Presents Galore

Welcome to Mommy Monday! 

I did a few changes to the Mommy Monday page tab, because I don't always go all out and talk only about Mommy stuff lately.

So I have a little dilemma I've been trying to figure out, maybe some of my Mommy readers can give me some advice about this. Matthew and I decided to start a three present Christmas tradition, then some Santa gifts, with Levi because not only did Jesus get three, but also because Levi's birthday is less than a month away from Christmas Day. My sister, Tosha, also has a son with a birthday in early January. I asked her on Christmas how she does it, and she gave me some funny advice, "Don't tell them what day their birthday is on, just surprise them a few weeks later with a present."

I just have a feeling this is always going to be a stressful time for us to jump from Christmas right to a birthday. Of course it can always be done, but does anyone else have this similar situation? Any good suggestions or ideas? What do you do for presents? Maybe some small presents on Christmas and then one big present from Mom and Dad on their birthday? This might make me seem like a mean mom, but I really don't want Levi to have one of those rooms that is overflowing with more toys than we know what to do with. And I want him to understand later on that it's not always about getting things, more of the time it's also about giving.

I know a lot of my readers don't have Google accounts to leave comments below, so if you're viewing this on Facebook feel free to leave a comment in the Facebook link of any suggestions you might have. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of the week!

xoxo

A Generous New Year

 Part 1

I'm in our truck in the parking lot of one of our favorite restaurants as I'm beginning to write this, waiting for Matthew to come back with the little buzzer to tell you when your table is ready. It's freezing here and the restaurant is pretty packed, so we decided to wait in the truck. I want to tell you how we got here tonight, but for me to tell you please understand I'm not telling you this to brag or anything of that kind, and Matthew doesn't know I'm writing about this either... that is until he reads it when it's published. I want to tell you because it's God's good works, and I would like for all my readers to have the chance to experience some of God's magic and blessings, if your heart is in the right place to do so.

I recently started reading The Blessed Life by Robert Morris, and our lives have already changed within the few short weeks I've been reading it. Robert Morris is one of my favorite Pastors to listen to on podcasts or their Gateway website. In his book, he brilliantly breaks down everything you need to know about tithing and the gift of giving. If you don't already know, we are a young family in every aspect of our lives. We are in the thick of figuring out all of the highs and lows of this economically challenged world we live in today. Yet we are not intimidated by it. We live by our faith and that God has put us where He wants us for now. We have already reached some spiritual maturity in the area of giving since learning more about it, and sincerely doing it with your heart rather than thinking it's something you have to do.

The story starts at Matthews work on Christmas Eve, where they were doing a raffle drawing for two Christmas turkeys. Matthew took a ticket but my mom had already purchased our family turkey. Matt ended up winning one of the turkeys, but he knew we didn't really need it. So he gave it away to someone who really did. Soon after that the same day, a coworker came to Matthew and gave him a very generous gift card for our favorite restaurant. That's how we ended up where we are tonight. God told Matthew to give that turkey away, and in return He gave us double, a full meal. You can't out-give God. This thing we call money is not ours, everything we have, God has given us. It's all His in the first place. So if you're not already tithing, I really would like to encourage you to start. And to make sure you're doing it right, if you're confused about it I highly recommend reading Pastor Morris's book, and reading the scriptures about it as well in the Bible. Our churches need their body. As we ring in the New Year, I wanted to tell you this story so you might decide to set a goal for giving in 2015. Trust me, your life will be so blessed for doing it. I also recently started the One Year Bible and I'm ahead on my readings for January. One of my resolutions is to be able to say I have read the whole Bible by the time I turn 25 years old. Have you set some wonderful resolutions yet? 

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and have a very blessed New Year! 

