God Is Great!

Hello family and friends,

Just thought I would share a few more blessings our family received from God this week.

Blessing #1: I was really nervous about the possibility of Caroline running high fevers after her shots on Tuesday, since she is kind of prone to that kind of thing anyway. After struggling with it for awhile, I finally released the worry to the Lord, and by Tuesday, I was calm as a cucumber. And even better, Caroline did fantastic! Cried a little, but no fevers or even crankiness!

Blessing #2: For some reason, our power went out this morning along with almost 10,000 others in West Virginia…huge power outage from the storm I’m guessing? It went off at about 5:50 a.m. this morning in Harrisville, and according to the power company, was not due to come back on until 11:59 p.m. tomorrow night. So I start stressing about what are we going to do with the food in the fridge and the freezer? We just went to the store for crying out loud! More importantly, it’s supposed to get down in the 20s tonight. What do we do for heat? So after freaking out for a good couple of hours, I go into the bathroom at work away from everyone to have a talk with God. I prayed that even though I know there are people in the world far worse off than us and our power outage, I prayed that the Lord just keep us safe and guide us to make the best decisions for our sake and for Caroline’s. When I came out of the bathroom, my friend Christi was waiting to tell me our power had just come back on.

So I guess moral of the story is this: It is natural for us to try and fix things ourselves and then go to God when our decision-making doesn’t work out or we just simply can’t take anymore. But I’ve learned definitely this week, that the quicker we turn our problems over to God and ask Him for help, the quicker He can make it all better like a great father is supposed to do, and like the awesome Father He is. The intent of this posting wasn’t to “preach” to you, but just to share my blessings with you guys and let you know what God did for me and my family this week! I hope all of you experience his blessings as well.

“Be strong and courageous, for the LORD will be with you wherever you go”

-Joshua 1:9

All You Need Is Love . . .

Every time I look at this beautiful gift from God, I am reminded of the most important concept and that is love. I try to never use this word lightly, but it happens nonetheless. We get used to saying "I love you" to our children, spouses, parents, and friends, and this is fantastic. If you truly mean it when you say it, I can't think of a better thing to say to someone. Even when we say "I love you" out of habit, for instance when we are hurrying off the phone or running out the door, the meaning is still there because when we don't say it, even in these rushed circumstances, it's noticed. When I'm leaving for work in the morning, and frustrated either because I've spilled something on me or my IPOD has frozen for the millionth time, sometimes I catch myself just shouting a "Bye" to my husband instead of our usual "See you later. Have a good day. I love you." As a result, my morning turns into complete crap and I inevitably call my husband when I've gotten to work safely and apologize for my poor attitude and forgetting to tell him that I love him.
A week ago, I did a "Kids Korner" at church on love, not just the importance of it in general, but also how we're supposed to love each other. Though at times it seems impossible, I believe that God wants us to love each other unconditionally...without rules, without conditions, and without expecting something in return. I used a few subjects as examples of this when I was trying to explain it to the children. When we love our friends, do we put conditions on that love? For instance, do we say "Ok, I'll be your friend and I'll love you, but you have to call me every week." Absolutely not. We're supposed to love our friends for who they are, not for what they can do for us. Now don't get me wrong. I've got some fantastic friends and family members who have done some wonderful things and favors for me, but I wouldn't love them any less if they hadn't done these things. Same goes for our spouses. Did I agree to love my husband under the conditions that he would take the trash out and keep the lawn neat and tidy? Absolutely not. I love him just because he is who he is. The chores are just a perk :) LOL I like to believe that we all have the ability somewhere inside of us to love everyone unconditionally simply because that is what God wants us to do. For that is how he loves us. But I do know one group of little people that we should have no trouble loving unconditionally...our children. The word "love" developed a whole new meaning when I had Caroline. For the first time in my life, I really understood the concept of loving someone unconditionally. She made me appreciate what it truly means to love someone that way. I caught a glimmer of this appreciation when I held my very first niece, Audrey...and the glimmer grew with my second niece, Maddie. But the glimmer shot into the sky like a lightening bolt when Caroline was born. It took a little while to kick in because when you become a new parent, it is quite a shock to your system. Sometimes it takes a little while to realize that you are not in a dream or having an out of body experience, and that you are actually in the presence of the greatest responsibility you will ever have. And the greatest love. Though they may do things or behave in ways from time to time I may not particularly like, there is and never will be a thing in this world that my child or my nieces (that's three nieces now...welcome baby Adelyn!) could do that would make me love them any less. And now that they have taught me that, and with tons of help from God, I can understand what it really means to truly love others in my life unconditionally as well! Tiny as they are, they have had a HUGE influence in my life, and I LOVE them for it!
I've been closing each of my latest blog postings with a chosen Bible verse. The verse at the end of this posting has very special meaning to me. It was a favorite chapter of my "Pawpaw", and it makes me smile to think of my brother and the way he stood reading it for everyone at my wedding. It may be a little long, but the meaning and inspiration it brings is so great!

