Baby Baby!

Well my little Abigail has been moving like crazy. I am 23 weeks tomorrow and she's just been kicking, and punching, and dancing. I have to say I love it.

Real life has been crazy, and I haven't had time to blog lately. I had company all week last week and the same this week as well.

So I know this was short but at least I checked in. :)

Names of God in the Old Testament

(Thanks to P.G. for handing this out during Bible study tonight)

1) God (Hebrew Elohim): often regarded the plural of majesty for God in all the OT the name signifies His role as the transcendent Creator of all that exists. (Gen 1:2)

2) God Most High (Hebrew El-Elyon): This name indicates God's superior position above all the other gods of the nations (Gen 14:18-20)

3) Lord (Hebrew YHWH or Yahweh or Jehovah): The "I Am" God of the burning bush episode in Moses' call to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex 3:14-15). The name signified God would be an inexhaustible resource for accomplishing all that he had charged Moses to do. The name is also associated with God's covenant with Israel and speaks to personal and relational nature of his character.

4) Lord (Hebrew Adonai) Revealed God as owner and master of all His creation (Josh 3:11)

5) God Almighty (Hebrew El-Shaddai): Recalls god's power in creating and sustaining all life (Gen 17:1) Literally means "God of the Mountains" and later it became associated with the awesome display of divine might at Mt Sinai (Ex 19)

6) God Everlasting (Hebrew El-Olam): Emphasizes God's immensity and eternality (Gen 21:33)

7) God, the One Who Sees (Hebrew El-Roeh): Reveals god's beneficent omniscience, a God who sees the needs of His people and responds with help and deliverance (Gen 16:13)

8) God of the Covenant (Hebrew El-Berith): God's immanence as a covenant maker with humanity, His faithfulness as a covenant keeper, and the security found in relationship with Him (Judg 9:46)

9) God, the God of Israel (Hebrew El-Elohe-Israel): God's sovereignty and providential watch and care over Israel as His elect people (Gen 33:19-20)

10) The Lord our Provision (Hebrew (YHWH/Yahweh-Yireh or Jehovah Jireh): Witnesses GOd's ability to sustain the faithful in trial and testing (Gen 22:13-14)

11) The Lord Heals (Hebrew YHWH/ Yahweh-Rapha): A name revealing God's potent curative powers to overcome sin and disease in the fallen creation (Ex 15:26)

12) The Lord our Banner (Hebrew YHWH/ Yahweh-Nissi): God Himself goes before His people in battle and in all of life (Ex 17:15)

13) The Lord our Peace (Hebrew YHWH/ Yahweh-Shalom): The righteous may rest secure in God (judg 6:24)

14) The Lord our Shepherd (Hebrew YHWH/Yahweh-Ra'ah): God tends to His people like a shepherd for His sheep. (Ps 23:1)

15) The Lord our Righteousness (Hebrew YHWH/Yahweh-Tsidkenu): Exalts the perfection and impeccable character of God (Jer 23:6)

16) The Lord is present (Hebrew YHWH/ Yahweh-Shammah): Omnipresence of God as the personal Creator and Redeemer of the world and all lpeople (Ez 48:35)

17) The Lord of Hosts (Hebrew YHWH/Yahweh-Sabaoth): Designates God as Creator and Leader of teh angel armies of heaven (1 Sam 17:45)

Makeup (cheap price)

A friend of mine passed along a website I wanted to share with you. www.eyeslipsface.com

They sell makeup, she said it's good quality, at only $1 per item (or $5 per "mineral makeup" item). I wanted to pass along the deal. I have not ordered this yet so I do not know the quality first hand.

PLUS if you order $15+ worth you can use the coupon code CAROLINA and save $7.50

I thought it sounded like it was cheap enough to try and if I didn't like it I wouldn't do it again. Also wanted to pass the info along.

It's a......

I just had to share that the baby is a

GIRL

Our little princess will be here October 28th.

Just for fun....(pic)

Just playing with the photo program, and having fun....

In Better Hands Now

"It's like the sun is shining when the rain is pouring down...it's like my soul is flying although my feet are on the ground...so take this heart of mine...there's now doubt....I'm in better hands now....."

