Snow! And Other Things

Bundled Bray up-Check!
Played in the snow-Check!
Took pictures in the snow-Check!
Unbundled Bray-Check!
Peppermint Hot Chocolate for both of us-Check!
Cuddles, giggles, punches-Check!
Baby Bug sound asleep-Check!
Christmas music playing-Check!
Snow falling-Check
This is a very good day. :)

There is something about the cold and the snow and the music and the decorations that makes me want to bake...and bake and bake and bake. I can't help it! Something in me screams "Fatten 'em up! Gotta keep them warm!" :) hahahaha!!!! So I bake......
My mom, sister and I started a tradition a few years back...we gather ourselves, our children, and most importantly, our baking supplies together for one day and go BUCK WILD! We make peanut butter kiss cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate crinkles, fudge, peppermint fudge, gingerbread somethings, and so much more...then we divide up all the goods and go home full of sugar, love and memories. It makes me happy :)
This year it will be me and mom at one house and Lib at her new home in ND.....but that won't stop the sugar, love or memories from happening.....I'm sure there will quite a few phone calls made and probably a skpe or two to get all the questions answered and giggles out.
At the root of my incessant need to bake this time of year, I believe, lays a very strong desire to give to all those who have given to me through out the year. I sit back and think about all the blessings I have received. Friends who have given love and laughter and wisdom, Mentors who have shared their lives and hearts. Family who has stood through thick and thin, and then some and has loved and laughed through it all. The Lord, who has been our Rock and Salvation and Provider, who is, through everything, always faithful. My husband who works so hard, who loves and cherishes us, who strives to be obedient to the Lord and  to provide for us. My son, who, on any given day will melt your heart and make you want to cry from sheer joy and laugh til you pee yourself. New friends who have opened their homes and hearts.
Wow. So much to be thankful for :)
So old friends and new, family and mentors, Matt and Brayden.....THANK YOU for making this a wonderful year. :)

A Weed's Life :)

My confidence is in Him....NOT ME.....HIM :)
Just had to remind myself!!!!
Anyway.....Life has been busy for us. Matt is working 10's...soon to possibly be 12's or 14's, plus Saturdays. I have been super busy in the evening with my business so Bray spends a lot of time with his beloved Tatie (his baby sitter Katie). We haven't had a lot of family time lately...but what we have had has been some pretty quality stuff :) Bray is in a story telling phase...his favorite story is how "My Tatie took me to foooootball game, and they throw it and catch and run, run, run!" Mind you, this is all done with full body motions....very adorable!
With the holidays coming,we are looking at making this season more about family and friends than "things". Lord knows, Bray has PLENTY of toys so it will be a few small things and  a stocking...but plenty of hot chocolate dates and Christmas lights drives :) We are REALLY excited to take him to our church's Christmas Eve service...it will be his first one and he is at just the right age to have a ton of fun. Unfortunately, this will also be his first Christmas without his favorite cousins.....the good news? He really likes skyping with them so we will do that Christmas day.....he thinks it super funny when the girls "hide" and pop back upon camera :)
So that's a little update on us....we have Bray's cousin Neviah today and tomorrow, he and I will be going to Othello to see some of Matt's family...lots of fun!!!!! :)

Promises, promises, promises!

Why is it so easy to listen to the negative? To hear and see the bad, not so great things in our lives?
I'll tell you why.....(thank you PC for this little nugget, I've been chewing on it since yesterday!!).
Because the devil knows his time is limited...so he YELLS and SHOUTS and SCREAMS to be heard........
The Lord on the other hand, knows He will reign FOREVER so he comes in a still small whisper. He doesn't have to make a big scene to be heard because thru it all, His love endures, His peace surpasses, HE is mighty and great.
Who have I been listening too? Mostly the loud stuff :) But, more and more, I have been hearing that whisper.....funny thing......The loud and the whisper seem to completely contradict each other....who woulda thought? ;)
I know what the Lord has promised me and my family....He has been pretty darn specific actually.....it's a long story (a good one but long!) so I'm not going to tell it right now....let's just say He has given us a number of how many children we will have, dreams, pictures and confirmation after confirmation.  :)
BUT....how do I hold on to that when my everyday is so opposite? By remembering that my REALITY is not hat I can see with my natural eyes but with my supernatural ones.
It's like saying I have a headache and confessing that I believe that I am healed....it's not a contradiction.....it's just a statement of 2 realities...it's just that one is eventually going to overwhelm the other when I just keep on saying what God says about me (Got to give credit to Bishop Joseph Garlington for that one!!!).
What does God say about you? That you should live in misery? Anxiety? Depression? Fear? Hopelessness?
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! He says there is NO condemnation for those in Christ, that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the SAME SPIRIT that dwells in YOU to bring life to your mortal body, that you are his son/daughter (HELLO?!?! Can you say royalty?!?!), that our hope is IN HIM, if God is for us WHO can be against us? That we CANNOT be separated from His love. That we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Him who loved us. He has promised peace that surpasses understanding....meaning...when all hell breaks loose in our lives...we can have peace knowing that HE is God and is in control...with our best interest at heart.
Point is....are you living a daily life that you find joy in? Do you have peace? If not....if all you see are the bills piling up, the kids crying, the grades failing, the jobs disappearing, your spouse's distance, the friends not there, parents fighting....whatever it is.....I encourage you to look at what God says about you and your situation. His promises are a far better reality....and trust in Him and you will see that reality in the here and now.
The verse the Lord has given us is Jeremiah 29:11-13. "I know what I am doing. I have it ALL planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." Talk about a promise!!!! :)

