Back to Boone Road!

We're FINALLY home!!! Friday we moved back into our house .... such a relief! I almost forgot how much I missed being at our own house! However, I will say that since Dalton was 3 weeks old (and now he is 3 months old!) I have been staying with either Aaron's parents or my own, so I've had full time help with the hoodlums! It's a wee bit different being home. I just LIVE for nap time!! I don't even take a nap then though because I feel like I miss the quiet, and it's so nice!
I have realized though what a sacrifice it is to stay at home with your kids. IT'S HARD! Aaron told me the other day that he would rather dig ditches all day then do what I do- I can see that ... ;) But I know this is just such a short season and one I can never get back, so I'm going to persevere. Plus seeing Avery's sweet face just bawl and squawl when I leave her in the nursery at church for two hours just kills me, much less daycare. So I'm going to keep going!
I also forgot what it's like to try to keep the house picked up with little ones under my feet. My mom told me once that if she's awake she's cleaning, I now have completely embodied that ... I AM ALWAYS PICKING UP AND CLEANING! Whew! It's exhausting! Plus, since we threw away practically all of our rugs and such with the flea problem I have to sweep at least twice a day so that we're not trucking through a complete mess!
ANYWAY! Life is good and God is great. I am really loving being home and having some normalcy back. I think Aaron is much more relaxed and happy to be home as well.
We started going to the Bryant Fellowship this week- it was oh-so-different. But, a lot closer.
I think Avery is climbing up the pantry so I better end here. Thanks for all the prayers for the fleas to flee- God answered our prayer!!
Rebekah

My Sweet Sisters!

I just had to take a minute this morning and say how much I LOVE my sweet sisters!! God has blessed me ABUNDANTLY with them and they are such an inspiration to me and what God has in store for those who follow Him.
Yesterday I was at my bible study class and we were watching a Beth Moore video on her bible study of John, called "Beloved Disciple..." She said something that I thought was so profound and such an important thought.
She said that God created us each to be "passionate" beings. That He made us to be passionately in love and on fire for Him. BUT if we aren't passionate about Him then we'll gear it toward other things ... big uh-oh. I completely understand that though!! That's where addictions come from and hobbies that people just become obsessed with or whatever. BEEN THERE.. That is just our way of filling ourselves up, it just happens to be the wrong thing. And you almost find yourself knowing you are unhappy in the path you're on, but you just keep on it anyway.
My sweet sisters have always passionately sought Christ and I can seem Him all over their lives. They are DAILY blessings to me and my bestest friends in the whole world. I love them DEARLY and just aspire to be such Godly girls as they are.
I would brag on them more but Dalton is beginning to howl in his bed ... poor thing. Something tells me he's hungry - as ALWAYS! :)

"When God Commissions, He Empowers... AMEN"

So if anyone needs a new bible or just wants a short morning devotion I would highly reccomend the "Women's Devotional Bible-Classic Edition." Aaron got it for me a couple Christmas's ago and I truly love it ... Here is one of the devotions I read this week.

This verse, 1 John 5:4, has been a favorite of mine for years; but only lately have I come to realize that the verse is not so much about faith as it is about power. It's not an obvious power like that inherent in a seed, which causes a plant to pop out of the ground and burst into flower, or in the meaningful words that fly across the airwaves altering convictions and changing hearts for all eternity.

Power. Have you ever been so mad at a person that you wanted to walk out and never talk to him/her again, but decided instead to hang in there, communicate, and make it right? Or, have you felt tremendously inadequate for an assigned task, found a scripture of encouragement, and come out a winner? Have you invested love and conern into a person who was basically unlovable and witnessed a transformation in him/her behavior primarily because of your sensitivity and acceptance? That's the kind of power I am talking about.

This verse says that we, the children of God, acutally can overcome the world by faithfully believing that we have God's power to effect change. Doesn't that make you want to try it in every area of your life? It does me!

I want to quit worrying about money. I want to lose weight. I want to be a kinder, more gentle person. Iwant to be supportive, not envious. I want to sing more and gripe less. I want to look for the positive, not dwell on the negative. I want to reach out to those who need me, not wait for them to come to me. I want to relax and laugh. I want to live fully.

Shall I go on? You make your own list, remembering that by faith you've already overcome the world. Claim that. When God commissions, he empowers. That power is absolutely yours, by faith. Take it and head out. The victories are just beginning.

- Luci Swindoll

I just really love the thought that God truly has EMPOWERED me to be able to overcome each and every adversity that comes my way. He knows what's coming and I think my whole path to Him has equipped me for each new challenge. I am really having such a desire to follow Him whole heartedly. I don't know what it is about having kids, but it just PUSHES you to want to be the absolute BEST version of yourself. However I have found that without completely surrendering to His plan, I don't want to even be around myself (which is difficult). I really believe God is shaping me to BE something. I have all these plans and ideas about women's ministry ... but I have to remind myself ... "It's not the best time to tackle some of these!" However I am oh-so-excited to see how God wants to use me and I am so glad that He has filled me up with HIS POWER.

II Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Thoughts for Today...