"And Now I will show you the best way of all. I may speak in different languages of people or even angels. But if I do not have love, I am only a noisy bell or crashing cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing if I do not have love. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong. Love never ends. These are gifts of the prophecy, but they will be ended. There are gifts of speaking in different languages, but those gifts will stop. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will come to an end. The reason is that our knowledge and our ability to prophesy are not perfect. But when perfection comes, the things that are not perfect will end. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. It is the same with us. Now we see a dim reflection, as if we were looking into a mirror, but then we shall see clearly. Now I know only a part, but then I will know fully, as God has known me. So these three things continue forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13

Have a fantastic week, everyone! And take it from Caroline...don't forget to love!

...and the greatest of these is love!"

HAPPY PLATYPUS DAY!

Caroline enjoying her "Happy Platypus Day" breakfast party where she devoured her special "Agent P" chocolate chip pancakes and fashioned her one-of-a-kind "Perry the Platypus" headband!

Before I became a mother, I was a very busy bee. I was very active in church activities, the 4-H program, and going to endless seminars to earn continuing education credits for my nursing license. I also enjoyed spending time with friends and going on lots of dates and weekend trips with my wonderful husband.
However, when I became a mother my life was changed forever. Anything that didn't involve my daughter took a back seat to spending time with her. Returning to work after having Caroline was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. My husband will attest to this because he was the one who held me and told me everything would work out while I cried the two days before. I was upset and sad for many different reasons that were mostly guided by fear. Fear that I would be letting my daughter down by not spending as much time with her as other mothers may be able to spend with their children. Fear that others would judge me for leaving my child with a sitter while they stayed home with theirs. But most of all, I was afraid that because of the time I would be spending away from her while at work, my daughter would think that someone else was her mother instead of me. This was the thought that plagued me for the longest time. As a result, when I wasn't working, I took on a hermit-type lifestyle, not really wanting to go anywhere or do anything that didn't involve Caroline. I would beat my self up mentally for wanting to go out for an afternoon alone with my husband. If Caroline would get a little cold, or the slightest hint of a fever, I felt like an absolute monster for leaving her with someone else, even my husband. I could not mentally or emotionally give myself permission to be away from my daughter for anything that wasn't work. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was not healthy for my marriage or my sanity. But the biggest part of new-motherhood is giving yourself time, and others giving you time as well, to get over your crazy thought processes and get back to a happy, manageable lifestyle. I still take Caroline just about everywhere I go, but it's because I want to, not because I'll feel like a monster if I don't. And though it doesn't happen often, Craig and I do go on the occasional date, and I do take some time for myself to get my hair done, go shopping, etc. So things eventually fell back into place, and the obsessive thinking eventually faded for the most part. It still hangs around a little, but that is okay. I didn't have a child so that I could leave her with someone every chance I get. The left over thoughts have had a positive twist, and have turned what used to be mundane day to day activities into memorable moments. Going to the grocery store isn't the chore that it used to be because now I take Caroline with me, and it's just another opportunity for us to spend time together. Another event that some may think seems silly to celebrate but to us would seem silly not to, is no other than "Happy Platypus Day." For those of you who are not familiar, Perry the Platypus is one of the many characters on our family's favorite cartoons, Phineas and Ferb. He is a secret agent disguised as a domesticated platypus. Sounds weird, but he really is awesome. Today, Disney celebrates "Happy Platypus Day" so we thought we'd celebrate it too! We started with "P" shaped pancakes (for "Agent P" as Perry is known by his boss), and pictures in a Perry the Platypus headband made especially for Caroline! The moral of this entire verbally diarrhea'd story is to treasure the little moments with your family because it's usually those moments that we take for granted.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."
-I Corinthians 13:13