The ones on the Left are Matt:
The ones on the Left are Mick:
Monday, June 30, 2014
He is a Pagel
So I was at Barb and Denny's house this past weekend and we were looking through photo albums. I have never seen pictures of Matt as a baby. Um, I was floored. There were so many pictures where I saw a mini-Jace in Matt. And then we got to some pics of Mick…. and I was even more floored. He looks more like Mick than he does Matt--even Barb and Matt thought so! So for anyone who thinks my son looks like me, take a look at these pics! You'll change your mind! He is a Pagel through and through. (Although he has my hair!)
Monday, June 23, 2014
Just some verses I've been meditating on...
We had a guest pastor at our church yesterday (Rick Holland) and he preached from Romans 5 on trials. It was such a timely message and it pretty much summarized everything that God has been teaching me about trials during the last 9 months. It was so awesome to hear the same points being made from the pulpit that the Holy Spirit has been revealing to my heart just through my Bible readings the past few weeks. I highly recommend listening to the sermon if you have a chance. You will find yourself encouraged. You can find it at www.gbcaz.org.
Anyways, I have come to realize the necessity of meditating on Scripture. I typically have about 4 verses that I hang on my fridge that I will meditate on for a month or more. There are other times where I will pick a day and meditate on other various passages as well. This past Thursday I was looking for a verse to mediate on specifically in regards to this whole process of trying to get pregnant with #2. I am so easily overwhelmed by this trial. I am finding the joy in the trial though because I am seeing God's work in my life so evidently that I'm left humbled. I was telling Matt on Saturday that I am so thankful for this trial in that God is growing me so much through it, but that I am so ready for the trial to be taken away. At the same time, I don't want the growth to stop, and He is using this trial to sanctify me. It's a catch 22.
I came across Psalm 77 on Thursday and it is one of those passages where I literally just wrote 'WOW' in the margin of my Bible. The whole chapter was just so convicting and I found myself relating to the Psalmist.
The Psalmist starts off by saying that he is troubled so greatly and is so weary that he is having a hard time being comforted. He is having a hard time meditating and he is so troubled that he can't speak. He recalls times where it wasn't this way. But then his "spirit made a diligent search" (vs 6) and this what he asked himself/realized: (vs. 7-13)
"Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?
Then I said, 'I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.'
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy."
The phrase "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High" just blows my mind. When the right hand of God is mentioned in Scripture it is always done so with power. When I consider the years of God's hand over me, I'm humbled. Like the Psalmist, I need to remember God's ways and recount the blessings He has given me. I need to ponder HIS ways. Like the Psalmist, I am inclined to ask the same questions… Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion? But I can't let those thoughts cast doubt. God works everything for my good. He doesn't promise a life of peace. In fact, he says "and WHEN you face trials of various kinds"… it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when. And as the Psalmist concludes, God's way is holy. It is perfect.
Later on in the chapter the Psalmist goes on to mention how the waters tremble before God, that the clouds pour out water and the His arrows flash on every side, that his lightning lit up the whole world and the earth trembled and shook. He says that God's way was through the sea, and his path through the great waters; "YET YOUR FOOTPRINTS WERE UNSEEN" (vs. 19). During the trials, during the storms of life, I have a hard time seeing God's purpose behind it. I can't always see how He is working. But just because I can't see His footprints doesn't mean He isn't there and sovereignly ordaining each event that comes into my life.
One of the verses hanging on my fridge is Psalm 112:6-7 which reads, "For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord." I read this and was so convicted. I am moved by this trial of not getting pregnant. While I still pray for God to remove this trial from me, I have also come to pray in a different manner as well. I so desire to be this righteous person who isn't moved by the trials in his life. I find myself asking for the help to be this person who isn't moved by bad news because I trust in the Lord. I realize I still need help in this area. With another failed month, I find myself in tears. I'm still moved by bad news. Where is my trust in God? I have to be so diligent to take my thoughts captive. We aren't naturally inclined to joy and contentment when trials are in our life. It takes effort and intentionality. But God's grace is sufficient, and because sin has no power over us, it is a response that we are always capable of.
Anyways, that's just a glimpse of what God has been teaching me lately. All Scripture is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness--how good it is for my heart to be spending time in the Word.
