Wholly Yours

Today has been one of those days where I feel like God is knocking on the door of my heart. We had another great message this week during worship - embracing God's truth as reality & allowing it to transform your life. For me it brought to mind Galatians 5:1 - "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

I will definitely be pondering/processing/meditating on this throughout the week. As I was doing just that on the way home I heard this song. I found myself sitting in the car when I got home until the song ended. I'm always blown away by the lyrics of David Crowder songs, especially the way he can play on words & perfectly represent different aspects of our relationship with God. So, here's another good one:

Wholly Yours

I am full of earth You are heaven’s worth I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity You are everything that is bright and clean The antonym of me You are divinity But a certain sign of grace is this From a broken earth flowers come up Pushing through the dirt You are holy, holy, holy All heaven cries “Holy, holy God” You are holy, holy, holy I wanna be holy like You are You are everything that is bright and clean And You’re covering me with Your majesty And the truest sign of grace was this From wounded hands redemption fell down Liberating man You are holy, holy, holy All heaven cries “Holy, holy God” You are holy, holy, holy I want to be holy like You are But the harder I try the more clearly can I feel The depth of our fall and the weight of it all And so this might could be the most impossible thing Your grandness in me making me clean Glory, hallelujah Glory, glory, hallelujah You are holy, holy, holy All heaven cries “Holy, holy God” You are holy, holy, holy I want to be holy, holy God So here I am, all of me Finally everything Wholly, wholly, wholly I am wholly, wholly, wholly I am wholly, wholly, wholly Yours I am wholly Yours I am full of earth and dirt and You

17 Weeks

This week I am 17 weeks along & I was supposed to have an appointment this Wednesday, but...I got sick with a sinus infection last week, so I ended up going in early for that. It actually worked well because they went ahead & did my 17 wk checkup & blood tests, etc. and we got to schedule the sonogram for May 4th to find out if our little spud is a girl or boy! I can't wait!!

Other than that, I've been feeling the baby moving since Thursday night! It's kind of a weird sensation, but pretty cool at the same time. Also, I finally got around to getting a pic of me with the baby bump, so here ya go...

Finally, here's a pic of the new WillowTree John got me! I love it & I am so thankful for my thoughtful husband who has pretty much spoiled me rotten thoughout this pregnancy! :)

That's it for now! :)

Spud

So, things are changing at our house!

We are very excited to "Go Public" with our news: That's our precious baby, ETA: September 20, 2010!

That makes me 13 and a half weeks along. Friday we went for our 2nd doctor's appointment & got to hear the heartbeat again (so cool!) & so far everything is going very smoothly. We are incredibly excited & can't wait to meet our little 'spud' (When I first saw the ultrasound I said it looked like a little potato), and we get to find out the gender in about 6 weeks - YES, we are finding out! :o)

By the way, happy birthday to my mom today! I love you, Mommy!

The Cheese/Pee Touch

Have I mentioned how much I love 5th graders??? My kids were cracking me up today with an interesting activity stemming from this book. If you haven't read the book(you should, it's hilarious), you may have seen the trailer for the movie that's coming out. In the trailer they mention "The Cheese Touch". Basically there's this really old, nasty piece of cheese on the blacktop that's been there forever & if you touch it, you get The Cheese Touch. Once infected, other kids will stop at nothing to avoid contact with you because The Cheese Touch can be passed on from kid to kid. Well, apparently one of my boys stepped in pee in the bathroom today, and thus began...The Pee Touch. I first noticed something was wrong when I kept seeing my kids walking around with their fingers crossed. Then at recess I asked a kid why they weren't playing tag like usual. His response: Mrs. M, it is way too dangerous for tag with The Pee Touch out there. I made the mistake of asking what that was & got the bathroom story, then I learned that the crossing your fingers is the only thing that gives you immunity from The Pee Touch. For the rest of recess I watched The Pee Touch get passed around (to pass on The Pee Touch, you simply poke someone with your finger & say, "touch." Then you burst into ewwwing, pointing, and yelling, "Now you've got the pee touch!" Right before we went in, it was finally passed to me. I had thought I had immunity, being the teacher & all, but alas, no. Well, here's the good news, teachers pretty much get to cheat in any game because with the great authority you have comes a fair amount of corruption. It's the truth, people. So I simply waited until the kids were writing in their planners at the end of the day and passed The Pee Touch on to an unsuspecting kid who was simply following directions. Now he's stuck with it until tomorrow, when we will all be walking around with our fingers crossed trying to avoid contracting this horrible disease.