____________

I'm also going to send out a prayer request for my readers today. When we got home from the restaurant last night, we didn't know one of our neighbors houses was on fire. One of their other close neighbors called the fire department and three different ones came. The fire got big but they worked until 2am putting it out. We thought they were going tell us all to evacuate but they got it contained. We have a lot of trees around where we live and the wind was blowing last night. Luckily no one was home but I was told they had some birds inside. The family is in Mexico visiting for Christmas except for one girl, she stayed because she had to work but she's safe and staying with her aunt. They had seven family members living in the house and I think pretty much everything is ruined, and we don't think the house was insured. We know the family, and our whole community is devastated that when they come back from Christmas vacation they won't have a home to come back to. Matthew and I went out and talked to people last night and we are all going to do everything we can to help. Please pray for this family, please pray very hard. Pray that somehow we will find a way to get them a home. My sister, Tosha, drove over last night during the fire and she has a terrible cold, but she still came and she had tears in her eyes but she said the most beautiful words, "I know I'm sick but I came because we are the church, we should be here." 

We are the church.

If you're not already giving, please do with all your heart. Rise up, and be that light people see when they're lost. Be the church.

Here's a tiny piece of a story from the Bible that I've really fallen in love with, about Mary using a very expensive perfume to anoint Jesus. -

"Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. ” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.'” (John 12:2-8 NIV)

 Part 2

 Christmas with the Valentine's! 

Levi didn't like the flash too much.

 Opening his first present! 

He was so excited to finally get to tear into something!

 Our Christmas at Nana's house!

This is the only good picture we could get of him in his first Christmas outfit by himself, he wouldn't hold still.

-I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!!
xoxo

Merry CHRISTmas

 

















As Christmas Eve or Christmas Day approaches, whichever one you get together with your families on, I feel I should give some encouragement. As wonderful as it is to see our families, don't forget to share the wonderful things God has been doing in your lives to your loved ones. You never know who needs to hear those words come from you. To be honest, sometimes I have family who only comes for the meal they will get because it might be a long time before they get another one like that. It really breaks my soul and my heart to share that with you but it's true. We have family who does bad things and gets in a lot trouble for it. They don't know where they will end up tomorrow or if they'll even be alive, but our hearts are tender and we invite them to come because they are our family. And I feel Jesus would've done the same. All you can do is try, try and try again. However long it takes. What is more important than one lost soul?

As I lay next to my sleeping baby, I always think of Jesus's mom, Mary. How scared she must have been to know her tiny baby had so much ahead of him. So many people coming and saying he's the Savior of the world. Who would he be? Will people hate him? Will they hurt him? How can I protect him? How am I going to be able to let him go? It's so joyous yet heartbreaking to look at all the nativity scenes for Christmas and all the beautiful babies in this world, knowing that little baby Jesus would die the most horrible death. For what? Horrible people.

Mary watched her son come into this world as a precious tiny angel and yet she also had to watch him get beaten and hammered to a wooden cross. Can you just imagine for a second? I would be beyond hysterical if that was my son. They would've had to put me in the nut house after that...

Remember this on Christmas when you're opening presents with your beautiful children, who took their place for our sins. Baby Jesus. Remember to thank God for all you have in this world. He took up all of our crosses and all He asks of us is to love Him with all our hearts and love each other.

I pray that each and every one of my readers have a very blessed and magical Christmas!

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." - Isaiah 7:14 NIV 

xoxo

 

Mommy Tuesday!

I'm sorry I didn't get to post for Mommy Monday yesterday for lack of a computer. My dad had to do some maintenance on it yesterday. Very frustrating. I'd say it's time for a new one... but I know that's a dream I'm having.

Before I start my rambling, I would like to brag on my sister, Tosha, for just a few seconds. She painted this incredible picture, and I just can't get over what a beautiful job she did. I'm really in love with it! I'm so proud of her! 

I've been wanting to share with everyone what we've been up to this Christmas season, as for family activities. We've done a bunch of things that I've either never done before or it's been a long time since I got to do it. 

We just started to string popcorn last night and that's something I've never done, we're not quite finished yet, but I've always really wanted to do it. It's a long process, but it's so fun and very beautiful on the tree. All worth it in the end!

I handcrafted an ornament, it was just something very quick and easy but I'm quite proud of my tiny tree.

