There were two things that my dad always told me would be the most important decisions in my life. First and foremost, the most important decision I would ever make in my life would be to accept Christ as my Savior and to surrender my life to Him. The second most important decision I would ever make in my life is the decision of whom I would marry.
It has been almost 21 years since I made the first decision. And I can say without a doubt, my dad was right... asking Christ into my heart was the most important decision I have ever made. And am I ever glad I did make that decision! Many people live their entire lives trying to make difficult decision after difficult decision, but they have yet to make the first and single-most important decision in their life. They are missing the key to all the other areas of their life. They try to weather the day to day life struggles without Christ... they sail aimlessly about in the ocean with no compass to guide them. Therefore, every decision they make continues to lead them nowhere.
Its been more than 6 years since I made the second most important decision in my life-- to marry my husband. And I am so glad I did! I know the Godly man that he is, but as a wife, it is so neat to hear it from other people. I know how my husband is constantly concerned with the well-being of those around him... I know that my husband sincerely cares about the people he meets with day in and day out... I know that my husband has a humble heart that is filled with love and passion for our city. I see all of those things because I know my husband better than anyone else. But its really cool to hear how my husband has impacted or helped someone else, because that truly is his heart. Several times today I have heard from other people how my husband has gone out of his way to help them or how he has done something so thoughtful and out of the blue for them. Yep, that's my man. I love him so much and marrying him was definitely the second best decision of my life.
:-)
She was 7 pounds 12 ounces and 20 inches long.
I get to go see her this weekend in Phoenix! I can't wait!
She and my mom (her Nana) now share the same birthday! How cool is that?
My sister had a natural home childbirth and from what I hear she had a great experience.
So a few days ago, I put up an inspiration board for our girl's room (if its a girl) and of course couldn't leave out the other possibility that it is a boy... so here's our Boy's room inspiration. We will hopefully find out in another month or so what we are having!
Click on the one below to go to the site where you can see each item individually.
I wish I could make this picture bigger. Just click on it and you will be able to see all of the items i put in there!
Ok, I got it to work... here's a bigger picture of it. But still click the one above to see all the individual items and stuff!
One of the good things about being in a home more than a year is all the fun house projects! Remember this project from a while back:
Thanks to my handy dad and husband, this big gaping hole that would never hold our flat screen tv....
Turned into this pretty build-out and mantel! Afterall, what is a fireplace without a mantel? I have the fall decor up now... still need to change those pics on the side and get some bigger decorations for the mantel, add a chair in the corner to balance out the blank wall space, put the cover backon the light switch, (and I still have to actually paint the mantel... shhhh its just primer on there right now!) etc... but you get the picture. 
So here's my newest thing... well, its actually a secondary project. First, and hopefully soon we are going to put in hardwood floors. THEN we can start my next project, which is sprucing up this area of our dining room:
PS- Its not empty anymore... these are from when we first moved in! But taht's our dining room above. Below are my inspiration pics for what I want to do. I want built ins on either side of the window with a seat underneath. BUT, I want cabinets on the lower part of the built in and shelves up top, kinda like this:
I really like the pull out desk in the picture above. My idea is similar to that... I want one side to be a full cabinet, and the other side to be a desk area. We're losing our office for a nursery (!) and need some place to keep papers and pay bills from. The storage underneat the seat will house our files and papers and stuff. And maybe even room for a pull-out shredder. That would look something more like this seat:
This next picture below is my absolute FAVORITE! I love it... the whole thing is just GORGEOUS!
Here's one more idea with more of a buffet look than a window seat. Our window is pretty low, so it really just makes sense to make it a seat. But I like the look of these cabinets on the lower part.
So what do you think? Do you have any projects that you are working on or, better yet, dreaming of??
This could be a long post, but in my attempt to keep it short, I'll just say a few of the thoughts that have been running through my head.
I firmly believe that God gives us all different passions. And we are each to seek after these passions because somehow, in some way, they all fit into the greater puzzle that is the Big picture of God. Too often, we disregard our passions as dreams, and therefore as anamolies that are most likely unattainable. We may say, "Wouldn't it be great to help the homeless in my community?" Knowing full-well when we say that, that we truly do have a burning passion for the homeless. However, we don't quite know how to do anything about it. So we disregard it as something that would be "nice" to get involved with, but don't really pursue it.
It has been my experience that God places on our hearts people and things that he wants us to feel a passion for. Oftentimes, though, I have wondered how or when I would ever be able to do anything about that passion. In college, through an experience with my roommate and the local pregnancy care center, I developed a passion for women who find themselves hurting after extra- or non-marital sexual experiences. It took several years, but that eventually turned into a fulltime position at the pregnancy care center. That passion for hurting women has continued to grow, and after a 3 year hiatus from actively pursuing my passion, God has once again shown himself faithful, and presented my current position working with women in crisis. And I am so greatful to him for that. I have learned through the years that God will not put something on our hearts that He will not allow us the opportunity to do something about.
But that's where it gets a little tough for me... I want to do it all and I want to do it all right now! (There's my worldly self trying to rush things again!) I am learning that God's timing is perfect, though. Sometimes it is even comically perfect timing. If my life were a sitcom and God were the screenwriter, he would have exquisite comedic timing. As my close friends and family know, Sean and I have a passion for orphans. We have the desire in our heart to adopt, and to advocate for the fatherless. I know that by getting pregnant now, God is telling us this is not the right time to adopt, but I'm kind of baffled by God's timing in that. However, I am excited to see just how perfect that time will be when God does bring it about. Like I said, I don't think he will give you a passion without opportunity for an accompanying course of action. And who knows, loving the fatherless may look like something totally different than Sean and I thought it would when it actually comes to fruition.
Can I tell you another passion I have? I don't know that I have told many people this, so here it is for the entire blog-o-sphere, but I am passionate about helping women on the street. The prostitutes, the night club dancers, the women who are so often overlooked and discarded in our society. Again, I have no idea how this passion is going to become action in my life. I just know that it is there in my heart, waiting and praying for the day God brings it to life. Being downtown 5 days a week now, I see some of these women. They need to be told that they are beautiful and that they have a Father who loves them.
Can I tell you one more cool thing a little bit off subject? At the pregnancy care center just this past month, 31 men and women came to know the Lord! Is that not amazing?!? That is more than came to the Lord at our church this past few months! In September alone... 31 men and women had a life changing encounter with Christ at our center... 31 new brothers and sisters in Christ. We're praying that they will continue in their journey and hook up with our Bible study partners and churches. But isn't that awesome? God is moving and he is working in this city!