Anyways, I have come to realize the necessity of meditating on Scripture. I typically have about 4 verses that I hang on my fridge that I will meditate on for a month or more. There are other times where I will pick a day and meditate on other various passages as well. This past Thursday I was looking for a verse to mediate on specifically in regards to this whole process of trying to get pregnant with #2. I am so easily overwhelmed by this trial. I am finding the joy in the trial though because I am seeing God's work in my life so evidently that I'm left humbled. I was telling Matt on Saturday that I am so thankful for this trial in that God is growing me so much through it, but that I am so ready for the trial to be taken away. At the same time, I don't want the growth to stop, and He is using this trial to sanctify me. It's a catch 22.
I came across Psalm 77 on Thursday and it is one of those passages where I literally just wrote 'WOW' in the margin of my Bible. The whole chapter was just so convicting and I found myself relating to the Psalmist.
The Psalmist starts off by saying that he is troubled so greatly and is so weary that he is having a hard time being comforted. He is having a hard time meditating and he is so troubled that he can't speak. He recalls times where it wasn't this way. But then his "spirit made a diligent search" (vs 6) and this what he asked himself/realized: (vs. 7-13)
"Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?
Then I said, 'I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.'
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy."
The phrase "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High" just blows my mind. When the right hand of God is mentioned in Scripture it is always done so with power. When I consider the years of God's hand over me, I'm humbled. Like the Psalmist, I need to remember God's ways and recount the blessings He has given me. I need to ponder HIS ways. Like the Psalmist, I am inclined to ask the same questions… Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion? But I can't let those thoughts cast doubt. God works everything for my good. He doesn't promise a life of peace. In fact, he says "and WHEN you face trials of various kinds"… it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when. And as the Psalmist concludes, God's way is holy. It is perfect.
Later on in the chapter the Psalmist goes on to mention how the waters tremble before God, that the clouds pour out water and the His arrows flash on every side, that his lightning lit up the whole world and the earth trembled and shook. He says that God's way was through the sea, and his path through the great waters; "YET YOUR FOOTPRINTS WERE UNSEEN" (vs. 19). During the trials, during the storms of life, I have a hard time seeing God's purpose behind it. I can't always see how He is working. But just because I can't see His footprints doesn't mean He isn't there and sovereignly ordaining each event that comes into my life.
One of the verses hanging on my fridge is Psalm 112:6-7 which reads, "For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord." I read this and was so convicted. I am moved by this trial of not getting pregnant. While I still pray for God to remove this trial from me, I have also come to pray in a different manner as well. I so desire to be this righteous person who isn't moved by the trials in his life. I find myself asking for the help to be this person who isn't moved by bad news because I trust in the Lord. I realize I still need help in this area. With another failed month, I find myself in tears. I'm still moved by bad news. Where is my trust in God? I have to be so diligent to take my thoughts captive. We aren't naturally inclined to joy and contentment when trials are in our life. It takes effort and intentionality. But God's grace is sufficient, and because sin has no power over us, it is a response that we are always capable of.
Anyways, that's just a glimpse of what God has been teaching me lately. All Scripture is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness--how good it is for my heart to be spending time in the Word.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
May days!
Here is what we have been up to in May!
Barb and Denny got Jace a trampoline that they keep in the backyard! Yep, a trampoline! It's for all future grandkids! And Jace LOVES it. It reminds me of a dog run, because he literally just wants to run in circles while we run in circles on the outside. It's hilarious. Now that it is starting to warm up, we get the trampoline wet and spray him with the hose while he is on it! It's been a fun outside activity this summer when we are at my in-laws house, which has been almost every weekend.
For Mother's Day and my birthday, we went to church, then to in-law's house for homemade pizza. Before church though, we stopped by Dutch Bros for a free birthday iced tea. Since it was Mother's Day too, they gave us Matt's coffee and my iced tea for free because we had "so many celebrations going on"! One reason why I love Dutch Bros! Later that night, my family came to my house to celebrate birthdays and Mother's Day with my mom! I don't have any pictures from that (they are all on Jenn's camera!).
Here are some other randoms of Jace swimming and playing at my in-laws house the last few weeks.
While Jace napped at my in-laws one day, Matt and I went to the Starbucks up the street for an afternoon date. Starbucks and cards! This is seriously one of my favorite things to do. Sit in a coffee shop and play cards. :) It's a very cheap date. :)
On Memorial Day, we got a blow-up pool for our backyard and we played outside for a bit. Jace didn't love the pool as much as I was hoping. But we will keep trying.
