Prayer Warriors

I have a new respect for Prayer Warriors, especially the home-bound ones.

"How hard can it be?" you may ask.  "It has to be easier than trying to witness or deal with people."

It is nowhere near as easy as people think.  It is much easier to become discouraged and bitter.  To blame God instead of looking to Him.  To become more of a hermit and avoid people.  The loneliness can become a prison.  If those walls are built, it will serve to keep out not only other people (some actually wanting to help) but also God.  Tearing those walls down is not an easy task.  

I suppose that with technology today, it is easier to distract ourselves than in past eras.  With social media, Kindle (no library needed), and movie or sports streaming, those distractions can make the loneliness bearable while pushing out the need for God.  Not that the need goes away, but the awareness of it does.  

Trusting God with Little Things

Do we think too much about what God has done through us or how He has used us?  I would love to meet those who have been impacted by Jesus in me (or through me, however it should be stated).  Rejoicing with them about what God has done will be great.  But... the last question, and possibly the most painful, I want to ask is "What was the result of my unbelief?".

Yes, I'm a believer.  I'm trusting in Jesus' finished work on the cross, His blood, to wash away my sin so I may live for Him and with Him.  I'll admit, I'm not living for Him as I should and I am a work in progress.  The unbelief I am writing of is of not believing in the little day to day things.  Or it could be a big thing.  This is not of the salvation/justification level, but the sanctification level of belief.  The Israelites were saved from Egypt but wondered the in the wilderness for forty years because of their unbelief.  This is what I'm talking about.

What caused this question to percolate uncomfortably was the story of Abram and Sarai.  If Abram had believed God, 1) would he have gone to Egypt during the famine? and 2) was it okay for him to lie, by omission, about Sarai being his wife.  The going to Egypt aspect is not clear to me.  He may have needed to, and God may have ordained it for another purpose.  God doesn't tell us if Abram was supposed to go or not, so I'm going to lean towards, the going wasn't the issue, it was mearly the vehicle of the test.  The biggie comes with the second part.  Abram lied by omission.  Yes, Sarai was his half-sister, but she was his wife.  Abram trusted God to get him to a promised land, but didn't trust Him to get him out of Egypt with his wife and his life.  God had already promised the land to Abram's decendents.  Yet, with the immediate fear of death, Abram lied.  What would God have done with those Egyptians if Abram had told the truth?  

It seems like a little thing in light of the much bigger picture, but it really isn't  How many people have been negatively impacted by my unbelief?  What happened because I didn't choose to trust Christ when He said His strength is sufficient?  Who has not heard of God's grace and goodness because I chose to doubt Him instead of remembering that He will never leave nor forsake me?  What is my unbelief in the "little things" teaching my children?

While I don't think it is healthy to focus overly long on the past and things we cannot change, some reflection and remorse is needed for repentance.  What things or areas of my life have I not been trusting God with?  What have the consequences been?  How has it impacted others?  

Lord, thank You for speaking to me this morning, for opening my eyes to my failings and unbelief.  Help me to turn it over to You and trust You and Your Word.  Lord, I believe.  Help Thou mine unbelief.

Well, it's been a while...

If NINE years can be considered a while.

Life has changed drastically.  The twins were born and that year was a blur.  We moved into town.  Then we added two more.  Six children in six years.  I didn't join the circus, I gave birth to it!

We homeschool and now all six are in school  Kindergarten to Sixth Grade.  ACK!  When did this happen?

Why am I resurrecting this dinosaur of a blog?  I'm not entirely sure.  I am not sure how often I'll update this.  It might be weekly, once a month, or twice a year (or every few years, if history repeats itself).  This will be more of an outlet of things that are just too wordy for Facebook, certainly for Twitter.  If you check out either profile, I'll warn you now.  I use Twitter for Cardinals, politics, and fun.  Facebook is more to keep up, sort of.

I'll call this a warning post.  You've been warned.  We're still alive and, God willing, I'll post again.

