Shout out

I just have to give praise when it's due, and this is absolutely due. I just have to shout what a great and awesome God we have. For the last four months, everytime I have needed money to help cover the bills so I don't need to draw on our line of credit, God has sent us a check. To.the.day. It's been amazing. To see the way God answers prayers and takes care of us, it's just so humbling. Just saying.....

Oh, and I finally finished my Beth Moore bible study. It was only six weeks, and it ended up taking me more like ten or eleven weeks. I don't know what my problem was this time around, usually I can't do it fast enough, but this time, I was totally not into a routine. But I watched my final video today, and it was so GOOD!
One of the points she touched on, was in Hebrews 12:1 where it says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us....." The bold faced part isn't referring to sin, but anything that overloads, including good things. Sometimes we can become so overloaded with good activities, that it can actually hinder our relationship with God. That's why it's so important to take the time and evaluate what might need to go. Not because it's bad, but because it isn't growing us or our relationship with God. Oftentimes, God is nudging us to give it up, and we are refusing to listen. That is something I really needed to hear. Especially at this phase in my life. At times I feel guilty because I am not as involved or doing as much in church as I am accustomed to, but this season in my life, my purpose right now is to raise our young kids and make sure they are getting the good foundation they need to become strong leaders in the future.
The next part I wanted to share comes from Psalms 84:7, "They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion..." We need to take our next step with the next strength. The grace of God will ALWAYS be what I need. We need a FRESH anointing for each new trial. She mentioned when we look at other people who have gone through a terrible heartache and we think to ourselves that we could never go through that, or we pray and ask God to never send us that situation because we would just not be strong enough, we forget that God gives us a fresh supply of strength to make it through the next hurdle. Praise God!
These are all things I've heard before, but yesterday, for some reason, it was like I was hearing it for the first time again. And I think it's something that I need to hear over and over again, to just be reminded.

Oh, on a less serious note, my mother in law just finished the baby quilt she's been working on, so I'll share pics once I get it! It's so cute! And no, there is no baby.....yet!

Hope

It's been a while since I've posted, and yes, I am still great with child!  I was thinking this morning about how even though this is my fourth time around, and my other three were all late, I still cling to hope that perhaps this time will be different. I am watching for any little indication that labor might be just around the corner. And while this one is definitely lower then the other three ever were, and I am experiencing occasional contractions, I have a feeling he will be hanging out for a while longer. Alaina likes to ask if he's still cooking. Yes, our babies like to cook for a while! The last couple weeks, when we put the kids to bed at night, Larissa will get teary and say, "Mommy, I thought our baby brother would be here by now!" And I usually tell her that she needs to pray that he comes soon, which she does and asks for a healthy and strong baby. It's really sweet. It will be so interesting to see how our family changes to accommodate a new addition. Charlotte likes to come over and just kiss my belly. Just random times throughout the day, she'll come over and say she is giving her baby a kiss. It's been a lot of fun to go through this pregnancy with the girls. With how close they were in age during my earlier pregnancies, there wasn't the inquisitiveness or excitement over a baby. That has definitely been fun this time around.
But I digress, I was thinking this morning about hope, and how no matter how many times we may be knocked down, feel totally defeated, there is still that small spark of hope. I am so glad that God has given us a hope to keep trying, to keep living, to keep dreaming. Sometimes it's hard to see a reason to hope, to keep believing and trusting, but I have seen so many situations that seemed so utterly hopeless, and miraculously, God turned them into something beautiful. Sometimes it can happen in an instant, in days, months, and perhaps it can take years, but He IS faithful, even when we are not.
So, I am just going to continue hoping that perhaps in the next week and a half, I will be blogging again, sharing pictures of our new baby, and not lamenting the fact that I am STILL waiting!