Work Baby Shower

Some co-workers of mine got together and hosted an incredible Baby Shower for Colby and I (and Adelyn too!). It was such a blessing and it was so much fun! We are so thankful and appreciative of everyone who came and for all of the thoughtful gifts! THANK YOU!

The amazing looking and tasting block cakes...One of the incredible hostesses and amazing friend: Molly

Opening up presents...

Praise Him....even when it's hard.

Is anyone going through a hard time besides me? I need to know that I am not alone. It is a really tough season to be living through right now. I will not go into details, but it is just tough. There are personal things going on. There are hard things going on in the lives of some of our closest friends and family. And just when I think I can not handle it anymore, something else happens. And another thing happens. And we receive news. And it never ends. I guess it's true, "when it rains, it pours."

But somehow, in the midst of it all, all I can do is cling to God. I have had to learn how to live scriptures that I have had "memorized" for years. For instance, "We live by faith, not by sight." -2 Corinthians 5:7. According to a current situation I was in, sight did not look good. Sight was not promising. Sight showed me that I was not going to be able to make it through the situation. Faith showed me something totally different. Faith showed me the God that takes care of all things. Faith showed me the God who does provide for His children. Faith showed me that He is bigger and is sovereign over my circumstances.

I am not blogging because things are better. I am not praising God because things are better. Things are still hard. And God is still faithful. I am choosing to praise Him even when it doesn't make sense. I am choosing to praise Him even when it's hard. Why? Because He has proven Himself SO faithful to me. He deserves my praise.

Bethany Dillon sings an incredible song called, "Hallelujah" and one of the lyrics that I am loving right now is: "Whatever's in front me, I'll choose to sing, Halleljuah." We are not called to only praise Him when things are easy, comfortable, and incredible. We need to praise Him even when it's hard.

Mother/Daughter Day

What a fun day! I surprised my mom with a Mother/Daughter Tea at A Spot For Tea. It was amazing! It was so relaxing for both of us. We both left feeling calm, de-stressed, and refreshed. A Spot For Tea provides you with different hats and other items to "dress-up" as you enjoy your afternoon tea. My mom and I both got incredible flavored teas and enjoyed their perfect, delicious lunch menu. 

We made such an incredible memory today. We have never done anything like this. It was really good to hang out just me and her. And it was really good to do so before baby Adelyn comes. 

My mom is an incredible woman and we have grown so much closer over the past few years! I am so blessed to have her as my mom and to have her as Adelyn's "granna." She inspires me, encourages me, supports me, unconditionally loves me, pours into me, etc. I am so thankful for her! 

Here are just a few pictures from our really fun day!

Best Birthday Ever!

My birthday was two days after Christmas and I was so blessed by extreme thoughtfulness of some incredible friends! 

My neice, Ebbie, and I at our combined birthday party! 

Dinner at Louie's with some incredible friends celebrating Jenny and I's birthday!

A little background first. Becca Gantz (best friend) is serving as missionary in Mexico for a year. You have GOT to check out her blog about all she is doing there and how God is using her. All of this is to say, she got a very limited amount of time here in Oklahoma with her family and friends. And she told me that for my birthday she wanted to get some girls together and all help paint the nursery for Adelyn. WHAT?? Are you kidding me? It was beyond the sweetest thing ever! Lauren, Jordan and Whitney, I am SOOOO thankful for your help and hard work with the nursery. It was so humbling. And they did an incredible job and it looks amazing! 

4 Christmases....Or more...

There was definitely one week in December when Colby and/or I had a Christmas party/event every single night. It was a lot of fun to celebrate this season with some incredible friends and co-workers. We had two different Young Life parties, my work party, friends party, bible study party, his family Christmas, my family Christmas, etc. 

Here are a few pictures from our fun holiday season. 

Party #1: Secret Santa with Sweet Friends:

(showing off our new presents. 

Thanks Jordan for mine. And for the cute socks that I can use as gloves! ha!)

Party #2: BSF- ornament exchange @ abuelos

(love these girls. And I love my ornaments! Thanks Bibi!)

Party #3- The Wedge and Sara Sara's Cupcakes with AMAZING friends!!

Picking up our incredible best friend at the airport. We love you Becca!!!!!!!

My Family Christmas:

Me with my AMAZING mom and dad!! 

Soon-to-be Granna and Poppy to little Adelyn!