The paper snowflakes are very frustrating for me to do, and at first every one I did fell apart and Matthew laughed at me... But somehow I finally ended up with a decent one. 

We sent a care package to one of my friends that's a soldier in the Army, that's overseas right now. I'm not going to say what all we put in it because he hasn't gotten it yet (we'll save that for another post). I've never been able to send one before, and I thought that was a great way to say thank you and give back for Christmas.

We also sent out our first family Christmas cards!

Last but not least, I was trying to think of a way to give all of my nieces and nephews gifts for Christmas without spending a ton of money. Because it's Levi's first Christmas and his birthday is also coming up in January, and we needed to be reasonable. So thanks to pinterest, I found these cute candy sleighs to make!

These are all great family activities to do with your kids and even though Levi is too small right now, he loves watching us be a little crazy for Christmas!

Happy Mommy Tuesday & Merry Christmas everyone! 
xoxo 

The Big Santa "Elephant"

The past week I've enjoyed reading all of the discussions on Christian families choosing not to let their children believe in Santa. I get it. I really do. However, my opinion is a little different. I've said before in one of my previous posts, that I have a very childlike heart and sense of humor. To this day, I wish I still believed in Santa Claus. Does that make me less of a Christian?

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ. And I'm 100 percent about that. I just don't see anything wrong with my child also believing in Santa Claus. Just like nobody sees anything wrong with taking their children trick-or-treating on Halloween. Here's my reasons...

First, let's clarify the age range. I'm talking about kids between 1 and 8, maybe 9. Usually this is when they start to figure it out for themselves, or kids at school start spilling the beans.

It's the one month out of the year that children get the chance to experience some magic. I feel like if you tell your children that all the fictional characters they believe in at the time aren't real, you're taking away a piece of their childhood and forcing them to grow up faster than they have to. I don't want to be the parent that takes away the magic that comes along with my son getting to experience all the joys of Christmas. We were all children once, does it really matter that we believed in Santa Claus? Did it ruin our lives and taint our belief in God? No. 

For me, believing in Santa was a privilege. Even though it was short lived, I cherished it. I didn't think of him as a second God, I never thought he really watched me while I slept. Even as a child, I knew there was a difference between God and Santa. And all the while I still loved celebrating the birth of baby Jesus, going to church for the candle light service, and watching the nativity show. Until you're more spiritually mature, you never really understand the magic that comes along with being a Christian. After all, there was a real St. Nicholas that gave to the poor, and loved and worshiped God. I'm looking forward to incorporating that in our seasonal readings.

Believing in Santa only takes away however much you as the parent allows it to take away from Jesus. As a child, my family didn't talk about Santa all year round. We weren't tortured about whether or not we were good enough for Santa to bring us presents.

Personally, I don't remember every single question I asked my mom about Jesus or Santa when I was little. I don't think any of us do. We all figure it out for ourselves in the end anyway. I'm not the type of parent that wants to sit down and discuss logic with my child, he's a child, let them have an imagination. I will have plenty of time to sit down with my son and discuss logic when he's a teenager. Jesus is the reason for the season, and for some that's it.

As for our family, we're looking forward to all of the visits from Santa to come! And celebrating the birth of Christ all in one!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! 
xoxo

Christmas Traditions

Happy Mommy Monday!

Tonight I want to share some of our long time family traditions that we have done throughout my life, and some new ones that Matthew and I want to work in, now that our family has grown.


My family has been going to see the Nature in Lights display since I was little, not every Christmas but as much as we could. This is something that I definitely want Levi to get to experience like I did. It is absolutely gorgeous!
These are some pictures we took this year of our trip to see the lights! (I had to take these pictures with my phone because we were moving too fast, so sorry about the poor quality.)

Our family also loves to sing Christmas songs around our tree, and turn off all the lights except for the tree and drink some eggnog or hot chocolate. I've always loved that, it really brings out our Christmas spirit. This year I would also love to go Christmas caroling! I've always wanted to do that! 

Matthew & I want to incorporate reading The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve now that baby Levi is with us along with the Story of Baby Jesus, so this will be our first year to do that.

