Waiting

I started this book the other day.  I really was in need of a good...bible studyish book.  Something that would motivate me to get into the word and also that i could put into play with my life.  I found this book on Amazon.  I am only a few pages into it, but i am already learning a lot and feeling my heart reopen, once again, to God.
Here is a little excerpt from the book:


WAITING
"Desperately, helplessly, longingly, i cried. 
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and i wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, 'Child, you must wait!'


'Wait? You say, wait!' my indignant reply.
'Lord, i need answers, i need to know why?
Is Your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH i have asked, and am claiming Your word.


'My future and all to which i relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a yes, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a no to which i can resign.


'And Lord, you promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive. 
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry;
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!'


Then quietly, softly, i learned of my fate.
As my Master replied once again. "You must wait."
So, i plumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, i'm waiting...for what?"


He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine.
And He tenderly said, 'I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun. 
I could raise the dead, and cause the mountains to run. 


All you seek, I could give, and pleased would you be.
You would have what you want --but, you wouldn't know ME.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that i give to the faint.


You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see. 


You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that i give and i save...(For a start). 
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart. 


The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that i give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.


You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! If i lost what i'm doing in you!


So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
THAT THE GREATEST OF GIFTS IS TO GET TO KNOW ME.
And though oft may my answers seem terribly late,
My wisest of answers is still but to WAIT."

Obedience In Small Tasks

“We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks….Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God….I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God."


Example: Jesus raised the dead, but He also washed feet.

I will delight in the precious tasks that God has placed before me.

Exercise After Baby

The website Fitsugar.com is a great website with quick yet tough workouts!



*For some reason Blogger is only showing half of the screen for this video.  I did this little bum workout - it is killer!  I am probably going to be sore tomorrow.*

Preparing For The Day

First off, i cannot believe Adam is 2 months old!...quite frankly, it seems like it's been longer. haha!  I feel like everything from pregnancy, labor, delivery, and even the newborn stage never happened.  I guess that is why we decide to have more children.  We forget the agonizing parts of bringing a baby into the world.  It is a good thing that we do, because there would be less and less precious little ones if we did remember. haha!  (it's worth it!)
Adam is doing so great!  God has truly blessed us with this youngen.  Literally everything i prayed about while i was pregnant, God answered.  He is breastfeeding like a champ - you can tell by his weight.  He weighs about 13 - 14lbs and he is in 6 month clothes! (my biceps are going to get toned just by hauling this boy around)
He is starting to sleep long stretches durning the night.  Last night i put him down about 1030pm and he did not eat until 5am.  I can deal with that!
Those are all wonderful things, but my favorite is just how joyful he is.  His smile helps me keep going when i am exhausted or overwhelmed.  He is all snuggles and smiles. I am so thankful for that little guy.
James has been doing so much better with having a little sibling.  He is already learning how to put the blame on Adam though.  If James does something wrong or even when he doesn't get his way, somehow it is Adam's fault.
The first thing in the morning that James wants to do is see his little brother. "There's baby Adam...he's cute." is what he says.  James has a way of making Adam smile so big....it's sweet.
That has been a continual prayer of mine that James will look out for his little brother and that Adam will look up to his big brother.

I know i am painting a beautiful picture here...which it is....but it is time consuming and energy consuming raising children.  No matter how easy they are.
I have been putting my whole heart into my roles as a wife and a mommy...but the past 2 months i have lacked in my relationship with God.  With good reason yes, but i my soul has been craving time with Him. I don't know if anyone else is like this, but my attitude pretty much...sucks when i don't spend time with Him.  Which in turn makes my boy's attitudes reflect the same.
When do i or when can i spend time with Him?  I can hardly go to the bathroom when i want to. I tried spending taking the time where they are both napping at the same time...but that resulted with me napping. haha. I could at night - but i that is my time with my hubby.  I could wake up early before the kid's wake up - but i need to sleep as much as i can.  Can you see a chain reaction here?  Excuses.  I am full of them.  It came down to what is really important and what does my life need?
This past week i have woken up at 6:25am...roughly a half hour before James and Adam wake up.  I chose that time because some reason that time keep coming up.  I looked up a scripture - Matthew 6:25
²⁵ Therefore I tell you, stop being ^[a]perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?