My brother and sister-in-law and family!

The boys:

Hubs, Dad, Nephew, Brother, Brother

The Girls:

I sadly do not have any pictures from our work Christmas parties or Colby's family. Sad day. 

It was such an incredible season of celebrating the birth of Jesus with so many special people. I think the best part of Christmas for me was the gifts Colby and I exchanged with each other. We decided that this year (and hopefully years to come) we are giving our "Christmas budget" to other people that really need it. Colby bought me a goat from World Vision that provides a family with nourishment and extra income in Haiti and Kenya and other places. We sponsor sweet, little Jennrry from Honduras and love the purpose of World Vision and was excited to do this! Colby's budget went towards a good friend. 

Thank you Jesus for what you mean to us in our life. May we live glimpses of you.

Better late than never, right?

It is normal to take two months to post your next blog right? I guess I can throw the pregnancy card and say I was tired, or I forgot, or something along those lines. Ha! Well, regardless of the reason for my non-existence in the blog-world, I am back and ready to commit to consistency. We will just call it my 2009 New Year's Resolution. 

I guess I have one valid reason for not blogging. Let me show you with a picture:

Yes, what you are seeing is correct. Our house got broken into on Christmas. It was a sad and sickening feeling. Colby and I were in Kansas celebrating Christmas and my birthday with his family. We arrived home on the 26th around 10:30pm to our front door wide open and busted in. We walked in to our living room to our t.v stolen:

Then we walked to the office and found no laptop:

And even more delightful was how they opened our remaining presents underneath the tree. Don't worry, they didn't take them. I guess they didn't want my scrapbookin' gift for my friend. LOL. They could have scrapbooked everything they stole for memories. Good idea. not...

Needless to say, it is hard to blog when you don't have a laptop. We still have not replaced anything as we have been dealing with insurance stuff, but we do have a good friend living with us for a while and he graciously lets me borrow his computer! Thanks, Brett! 

I have a few words of advice from what I learned from this. 

#1. I learned from a friend's blog post, that "a lot of builders are using inadequate materials for the safety of your home, specifically, inadequate screws for the deadbolt plate." Click here to see pictures of what builders are using versus what should be in place. 

#2. LoJack. Why didn't anyone tell me about LoJack before? LoJack is a software based computer theft recovery service that tracks and recovers lost or stolen computers. So, if your computer is stolen, they can track it. I SO wish I had that. It's not the computer I am sad about. It's the pictures, the music, the documents, the life that was on that computer. Sad day.

#3. Back it up. I did not back up anything so that is partially my fault. I hope I will do this, as monotonous as it seems. It is worth it. 

#4. God is better and bigger than any material item. I do not want to get all "theological" as to why my house was broken into. I am not going to say it was "God-ordained" or anything along the lines. HOWEVER, to be real honest, I spend a lot of time with my laptop (working on business, facebook, blogs, etc) and my husband spends a lot of time with the tv (shows, video games, movies, etc). It was good for us to have a little "reality check" about what is truly important. 

And conveniently the next day in my Chronological Bible Reading was about Job and how he had everything and lost everything and his first response was to worship (Job 1:5). I am going to be real honest, when I walked into my house broken into I did not fall on my knees and worship. But when I read this scripture, I had a different perspective: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." - Job 1:20

I am so blessed.

Random Thoughts

I really only have random thoughts for today. These thoughts come from my bible study that I have been doing over the life of Moses.

-God is continually working in the midst of daily activity.
-Faith is believing God and acting on it.
-Where do I need to let go and trust God?
-God is good when news is good. God is good when news is bad. His goodness never changes.
-We need to trust God in all circumstances, not just pleasant ones.
-The greatest reward in this life is to be used by God for His glory.
-God's work must be done in God's way, God's timing and through his power alone.
-Be dependent upon Him.
-God prepares us for what He is going to do in our lives.
-God is in charge.
-He is sovereign. He knows what is best for us.
-Sometimes obeying God makes life harder.
-It is always easier to see God's plan in hindsight than in the midst of the storm.
-Disappointments, failures, and trials are opportunities to get to know God more deeply.
-Impossible situations are opportunities to trust God's promises and mightily glorify Him.

I am enjoying learning more about the Lord and applying things to my life. May I do the challenging thing--may I live out what I am learning. That is always a little difficult for me.