Our home town finally has an artificial skating rink that they've been putting up downtown. This is the second year for this, and I would really like to go ice skating every year. I think that would be a great family activity.

There's always little things I can think of that would be such great activities to do at home with your kids, if you're not able to get out of the house much. Such as crafting up an ornament or cutting out snowflakes, decorating gingerbread cookies and houses. Our family really gets into the Christmas spirit, and I think that's where I get my love for Christmas. We even do Christmas in July every year!

I really hope everyone got some fun ideas out this Mommy Monday! And don't forget the Reason for the Season! Jesus Christ was born!

xoxo

Rescue Me

What are you living for?

Is it school? A career? A sport? Your boyfriend or spouse? Money? Your kids? Starbucks coffee in the morning?

We see these picture perfect lives on television and in movies and we get lost in them, we put ourselves in their shoes. And when we walk away, whether you want to admit or not, we all strive to be like them. But what about your own story?

In all reality, are we going to get to take any of our worldly things with us when we die? No. The real answer is no. Even if you're not a Christian, all the things that you accumulate in this world will stay here when you go, and then someone else will have to take care of it all. 

Tomorrow is not promised, so why do we spend so much time worrying about it when we should be preparing for eternity?

Recently Matthew and I were blessed with a good amount of money. When I was driving to go deposit the check, right when I pulled into the bank, there was a woman with her child standing on the corner. She had a sign that said, "Mom with 2 children..." (That's all I could really read while driving.) I took it as a test. I felt like God was saying to me, "I blessed you with this money, now what are you willing to do with it?" When I pulled up to the bank, I knew what I had to do. So I deposited some and took some out for her. When I drove out, she was gone. I drove around for a while looking for her but I couldn't seem to spot her anywhere. I think it was still a test of where my heart was. And the money was not wasted.

I don't want my possessions to own me. I don't want to live for "things." I want to live for something that makes me grateful and thankful every single day that I wake up, no matter where I live. If I had to live in a car, I would want to strive to still be thankful because there's someone out there who has to sleep in the cold under a bridge. Or the men and women who are overseas who are afraid to sleep at all in fear for their lives every day, fighting for us to be able to have our warm beds in our warm houses. I know it sounds cliche' but please don't ever forget the reason for the season. Jesus. Be thankful for your life.

When you're really living for God it changes everything. It changes your values, your mindset, your priorities, it changes you. And it should.

So again I ask you, what are you living for? Is it something your soul can take with you when you die?


"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." -2 Corinthians 9:7


xoxo

Home for the Holidays

Part 1:

I said in the beginning I would be honest about my journey as a Christian and I want to hold true to my promise. I had a whole long post written out to publish for my next topic, mainly talking about how frustrating and dysfunctional family can be. But we all already know this. We all have crazy families. The holidays are mostly about getting to spend time with your loved ones and some you don't get to see very often. I was going to talk about how hard it is to get through to some family members that being a Christian doesn't mean you can do all the wrong things, and still get to Heaven just because you believe in God. That's not how it works. It's really hard to witness or share your faith to family who are still confused about it, because they feel entitled to get to do or say anything they want around you because, of course, they're your family.

So enough of the ranting. I just want to say I'm thankful. Thankful to God for even getting these opportunities to share His word and His love with family. Thankful to get to show them that living for God is precious, and life changing and real. Thankful to get to show them that even though your family can be frustrating at times, you will always love them and be there for them no matter what. That even though some family might speak ill of us or deep down might not even like us that much, we still have the chance to show them the good in being Godly. Turning the other cheek and smiling.

So through the rest of the holidays remember that when you walk through the door or open the door, to be the light. You might be the only light of God they will ever see, so be a bright one. Be kind, patient, and love one another always.

