31 weeks pregnant: Rock a bye baby…

Last night I got to rock my baby to sleep for the first time!

Trey is very active! I don’t feel big movements (because I think he is getting to big to move around too much), but I feel rolls and kicks and stretches a lot. Last night I was very tired. He was doing his nightly routine… I lay down to go to bed, he wakes up and gets moving. Well, I was too tired. I have heard that babies fall asleep during the day when you are moving around because your movement rocks them to sleep. So, I figured why wouldn’t actually rocking him in a rocking chair put him to sleep. So I rocked in our rocking chair for a while. It was a special time. It made me want to see him so badly I could not stand it! But low and behold after about 15 minutes he was still and asleep, which meant I had a better chance of getting sleep too : )

We have 9 weeks to go (if he is on time)! I can’t wait! Soon I will be able to hold him in my arms and rock him to sleep!

Real Estate Tips:for what it is worth…

I must confess I have a “thing” for real estate stuff. I really actually like moving. It is kind of a rush for me…and I like a change in scenery. Our “house-to-be” down in Savannah will be the 10th house I have lived in. For a large portion of my life I have lived in a house that is “on the market”. My aunts and uncle were relators and my mom should be one : ) I am by no means an expert of any kind but I have picked up a couple of tips along the way. The market right now is crazy (but not as bad as everyone makes it out to be). So, for what it is worth, here are some tips….

Down in the Dumps

So I have a tiny bit of melancholy in my mostly sanguine/choleric out going personality. If I am left alone too long the melancholy in me comes out. I start to think too much and analyze my life etc. Sometimes this can be a bad thing. Slowly but surely everything, even if it is good, can turn horrible. I reside myself to the fact that the world is dark and dreary and nothing good is going on. Okay maybe that is a little exaggeration, but you get the point.

So Wednesday night I couldn’t sleep. I got up and was fed up with my dreary disposition. I decided it was time to do something : ) I got this idea that really was God inspired and helped me think through and process all my “feelings”.

I got out a piece of paper and drew a line down the middle. Psalm 55:22 says to “Cast your burden upon the Lord”. On the left side of the paper I wrote “My burdens” and literally “cast” my burdens by writing them down. For an example, one of them was our house. So I wrote “the house” and then every little feeling, doubt, or concern I had with the house under it. It felt really good to just get it all outside of my heart and head and on to paper.

On the right side I then wrote “Truth”. This side is a work in progress. This week as I have come across different scripture, I write it down beside the “burden”. I then took another piece of paper and cut it in half (hot dog fold) and wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always”. On this sheet of paper I wrote all the good things about that burden or things I could praise God for in that area of my life. I found not matter what burden I had listed I always had at least three “praise worthy” things to list on that sheet of paper.

My Bible listed “burdens” as meaning “what He has given you”. I found this very interesting. God has given me this “burden” to in turn cast upon Him. Once again He is teaching me to walk with Him and trust Him.

This exercise helped me tremendously! I hope sharing it will help you too! It is so good to get things down on paper! Nothing has changed as far as my circumstances go but my mind and heart have changed!

** I put a link to a personality quiz at the top. It is so freeing to understand your temperament and personality. It helps you understand why you do the things you do! Another great resource on that type thing is the book “Why you Do the Things You Do” .

Weekend in Valdosta

This weekend Mark, me and several other “Canvasians” (as Mikey calls us) headed down to Valdosta. We went to meet with CrossPointe Church. It was a great weekend! This church was amazing. I have never felt more love and encouragement from people I had never met before! I felt like I was going to a family reunion… you know you don’t really know anybody but they love you just because “your family”.

We got to grill out with several of the staff and core members of the church on Saturday. We must look like crazy people because the number one question asked was, “Well when are you moving down to Savannah?”. All of us with the exception of Mikey said, “Whenever we sell out house.” There’s a plan! : ) (Seriously…side note… pray all of us sell our house!!!!! It will take a miracle!)

The church housed us in different homes. We all said we felt like we were at a “Big Kid D-now”. Our host family was amazing and so loving. On a down note… I forgot our precious fan. I can’t sleep with out a fan. Either Mark snores more without a fan or I never realized how much he snored until it is gone …. probably the latter! Needless to say between Mark and Trey (whose new favorite play time is around 3-5 in the morning) I did not sleep!