Emu

Here was my conversation while playing restaraunt with boys:

Little King (almost 4 yrs) -mom here's your Emu...
Me- Emu, I didn't order Emu...
LK- No mommy, read the Emu and see what you want to order...

I was then laughing hysterically. Especially considering my in-laws do raise Emu and do on occasion eat Emu......and LK knows that.....

16 weeks, really??

This pregnancy is going so fast I cannot believe it. Today I am 16 weeks pregnant. It seems like yesterday I wasn't even pregnant. I have SO MANY things I want to accomplish before baby comes that it terrifies me how quickly each day is passing, and little the number of things on my "to do list" are actually being done.

I'm really anxious to start feeling the baby move. I don't think I have yet, or if I have I didn't recognize it yet. They say right about now should be the little butterfly flutter feelings, and the baby is 4 inches long from crown to rump. I can't believe my little one is so big already!

I'm not really sure if I'm ready to be a mom of three! I know, I went through this before I had Little Wiseman (almost 2) as well, but really, seriously WHAT am I going to do? I think I'll be a hermit and just not really go anywhere or do anything. But that always spirals me into a lonely, sad, "depression" of sorts because I'm a social kinda gal.

Anyway I am most excited to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl. We find out June 8th and that day cannot come soon enough. I really try not to think about what I really want because obviously I am going to love my little baby no matter what and I cannot wait to meet him or her.

But I'm 16 weeks, really? I can't believe it. Where is time going? I'm almost halfway through this!

Bowling with the Boys (Pics)

We took the boys bowling last night for the first time ever and they loved it. The bowling alley we were at has it rigged where the bumpers only come up on the kids turns. And they had a cool ramp the kids could push the ball off of instead of attempting to push it down the isle! Little King (almost 2) is so short he couldn't really do that well and did push it down the isle with daddy's help.

Where have I been???

I am suprised blogger doesn't delete a persons account when they wait so long to update! I am still here. I have been so busy I haven't had time to blog, and any spare time I do have I have started using Facebook with my real life friends and let me say that is WAY addicting! So sometimes I forget about my beloved blog! :)

I want to get back into it though. I need to be leaving the memories of Little King (almost 4), Little Wiseman (almost 2) and this little Baby#3. It's such a fun way to remember them growing up.

I wanted to check in but in the next couple of days I'll post some profound blog that will amaze you!! (just kidding). But I will come back and talk about something other than, well the fact that I'm still here! Thanks for keeping on visiting my blog!

Are You a Mom?

I'm Invisible

(author unknown)

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the
lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while
I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the
phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking,
or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner,
because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more:
Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a
human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'
I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the
Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once
held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that
graduated summa cum laude - but now they had
disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's
going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of
a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous
trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was
sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It
was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my
out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could
find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and
I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it.

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped
package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great
cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I
read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the
greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the
book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing
truths, after which I could pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record
of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never
see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the
eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man
who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a
workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and
asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird
into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.'
And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall
into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering
to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day,
even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no
sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to
notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't
see right now what it will become.'


At times, my invisibility feels like an
affliction . But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the
cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to
my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see
myself as a great builder. As one of the people
who show up at a job that they will never see
finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The
writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be
built in our lifetime, because there are so few people willing to
sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son
to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for
Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade
pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all
the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.
I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there
is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it
there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We
cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very
possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at
the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of
invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know

.... I just did.

My Boys are growing up!

I can't say enough except my little babies are growing up. Little King (my oldest) was so excited to take pictures so when our new baby (due Oct 28) comes along we can show baby the pictures of his/her older brothers! This is one of the best photo sessions that we have ever had with him. He is so shy and doesn't like getting his pictures taken. Little Wiseman on the other hand is always happy, this morning he just wanted his mommy, and pulling his little grip from mommy was found to be difficult but we were able to make it work!

Last Baby

Well we are now expecting our third child and we are thrilled! Last Baby will be born sometime around October 28th. I am about 6 weeks along I guess. This little bundle will be our last little bundle most likely. Savoring each moment!