"For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ." -2 Corinthians 4:6

"You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden." -Matthew 5:14

___________________________________________

Part 2:

Our first Thanksgiving with Levi was a success although tiring as well. Both him and Matthew took off their nice clothes before pictures so I was the only one dressed up for the family picture. We went to Matthew's grandma's house first for his family and then to my sister, Tosha's, next for my family. We had to have my mom bring Levi home a little early because he definitely wasn't going to nap with kids running around everywhere. So we were very thankful to her for that, so we could spend a little extra time with the family.

This weekend we put up our Christmas tree and decorations. We even bought our first family ornament. I really want to make that a tradition each year for us to buy a family ornament, I think that's a cute idea. I got an ornament that's a star with a bell on the bottom because we all know we love in "It's A Wonderful Life" when the little girl says, "Every time a bell rings an Angel gets its wings." 

We also decided to go with traditional tree decorations this year, with the Christmas star, and candy canes and a few ornaments. I really want Levi's first Christmas to be about the true meaning and not just all the material things. For those of you who are thinking he won't remember, you're probably right, but the point is for right now in the moment he knows. He absolutely loves the Christmas tree, so I decided to take some pictures because it's adorable how much he loves it.

"She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger..." -Luke 2:7

xoxo
 

Sweet Sweet Love

I apologize for not writing more posts these past couple weeks, it's been crazy around here for us. My sweet Aunt Pam had to have shoulder surgery last week, and had some complications afterwards that resulted in some hospital stay. She is home now and recovering nicely, but if you could say a quick prayer for her body to continue to heal, that would be so sweet! 

My sweet baby Levi did a lot of running around with me this past week, in the midst of a cold front, and he ended up getting really sick very fast. However, I found some great homeopathic medicine for his age range and it's been working wonders! (Hyland's Baby - Tiny Cold products)

Also just a few days ago Matthew went to start our truck to head to work for the day, and the truck wouldn't start. Let's just say thank goodness my husband is a mechanic! So he reset some things and finally got it started, and headed to get it scanned to see if he could figure out what was wrong. There were several different things that popped up on the scanner so he decided to just go to work and maybe get it scanned there, because they tend to have more accurate readings sometimes. On one of his breaks he went out to check if the truck would start up and to see if the 'check engine' sign was still popping up, and it just so happened to crank up perfectly with no signs lighting up at all. Praise the Lord!

Needless to say it's been a little chaotic around here, but I've been doing a lot of hard praying and God has been so good to us in the end. I have really been trying to get in the habit of putting all my trust in Him and knowing that He will not give us more than we can handle. Every time something awful emerges in our lives, I just have to keep telling myself it's a test of our faith and trust that God will get us through. Let me just tell you, He is faithful. And I am so thankful.

As Thanksgiving approaches I have really been reflecting on all the wonderful things God has done in my life just over the past few months. As I become a stronger Christian, I'm really seeing how much I've missed over the years if I would've just spent more time with Him. More time loving Him, more time worshiping and in fellowship with other Christians that could've encouraged my walk with Christ. Most importantly though, more time getting to know Him. I recently started to go to a Bible study group about a month or two ago, and it has been life changing for me. I love the women and love how we can talk about any and everything going on in our lives. It has really lifted me up and has become a support system for me, and it helped that my sister, Tosha, was apart of it so I got to be myself right from the start. 

God has been doing amazing things with me and for me. Right now, I feel like we couldn't be more blessed with where our lives are going. I just can't even begin to explain the experiences with God that I've had throughout these past months, it's been powerful and spiritual, sanctifying.

So in my life, I am forever thankful that God our Father endured the pain of sending His son to this earth. He had to watch Jesus carry His own cross and undergo torture and literally get nailed to a cross for each one of our lives full of sin. He loved the human beings He created so much that He would go through anything to save us from ourselves, some of us not even willing to accept Him maybe ever, but He did it anyway. I will always be forever thankful. Thank you for your love God. Thank you for your creation of love.

"One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, "So you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself-and us, too, while you're at it!" But the other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong." Then he said, "Jesus remember me when you come into your Kingdom." And Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise." -Luke 23:39-43 NLT

Beautiful Words...