Sunday was amazing! I thought we would just have a little ten minute recognition during the services to tell about our church. David let the guys talk for at least 20 mins. about the vision and direction of the church and then called the whole church (no really everyone…all 500 and something of them) down front in both services to pray for us! It was so encouraging!

I honestly feel like we have family down in Valdosta! I can not describe the love, acceptance and encouragement these people gave us! They were most definitely the loving arms of God to us this weekend! I hope Canvas can give back and love on others the way we were loved and encouraged this weekend!

Thanks Crosspoint!

Pearl Necklace

I read this story years ago when Mark and I were dating. I was thinking about it today and thought I would share it.

The Pearl Necklace

A cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. “Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!”

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face. “A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll
think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from grandma.”

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere–Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a
bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?”

“Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you.”

“Then give me your pearls.”

Constellations

I read this verse today : “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19. I know this verse uses the word “consolations” but couldn’t it also say “constellations”? Sometimes I am so comforted by the greatness of God!

Baby Pictures

Mark and I have often wondered what Trey will look like. Although I can’t wait to see him, I am not so curious anymore : ) Take a look at Mark and I’s baby pictures:

Weird Day…

So Mark and I rode together to church yesterday for the first time in about 2 years and it was light outside (hence it wasn’t 6:30 in the morning). We parked in the “Expectant mothers parking”, which I didn’t even know we had. Then we walked through the front doors of CATR and were greeted my people we had never meet or seen before. It was weird. I still served with Ridgekidz but it felt different. I am starting to realize this Canvas thing is actually going to happen. We are in the beginning of a weird season of rest and preparation. I was fighting it but I am starting to see God’s hand in the change in our lifestyle. This, however, is only a short season, so I need to enjoy it!

We love CATR and it is really hard to let go there. We have served many long and hard hours. They showed this video last week of clips from the last two years. They flashed highlights of a few different things CATR has put on (FamJam, Family camp ect.) I realized we had been apart of each one in one way or another. I must say we loved it! We were able to use our talents and gifts to serve others. There is nothing more gratifying our fulfilling!

I know there has been some concern with the number of families leaving CATR and going with Canvas. Most of us are heavily involved. I was thinking yesterday, however, there are plenty of people to fill our shoes. It is probably a huge blessing for us to leave and make service spots available. So if you are one of those people, particularly from our church, I challenge you to get involved! Serve! Use your gifts and talents! There is also nothing better to do as a husband and wife team than to serve in some capacity through your church. There is no greater blessing or joy!

We love Church at the Ridge and will miss it severely!

Reflections…

So I have been really sentimental lately. God has given me such peace over the last month. I feel like life has been floating around me and I have really been able to enjoy it (no I am not on anything : ). I have been thinking about my house a lot. I love our house! I love our neighborhood. Our schedules have slowed down a lot over the last month and it has been good to just be at home! We live in a fairly small town house and I don’t know why anyone else would want to know this but I just felt like blogging about what I love about my house!

I love…

-our backyard! It is beautiful this time of year!

- that Mark can look up from the lid of the grill and talk to neighbors from our patio.

- that although my kitchen is extremely small it is laid out perfectly for its size.

- our bedroom and the way the sun rises in our window in the morning.

- that although we are extremely ambitious…we have never been able to park our car in our garage.

- how I can watch the sunset from my front porch.

- my garden tub…where I help cause the drought in Georgia…especially now being pregnant!

- that my laundry room is right next to our room! I will surly look for that in our next house!

- my all time favorite… I love how at night our whole neighborhood smells like dryer sheets because everyone is doing their laundry.

It is amazing how God has gifted us with this house that has been the perfect size, layout and location for this season in our life! Reflecting on all that I love about our current home reminds me to trust that God has the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood down in Savannah for us!

Sometimes reflecting is so good! It reminds us what God has done and gives us hope in what He is going to do!

Sneak Peak

I have talked a lot about Trey’s room. It is still in the works! We are hopefully only 12 weeks away… just thought I would show what Mark, my mom and I have been working on.

*My sister took this picture. She makes things look 10x better than they are! She is an amazing photographer!