Christ our Lord is Born!

Undoubtedly the reason for the season is Jesus! It is sometimes very hard to comprehend that someone would not only die for the world but for a world full of people He didn't know, well He knew them in spirit. Which is another mind boggling thing. I couldn't be more thankful for the gift He gives us in salvation and I don't know if words will EVER be able to express what it means to mankind, but what I can say is Happy Birthday we love you Jesus!

I recently gave birth to my 4th child, Remi Anne, she is the light of our life as all our children are, so I sit here trying to comprehend  what Mary, the Most Holy Virgin and Mother of our Lord, went through! She gave birth and loved Him like no one else can and yet she knew He was here to save the world! Saving the world meant death and Resurrection!  I cannot fathom loosing my children. That thought is painful. I will be forever grateful to Mary for that Yes and I will always remember what that Yes meant for her, Him and us. I will always remember the strength she must have had to have to say yes to such pain.
For His birth is also about Her and anyone who thinks otherwise is not looking at the whole story. He couldn't have come if that young peasant girl had said NO! Her Yes in His birth saved us all....she is part of the story and deserves recognition. I can only pray and hope for her type of strength!
As I look at my newborn this holiday season I am reminded just how hard and yet fulfilling Mary and Jesus are as a team. It takes me and Remi to keep her alive. As it took Mary to keep Jesus alive. From nursing her young son, to raising Him right before God.

My prayer for this season & new year is that I may grow closer to Jesus threw His Mother. That I may become the other Mary was! That I will remember the hardships they faced in bringing our Savior into the world and how everyday she is and was the Mother of our Lord. Our children are made in the imagine of our Lord and we are given the privilege to raise them! As I look into the eyes of my daughter while she nurses I am more aware of what Mary thought while she nursed our Lord. There isn't any stronger a love then from a parent to a child.

Wow it doesn't get better then that as a mother. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Quietness

It is in the quietness that you can really feel alive.  It is at this moment of quiet you allow the giver of life to get inside and fill your heart up with overflowing waters, to give such abundant joy and love that He so richly longs to give us.

I find myself longing sometimes for quiet and at other times I fear it.  I know its good for my soul to have time to be quiet and to open up to the things necessary for me to hear from God. I know its powerful for my spirit to absorb all there is to receive from His grace.  I know that I am human and sometimes the quietness is overwhelming. Whether it is because I may have not been meeting the requirements of the Lord and need to be corrected in His love or not.

I have come to learn a very important lesson though, there is a difference in being in quietness and being alone. I have learned I fear being alone. Alone seems to tell my soul its empty. I never want to be empty. I want to be filled up with love of Christ and those around me. I want to give the same love to someone, anyone! In the quietness however I can rejuvenate that love by spending quiet time with Christ where He teaches me how to love and receive love.

This Christmas I am relearning that the important things are not what "we" the society think or say it is. The important thing is Him!  Period!  In that quietness of night when He our King was born, nothing else mattered to Mary or Joseph, nothing but that baby whom they loved. When they thought they were totally alone is when they realized they were most connected to every soul on earth and our God all at the same time. We too can connect to that important part of Christmas by stopping the noise and finding the quiet where we can connect to his Peace, Hope and Love!

EarMarKs?! ChAnGe! ChAlLeNGe???

I love this country, I love my family and I love being free! However there is a cost that it seems the rest of the world doesn't see or notice when they are looking from the outside in. It would seem that America is the land of the free and the land of opportunity, but what no one out there notices is that it comes with a price. A hidden price. Yep it stuck inside those very laws and bills passed to keep us free. At this point we are as free as our $8trillion debt. Yeah that's pretty free right? BS! I am calling it as I see it BS!! Someone needs to stand up against this BS and call it!! We need to get back to the basics that this country of the great land of the free was based on. I am not usually one to complain or "bitch" about this stuff but darn it I am done! I have children who will be adults one day and be dealing with this and possibly at a worse level if we don't stop it NOW! Our founding fathers suffered for us, I do not see a politician now suffering in anyway for the good of the people!! Where are our "fathers"? YOU know the men set out to fight for us and be our voice!

Christmas is about giving and waiting for the gift of love to come and save us. Please Government wake up and be that while we are stuck here on earth!! Make our world a better place for good!  America is crying out for it...there needs to be a shift!

TaKe CaPtIVe yOuR tHouGhtS & WoRDs! hmm....