You know when you become a first time mom, and you feel so overjoyed when you get your baby to stay in the playpen (contently) when y'all are home alone, and you get to take a shower? I've had a few of these since becoming a mom and it feels like a huge accomplishment, doesn't it? Maybe that's just me. Of course I put the playpen in front of the bathroom door so I can keep an eye on him, and he still knows I'm close. This might seem crazy to women who aren't moms yet to be able grasp this obstacle but trust me, it will be hard. 

But with that being said, becoming a mom has given me confidence that I never had before. Confidence in multitasking, confidence that I can run on 4 hours of sleep, confidence that I can finally voice my opinions and have a firm stand on what I believe, and confidence in knowing what's best for my son. Becoming a mom has been the best thing that has ever happened to me, with the exception of having the privilege to grow old beside my best friend. 

Some women talk about depression after having their babies, also known as the "baby blues." I'm very thankful I wasn't one of the few who fall into that deep depression. However, I did get really stressed out after Levi was born because he had baby reflux (and still does), and sometimes he would choke and stop breathing. Thankfully he's kind of grown to handle it better and hasn't had any real problems since then. The first few months after becoming a new mom are really rough, and it's only by the grace of God (and my mom) that Matthew & I learned to become great parents. Personally I feel like you have to be ready to want to accept the role as a mom to really overcome all of the roller coaster rides of emotional changes that come after childbirth. 

When you hold those tiny hands on your chest in the hospital, and look into those sparkling eyes you created, how can you not fall in love with not only your baby but that feeling of knowing your heart is expanding? Expanding with love, joy, and confidence that you will be an amazing mom. I want to make sure all the new moms and experienced moms know that I pray for each and every one of you. I pray that you always know that you can keep going, no matter how hard your life gets. I pray that you have the strength to always show your children your heart, even if you have tears running down your face. Always speak love into your babies minds.

They will never forget your beautiful words and they will always love you for it.

I'm always praying for you.

"But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God's love." -Jude 1:20-21 NLT

To My Sweet Husband

Something to brighten your day...

Your love for me has never once started to fade in the time I have spent knowing you. Nothing ever seems to change how much we love and care for each other, our love only grows. And to think I thought I would never find you in this world... I am beyond thankful I was wrong.

You are not just my best friend anymore, you are the father of my child. That means more to me than you know. It means more because there are men who, one day, choose to not care about their families and walk away. Men who choose to start over with someone else and pretend they never had another family they left behind. Men who call themselves successful in money but poor in love and life. Men who choose not to provide for their families at all and would rather swim in alcohol. Men who do work, but also live for alcohol and come home to their family numb, wasting each precious day away. Men who let anger control them and cannot control their actions when it comes to their wives and children. Godless men. These men call themselves men, but in the end they are just little boys who never overcame their own baggage.

My Matthew, you are living proof that any man has the ability to choose which path they want to walk. I know your history and you have overcome so much in your life, and I want you to know I am so proud of the man you are and the man you will become. I am proud of the husband and daddy you are and will be in the future. I have faith in you and I have faith that our family will continue to grow in love. I admire everything about you and I adore you. Never forget to always lead me and our precious Levi to become more like Christ every day. Because we need you, we will always need your hands to hold and your arms to hold us. I've said this before and I'll say it again, please don't ever change. I love you just the way you are.

-Forever Your Bride

Music to My Ears

Happy Mommy Monday everyone!

I'm loving writing for this segment because it gives me something to look forward to on a Monday... because let's face it, no one really gets ecstatic about starting the week unless it's their honeymoon.

I want to start by saying I'm a huge music geek. I love all things musical. I'm not very good at playing instruments but I love to try, and it's on my bucket list to learn to play the piano or keyboard, because I love to sing. I love all kinds of different artists from Muddy Waters to Johnny Cash, and The Monkees to Eddie Rabbitt. When it comes to music I appreciate everything about it, I guess you could say it's a passion of mine.

And I want Levi to appreciate all music just as much as I do. It's important to me to be educated in music because to me, music is what feelings sound like, and everyone should have the opportunity to explore their emotions through a song.