We watched Blake and Kade last week so that Matt and Jenn could go to their small group. The boys loved singing "My God is so big". My son gets too shy to face us when he wants to do the hand motions, so more times than not, he turns around and does them. haha.
Barb and Denny got Jace a trampoline that they keep in the backyard! Yep, a trampoline! It's for all future grandkids! And Jace LOVES it. It reminds me of a dog run, because he literally just wants to run in circles while we run in circles on the outside. It's hilarious. Now that it is starting to warm up, we get the trampoline wet and spray him with the hose while he is on it! It's been a fun outside activity this summer when we are at my in-laws house, which has been almost every weekend.
For Mother's Day and my birthday, we went to church, then to in-law's house for homemade pizza. Before church though, we stopped by Dutch Bros for a free birthday iced tea. Since it was Mother's Day too, they gave us Matt's coffee and my iced tea for free because we had "so many celebrations going on"! One reason why I love Dutch Bros! Later that night, my family came to my house to celebrate birthdays and Mother's Day with my mom! I don't have any pictures from that (they are all on Jenn's camera!).
I love this pic of Barb and Jace
Sisters!
Here are some other randoms of Jace swimming and playing at my in-laws house the last few weeks.
He loves playing with the hose!
Swimming with Uncle Marcus.
We didn't have his suit, so naked it is! This picture just cracked me up!
While Jace napped at my in-laws one day, Matt and I went to the Starbucks up the street for an afternoon date. Starbucks and cards! This is seriously one of my favorite things to do. Sit in a coffee shop and play cards. :) It's a very cheap date. :)
Reading books with Grammy!
On Memorial Day, we got a blow-up pool for our backyard and we played outside for a bit. Jace didn't love the pool as much as I was hoping. But we will keep trying.
His hair is getting lighter and lighter every time we cut it. It has turned from dark brown to light brown/dirty blonde depending on how clean it is. Haha. I'm not too surprised since he took after Matt with so many of his features.
How did I have such a pale baby??
We watched Blake and Kade last week so that Matt and Jenn could go to their small group. The boys loved singing "My God is so big". My son gets too shy to face us when he wants to do the hand motions, so more times than not, he turns around and does them. haha.
National Donut Day for a free donut! YAY!
He seriously has so many faces. I have never seen such an animated kid.
So I found a new group that we have been listening to a lot of! They are called "The Rizers" and it is simply Bible verses in song form. They have some music videos on YouTube that Jace LOVES! He loves to dance to the songs. It makes my heart so happy to see him loving these songs that are just Bible verses and truth! They have 21 songs, and I'm excited to start memorizing verses through these songs too. Good for my heart as much as it is for his. It is our new car sound track. Anything to expose him to God's Word. Plus the tunes are super catchy and Matt and I keep finding ourselves singing them throughout the day. Haha. This is him dancing to one of the songs.
Not a whole lot else going on currently. Just enjoying watching Jace grow! He is starting to mimic words when we ask him to say something. Granted, they don't sound exactly like the word, but he attempts it, which is great. He has learned to say the names of some of our family members, and some random words. Some words I would only know because they sound nothing like the word (Smoothie=Moomoo, Up=ba, All Done=Gaga… but I know he thinks he is saying the words, because those words are the same each time!). He knows many animal sounds (Cow, sheep, dog, cat, tiger, chicken, duck, bee, monkey, horse). He has mastered his shape sorter and can do some chunky puzzles by himself now. His attention span lasts all of 3 minutes at best, so that makes it challenging. But that's just his character! When we say the word "Jesus" he folds his hands to pray (apparently we must say "Dear Jesus" a lot when we pray) and whenever we say the word "God" he does the 'so big' sign with his hands (from the song our God is so big!). We never taught him to do those things, so it's been reassuring to realize that he is in fact hearing what we are saying and taking some of it in, whether he makes it look like he is or not. He LOVES to dance and he has a few songs that are his favorite. He loves "Uno Uno Seis" which is from a Christian rapper--he comes running into the room when that song comes on and just goes nuts! Other than that, He's just a little climber who is into everything and hates discipline (in fact, he found our swat stick and threw it in the trash when I wasn't looking!)
But we sure do love him and we praise God for the opportunity to raise him! It's so sanctifying raising a child.
I am so thankful for my family! I've been blessed beyond what I deserve!
This is what he figured out he can do if he doesn't want to take a picture.
Take 2!
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