The Challenge

I challenged myself one day to send one encouraging text every hour to my husband to help build him up and make his day better. One of the reason I decided to challenge myself to encourage my husband is I'm the optimist and he's the realist in our relationship. He can be very hard on himself and just needs to have an encouraging cheerleader behind him cheering him on. I believe that is one of the reasons God put us together, He thinks the world of my husband and my husband just needs to be reminded of that every now and then and I don't mind being the vessel used by God to let my husband know how special he is in God's eyes. So as the day proceeded on I began to wonder if I could do it for a full week. (Everyday, send an encouraging text every hour while he was at work) just so I could see how it impacted him by the end of the week. At the end of his work week I could definitely see he acted more confident at the end of the week. So I began to wonder if I could do it a full month... We'll see what happens ;)

Draw Strings and Elastic Wastebands

What line do we cross over in life as we get older as women that draw strings & elastic wastebands become a main part of our wardrobes? I use to be able to wear cute jeans that fit great on me, or slacks & button up shirts that made me look more sophisticated & pulled together. Yet only 4 years later plus 2 kids during the time that has passed, my husband's elastic draw string shorts seem to be the most comfortable & have become my staple daily wardrobe.

(sorry not brave enough to show you how stylish I look these days) lol
With still 27 lbs to loose from both pregnancy I'm a bit disappointed in the way I look & dress...(feeling quite a little frumpy if you ask me). I don't really want to go clothing shopping b/c I have a lot of cute clothes to wear, they just don't fit right now. Plus I know I will loose the weight, I've lost it before when I was about 25lbs overweight I can do it again... It's just more of a challenge with two little ones @ home. But I am determined to get back into shape. So, I've joined a community Get Fit Program that last 8 weeks which will help me with my jump start that I have already started. One of my motivation to get into shape is in February my husband & I are looking forward to running a marathon together...

Onto my adventure in loosing these extra 27lbs & a more fit me...

I'm definately looking forward to getting back into my cute clothes.

(my beautiful kids are oh so worth the extra pounds but I'm ready for the pounds to come off and be back to my normal self)

The Roles in life we get lost in

I decided to write on this subject because as a woman we can relate to each other in the different areas of life in some point in our lives. We all have our ups & downs & sometimes the ups & downs hit us all in one day of our lives. As each day passes & I inevitably get a day older it seems as though I have lost myself in the roles that I play in everyday,

a wife, (a pastor's wife @ that, which I do love but that even adds more roles to play)

a mother (a nursing mother @ that of a 3 month old),

.....a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend... The list can seem endless yet as a woman we have a tendency to please everyone else & put ourselves on the back burner. So, in the midst of all our roles we play in, it's so easy to loose ourselves. There are so many things I use to love doing yet I seem to have less time to do them or the convients of those activities are not so convient. For instance, I use to love to go hiking but living in West Texas that convient is more so about 4 hours away from us...not that convient. I use to love running (which I still love to do but with much less time to do it). But one thing I'm learning is that you really have to be intentional if you still want to enjoy life & do the things you love doing. Even if that means getting up before the whole family & before the sun even gets up to do those things...it maybe less sleep but it's also taking care of yourself so that you can take care of the ones you love so much.

The In's the Outs of womanhood

Life can be complex at times...as I reflect on my everyday life what I have struggled with as being a woman and a mother of 2 young children is "I want my body back, and energy back that I had when I was 26... you may think that is a strange age but if you knew me back then you would understand. I was training for a marathon and I was in the best shape of my life. or even a few years later...pre-pregnancy...

Granted back then I did not have a 2 1/2 year old and a 2 month old at the time and was not married (don't get me wrong I love being married and being a mother...I have the most amazing husband in the world and the most beautiful, smartest, funniest kids. I love my life....I just don't care for the shape my body is in). When I was 26 I was single, had plenty of time to run, exercise, my time was my own. It's no longer my own and it's spread out between my family and sleep. It's hard to get up early in the mornings when I have adorable little ones to snuggle with in the morning. Plus my body is trying to tell me I'm not as young as I use to be. My heart and mind tell me I'm still in my young 20's but my body says I'm definitely older then that. I'm not ancient, but my body has aches and pains where I use to not to have....What's up with that"?! =] lol

I only have 24 more pounds to get back down to pre-pregnancy weight (where I was at in the picture above). I know life isn't about what size you are but as a woman it does help you feel more comfortable in your own skin.

Just a little snip nip of my thought on life for today.

Knowing the love of God

Having kids have helped me understand the love God has for us. As a parent I fall in love with my children more each day. They are so much fun and with my little girl as she gets older her personality comes out more. She has a very intellegent side to her but she also has a very

goofy side to her as you can see below.