So I'm going to share a little bit of our musical routines during the day. When it's meal time for Levi, I turn my phone on to Pandora and most of the time he loves Disney songs but we switch it up between Christian and oldies. We really love dancing to Eddie Rabbitt's 'I Love A Rainy Night' and Chubby Checker's 'The Twist.' Levi loves dancing with Mommy and we really have so much fun. I get crazy when it comes to dancing and I think he gets a kick out of watching me do it more than him. Levi also loves it when I sing to him and now that he's baby talking, I can't wait for him to try to sing with me.


So to all the Mommys out there, break out your Pandora and explore some oldies! I'm telling you babies love it! And you will be giving them a chance to grow up listening to artists that most kids will never know about. 

BB King

"A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence." -Leopole Stokowski

The Changing Table

The hardest thing to do as human beings is to believe in something we can't see. Do we have guardian angels? Are there really angels walking around disguised as people? It's hard for us to say yes or no, even for some Christians. Even people who claim to not believe there's a God, somewhere deep down when one of their loved ones pass away, I feel like they would still like to think that their loved ones have the chance to watch over them. I think this subject is the one that draws all people to God, because where do we go when we're gone from earth for good? Who created us to live and to die? If you believe we have souls, isn't that spiritual? These are the questions that have so many nonbelievers stumped.

After my Grandma had passed away in the hospital, I called her Nanny by the way, I saw her spirit in her hospital room (believe it or not). She loved the color pink because she was a breast cancer survivor. When I saw her spirit she had on her pink sweater, that I later had my mom sew into my wedding dress, and she was trying to comfort those crying for her and let them know she was just fine. I was trying to be strong for my family and didn't cry much and I think she sensed that, but after I saw her I felt a sense of relief from my grief. Out of all the people in that hospital room God chose me to have the privilege to get to see my Nanny look and feel alive one more time before she left the earth.

I have always carried a childlike heart and sense of humor with me for as long as I can remember. For some reason I've never wanted to give up that part of me that believes in keeping your inner child alive, and my belief in God's magic. I was afraid that was going to change after I became a mom. I was afraid I would lose that part of me because I was no longer considered a child, I was a mom. People expect you to grow up and forget all about the magic. Of course becoming a mom changes you, but I think you choose what parts you decide to let it change. I chose to keep my inner child. I always tell everybody that you have to have faith like a child, because children believe harder than anybody. And I've always believed children and babies can sometimes see things that adults can't see.

So I choose to believe my Nanny got to have a hand in picking my husband, because they would've been best friends. I choose to believe that my Nanny got to kiss Levi in heaven and tell him to make sure that our family always feels love before God sent him to us. I choose to believe that when I put Levi on his changing table, and he looks up and smiles the biggest smiles, and his eyes start to twinkle, and he starts to have baby talk conversations with the ceiling, what he's really seeing is my Nanny. What he's really seeing is angels in heaven, and maybe he's even seeing God watching over him. I choose to believe these things because not only do I believe in God, I believe that everything about being a Christian is majestic and precious.

You might call me immature or even crazy but I call it having faith like a child, that through Christ nothing is impossible.

“Anything is possible if a person believes.” -Jesus Christ (Mark 9:23 NLT)

Be Thankful

Don't worry, I'm not going to do a post every day until January 1st but I wanted to start this series to encourage the seasons of giving thanks, and not only just for November. The Holidays are all about learning to be thankful!
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When Matthew and I got married we had a 1 bedroom apartment, so quickly after we got pregnant we realized we would need more space. My mom just so happened to live alone in a 5 bedroom home and had been struggling through a divorce. So of course she asked us if we would like to move in with her and split the bills. I'm going to be honest, this was one of the most difficult decisions me and Matthew have ever made. We had no credit built up to buy a home and student loans were piling on, so we made the decision to move in with my mom.

