Closing

Some of the bigger changes in life definitely don't consult our calendars before they decide to make their appearance in our lives. I am learning to have patience, peace and joy even when things do not fall perfectly into my schedule as I would wish them to. God has His own agenda and life lessons for us.

We are closing on two houses this week. Tomorrow we close on our home on 5th Street, where we have been for almost five years now. This is very sad, because Matt and I love our little house and have made so many wonderful memories there, one being that we brought Henry home to it. It is simply getting too small, and we need another bathroom and more storage space! There will soon be four of us, one of whom will be potty training...We will close on Tuesday and turn around on Wednesday and close on a new one. I am very excited about it all, and God has moved in ways I could never have imagined to make this all happen so quickly, which I am grateful for.

We have to be out of our home by Friday of this week, so our home is packed full of boxes; there is nothing on the walls; all of our utensils, cooking items, dishes, books, everything is packed! This makes life interesting, and our home feels slightly cold. I have been thinking that this may be God's way of helping me cope with the move from a home that we have been so happy in. I cried like a baby when we left our dumpy little apartment five years ago. Hopefully, I will be so eager to get out of the mess and into our new home, that I won't think about being sad. We'll see if it works.

In the meantime, while all of this is going on, I am inching closer and closer to the arrival of our newest little Mitchell. I feel like I have not had the time to devote to planning and preparing my heart (and my home) for this little one. Oh, I know I will love it tremendously. I want to be mentally ready, though. I want to be ready to help Henry with the transition; I want my family to be settled and used to our new home; I want a lot. All of these things are blessings though. I have so much to be thankful for. We are healthy; we have a roof over our heads; jobs; food; and a beautiful growing family.

Closing seems like such an inappropriate word right now, with so much before me. I guess the beginning of all of these new adventures cannot begin until some of the old ones end. I will miss our little home, but it was a perfect place to get our start.

Count Down

Well, we're in the home stretch! Single digit weeks and counting until Baby Mitchell arrives! I am so ready for this one. Henry somehow understands that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy, because when we talk about the baby, he pulls up my shirt and hugs my stomach...I'll wait while you dab your eyes. I just did.

I love being a mommy. My wise sister, Anna, once told me that it was the worst and the most wonderful thing in the world. At the time, pre-mommyhood, I thought that was strange, but now I totally get it. The worst part is the worry: Is that cough turning into pneumonia? Will all of the horrible stories I hear on the news someday happen to us? Will Henry and this baby grow up to know Christ as their Savior? It doesn't stop.

The wonderful part is the way ordinary things become extraordinary! Who would have thought the word "outside" could bring such joy to a child or Lily (our dog) wrestling with a ball could induce such laughter? Hugs and kisses and fist pumps (thanks Aunt Beth) are the best!

Needless to say my experiences with little Henry have made my excitement for this next one boundless. God has been so good, and I continue to be amazed at His blessings.

Falling In Love

I've had this on my heart for a couple of weeks now and wanted to share. Every morning on my way to work (I drive 45 minutes each way), I here this song on KLOVE. My relationship with God has grown in marvelous ways lately, due to struggles I have gone through, and this song has just touched my core.

So often, when people ask if we're Christians or if we go to church, our first response is, "Yes." Most of us probably grew up in church, whether it was Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, etc., because we grew up in the South. Church is wonderful, and I believe that it is a place that God wants us to be as often as we can attend. It is a place to worship Him, to learn, to grow, and to fellowship with other believers. But before we can do that, He wants a commitment from us; He wants us to fall in love with with Him much like we fell in love with our spouses or boyfriends or girlfriends. I remember that feeling so well; being willing to give up anything to be with this new person you love; being willing to change the negative things about yourself to please this new love; putting away the old loves of your life to concentrate and give yourself wholly to this person that you want to be with for the rest of your life.

