Never let up...

"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 the members of 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." Romans 7:21-23

Sometimes, ok most of the time, it feels like I can never let up. Just when I think I can relax and maybe not be as diligent about my prayer time or reading my Bible or just keeping God's plan for me in the front of my mind; BAM! Satan creeps right in. Just when I think, "I know this stuff, I know what God wants for me and I am on the right path"



WHAMMY!

There it is, spiritual warfare at it finest. It seems small at first. Maybe I am annoyed with my husband and then I have a bad attitude towards him. Or I let my students get to me and then I am rude to other students. Or I just let Satan into my thoughts and I am very negative and judgemental.

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" 1 Corinthians 11:14

Whatever form it takes, I know it is Satan trying to get to me because he knows I let my guard down. Satan is the Prince of this world; he rules it. I know this and yet I let him get the best of me at times. It just seems like I am always fighting always having to move forward. As soon as I let up; whether it be in my prayer time, working out, laundry, getting packed for the next day....or a litany of things. As soon as I think I am "ahead" then something happens.

How do I avoid this? How do I stay on top? Oh that's right, don't rely on my own strength, remember that I can't do it on my own, and as Pastor Bob says, "Die to self everyday. Everyday He must increase and I must decrease." And this will be a fight/battle/war everyday until the day Jesus comes again. So I guess I just needs to succumb to that fact and trust God.

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Melts my heart

Some of the things that this sweet little angel says just melts my heart.

When I give her something, a snack or toy, she very sweetly says, "Tantu, mama." (Thank you, mama). It just melts my heart and makes me smile. It is so sweet and loving. I have to remember this during those time that she is yelling and screaming at me because I am not giving her what she wants.

She will also stretch our her arms and say, "hug, hug". It is just so sweet and innocent. She even asks Nut (the Dog) for a hug. Times like this make me so happy. What a sweet baby!

Home really is where the heart is...

I know this saying has been used a lot and has maybe even lost some meaning because of its over use, but, it really is true. I went to ABQ this weekend to help go through the last few things at mom's house that needed to be divided (I swear we have been doing this non-stop for the 2 years and we still have stuff in the garage we will have to tackle at some point). So, I stayed at mom and Bill's for the first time. I was a little nervous about how different it would be, but once we were there we just settled right in.
When I talked to Whitney and Meghan the next day they both wanted to know the same thing, "So, how was it? Was it strange?" And my answer, "No, it was fine. I felt totally at home." Whitney said, "Well, everything we do will always be different with out dad here; that is never going to change. But where ever Mom is that is home." She is so right. Even though we have TONS of memories in that house over the past 31 years that is not really where our home is.
Every time we go though a different stage or change the last couple of years we really have done well and it is ok. For some reason we keep being surprised and I really don't know why. The day after my dad passed away I laid there and prayed (and I know I wasn't the only one) for a man for my mom that would be kind and caring and make my mom happy and....fit into our family and, if he had kids, that we would all get along. So, why do I keep being surprised that God answered our prayers. He has always taken care of us before the need even arose so why do I keep thinking that something is going to be strange or difficult.
So, we will continue to find our new "normal" everyday with out Dad here, but we know where home will always be.

"Hep you!"

"Hep you!" This is what we hear all day when we try to get anything done. I was trying to clean up the mess she had made in her room and she followed me around saying, "I hep (help) you momma!" This is her actually yelling that at me. She says, "Hep you" when she wants to help us and when she wants us to help her, so sometimes we get in trouble if we try to help her when she doesn't want it.

Everytime I try to put her in her car seat, "Hep you!" because she wants to buckle her own seat. Then we have to keep an eye on her because she tries to unbuckle it while we are driving. She wants to help us put our shoes on, change her diaper, wipe our own nose or even feed ourselves. We are sure getting a lot of "hep" around here these days. I have no idea how we used to function with out her...but we were probably on time more often.
" Hmmmm, what should I clean next? These parents of mine are slobs!"


Her cheese face that she seems to make everytime we want to take a picture of her lately.

The Family

This is my project I have been working on for Mom and Bill. I can finally post this because I gave it to them last night. I just wanted to make something to show how our families have been blended together because of God's love. Mom and Bill are staying at my house for the 1st time and I was a little sad thinking about Dad and the coffee pot I had for him and I thought it might be strange. But it is not strange at all. Everyone is happy that is what matters. I love giving Bill a hard time just like I would my sisters or my dad (or pretty much anyone else I care about:) We are so blessed and lucky to all have each other. I hope they enjoy my little painting as much as I enjoyed making it.

Crafting and snow

One of my projects this weekend. Well, I actually worked on two projects but I screwed one of them up and have to start all over again. I can't wait to share some pics, but I have to wait until I give it to my mom. I guess it is not such a bad thing to redo it because I had a few things I wanted to change about it. But it took me 2 days and I was almost done. Oh well, mom won't be here for 2 weeks so I guess I have time. It was great to have this project done.
Whitney gave me Grady's cube/shelf so we covered it with contact paper.

This is what is looked like when we started. We just gave it alittle face lift.

And here is the finished project. Now most of Madelynn's toys are in her room not in the living room. We just have a couple doll strollers parked in there and a few big toys. Plus it is great because she can actually see all her books and toys. Thanks Aunt Whitney (and Aunt Meghan for bringing it up)

Snow day fun with daddy. She loved playing in the back of the truck.

Madelynn's snow angel. So cute.

Say Cheese and have fun in the snow!

What a great snow day. We ended up with a 3 day weekend we didn't even expect. God's little blessings are so wonderful.