For some couples this might seem like you would be back sliding, you might even feel ashamed. But it's only because society tells us to feel this way. We're afraid of the world's standards, and that our own friends and family who think they are more established will turn their noses up at us. But Matthew and I chose not to be discouraged and instead chose to be brave. There's a huge difference between bettering yourself Biblically and trying to better yourself according to the world. Our family constantly strives to not hold ourselves to society's standards but hold ourselves to God's. 

It's one of the best decisions we've ever made. We have been given the chance to help my mom while helping our own family as well. I'm not going to say that we don't struggle to be humble because we desire a home of our own, but we know God wants us to be still and wait. He will provide and continue to bless our family.

We are so thankful for our home that we all share. We are forever grateful that my mom gave us this opportunity to build up our family, and that we have had the chance to flourish. Thank you Mom, we love you so much.

There are so many parents out there who would die for their children to live in a nice home, with a warm bed to sleep in at night and food on the table. There are parents and children struggling everyday to make sure they find shelter and something to eat at the end of the day. I encourage you to pray for those people and donate over the holidays to a good charity or food drive... And please whatever you do, don't let a day go by that you're not thankful for what you've been given in your life. Because I'm sure that it is much much more than someone else might have.

"Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord's anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp." -Numbers 11:1 NLT
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Always remember that you have no chance of making an impact if you're not honest about your journey.

-I wanted to also share that purchasing a Honest Company product as little as a package of wipes from Target, Heb or their online website, donates the money to families in need. 

The Sweetest Thing

Welcome to Mommy Monday! I just want to take a second to thank all my readers, you guys have been incredible. I get text after text telling me that everyone loves this particular segment of my blog, and it makes me feel so amazing that everyone loves it! Thank you thank you!

I just want to remind everyone that my opinions and views are coming from a Christian perspective. Enjoy!
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Matthew & I recently decided to purchase The Love Dare together. We didn't do this because we are lacking in the marriage area, we decided to do this as a challenge for us as husband and wife. We are only on day two so far, and I have to say Matthew seems to be excelling rather well for just two days in. He really knows how to hold me accountable and I'm not mad at him for that. If anything, I love that about him. It is giving him the chance to accept the role as a husband and lead our family, as it should be. Most couples might think this would be a way to change their spouse, I don't feel that way at all. I love who Matthew and I are together and I think this is a way for us to embrace our best qualities and minimize the bad. I feel like this was the best decision and purchase we've ever made, and again we are only on day two, so I'm very eager to see how much we have grown by day forty. 

However, what I really love most about doing this Love Dare is not only does it better your marriage, it also betters your children. 

My sister, Tosha, had some amazing insight for my post tonight and I couldn't have said it any better. She said, "The sweetest thing that you can do as a Mom for your children is to show them how much you love their Daddy, it makes them feel safe." 

I love showing affection to Matthew in front of Levi, I want him to know that we love each other and show him that's how it's supposed to be. Now not over the top crazy affection but our children need to see and understand the meaning of love and caring, and the meaning of family as a whole. Also to understand the dynamic of a family. The Dad should be the head and the Mom should be the heart. Your relationship with your husband should implement and mirror your relationship with Christ.

So many parents today make the mistake of not raising our children to be prepared for marriage. We have the mindset to raise our daughters to be independent and we have lost the initiative to raise our sons to become men. To step up to be able to care for themselves and take care of their future family, and learn to cope with criticism. We are raising our boys with no coping skills, we buy video games and iPads instead of Bibles. We are raising boys who take cover instead of being the one to learn to make the cover. Our daughters know more about taking care of themselves than about learning to nurture a future family.

Matthew & I can't help but feel privileged to have grown together in such a short amount time. We have ultimately been together for 3 1/2 years, and married for 1 1/2. We continue to strive to grow together and not apart, we are so lucky to have realized how great our love for each other is and for our family all together. I love him and our family more than any earthly thing, and I know we will see our marriage through to the end. We have realized just how important it really is to take these necessary steps to better our marriage, because it is not just the two of us that will suffer, our children will suffer immensely as well.

So I urge you to take all precautions now. Don't wait until your marriage or your family is at stake, do it now.

"But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." -Joshua 24:15 NLT