Funky Town

The song requests, "Won't you take me to Funky Town." I, on the other hand, am requesting an air lift out of funky town. Yes, I've been in a funk this week. The past several weeks I felt like the energizer bunny, but I think I hit the end of the life on my battery this weekend, likely after I cleaned the house for like 5-6 hours straight (and I mean cleaned...baseboards, ceilings, fan blades, etc....um, nesting anyone??)

Unfortunately this week has been a bit draining so far. Almost a comedy of errors from minor annoying comments or events to big things that you just almost have to laugh about...like your dog popping out his sutures and now having a hole in his face, or just today finding out I had forgotten to lock the truck and it was broken into last night (David's GPS and Ipod gone, but nothing else). Add these things to the enormity of other things on my (and David's) mind, from small decisions to mega huge ones, and I really just want to take a nap.

But somehow, even though I'm tired and feeling a bit funky, God has managed to keep my focus on the things that really matter and I find myself in a state of praising Him for all that He has done. If I can keep my focus there, then I'm sure that air lift from Funky Town is right around the corner. In fact, I think I hear the helicopter in the distance :)

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus...and the things on earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

Funny Memories

I was looking through some old pictures tonight of fun times with David, both before we started dating and afterwards and just had to post the ones that made me giggle the most. I married a wonderfully silly man who appreciates that I'm just as silly...as you'll see in this short pictorial history.

The Sad-wich

David and I had been friends for about a month at

this point and I was hanging out with him and his roommate Chris. David was packing his lunch for the next day, making a sandwich. He left the kitchen and I don't know why, but I just HAD to take a bite out of the corner...the idea was so hilarious to me. So, these are the pictures he took the next day at work to text to me. Ah, too funny.

An Office Obsession

Again, just as friends, we bought each other small Christmas gifts. We should have known then that we were going to get married, because when we did the exchange, it turned out we both had gotten each other the EXACT SAME gift - a Dwight Schrute bobble head doll. I mean, really...how does that even happen. Great minds think alike I suppose.

The Pictures that Really Made Us Swoon

The picture of me on the left is one he took. He later told me that this photo is one that made him fall in love with me. And the one to the right of him and his brothers is the one that made me fall in love with him. I'm so glad we both have a sense of humor. In our first year of marriage, I really think that's been one of the major keys. We laugh ALL THE TIME!!

Mom Jeans, but Mom Genes?

It's been a long time since my last post...primarily because pregnancy really occupies your time, just in case you didn't already know. I am starting my third trimester and I think the idea that I am going to be a mom is JUST NOW starting to hit me. Maybe it's because I'm showing quite a bit, or perhaps because I feel little Jackson moving a lot (by the way, that's him in the picture at about 23 weeks). But before now, I don't think I have grasped the reality of the changes that are coming less than 3 short months from now. I have been feeling much better in the past several months, finally getting a reprieve from the constant and intense nausea that caused me to lose 10lbs in the first trimester. (Rest assured, I've gained that back and then some). Maybe this reprieve has allowed my mind to focus less on the porcelain (or plastic) receptacles and more on the fact that David's and my life is going to change forever very soon.

I am fully into my maternity clothes now, and cycle through my maternity jeans each week. The other day when I was putting them on I had this thought...I have these "mom jeans" but do I have the "mom gene"? I'm sure that's a thought most first time moms have...so many questions about whether you are going to be good at this, are you really cut out for it, etc. I've always had an independent streak and was never one of those girls who had dreams of motherhood dancing through her head (though I guess I always assumed it would happen down the road). Now that it's here, I'm both excited and nervous for this new journey. But I know this much...I have two wonderful partners - the two loves of my life, my wonderful husband David and my Father in Heaven. So, even amidst the questions, I have this sense of wonderful expectation and peace. After all, God knit me together (genes and all) and then gifted me with this child that He's knitting together in my womb as well. And God doesn't make mistakes...so, I suppose I have the "mom gene" after all.

Oh Baby

Well, it's official - picture wise anyway. We've known for some time now, and Lord knows the nausea & vomiting has been proof enough to convince even the toughest skeptic - WE'RE EXPECTING. (FYI - baby's head is at the bottom of the picture).

I had my first ultrasound today and heard the heartbeat for the first time - nice and strong. It's still a bit surreal, but it's really neat to finally have a visual :)

This is my first pregnancy and I am learning as I go here. I was expecting the nausea, but hadn't expected it to be so debilitating or last ALL DAY LONG. Luckily, after trying one medication (Phenergan) that almost hurt more than it helped with all the side effects (i.e. I finally understood the "do not operate heavy machinery" warning for the first time in my life), I switched to another that has made life (including necessities of eating and drinking) bearable again. Praise the Lord!!

David, my husband, has been absolutely wonderful these last couple months. He's basically had to take care of things around the house all by himself...and I don't think I've actually cooked for him since we found out. I'm very lucky to have someone with such a servant's heart :)

My dogs haven't been quite sure what to think. We believe they have a sense that something is going on with mommy - they've been more cuddly and protective with me than usual I suppose. I'm glad they are so well behaved for the most part - Dave and I both believe they will be great with the baby.

So, I guess our lives are going to change forever, or so they say :) We both feel very blessed to be on this new journey and we look to Christ to guide us through the good times and the bad, through the trials and the joys.

My Best Laid Plans

I'm a planner. I like things to go the way I plan them to be. I like to be able to line up the contingencies, make sure I have all the supplies needed, the right clothes, the right snacks, the right information, that I've done the research, etc. My husband found this out early on when he couldn't plan a surprise honeymoon. What can I say, I'm a "need to know'er".

Planning is a good thing and even necessary (if you've ever been to a party or an event that wasn't planned well, you know this is true). But sometimes our own planning takes a turn to the "control-side" of things. Wanting to constantly plan and to be in control of your own life can be deterimental because it falsely leads us believe in solely in ourselves - that we are the master's of our fate. But this is false - we are the created, we are not the Creator. We deceive ourselves by believing anything different.

Many may read this and say to themselves, "well, that's stupid to give over control of your life to some far off deity that may or may not exist". In some ways, I completely agree. To give over your best laid plans and control to a god that is "far off" and "doesn't even exist" wouldn't be the best investment. And no one should submit themselves to a god that doesn't have "plans to prosper [them] and not to harm [them], plans to give [them] a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). But the God I serve is not "far off" - he will never leave or forsake me. And I know he exists. And He definitely wants to prosper me, to give me a hope and a future, because he did so by sending his Son to die on the cross for my sins so that I may have eternal life with him. (By the way, prospering doesn't mean making me rich in the worldly sense, but in the spiritual sense...but that's a whole other blog.) But don't take my word for it. God says that "you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13; see also Acts 17:26-28).

As a believer in Jesus Christ I am told that I am to place my trust in Him, and lean not on my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). And I know I am not really the "planner here". Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart, a man plans his course. But the Lord determines his steps. " And praise God for that!!! I like to think I have the best laid plans, that my way is the "right" way. But Proverbs 14:12 tells me that "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." If all my life's plans had come to fruition, my life would look very different today, and likely not for the better.

So for me, I try to toss my best laid plans at the throne of Jesus Christ - for I am not my own (Romans 14:8, Galations 2:20).