She brings so much joy and laughter into my everyday life. As a mom I'm so proud of her and I love to just hang out with her because she is so funny and entertaining.
My relationship and enjoyment of just being around my 2 1/2 year old daughter and my 6 week old son makes me heart sing and dance at just the thought of them. Now how much more God our Father who is perfect in love must enjoy us as His children. He must just love sitting back and watching us in our goofy silliness at times and smile. I wish all parents could see how beautiful and fun their kids are in who they are as little people.
To all parents "enjoy every moment you have with your kids because they grow up oh so quickly and before you know it they are off into living their own lives."
I try to remind myself to enjoy each season I have with them and to see how much I enjoy them how much more God enjoys us as His children.

Love is not proud or rude

God is all powerful, mighty and glorious, there's no other that can compare...

He has all the reason in the world to boast about Himself and be prideful...but pride is a sin and there is no sin found in God. He doesn't have to brag on Himself to prove how amazing He is, if we really look into how He moves in our lives everyday we can be absolutely awed by His abundance of love for us. From the simple little acts of kindness others do for us or even the simple little delay in traffic. We never know what is going on ahead of us but just maybe God uses that delay to help us avoid being in an accident.
(Historic Earthquakes

Klamath Falls, Oregon
1993 September 21 03:28:55 UTC Magnitude 6.0
1993 September 21 05:45:33 UTC Magnitude 6.0

The Klamath Falls earthquakes caused two deaths and approximately 7.5 million U.S. dollars in damage. One person was killed when the car he was driving was crushed by a boulder in an earthquake-induced rockfall and another person died of a heart attack. More than 1,000 homes and commercial buildings were damaged. Maximum intensity VII in downtown Klamath Falls and at the Oregon Institute of Technology about three kilometers north of downtown. Three highways leading to Klamath Falls were temporarily closed because of rockfalls or concern about possible damage to bridges. Rockfalls and rockslides occurred in roadcuts and on steep slopes throughout the epicentral region. Ground cracks in fill material were observed at several locations in the area. Felt in southern Oregon as far north as Eugene and in northern California as far south as Redding)

I remember back in 1993 I was driving with my mom back home from Klamath Falls, OR to Chilliquin, OR (about a 30 minute drive). While we were driving a rolling earthquake hit (which if you've ever been driving during a rolling earthquake you don't really know it's going on...we just thought the wind picked up and was blowing the car back and forth). We found out the next day that there was a couple who drove the same road we were driving on only 10 minutes behind us and a 14 foot boulder came down off the cliff and landed on their vehicle killing the driver and the passenger got a scratch on her finger. That made me sad for the wife's loss of her husband but grateful at the same time because that could have been my mother and I who could have been hit by that 14 foot boulder, killing me and sparing my mother but at the loss of her youngest daughter. God watches over us in so many different ways.
He loves us so much that He is never rude or demanding. Even though He just desires to be in relationship with us He would never force us to be in a relationship with us. He draws us to Himself and calls us oh, so gently.

He whispers to us that "He loves us and wants to be a part of our life"

Are you open & willing to answer that calling?!

God's Love does not Envy or Boast

Just the thought of God ever envying us makes me Laugh Out Loud...what a joke. What would He envy us for?! There are so many others who may envy our lives or we may even envy their lives...I know so many who would love to have the kind of money Bill Gates has


or the fame of Tom Cruise, neither of those can buy happiness or true joy. Bill Gates is so wealthy he could buy anything he wanted. And it seems Tom Cruise has it all...money, fame, good looks, a beautiful wife, beautiful children (what more could a man want). But whose to say Bill Gates or Tom Cruise has a true joy deep down in their souls? The only ones who know the answer to that question, is themselves and God.
To be quite honest with you I don't envy either one....who would want the flip side to their fame> the paparazzi, news media up in your face all the time, no place to go to get your own privacy...definitely not a life for me. But to each his own, there's a cost for everything. God's been there, done that. He's came to us in human flesh and bone. Been tempted like all of us (but never sinned) Been persecuted, beaten beyond recognition, suffered even death on the cross through His son Jesus Christ. "For even I, the Son of Man (Jesus Christ), came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give My life as a ransom for many" Matthew 20;28. Now why would He ever envy doing that all over again. But you know the reason why He did all of that, was because He loves us so much that and doesn't want to have to spend eternity seperate from us and if He had to do it all over again He would. God doesn't boast of how powerful or majestic He is. Or brag of all that He has done

(we can just look around and see the vastness of His glory). All He desires is to whisper in our ears...

"I love you so very much"!!!