dad, it was a great pre-birthday, not so much on Sunday, Luke was a little fussy.  A little bragging on my incredible hubby- he is a great husband, so selfless and compassionate, loving, and godly. He makes great financial decisions in order to best steward God's money. He is a such a loving a fun dad, he totally rocked he Eddie Bauer carrier in order to calm Luke yesterday, and bounced the car seat with him in it in order to calm him, he dances in front of Luke to calm him, and dances with Luke in the mirror. I have never seen this side of him, but let me tell ya, it is one of the sexiest things to see your husband be such a fun and loving father! He is also running a half marathon in San Antonio in November, he is a rock star!

On a personal note, after a few good nights, come a few rough nights. He cries for about 3 hours starting at around 8 until we have tried everything to get him to calm down and eat then sleep. So far the moby wrap has won every time!  Yet, he is not totally sleeping at night, he would love to stay awake for 2 hours, not crying, just wide awake in the middle of the night. In these moments I have learned to not get frustrated so easily, be grateful that it could be worse, and pray that God would give me an abundant amount of energy the next day. My prayers lately have been to fill my home with joy and peace. When Luke is not happy and we can't figure it out, we cry out to God for peace and joy in the hard moments. He will never be this little again and I must not dwell on the frustrations and be so negative, but cherish every smile, coo, and giggle. He is our little miracle and he is learning and growing right in front of our eyes!

Oh did I mention, I got the best compliment last week, a lady said that I didn't look like I just had a baby a month ago. Made my day!

He loves bath time!

Journey into Motherhood

I can't believe it's been almost a month since we brought home our sweet little baby boy Luke Andrew. He was born at 4:16 pm after 14 hours of labor on August 31. God, you see, has a sense of humor and is so cool! He knew the exact day that Luke would be born, I gave birth to Luke 9 years to the day that Nick and I started dating.

Luke a few days old in dad's warm and loving arms.

This month has been full of many late nights, many, many diapers, many onesies, many smiles, and a few tears, not to mention the many prayers I have said as I am learning how to do this mommy thing. Although I am at awe of all that comes naturally and is instilled in us women by God our creator.

First it was labor, it was hard, and painful, yet doing it all natural in a birth center with midwives was the best choice for us and for Luke. When they put him in my arms I knew all that pain, the vomiting, and the toughing it out with no medical intervention was so worth it to have my healthy beautiful boy. Many people ask me,"so how was your labor, would you do it again or do it in a hospital with drugs?" My answer every time is of course I would do it again, just not any time soon, ha!

Nick holding his son for the first time, I love this picture!

Second, people tell you your life will never be the same, that it will be totally different, and while you can prepare with all the books and classes, nothing prepares you for everything that happens when you bring a baby home. Yet, with the little amount of sleep we get, the Lord really supplies us with so much energy. But I have to admit there were a couple of nights where he wouldn't go to bed, wide awake, happy, which is a blessing, but wide awake at like 2 am for 2 hours! We have been working on a schedule and he is sleeping better at night, it's amazing that we get excited to get four hours of sleep at a time in between feedings.

Enough complaining, it has been such a joy to see him grow so fast. About two weeks old, he started holding his head up on his own, we were so proud! He is one strong fella, he kicks like a soccer player and he's got my thigh muscles. He laughs like his daddy and smiles all the time when he is awake and asleep.  I have not had a real problem breastfeeding in fact he was 7# 4 oz at birth and now a month later he is almost 10 lbs and really long too. Luke is growing like a weed! He loves his bath time and is so chill until we pull him out of course because it is so cold. I still can't believe that he is our son, it is such  miracle.

He has the cutest faces!

Almost a month old and loves his bath times and hooded ducky towel.

On a personal note, motherhood is never what you expect it to be. You have to be totally selfless, taking care of this little one 24/7/365. It is such an incredible picture of our God, we are totally dependent on our Lord. It is when we give up control and go to Him with everything we are and for all our needs that we are nourished to the full. Luke doesn't get his nourishment from anywhere else but breast milk, and how cool is it that God created this, milk that sustains and grows my baby boy is in me. The Lord knows just what he needs and supplies it in such an intimate way, I love it and I love our bonding time. I also love those feedings, and there are many at this age, because I can listen to many podcasts from Ben Stuart, David McQueen from Beltway in Abilene, Nancy Leigh Demoss on Revive Our Hearts, and James McDonald on Walk in the Word. All of these speakers and pastors are so different yet fuel me as a Christ-follower, wife, and now mother. I also really enjoy that time because I can lift up my family and friends in prayer. Pretty cool how I am forced to be still and I am learning to take full advantage of that, but I will admit since I have facebook, email, and pinterest on my phone I am having sometimes to choose to not look at those and devote that time to God. I really see that I am a better wife, mother, and friend when I do.

Our first walk, we all loved the little bit of exercise we got!

I cherish the times when he fall asleep on us.

Fatherhood is such a joy too, well from what I can see in Nick. He is such a trooper, he gets up with me when I need a hand with Luke, he holds him whenever he can, talking to him and playing with him. He loves his son and is so excited to see him when he gets home, I really try to send videos and pictures everyday so that he doesn't miss a moment of Luke's life. I am so so blessed to have Nick as my husband, God definitely knew what He was doing when He brought us together 9 years ago. Now, 9 years later Nick is such a blessing to Luke as an incredible, godly father. I love you Nick!

We are so in love with our little man, our miracle, our blessing, our first born son whom I pray will be a kingdom-impacter for Jesus' name! We love you Luke Andrew!