Sunday, March 27, 2011

Our baby is....

An orange! :)  This week the Cub is (allegedly) weighing in at a whole 2.5 oz. Branden is eager to get to the grocery store and buy an orange to hold up to my belly so he can have a visual of how big his brother or sister is in comparison to my tummy. Branden is interested in the growing process, while Kristyn just wants to hold and cuddle the finished product! :)



Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Lord's Prayer

In previous weeks during our council time at Sparks we read a story that teaches the kids about the Lord's Prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
   on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses
   as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9-13

I committed this prayer to memory by the time I was 7 or 8 years old, and it was one of my favorite parts of the Sunday morning service when the congregation would recite it in unison. It was like a song and everyone knew the words. The tempo was kept, the words were perfectly recited. Again, when I got into high school, before each basketball game our team would get in a circle and recite this in the locker room before heading out for a warm up. Hind sight... In all those years of recitation I probably said the prayer out of habit more times then I genuinely prayed it.

In my adulthood, however, there have been times that I needed to pray. I could feel the need for me to converse with my heavenly Father, and yet I didn't have the words. Essentially I didn't know what I needed. But the memory of Sunday mornings in Robstown, Texas would come back to me, and I would hear Brother Green's voice saying, "Let us pray as the Lord taught us to pray."

Jesus taught us to pray.

My savior taught me to pray.

When I don't know what to say, what I need, or how to pray, Jesus has me covered. Why am I surprised?

Individual chapters in my life find me convicted by certain verses of this prayer. Today, I wonder "do I mean it when I say I want His will to be done?" If I do, then why am I so disheveled when His will doesn't match with my plans. He has a plan that far exceeds mine, and my hind sight is always 20/20, but in the thick of disappointment I have to stop and remind myself that I ask that His kingdom will come, His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

We are an Air Force family, and there are times, it seems especially lately, that the Air Force is in control of our lives. This is frustrating, for lack of a better adjective. It  feels as though I am helpless when plans change, or something doesn't happen the way we have understood it to be happening. I don't do well with feeling helpless. You see, I am a planner... I like to know how I am getting from point A to point B. If I have to detour to points E, L, and Z along the way, that's fine just let me know so I can plan for it... Guess what, the Air Force doesn't see it that way. Sometimes this is a fun adventure that leads to eating delicacies in Portugal... Other times it leads to frustrating disappointments.

But when I pray to Our Father, Your will be done, I am trusting that He is ultimately in control. Not me, not Zach, and especially not the Air Force. Our life is not controlled by the Air Force, and when we are seeking God's will, we can trust that even when disappointments occur it is according to God's will as long as we are obedient to Him and seeking His directions.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Our Baby is a Lemon...

Since we found out we were going to have a baby, I signed up for different maternity e-newsletters. One of my favorites comes from The Bump. The kids love this one too, because each week it gives the reader something tangible to grasp how large or small the baby is. You can give me inches and ounces all day long and I can't visualize it, but tell me something is the side of a poppy seed and I gotcha!  The kids are the same way.

So, immediately after we told them they were going to have a brother or sister they wanted to know how big was it? Why wasn't my belly big? Why can't you tell if it is a boy or a girl?  I went to the bump and found this a great reference to explain how small the baby was at the time. Since then every few days one or both of our kiddos will ask, "How big is Cub today?" (That's our nickname for the baby, Cub) 

This week Cub is weighing in (approximately) at a whopping 1.5 oz, and 3.4 in.  Or if you are like me, this week Cub is the size of a lemon! I kinda miss last week. Last week Cub was a peach, and a peach baby sounds way sweeter than a lemon baby, but that's okay, in less than a week I will have a navel orange on my hands (or in utero rather), and we will just keep making our way through the produce section.

How Big Is Baby???

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

It isn't fair... It is Grace and Mercy.

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God smitten by him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:4-6 (NIV, emphasis added)