5th Grade Camp 2010

Last week I got to spend plenty of quality time with my kiddos. We spent 3 days at camp where the days were packed full of science lessons, hikes, and craziness. We had a great time, the weather was beautiful, & I think all the kiddos learned a lot. I'm pretty sure my favorite moment was when one of my kids answered a question by saying a baby frog is called...a mermaid.

I don't have any pics of John since he was behind the camera the whole time, but here's me with a couple of our buddies. Ha ha...posers. Next week is Spring Break...let the countdown begin! :o)

Waiting

I thought of this post after I realized that several of my friends are in similar places, but through different circumstances (if that makes sense). We all have times when we have something on the horizon (or right in our faces) that (a) worries us (b) makes us wait for resolution and (c) is completely out of our control. Whether it be test results, sick kids, financial stuff, job stuff, family stuff, relationship stuff, etc...etc...etc...the situations stir up the same feelings: fear, worry, anxiety...As I've been thinking about this type of waiting, & praying for friends over the last few weeks, these are some things that have been on my heart: Psalm 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Waiting Room by Shane Barnard I will run when I cannot walk I will sing when there is no song I will pray when there is no prayer I will listen when I cannot hear Sitting in the waiting room of silence waiting for that still soft voice I know Offering my words up to the rooftop to your Heart Trusting that this closet's where you are Lord I know if I change my mind You will change my heart in time Sovereign Lord this time's from You So I sit in the waiting room...of silence 'cause it's all about you I will fight when I cannot feel I will trust when you don't seem real I will tell when I cannot speak I will step when I cannot see Sitting in the waiting room of silence Waiting for that still soft voice I know Offering my words up to the rooftop to your heart Trusting that this closet's where you are Lord I know if I change my mind you will change my heart in time Sovereign Lord this time's from you so I sit in the waiting room Daniel 9:22-23a He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given..." Philippians 4:6&7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Holiday Wrap Up

My 2 weeks off from school is coming to a close & I'm ready to get back to work. I miss my kiddos & I miss my schedule - believe it or not. So...before I jump back into things, I thought I'd update the good ol' blog. Here's what I did during my 2 weeks off: The first week was dedicated to family & holiday preparations. I am so grateful for the quality time I got with my family - especially my sister, who came in from Los Angeles. We shopped, ate Mexican food, saw Sherlock Holmes, talked, laughed, & acted silly (as sisters tend to do).

We made cookies with John's folks - this is one of my favorite holiday traditions. We added a reindeer cookie cutter to the mix this year - very exciting indeed.

Christmas Eve at church - Since John is involved in all of the services (5:30, 7:30, 10:00) on Christmas Eve, I usually go with him & hang out/ help him out in between services. This year I went to the children's service & loved the message. Families actually put together their own Christ Candle to take home with them (complete with scripture & a clay stand for it) and Pastor Steve encouraged parents to light the candle with their kiddos & share the story of Christ's birth. He also encouraged them to share their child's own story with their child & I can only imagine the precious conversations that took place as a result of this prompting. At 7:30 I got to sing with my favorite people in the Praise Band & my favorite moment was the end of O Holy Night - Dori is amazing. After the 7:30 service, Etta (Pastor Steve's wife - and one of my favorite people in the world) brought us all taco soup & beef stew (my fave!) for dinner. The 'dinner' hour has become tradition & is always one of the best parts of the night. Finally, we ended the night with the 10:00 service which consists of scripture & carols - it's always so peaceful.

John and I have our own tradition that has developed over the last few years: we get home from church around 11:30 or 12 & wrap each other's presents (yes, we procrastinate until then). By the time we're done wrapping, it's Christmas! So...we open our presents to each other!

Christmas day was spent at John's parents' house in Fort Worth - complete with snow. If you've seen the pics on Facebook, you've met Ned - the snowman we built (by 'we' I mean John & Billy).

Once the holiday rush was over, things slowed down a LOT! I stayed up late, slept in every day, read 6 books, met friends for lunch, cleaned the house, watched movies, & spent time with John & my snuggly puppy dog. It was pretty awesome. :)