Today I went to Mom's N More, my little Tuesday morning bible study for new moms. It really is a hoot- they are so sweet to all of us and just stand up there and tell us how proud they are that we got there with all our kids and everything. We have snippets on Fall Fashion, or the Hottest New Toys, or whatever. It's really cute. ANYWAY we also have a short lesson by Judy Taylor, who is hilarious. Today she talked about our fears. Everyone was sharing in small group, and never the shy girl, I told what my fear was. You might find this humorous, but MY fear is staying in Bryant forever... and I have no idea why! My leader asked why this was my fear, and I told her that I honestly didn't really know. But it got me to thinking... "WHY did I not want to live there??!??!!" Am I just a wee bit snotty and came from a small high school and we might have made fun of Benton/Bryant for whatever reason and God has a sense of humor and just put me right there (very strong possibility, God seems to express his sense of humor with me like that a lot!) It's a sweet small town, with great schools, and even a Fellowship Bible Church literally within walking distance from my house. I love my little house and with a little bit of work on the outside I really think I would REALLY love my house. Plus it's out kinda in the country so Aaron can hunt and train his dogs and everything. AND we live on stinkin' Boone road with the rest of the "kin" and how fun is that?!?!?! :)
Mrs. Judy said something in her lesson today about how not surrendering to God's plan could really cause us to miss out on blessings and being a part of HIS plan... so that KINDA hit home. God could really have a purpose in us staying in Bryant, so I guess we better stick it out and see what it is :)
Another little "nugget" that she gave us this morning was kinda an "in your face question" or at least it was to me ... She asked if we had a mentality of "well Lord, I could just be happier with ____," Or "Lord, I could just be such a better Christian if you would just _____." Can I please just take a minute and think how many times I have said that to God lately ... well it would take a lot longer than a minute- because I have done that FREQUENTLY! I have just been convinced in feeling that if I could just GET to Little Rock that I would just live in day to day perfection! HA ... seriously?!?! What is going on in my head? I have had such a freedom and a PEACE the last couple days since I have given over moving to the LORD. He has my best interest at heart and he knows what's coming. I just have to TRUST God with all my fears and WHO BETTER TO HAND THEM OVER TO?!?!?!??! I think I just rambled ... shocking.


Aaron wrote me an e-mail this morning saying that he thinks we can probably move home this weekend! EEK! So pray pray pray us home this week!!

Here are a couple pics of us leaving for Moms N More today ...
Of course I couldn't really get us to all look and smile and everything at the same time ... but I tried :)

Don't leave your kids alone ...

Mom was unloading the dryer last night and in the 30 seconds it took her to take the load into the living room to fold Avery decided to see what that dryer business was all about.

I had to share!!!

Hallelujah for Mom's!

"Titus 2:3-5 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teach what is good. They they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

I honestly don't know how people have kids without family around ... I have been so blessed by my Mom and Mother-In-Law. We have INVADED their homes for the past two months and they just do and do and give and give endlessly. Titus 2 speaks about the older women leading the younger women- which is just what they do. They are constantly helping me in every way! Feeding, bathing, changing, playing with the babies and trying to SERVE me when I'm living in their houses!! They BOTH will come in in the mornings asking, "what should we make for dinner" ... "What do you need from the strore?" or "how can I help you?" I have never met such servants. It is my every aspiration to be like them when I grow up! They are SUCH blessings in my life. They give and give, just because they want to- which is good because I have no idea how I would ever repay them- They are PRICELESS!!

Thankyou LORD for such sweet women in my life, who lead quietly by example and provide such a ministry to me!

P.S. Avery has started doing the cutest thing- Now when I lay her down for naps or for the night she waves when I cover her all up her crib and say's "Nigh Nigh" ... um yes she is the sweetest thing! And here are a couple pics of her today in her sunglasses ... cutie!

The Weekend's Events

This weekend has been quite eventful. In case you haven't talked to me in a super long time, we've had some unwelcome visitors lately. Apparently a raccoon family crawled up under the house that had fleas and laid them all underneath the hardwood floors allowing them to lay eggs that hatch EVERY 72 HOURS!! We've been staying with my parents and Aaron's. We have tried everything under the sun and would be totally up for any advice on flea removal. I think some people actually stay in the house during fiascoes like this, but with Avery and Dalton spending lots of time on the floor, It's probably not the best thing. For the last few weeks we've been in my parents garage apartment which has worked out nicely, but we decided to give them a break from all the hooplah we provide and go to Aaron's parents house this weekend. Hurricane Ike pretty much dominated the TV and conversation with the occasional football clip. And finally about 11 last night we lost power ... it was a little hard to feed Dalton in the PITCH black in the middle of the night, but it was do-able. Avery still has ear infections in both ears after 5 days of antibiotics so I'm probably going to have to take her back, poor thing. She is definitely not her usual self. Here are a couple pics from the weekend. Dalton is the biggest 3 month old I've ever seen! The pics of Avery are her first go with guacomole- which as you can see was quite a hit!!

My First Blog

Well ... Here is my first try this blogging thing. My family is frequently asking for new pics of the babies that seem to change EVERY single day and what new tricks they are doing and so this seemed like a good idea!
Right now Avery is 16 months and Dalton is about 3 months and growing bigger every day! Yesterday he started eating rice cereal and pears which he LOVED and so hopefully he will be sleeping through the night soon!
Our weeks are mostly spent at home right now, because it is such an EVENT to get out of the house, but last week I started two new bible studies Moms N More and Beloved Disciple, a Beth Moore study at the Bryant church, I'm trying to get more involved in my community if we are going to stay there after all.
I had really thought we were going to move to LR soon, but after lots of discussion and just a couple tears decided that Bryant was really best for our family! With a gentle nudge from my mom I am actually getting a little more excited about it ...
Proverbs 14:12 says "there is a path that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." God has really put that verse on my heart ... that I can plan and plan all I want, or I can surrender to His plan. Although that is QUITE against my nature, I'm working on being more content!