The bible says in Corinthians to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ! WOW!! I really acknowledge today that I am not obedient to that one powerful powerful command. It quite possibly could change the world if we as people of God could take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. I know most of you know I am sometimes, lol, to out spoken. I sometimes say things without thought behind it of whether it is appropriate for the time or not. Mostly to my own children and husband, whom I love more then words can express. Don't get me wrong we should be honest and not afraid to hurt someones feelings for their own good, but in a loving, respectful God sort of way. Not oh here's the truth whether it hurts your feelings or not cause you love me you will forgive me sort of way. I am so much more coherent of who I am these days then any other time in my life. I am recognizing my role in my family, life and universe more and more. What role can just a word from me play in someones life? I want to be the up lifter not the one who tore someones world apart. I want my children to look at me and say 'she knew when to and when not to" in all areas of life. I need to question myself daily maybe even hourly, Am I doing my job as a christian mother with integrity teaching my children to be contributors to the kingdom of God or NOT??!
As adults we are vulnerable to the slightest touch of Satan. We then need to realize how much more our children are vulnerable. I need to be in control of myself, my actions and my thoughts. The battle of the soul starts in the mind. The battle of their soul starts in their parents. Parents are their first instructors of God and foremost the leader of things to come.

I today am recognizing my faultiness in this area and making the commitment to change what needs to be changed. It will be a battle I know but a battle worth fighting. Remember the bible does say "fight the good fight of faith"! I can and will do this....power in the thoughts and words...ahh step one completed..now step two, daily remembrance.

BiTtEr~SwEeT

After trying to eliminate several things from my diet in an effort to stop the fussiness my newest addition is exhibiting in the evenings I have come up blah! I don't think my diet has anything to do with it. All the garlic, a cup of joe here & there and vegies don't seem to have anything to do with it. Thankfully!! On the other side, she is still fussy sometimes in the evenings. I am thinking she is just being a newborn and getting over stimulation out the best way she can, crying and fussing...Oh well I just tell myself, "this too shall pass"!!

Today is the last day of our visit with Grandma Baker-Skaggs  and it is sooo bitter-sweet! We have been blessed to have company (especially her) and we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves...((here is a shout out to family & friends, COME VISIT)) So Sweet to have her and all she brings, from knitting wash clothes with the girls, to playing trucks with Ryan, cuddling Remi and giving me (&Chris) a taste of home with a splash of long conversations. Sadly all things come to an end and tonight we will say our goodbyes! :(

When you move far away from the convenience of family, you realize the blessing in enjoying and appreciating their love & presents in your life. My children have the best of it because they get these special times that we cram so much in such a small amount of time yet they long for grandparents to attend school functions and holidays. Like I said bitter-sweet!

Now what..............

Visits of all kinds~

Tis the season for visits...right now I am awaiting the arrival of my mother in law for a much needed "piece of home" to take away these feelings of being homesick. She has not seen Chris since Feb. He returned from war in June but since we as a family needed time together everyone was kind enough to not visit till now and Remi has made her debut so seeing us all makes it cheaper on her. I am thrilled to have a visitor. I feel like its Christmas already.
Speaking of which, we as Christians await the arrival of our Lord and Savior one day and His birthday is approaching to which we celebrate that we are saved! Yes we are saved by His birth and visit to this earth. He came and brought us freedom, love, grace, mercy & every loving thing imaginable. I eagerly await His arrival, just like I am waiting for a family member to come. For He is my Father coming to visit me. I am honestly homesick  for heaven too. For in heaven we will have finally made it to the end of this journey  and be united with our Master.  We will have reached our final resting place. No more pain or sorrow. No more worries and fear. There will be a day with no more bad anything. I for one cannot wait for that visit from Jesus!
This visit today reminds me to be patient and remember there will be a day for all things to come. Everything has a time and place, today it is of family being together and loving one another, reminding each other what to be thankful for this season. Everyday is a day to be thankful for all we have good or bad, for the Lord Himself will come and take us home one day.
Home for the holidays! wherever it may be!!

Cleaning for Life~

I have been reading Jordan Rubin, MD book 'The Maker's Diet' which is all about Gods way our life should be in regards to health.  He has such good references to biblical reasons for and reasons why not to include certain things in our diets.
One thing that caught my attention, mainly because I am an OCD cleaner, is that Americans are too clean. What? Really? we are TOO clean? How else do we keep bugs and bacteria at bay? I certainly do not want to be sick!!!  But seriously I have to clean or my mind is not clear. I cannot go to bed with dishes in the sink or house not vacuumed (yes for the 2nd time that day) but honestly I never thought we as a nation were too clean. I also cannot stand to see dust on anything. 
Not saying I am going to stop my vacuuming and dusting but I suppose letting my little boy play in the dirt and mud isn't that bad, as long as they are cleaned afterwards that is.