Inside the Circle

Slept in...9am was glorious :)

Spent the day with the 4 lovely Lake ladies.
Came home, made mashed potatoes and creamed corn, heated up leftover roast and gravy...tried to burn the bread...
Nicole and I talked about a lot of things...no really.....it was a LOT. We get started on tangents and there's just no going back :)
One thing that I keep thinking on....how do you answer the "Isn't being a Christian all about you can't do this and you can't do that?" question?
Jesus is so much more than a list of do's and don'ts....
People may look at my life and say...she DON'T drink, she DON'T smoke, she DON'T cuss, she don't she don't she don't do all the FUN things....
She DO go to church, she DO spout out bible sayings, she DO tell people she's praying for them, she DO be a good girl.......
What they don't know is that for most of my life growing up (in church)...I was a good girl and I did live by a list of do's and don'ts.....and it SUCKED. Going to that party, making out with that guy, drinking that beer...the only thing stopping me from those things was my reputation...a GOOD girl didn't do those things......but, boy, did I want to join in on the "fun."
And then I met Jesus....in the midst of being at that party, meeting those guys, watching people get drunk and offering me the same thing....and all the sudden....I didn't WANT those things.
The first thing I realized was how much my Father's heart was grieving for the choices I had already made. The second thing? I saw what the all that "fun" was really doing to people.
This is where's Nicole comes in :) She told me about something she had heard at her bible study.....Picture yourself standing in a room...a big black circle all around you....And the Lord says...Inside this circle, no getting drunk, no defiling your body, no gossiping.....Doesn't look so fun....until you do those things, step outside the circle and find your self puking in some random guy's toilet, not sure if you had sex or just passed out. Your best friend won't talk to you because she heard about what you told your others friends about her. The circle is starting to look pretty good right now.
Being in that circle is not a bunch of DON'Ts...it's God saying He loves you and wants the best for you and wants to keep you from all that pain and emptiness...inside that circle is His love and protection and His best for you.
The Lord showed me a long time ago that it would be relationship, not religion, that would change my life. Religion would mean trusting in my own strength to do the "right" thing....relationship would mean trusting in His redeeming work and His grace and His strength. I would much rather trust in the Maker of heaven and earth then in my measly little amount of self control.
Fast forward.....it's pretty easy to stay away from some of the big temptations of my past...but the Lord showed me today that I need to get back to relying on my relationship with Him to keep me in that circle even on the seemingly small things.....what's my character like these days? Do I go to Him with decisions or do I make them on my own because I've been doing this Christian "thing" for almost ten years? Do I really think I have "attained" or arrived or that I don't need a Savior anymore today than I did ten years ago? Talk about humbling....Just cause I have been justified by the blood of Jesus doesn't mean I'm not still being sanctified....praise the Lord I am! I want Him to search me and know me now, maybe even more than I did when I first met Him......And the beauty of it? He feels the same way :) Even though He made me, knew me in my mother's womb.....He still wants to know my every thought and feeling, because He loves me....HE wants relationship with ME...blows my mind. The One who literally made this earth into being...wants to know my heart AND show me His........that is the ultimate.
So the answer to the question (that I asked way in the beginning of this post!) is: NO! Christianity has nothing to do with a list and everything to do with your heart....put it in His hands I promise, you will never be sorry.

Morning Sunshines!

It's a beautiful fall day out, yes? I decided to join the blogging world, well, because everyone else does it and I thought it only fair, if I can peek into your world, you can peek into mine :)
I am known (at least to myself) to be a master planner and list maker..so here's the plans for this blog:
1. Keep the world up to date on how ridiculously cute, clever, witty and down right adorable my son is (b/c NO ONE else does that, right?)
2. Proclaim the goodness of the Lord in our lives...hence the title of this blog. Don't worry, explanation will come at a later date.
3. To share some of the extremely random thoughts that run through my head...at this moment...I love the Enchanted song on Taylor Swift's new album (maybe not so random since it's playing in the background right now).
4. Share some tips of the trade I have learned...as a wife, mom, lover of Jesus, sister, and daughter.
So there's the plan. Note: I never said I was all that great at sticking to my plans, so don't hold it against me if everything I post has nothing to do with those things.
Just an FYI....my son has taken to living in an Ironman costume...thank you auntie and JoJo for so generously donating to Brayden's imagination. Now if I could just get him out of it to wash it ;)