Two year old gender predictor

Not long after we told Seth we were having two babies, I thought I'd ask him what he wanted. Our conversation went something like this:

"Seth, do you want brothers or sisters?"
"SISTERS! Like baby Ellie. I have two sisters in my tummy, Mommy."
"No, the babies are in Mommy's tummy. Boys can't have babies in their tummies. (Quick, get on to something else, I don't want to have this discussion yet!) Are you sure you want sisters. Don't you want brothers?"
"Noah my brudder. I got two sisters in yo tummy, Mommy."

Well, we found out on Monday that Seth was right. He and Noah are getting two sisters!
Moral of this story is, if you want to know what you are having and can't get a million ultrasounds to confirm it (Seth was supposed to be a girl ;D), save your money and go ask a two year old.

Okay, it's been a while...

I thought I would keep up with this better than I have. :( Well, that seems to be the story of my life. I'm used to it by now. Maybe that will help me survive the first year with the twins, but probably not.

Cloth diapers or disposables?

We are looking into cloth diapering the twins. Mostly because the thought of spending so much in disposables is making me sick!

Anyway, as I was doing some research online, I came across www.greenmountaindiapers.com This was one of the most informative sites and their prices are reasonable (very comparable with other companies I looked at). I had some questions for Karen (the owner). Being new to this, I asked her what she thought we would need for twins, since our whole reason for CDing was to save money. She replied quickly, but her answer surprised me. She didn't try to sell me extra, unnecessary stuff, but told me what we had to have and what we could get by with. I must say, if we do decide to cloth diaper, we will purchase from greenmountaindiapers.com! Thanks again, Karen!

Udate on the Littlest A's

Sorry, it has been a while since I updated. I'll try to do better on this. ;)

September 22, Jon and I went in for our 12 week check up. We found out we will be getting an ultrasound at every appointment because Doc wants to know which one has which heart beat and how they are growing. I'm okay with that! We also found out that we don't have to go to Des Moines at all. YAY! All of my appointments and the delivery will be at home unless there are major complications.

I don't normally do this, but I took a list of questions that had been plaguing me since the day after we found out about the twins. It is wonderful having a doc who is willing to take time to answer my questions and think about what I may be going through. If you are in a similar situation, please find a doc that will work with you and take time for you. It is so worth it!

Jon got to see the babies for the first time. Baby A was bouncing around and waving. After some work, we saw Baby B squirming, too. It was so strange to see two babies, just growing and moving. They were both doing great! I have to admit that I was extremely worried going to this appointment. What if something happened? Are they both still there? Is everything okay?

The weekend prior to the appointment I went to the SIBC Ladies' Retreat. Thanks to Mrs. Carol Walters for getting it together and Mrs. Donna VanderHart for speaking. I must say that 3 messages on trusting God (although I think this is what God wanted me to get out of it, because others got something totally different out of it) and Mrs. Walters encouraging me with something from Pastor Schettler really helped. Jon had been trying to get me to leave it with God. I would worry, give it to God, and take it back to worry some more. I'm so thankful that God reminded me to leave it with Him. Nothing is too big for Him and He never gives us something He will not help us through.

I think God wanted to know if I had learned the lesson He was trying to teach me. Just as I was loading the car to leave camp, I noticed I had a flat tire. That was okay, I'd call Jon and he could change it for me. Except when I opened my flip phone, the top fell off! (Okay, I did drop it for the umpteenth time the day before.) Okay, God, I'll trust You. God provided another phone for me to call Jon, who was only 15 minutes away. Jon put on the spare and I had about 30 minutes to get to town to get a new phone. About two miles (maybe 3) from camp the spare blew! I got out and started walking praying that God was sending Jon right behind me. Guess what, he was. Jon took the flat tire (that had a screw in it) out of the trunk and off to town we went. God allowed us to get to the store with just ten minutes to spare! So I was able to get my phone, Jon fixed the tire, put it on the car, and we got back to town in time for the youth group activity (which ended up starting an hour late). I hope that was enough testing for me to learn my lesson!