Be Healed; Make a difference

(Is 29:17-24; Mt 9:27-31) We sometimes doubt our ability to make a crucial difference in the lives of those who are sick, addicted, misguided. Spend time with Jesus in prayer, asking him about a specific compassionate deed: "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

Can we truly become healed by helping those who also need healing? 

I think the answer is yes. I think that when you step outside yourself and your own pain trying to help another, well thats when we truly become like Jesus....Jesus had to live everyday healing others knowing His time was coming of great agony and pain with no person able to heal Him. He knew the only one who could help Him was God and Jesus was sent here for a special mission that no other could attain. So He courageously faced His fears and brought healing to those in need despite His own situation.

Can I?

LoVe; the most Googled word?

Today while I was watching a DVR'd Oprah show I learned something that did not surprise me at all, the most googled word in the world is Love...the four letter word we long to hear and often hold back from saying to those who are most important to us.  It further boggles my mind that with all the things weighing down the world and its people, Love is the One thing longed for yet so attainable. I think we long for love of others because we were created from Love. The ever loving all powerful God who can restore peoples need for love if and when they feel its missing yet they search the internet for it and most times come up empty handed. I wondered today if all those searching for love gave 2 weeks ((even just 2 minutes)) to God and to studying his Word would they still feel empty and in need. Maybe if they tried to give love, as it is said "it is better to give then to receive" would they feel the same. I know everyone has different circumstances for the lack of love or need of love, but the end result is the same, they are all searching. So why not try searching for the one thing totally and completely attainable. GOD! a 3 letter word that we all can say and is universal among nations. Maybe not the same God to everyone but still the most High God, Father Almighty to us all.

So I am challenging those who have ever "googled" love to commit to 2 weeks of seeking the one true Love, God! After truly putting all of yourself in finding Him I can bet that you will find not only Love but you will find a new you .....the person you are in Christ Almighty! Believe when I say once you find that person you will love that person and never ever wanna change or go back to the old you. Shedding a heavy coat of burden or past mistakes is well "lightening" lol!

An amazing quote "you must be the change you wanna see in this world"

So give a little love away and I know you will reap what you sow.

Moving on & on & on

So we recently made a huge move to Fort Bliss Texas per Chris' orders. This move wouldn't have been so bad if I was, A. not pregnant & B. had not just made a move from IL to WA! We were hoping to get orders to stay in Washington at Fort Lewis. I was beginning to feel as though that was "home".  But no such luck!  I feel like I left my "other" family there and we miss them dearly! We miss our church the most. We are adapting to El Paso and have made some wonderful friends. In fact some of our Fort Lewis family has recently come here too. Finding my way around while living 5 miles from the deadliest city in Mexico has been an experience in itself. I realized after two weeks that I could not allow that to keep me from exploring this beautiful area. See exploring for me makes it start to feel like "home". I need that "homey" feeling to not feel homesick. Of course I need to know where my Target and Mall are located.  Shopping is essential. ((LOL))  Learning things about your living environment is the best way to begin to relate to the area. I must say I have learned alot. Thankfully not all bad like I had expected. I even ventured downtown to Rylie's Dr's appt last week and I was not afraid in the least bit, except for when I, on the way home, thought retracing my steps would lead me home but instead lead me down a one way. OOPS!! Yes everyone was screaming at me no your going the wrong way, as if I didn't realize that! But thanks "peeps" for the concern and help!

Which leads me to the one wrong way that took awhile, realizing I was missing Him in my life....that one took awhile. As I take a deep breath and sigh a sigh of relief that thankfully nothing major happened while I was away from His protection, I also sigh in sadness.
It seems as though every time we move I fall into a prayer hole. I can't seem to either remember or find time to get in my "prayer closet".  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. I reached the point I know that not praying daily is insanity. Thinking it can wait is insanity. Hoping to find time is insanity because it will never come if I don’t make it happen. Yet through my insanity ((which is how I describe all my bad behaviors)) God waits patiently saying “I am here”!  I want to knock on that door and say "hey I am home" but the child in me is ashamed for my lack in seeking the ultimate relationship which sustains me. The adult in me says, "get over it and go home to Him for He is waiting"!  Moving does not mean I can take a hiatus from my "prayer closet" in fact it means I should be praying for more like safety on the trip and health while traveling. So I am learning lessons with every day even if in the moment I don't even know it. Moving on to the next lesson..............we shall see!

Til then

ps WA family we miss you and love you and will see you again!~ Forever embedded in our hearts!!!!!!!