Great Encouragement!

I'm back already....lol. just wanted to put my thoughts down somewhere, I don't even expect anyone to be reading this outdated blog...lol, but it's theraputic for me anyway:)

I've been thinking a lot lately about all the big characters of the Bible, or maybe God has been speaking to me about them I should say. Two points of thought regarding this at the moment, but they both bring me encouragement.

Jospeh had a dream, then was betrayed by his own brothers and thrown into a pit. Joseph was still in the will of God while he was in the pit. Then he gets sold into slavery and eventually gets thrown into prison. Joseph was still in the will of God while in prison. After all of this hardship, then God fulfilled the promise to Joseph. I wonder what Joseph was thinking and feeling when he was in the pit and in prison? Did he feel like God gave up on him? Did he feel like he must've been crazy to have believed that dream? Or did he have complete faith and trust in God through it all? Was his soul downcast?

Paul was shipwrecked, beaten etc and all through that he was still in the will of God.

Shadrech, Meshach, and Abednego got thrown into the fiery furnace, but were still in the will of God.

Job lost everything he had and was still in the will of God.

So, I have been very encouraged lately by the thought that even when we face hardships and trials, we are still in the will of God.

The other thought that has encouraged me lately, is again looking at the strong characters of the Bible.

David was used by God to defeat the Philistines. Then he went and commited adultery and then murder. Then he repented. After all of that God still loved him and was pleased with him. He was a man after God's own heart.

Peter is another one that has encouraged me. Peter followed Jesus while He was here on earth, was one of the 3 disciples that Jesus would take with Him to pray. And then He denied Jesus 3 times. God still loved him regardless of that, and still used him mightily.

All throughout the Bible you have fallible men. Men who messed up big time. Men who were not perfect. Men who had flaws for all the world to see. Yet God still loved them and He still used them. He used them so that only He would get all the glory. But I find it encouraging when taking stock of my own black heart and my own imperfections. There is so much in me that I want changed, so much that I don't like. But God still loves me despite my imperfections and faults, my sin and my shortcomings. And that makes me want to cry. I've never met anyone in this life (except my hubby and kids) who has loved me unconditionally like that. There is no one who will love me more than Almighty God! It's sometimes hard for me to realise that God loves me, I struggle to believe it sometimes because I don't even like me with all of my imperfections so why would God. But that is just a by product of all of the relationships I have had thus far, fallible humans loving with a conditional love, an imperfect one. I've always tried to wrap my head around that Scripture that says perfect love casts out fear, but I'm finally starting to understand it a little. I will put up Barnes' commentary on that very Scripture as it explains what I'm trying to say far better than I ever could lol

There is no fear in love - Love is not an affection which produces fear. In the love which we have for a parent, a child, a friend, there is no fear. If a man had perfect love to God, he would have no fear of anything - for what would he have to dread? He would have no fear of death, for he would have nothing to dread beyond the grave. It is guilt that makes people fear what is to come; but he whose sins are pardoned, and whose heart is filled with the love of God, has nothing to dread in this world or the world to come. The angels in heaven, who have always loved God and one another, have no fear, for they have nothing to dread in the future; the redeemed in heaven, rescued from all danger, and filled with the love of God, have nothing to dread; and as far as that same loves operates on earth, it delivers the soul now from all apprehension of what is to come.

The great dust off!

:Takes a deep breath: :blows air all over my blog:. There that should do the trick;) It has been ages since I've posted a blog. Was contemplating life and thought where is a better place to do that then on my forgotten about blog lol. Now I can't think of anything to write about heehee.

Life at the moment is sweet, God never ceases to amaze me. I have really been blessed with the extra time with my husband. My kids continue to bring me joy that I never thought possible. And God is sustaining us and carrying us through a most difficult storm, but He is our Rock!

We've been teaching the kids the 10 Commandments and it's been so much fun! Abby pretty much knows them all and will tell you what they are, like for example if you ask her to tell you what the 6th commandment is, she will say "Thou shall not kill" etc. I asked Micah to tell me one (just to see if he remembered) and he said "You shall not be covered" haha, cute boy! So today Abby and I were talking and she said, "Mommy, why do some people not like God?". So after I explained to her that some people don't want to obey Him and they just want to do their own will she said "Mommy, I want to do what God tells me. I love God and He is my best friend". There is seriously nothing that makes my heart happier than to hear those words come out of my precious daughter. She has such a sweet spirit and she is such a good girl, I'm proud to be her mommy:)

I turn 30 in a couple of weeks EEEEEK! I'm not looking forward to it at all. Am still gonna celebrate though lol. Am going out to eat and to see a movie with a couple of friends:) Good times! I'm looking forward to some girl time:)

Well, I guess I'll end this one for now. Will be back with my jumbled thoughts soon!

