Well, I found out that I am getting a niece!!! I am so excited. Little Dakota Madeline is already so loved! <3
This was the first year that we participated in Chik-Fi-le's free food day! :) It was actually a lot of fun, and you can't beat free food. :) Here are a few pictures! Isn't my Jace cow so cute???
Matt's birthday fell on a Monday this year, and so he took the day off. With not many things planned this year, he has quite a few days-off to take before he looses them in October. So taking off his birthday was a no-brainer! We spent the day together, which was so nice. Barb watched Jace at her house during his nap and we picked him up around 5 and met most of the family at Joe's BBQ for dinner. Jace did so well, which was awesome. We don't venture out to eat much with him, so it's nice to see him doing well when we do go out to eat. Abbi works at Joe's BBQ now as a busser, and so we got to see her in action! Jace loves Abbi so much!
We also had our very first family movie night with Jace! It was so much fun. He LOVED the popcorn! We watched The Lego Movie (which seriously, is sooo funny. Matt was cracking up so much! We both want to get the DVD one day. I definitely recommend it!). Jace made it through about 45 minutes before it was bed time, but he did well. I think he liked climbing on the pillows and sitting on the couch in the dark. :)
Oh, and there's nothing like finding Jace sitting on top of the kitchen table… I tell you what, I have my hands full with how curious this kid is. Love him to pieces.
I love me some cuddles!
I will end this post with a statement I read in Jerry Bridge's book, "Trusting God" that I've been thinking a lot about the last couple days. "I once attended a seminar on the subject of Christians and stress. One of the speaker's main points was that, if we want to live less stressful lives, we must learn to live with a single agenda: God's agenda. He pointed out that we tend to live under two agendas; ours and God's, and that the tension between them sets up stress." I stopped to think about that and found it so true in my life. I am trying to live under two agendas! My agenda included having kids between 18 months and 2 years apart… The fact that my agenda didn't happen makes me stressed! I am trying to not be the planner I like to be, and to remember that God's plan for me is already figured out. When things don't happen according to plan, that's my plan failing, not God's plan for me. In fact, all is going perfectly to his plan for me! Anyways, it gave me a new perspective on what I allow to stress me out--it is often because my agenda isn't lining up with God's agenda. I just need to put my agenda away! :)
Okay, and one more from the same book (Man, Jerry Bridges just has a way of wording things that just stops me in my tracks and I'm like, WOW! So good.) "God never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek our good at the expense of His glory. He has designed His eternal purpose so that His glory and our good are inextricably bound together. What comfort and encouragement this should be to us. If we are going to learn to trust God in adversity, we must believe that just as certainly as God will allow nothing to subvert His glory, so He will allow nothing to spoil the good He is working out in us and for us."
"But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." 1 Timothy 6:6-7
Ahh! It looks like you guys had such a fun time celebrating Matt's birthday. I think everyone should get their birthday off of work..... but I guess that would only be fun if the people you love could get it off too! And you guys are such a CUTE little cow family. :) I love the Friday movie night tradition that you are starting. So fun!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks again - as always - for the encouraging and challenging words in your quote and from you heart. I tend to try to accomplish my agenda way to often also and yes! It just creates unneeded stress and disappointment. Good reminder!
Love the pictures! That little Jace of yours, sure is a character! Love all the faces that he makes! I see Matt is sporting his red Arsenal shirt. ;) How fun with the movie night! Got to love those traditions! :) That snuggle picture is so sweet to! Another one you are so glad you captured!
ReplyDeleteLoved the quotes! Thanks for sharing. Such good truth to be reminded of and cling to, especially when things aren't going our way. I fall into this sinful thinking far to easily. How easily we are prone to wander from the God we love and forget that He is working in our life for our good and for His ultimate glory. He's not "out to get us", or out to "ruin our life", or "doesn't love us as much as others"....no, not even close - instead He is breaking us and molding us to learn to trust and depend all the more on Him and Him alone.