Sweet Little Girls

Avery wrote her name for the first time today....all by herself!! And, it was legible!!! I was so proud, I dated the paper and saved it to put in her baby book. I can't believe she's getting so big so fast. Andie isn't far behind her. She's potty training and talking and TESTING and even blaming her big sister for making messes! How on earth did we get here? Time goes by so quickly. I remember my mom telling me when I was a little girl that when I was all grown up, I would wish I had those days back. I so wanted to be grown up! I wanted to be married and have babies and wear pretty dresses and high heels and make up!! Now here I am, the pretty dresses and high heels don't come often (but I take advantage when they do)! Life has been wonderful thus far, I do look back and sometimes I wish I had those days again. But, even more than that, I wish I had known how precious and priceless my innocence was. As a mom of little girls I see them do exactly what I did all those years ago. They put on my shoes and jewelry and clothes and make up and want to be just like me. It's so heartwarming to watch them grow and have these feminine desires and longings that I remember having. But, I also feel such a strong realization of what my responsibility is as their mom. They want to be just like me.......wow!! And here's the crazy part, even though one day they will probably wish they weren't like me, the will be!! It's scary! What a job I have before me. What do I want my precious, innocent, beautiful girls to learn from me that will in turn teach them what it means to be a woman, wife, mother, friend?? What a responsibility I have to protect their innocence and shield them from the wickedness that's in our world today.....that is so well disguised!! When I take the time to think about all of this I'm overwhelmed by the simple fact that God would give me these babies and let ME be their mom!! It makes me want to be closer to Him. It shows me that the deeper I go with God, the softer I become and the better mom I become. I'm more aware of the fact that they are watching and hearing everything that I'm doing. It reminds me that even though I like to have devotional time alone, they need to see it. And even though most of my praying is done alone, they need to hear it. It's my job to sow the seeds of love and nurture and kindness and servant hood and purity and virtue into their tiny hearts. And, in order to sow these seeds, I have to lead by example, not by words! How blessed we are to be God's children. He loves us enough to give us this life and these wonderful lessons that make me just want to seek Him more!! Thank you Lord for the gentle reminder of one of my greatest tasks!!

Thirsting for God

God has put something on my heart recently. It came to my mind, the idea of what it really means to "thirst" for God. Of course it's an easy answer....you want God really bad right? The more I pondered this, the more ideas kept coming to mind about how I would go about "thirsting" for God. What if I took a chunk of my time and devoted it to this thirst. What if I did some sort of rehab where I focused my attention and actions and being on a genuine thirst for God and all his righteousness and love. How could my heart and life and world be different for myself and those around me? As I prayed about this I started to write down different ideas and plans for a daily devotion. Things like limiting negative influences, setting an exact time for your devotion and following through but continuing a prayerful attitude and thirst throughout the day. There would be focus on "Thirsting to Love", "Thirsting to Serve", all of these falling under the "Thirst for God" theme. I began searching for scriptures pertaining to thirst and desire for God. I found some beautiful things! I'm still brainstorming ideas of how to put together some sort of 30 day thirsting challenge. I'd like a lot of women to be involved with me and we can do it together. Communicate through the blog, comment, encourage each other. On the blog there would be a daily scripture, thought, focus, and encouragement for the day. I really feel like this is something that could change so many peoples outlook and focus which in turn would change their environment. Who couldn't stand a little rehabilitation in our God seeking department? Hopefully I'll have more details soon.

A Cold, Rainy Day

The sun is gone again. I can always tell when the sun isn't shining because the house seems so cold and dark. But I do love days like this because I love to cook hot soups and stews and homemade biscuits. Which reminds me, this has to be short because I have to make some biscuits before Corey gets home from work. I've missed him today! Most days I can talk to him throughout the day when I have time, but he's been training in Dallas all week and I'm lucky to hear from him once during the day. At least it makes me that much more anxious to see him when he comes home. I love how excited the girls are when he walks in the door. I suppose that's another reason that I feel so blessed to be home with them, because I get to see that! They have been sick this week, each with a different virus. Andie with more snot than I knew a toddler could produce, a deep cough, fever and rash on her cheeks. I assume it's Fifth Disease, not a big deal but pretty uncomfortable for her. Avery on the other hand has the tummy virus. Not really a fever but moderate vomit, small appetite and major lethargy. Poor thing!! I love to snuggle when she's this way and I love the slower pace, but it sure is nice to see her sweet, bubbly, energetic self come back. I think we're over the worst of it. At least it hit at once...now I'm just praying that they don't trade!! I suppose I don't have time to write all of the things on my mind. I've got to get those biscuits going! Maybe I'll check back in sooner than later!