Extended rear-facing

I have been thinking a lot lately about extended rear-facing for children while riding in a car. A friend of mine is an expert when it comes to car seats and she's the first one who told me about the safety of extended rear-facing and the danger with turning your kid forward facing too soon. I watched a video of a kid in america whose mom turned him forward facing at a year old, they got in a accident and the kid broke his neck and has to have one of those neck frame things for the rest of his life. The video was made by the little boys grandparents who said they wished they had known to keep him rear facing as he would not have broken his neck if he was rear facing.

So I began researching rear facing and rear facing carseats. Oddly, Britain doesn't tell you about extended rear-facing which I find highly annoying. The company Britax (which are my favorite carseat brand) make rear facing seats with a 55lb limit in Sweden yet they don't make them for Britain or even mention the danger of turning your kid forward facing too soon. They are supposed to be rear facing until atleast 3yrs old. Micahs current seat is made by Britax and has a rear facing limit of 28lbs! He weighs that now and he's not even 2 yet. They don't even make rear facing carseats in Britain that will do up to 3-4yrs old. So it looks like I'll have to get a Swedish one. And this next baby will be rear facing as long as possible.

Here is a great website about extended rear facing if anyone is interested.
http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/

And here is the link to the video of the little boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

My wonderful husband!!

My wonderful husband is 30 today!! I just want to post about him cuz he's pretty special. We have been married for 5 1/2yrs now. And what an amazing 5 1/2yrs it's been!! I love my hubby bcuz he is the only person in this world that I can truly trust. He has always loved me no matter what, with all my faults and failings, with all my attitudes and grumpiness. He encourages me, challenges me, tells me the truth, forgives me when I'm horrible to him. He is a great father, he loves his kids more than anything, he is super supportive of breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping and all of my birth choices. He is my best friend and I love him more than anything. Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!!!

Poor babies!

This is totally going to be a rant, but seeing as it's my blog I'm allowed it...LOL.

Why do people feel the need to follow this "Baby wise" crap. It's just not natural at all. Forcing a baby onto YOUR schedule is rediculous. Why have a baby if you are just going to reject it's cries bcuz it doesn't fit in with YOUR schedule. A baby cries bcuz it's hungry, logical answer is to feed them. Baby cries because it's tired, logical answer is to get them to sleep, not leave them in a crib to cry on their own. How traumatizing for the poor wee toot. Sometimes a baby just wants the comfort of its mother but oh wait a minute that doesn't fit into YOUR schedule. And why the heck do people think that they must have a newborn sleeping through the night. It's a freaking baby for crying out loud, they feed often, they have tiny stomachs that don't necessarily fit into our schedules of feeding. Why have a baby if you are just going to try to fit it around YOU. The whole point of mothering a baby is meeting their needs, not them meeting yours. Get a grip people! I just feel so sad for all the babies that have to cry alone in their beds, that have to cry in hunger bcuz it hasn't been 3 or 4 hours yet, that don't get held as much by their parents bcuz advice is not to spoil them. IT IS A BABY!!!!

And someone made the comment that "a baby feels more secure when you set boundaries and limits". What a load of bull!! A baby feels secure when it's needs are met by its loving and nurturing mother and father. How can neglecting them and putting them on an un-natural schedule make them feel secure? How can leaving them to cry alone make them feel secure? How can not feeding them when they are hungry make them feel secure? How can not meeting their every need make them feel secure??? They are babies for goodness sake! A baby communicates its needs by crying, and we as mothers are supposed to meet those needs. Just let a baby be a BABY for crying out loud!

Teaching them God's Word!

I popped over to a blog today written by a lady that I know from another site. She was writing about how she teaches her children out of the Bible daily and just gave an encouraging word to other mothers to take time out of the day to teach your children God's Word. That's something I've been lacking. I teach Abby memory verses and tell her about God often and pray together often, but rarely do I pull out the Bible and actually read it to her. So I stand challenged and rebuked for not doing it, and I'm glad that I stopped by that blog. So I immediately pulled out my Bible and read a little of the story of Hannah to Abby and she loved it. She is now sitting with her little Bible asking why Hannah was sad and telling me that Hannah prayed to God and God gave her a baby. Too cute! So this is the start of me getting my priorities right.

Movement!!

I have been feeling lots of movement from the baby lately!!! Woohoo!! I felt lots of movement throughout the day yesterday, and I've been feeling it this morning. I love this stage of pregnancy. I love feeling the kicks and movement and knowing there is a little baby being created in there! Amazing! My big U/S is in a week and a half and I can't wait to see baby again.

Abby has now changed her mind and wants a boy. A friend of mine popped around the other day with her newborn baby boy and Abby was so taken with him. She sat and looked at him nearly the whole time. And now she tells me she wants a baby boy. I know she is going to be excited whether it's a boy or girl. She's gonna be mommys big helper. I can't wait to hold a newborn again, breastfeed a newborn, and babywear a newborn. I love newborns:)