Random...the New Normal

Recently, I have talked about our family in several conversations and referred to "the new normal" meaning the way things will probably be for a while. There is no going back to "the way things were before" because they will never be the same. Oh, praise the Lord!

Makes me think of a worship song that's one of my personal favorites (click here to listen). I want it sung at my funeral. (It will ruin the song for my sister and stepmom, but would encapsulate my life best.)

I will never be the same again,
I can never return, I've closed the door.
I will walk the path, I'll run the race
And I will never be the same again.

Fall like fire, soak like rain,
Flow like mighty waters, again and again.
Sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff,
And let a flame burn to glorify Your name.

There are higher heights, there are deeper seas,
Whatever you need to do, Lord do in me.
The Glory of God fills my life,
And I will never be the same again.

But, alas, that was NOT the point of my post!

So, new normal...random! Being random will be my new normal--for a while, at least.

So, here goes...

I've been reading several things.

--Started reading John Piper's book Let The Nations Be Glad. Haven't touched it in several weeks. The concepts were too heavy for my brain to easily wrap around and mommy mush brain is in full force around here right now. (If you are unfamiliar with that mush brain, it stems from lack of sleep and an overdose of female hormones.) But, what I was loving about Piper's book was the admonition that missions is all about God's glory and nothing else. We share the love of Jesus with others because God is a glorious God and we love Him and want to make His name known and glorify Him. I think this stands in contrast (at least a little) to the assertion that we share the Gospel so people will go to heaven or have a better life (peace) or anything else. It's ALL about God's glory!

--Then started reading Kevin DeYoung's book Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will. Love it. Favorite quote thus far (and it was really hard to pick just one since I've read through most of this book already): "In short, God's will is that you and I get happy and holy in Jesus."

--Have started a Bible study with my friend Sarah. We're going through Beth Moore's Patriarchs study. Wow. Only in week two and already very blessed. Favorite quote thus far: "Your life in Christ was meant to be a great story. Easy lives don't make great stories. You'd close that book by the third chapter!" Amen sista.

Hmm...hadn't thought of it until right now, but I'm thinking maybe these are all connected. Anyone have enough brain power to help me connect the dots?

One Month

One month ago today our family grew.
One month ago today God gave me a precious gift.
In this last month we have gone back to very interrupted nights, carrying a diaper bag and more gear than a tiny person should require, and spending hours inspecting the tiny wonder of new life.
As much as I wanted one more, I never imagined just how wonderful it would be.
This first month has flown by!

I'm way behind on sharing photos. I have a bunch more but I haven't even had time to go through them yet!
The top two photos were taken by my talented photographer friend, Anna. texasartgirl.com
The cute brown and cream colored outfit with trucks was a designed and made by my talented seamstress friend, Bonnie. fishsticksandfries.com

Amazing Man

This is long overdue, but life here has been a tad bit busier lately.We had that HUGE ice storm and then snow the week before last and that left us homebound on a special day...February 4th, the birthday of my amazing husband.
We didn't do much to celebrate on Friday, but Saturday brought warmer temps and melting ice. So, we ventured out as a family and celebrated Joel's birthday with lunch at Applebee's.
It was really nice to be out of the house after 4 days and we were able to run a few much-needed errands before and after lunch.
I will have to come back and write a really decent post about how amazing my husband is, but right now I have a sleeping baby and think it would be best if I tried to sleep as well. (Isn't that what they always tell the mom of newborns "sleep when they're sleeping". It's nearly impossible to do, but it really is the best advice.)

To close I'll just write a few reasons from this last week that I say my hubby is amazing: he loves the Lord and seeks to know Him (even when running on little sleep), he has a servant's heart, he changes the baby's diaper (more than I do), he gets up with Jett when he won't settle in the night, he plays in the snow with our big kids (and has at least as much fun, if not more, than they do!), he cooks, he cleans, he likes to organize, he holds me when I cry (especially important when it's for no reason other than hormones), he reassures me, he encourages me, he is funny, he is a good friend and always wants to help others....
My list could go on forever. Joel really is an amazing man. I'm so blessed he's mine!