Prayer of China Mission Worker

I want to cultivate this prayer as my own! This was a prayer by Betty Scott Stam, a China Inland Mission worker. (read more here)She and her husband were led through the streets of China to their execution by decapitation, while their baby lay behind in its crib.

Lord, I give up all my own palns and purposes, all my own desires and
hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my time, my all, utterly
to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as
Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any
cost, now and forever.

Not Afraid

I have to follow up my last post "My Weakness, My Fear".

I am not afraid of death but I was letting the fear of a disease, cancer, allow anxiety and fear and this is not right!

This morning I was singing in church and listening to the words "No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the pwer of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breat, Jesus commands my destiny..."

This morning Pastor Tommy preached a great sermon and I was reminded that Jesus has already walked through any valley that we could ever enter into. This world is not our home and we don't have to say good-bye to the ones we love when we have a relationship with the Lord. He does not ask us to enter into anything He hasn't battled before.

I do not need to fear cancer, or death. Jesus has already walked that, grieved that, and whether it is a loved one or myself, I have greater things promised for after I die, and that longing should be our hope, and our encouragement to keep on going!

My Weakness, My Fears...

It may be misleading to title this "my weakness" because in reality I know that I have many weakness in my life. But today was a reminder, once again, of the one thing that terrifies me so much.

There is one thing I am deathly afraid of. It hurts my heart, and brings along with it painful memories all on its own, and the fear of memories that are to come.

Cancer. My paternal grandfather died of leukemia a few years back. My mother is currently fighting leukemia, my maternal g.gma died of breast cancer before I knew her, and today my maternal grandmother found out that she most likely has cancer as well.

You cannot control cancer, it moves throughout your entire body. It is an almost invisible disease. It takes lives on a whim, and it leaves a fear for the unknown. When my grandfather died of leumekia I went through a struggle, terrified I was/am going to find out that I have cancer. After a very long time I worked through that fear. Then only a few years ago I received word that my mother had leukemia. Again I battled that fear.

It's as if the world stops when this happens. It stops and yet goes on all at once. You feel it stopped but you are epxected to live each day like you did before you knew, the one you loved had cancer, the on you love could be overcome by the cancer any day. People expect that it is actually easy to continue putting one foot in front of the other, or yet on the other hand they expect that you just stop your life at the tragic news, and really it's so confusing you cannot even pretend to explain how you feel, no one says the right thing, although their intentions are good.

That is my weakness, that is my fear. My mom still has leukemia raging through her body although she is doing better, almost in a remission state (her type of leukemia really never goes 100% in remission).

I know God is in control. I know He is Lord over all, I know He is healer, I know He is Almighty and I know that I cannot let fear control my life, but again today, the news of my grandmother having cancer....has brought a flood of emotions t hrough me once again. Selfish as it seems, I am a mother of two beautiful boys, and wife of a wonderful husband and the thing that bothers me the most about cancer is that the disease....it doesn't care your marital status, or your parental status, or your stage in life.

While it takes you, it leaves your family behind. And that is really what hurts my heart....please just pray for her.

Update: It's 2:00am, and I was reading my Bible. I did find comfort, as always.
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging..."Psalm 46:1-3

Long Week...

This week has been a long week. We had an ice/snow/sleet kind of storm starting on Monday and we've been stuck in our house all week. It's been a blessing in disguise really, I have enjoyed the time at home with my boys even more than I normally do. Maybe that's also because I have accomplished so much this week.

There are unfinished projects at my house and I was finally able to make GREAT headway! I finally feel like I can get on top of all this mess, and have a place for everything.

My boys have amazed me, their personalitites are so amazing, and individual, and I try to embrace them each for who they are and how they act. This week they really jumped out at me.

Little King (3 yrs) is a rule follower, routine, scheduled, every day the same, get in a lull, loving, tender hearted, strong willed, mind of his own, not take a risk, follower, but yet leader little boy.

Little Wiseman (18 mo) is my care free, scared of nothing, take a risk, climb on everything, onery *spell?*, running, cuddly, little boy...

And my husband is a great person, a wonderful helper, a caring heart, hard worker....

So I've embraced my home and my family this week and I am so thankful for what I have!