That is what it feels like to give your life to Christ. To believe in Him and to accept the sacrifice of love that He so willingly made on the cross. The believe that He is the only person that can lead you, that can take your life and make it something better, that can save you from the person you were born to be...a sinner. To commit your life to Him, just as we commit our life to our husbands and wives and to promise to follow Him through everything. Because, if you don't know already, He loves us far more than anyone on this earth can or ever will. If you have not "fallen in love" with Jesus, if you haven't been "...caught up (and) called out..." in your relationship with Christ, I pray that you make that decision and begin following Him.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

"God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Romans 10: 9,10

Much Needed Update

It has been far too long, I know. Please forgive me, but with Henry so active and so many changes, I have not kept up. For a quick update: Henry is almost 17 months old and a mover! I am 27 weeks pregnant with our second and working as an advisor/instructor at a local community college. We are expecting this second one (sex unknown) at Thanksgiving.

I don't think Henry has any idea what to expect, but he loves babies, so maybe he'll enjoy being a big brother. Oddly enough, I'm not terribly worried about it. I am very excited to be expanding our little family. Satan has been attempting to attack my peace of mind lately, but God will pull me through.

Henry is proving to be very much the little "boy." He's has fallen and busted something on his face at least five times in the past couple of months. Today, for example, he fell forward off of a chair and busted his bottom lip. I am getting used to the blood, but will be glad when his reflexes catch up with his curiosity.

I know this was too quick, but for now it will have to do!

For Anna...

So, according to my sister, it's been far too long since I've blogged. Judging by the last picture of Henry on here, she is correct. Time has flown by too quickly, but we have been having so much fun! Thanksgiving and Christmas were filled with lots of family time. Henry started crawling before Thanksgiving and now he is walking!

He changes everyday, and it has been so fascinating to watch his little mind work. When the house alarm on the door beeps, he knows someone has come to see us and will start walking or crawling to the front rooms of the house. He'll sneak up and grab a spoon from the dishwasher if it is open and try to "run" away with it before I can get to him. He loves the toilet paper roll and will unravel it is seconds! Needless to say, we are having a blast!

I am still working full time and praying for a door to open to allow me to be home more. I am blessed with so much that lately it has been difficult to feel sorry for myself. Henry is able to walk; we are healthy; we have house filled with joy and peace, and Matt and I have grown closer to God and to each other through this entire experience. God has a purpose and a plan for everything, and I am certain things are going according to His plan and not my own.

FALL!

Fall is finally here! This is absolutely my favorite time of year. This year, especially, since we have Henry and get to share all of our favorite things with him! Yesterday, we walked to the Farmer's Market and picked out some pumpkins for our porch. Henry loved the pumpkins and even received his very own miniature pumpkin from the nice lady.

Next, we went to Shiloh National Military Park to enjoy the beautiful day. We walked around for a while and were kind of lazy...Last night was my ten year high school reunion, so Pop (Matt's dad) came and put Henry to bed for us. He was a complete angel and went to sleep like a big boy. It was such a great day, and I am sure just the first of many. I am certain that Henry will enjoy this time of year just as much as Matt and I do.

Henry is learning new things everyday. He loves to sit up and reach for different textures. He's still a little wobbly, but he's getting stronger and stronger. We discovered he likes to ride on our shoulders outside. He laughs the whole time, especially if you jump with him (he's going to love amusement park rides, unfortunately).

We are so grateful, for Henry and this beautiful time of year. Each season always amazes me when it rolls around. God must have had an incredibly fun time creating everything. Nature definitely cries out that we have an awesome Creator.

Happenings

Well, we've been through a few firsts this last week. Henry's first cold, his first fever, and today he has begun rolling over from back to tummy and back again. He rolled over a month ago from his tummy to his back, but now he can make a complete circle with his body. He is currently laying in the floor doing it over and over. It's going by so fast! I told Matt that he will be gone before we know it. We are having lots of fun...minus the sickness.

Hurricane Kevin and the Breeze have been playing their Recession Tour (where they play for food and no money), which has been lots of fun. Henry loves music, so he sits there enthralled by it all. Matt seems quite proud to have him out there as well. They are playing again on the 21st at Sweet Peppers at 6:30 p.m. Come out if you can.