If anyone knows me, i tend to worry quite a lot.  Especially since i became a mommy.  That is something i have struggled with and have tried to change about me.  The fact that this scripture came up spoke volumes to me and what i should do...take time out for the Lord. 
There are so many scriptures about rising early in the morning to meet with the Lord. 
"She gets up while it is still dark..." - Proverbs 31:15
"But i will sing of your strength, in the morning i will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." - Psalm 59:16
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up...and prayed." Mark 1:35
"Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he stood before the Lord." Genesis 19:27


I haven't had any ground breaking experiences this week from getting up early and spending time with God.  But i do have peace, patience, and enough strength to get through the day.  
I want to better myself for my family.  
Yes that extra 30 minutes or so of sleep would be wonderful!  Especially with a baby who still wakes up once in the middle of the night.  But if don't live out what i say i believe...than what good am i doing?  
If i want to represent my Jesus well than i need to spend time with Him. As a parent, you always have a little audience watching...they will remember and see what you do.  And they will be thankful that you took time out to better yourself so you can be better for your family. :)
What a great way to set the tone of your home by waking up early (before they wake up) and pray for them. 


Trying to better myself as a person, i am starting back working out.  Woo-hoo!  I haven't gotten my discharge yet, but i am already gradually getting back into exercising.  I am so excited!  I know i am one weird woman.  I love working out!  It is such a huge stress release for me.  I danced for 14 years, if my body is not moving i feel...off.  Our bodies are meant to move.  Anyway, i am excited to get into shape after having baby #2.  In future blogs, i will try to post about my progress and even some tips about exercising while being a mom. 


Sorry this post is random...


Yesterday James wanted Adam to watch his Train movie with him.  I put Adam on the couch beside James to watch for a minute.  James was so tickled and described every train to Adam.  It was so cute!

I have had an itch to paint.  My grandpa, Daddy Rhyne, was an artist.  I used to love painting with him out side in his yard in North Carolina.  I have always been intimidated to paint...i've always loved sketching, because you can erase your mistakes.  But with paint...it's as is.  I gave it a try this past week.  Ryan had some scrap wood in the garage and nailed them together.  I painted this little Burkart creation to hang in our dining room

I hope every one has a happy day!

Taking TIme To Teach

It has been a little over 6 weeks since Adam was born...and now i am starting to be able to focus on more than just the art of surviving. After having a baby, you just do all you can to get through that first week.  Then you become a little braver and strive to make it through the first month.  After that, you are getting settled into your own little family routine and start acting a little more normal instead of an overly tired zombie.  
The past month or so, i have put all "teaching" on hold.  Meaning, i have not really taken time out to teach James anything new or really allow him to experience anything new.  Becoming a big brother was a huge experience all in itself.  
This past weekend, we really wanted to try to start teaching James about giving and sharing.  (he has had a hard time sharing lately...ever since Adam came. haha)
For a few months, we have rewarded James with change - pennies, quarters, etc.  Some times when he cleans up his toys, helps clean up his plate from meals, or when he does some kind of act of kindness we give him some change to put in his little bank.  We told him that when he had enough money he could pick himself out a prize and pick out something to give someone else.  He loved that idea!  
He had stored up about $5.  Before we left to go to the dollar store, i had him tell me people who he loves and would like to buy a gift for.  I wrote each name down on pieces of paper and put them in a bowl so he could pick out a name randomly.  He wanted to pick two.  The first two he picked were Gammy and Papa.

  Off to the dollar store we went.  (he was so cute carrying his little bag of change.  (i wish i would have taken my camera!) He picked out a car for himself and then picked out a huge orange flower for Gammy.  I love that he picked that out for her.  I let him pick out whatever he wanted to for them - it makes it so much for fun...and funny!  For Papa he was trying to decide between a bag of green rocks and headphones. haha!  He decided on the headphones.  

When we checked out, i let him hand his money to the clerk.  He looked so proud walking out with his bag of gifts.
That afternoon, i let him wrap the presents up in tissue paper and tape.  
It was so cute.  I am not sure if he understood any of it, but i wanted to teach and keep on teaching him how important it is to give.


Today my little men were being so cute together.  James loves to make Adam laugh.

The other week, i went to a wedding shower.  One of the gifts that she had gotten was a book called Sacred Marriage.  It sounded interesting so i am giving it a shot.  I just started it and will try to blog about it soon. :) Have a happy day everyone!

Kitchen Paint Redo

A word to the wise for you married couples out there - make sure you communicate!  Not just in big things but also in small things such as...paint.  Two years ago, we decided to paint our kitchen red.  i thought Ryan wanted it red and he thought i wanted it red.  When in reality neither one of us really wanted red. haha!  There was nothing wrong with the red color, it looked great!  But we both like greener/bluer more natural colors.  So guess what we did for the 4th of July holiday?
With the help of our toddler, we were able to knock it all out in 2 days.

Here are pics of James in action as well as the ending results:

I love the color! It is a lot different and will take some getting used to, but i love how clean it looks.

I had to take a picture of little snugglebug's baby shorts! ("Little Caboose")

Father's Day Gift

I am so behind on blogging...
For Father's Day, i took pictures of the boys holding the letters D A D.  I then put these pictures in a frame to spell out Dad for Ryan.  He loved it!