Category Archives: Creation

May3

Does this make me look pregnant?

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Countdown to due date: 8 weeks and 5 days.
And many of my maternity clothes are already getting to be too small!

It’s so hard to describe what it’s like to have a little baby moving around in my belly!  And my Little Micah is quite a mover!

Jerking

Poking

Pushing

Wobbling

Shifting

……all happening under the skin of my belly, and I have no control over it!  It’s the weirdest thing!  This amazing miracle of pregnancy leaves me astonished!  And I know that there’s a precious child growing in there.  But I still can’t get over how weird it is sometimes!

And the weirdest part,
is that this basketball-tummy,
this jostling, round extension of my middle,
has become normal to me!

When I look down, and see this round tummy blocking sight of my feet,
and I see my belly button has been turned inside-out,
and then a wave moves across my abdomen because a little person is shifting around,
I have to wonder,

How did this ever become normal?!

I’m so thankful that this (like my first pregnancy) has gone very smoothly, and I feel great!  So it almost comes as a shock to me when I walk past a mirror and catch a glimpse of my body!  It just looks so funny, and I almost forget how disproportionally round my tummy is!

In a few months, I’ll have a little baby to snuggle with, and I’ll look back at pictures of his prenatal home.  I’ll laugh at how crazy it all is!  And even though I’m not there, yet, I’ll still look at this baby’s prenatal home, and laugh!

joy:

Apr6

Why Easter is My Favorite Holiday

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“….it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.”
Acts 2:24

Although Jesus was put to death, it was physically impossible for him to stay that way.

He, the King of the Universe, allowed his tormentors to physically overcome him.  But He knew the WHOLE story.

Jesus, the Author and Perfector of Life, knew what was going to happen.

He could have prevented it.  He could have stopped them.  He had the power and the ability to rewrite the story.

But he didn’t.

Instead, He experienced the most gruesome and horrific torture that I’ve ever heard of.

Then, hanging there by his torn flesh, he died.

Even worse than all that, He was separated from His Father, the Lord.

WHY would someone endure such a treacherous, embarrassing, unbelievably painful death?

The answer is YOU, my friend.

It was all a part of His plan.

When He was despicably betrayed by one of His closests friends, it was all a part of His plan.
When the crowd chose Him, and begged for Him to be crucified, it was all a part of His plan.
When they crushed a crown of thorns into His scalp, whipped Him with lashes of sharp debris, mocked His identity, and cruelly drove nails through His hands and feet, it was all a part of His plan.

His plan is to know YOU and for you to know HIM!
His plan is to give you a path to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
His plan is to earn the right to become a child of God FOR YOU.

He died.  He paid the price.

And then, when all was said and done, He came back to life!  And He is alive now!
He conquered His own death.
And He conquered the chasm of death that separated us from Him.

Only the Holy and Righteous can be in the presence of God Almighty.
A title that is absolutely impossible for us to achieve.

But He achieved it for us!

So let’s cling to the LIFE that Jesus gives us!
Let’s REJOICE in His physical resurrection that offers us spiritual life!

Jesus Is Alive!
There is no greater news.

joy:  When I see a dogwood flower, I see a tiny crown with petals shaped like a cross and tiny rose colored marks on the ends of each petal.  Yet it’s one of the most gorgeous flowers, full of life and beauty!

Apr2

Child-like Amazement at the Zoo

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This morning, I took Nolan to the zoo for the first time!  He. Soaked. It. Up!  While his favorite animals were the meerkats, alligators, and flamingos, at every exhibit, he told me multiple times, “Mommy, I SEE IT!”.  Actually, he even told me that as we were walking along the paths surrounded by lush greenery and bugs.

Let’s be encouraged by Nolan to take notice of the world around us!
What are little things that are easy to pass by that could bring God glory and bring you joy when you take notice of them?
What are big things that have become just normal, that you can be especially thankful for?
What are some exciting things around you, that have lost that spark as you explain away it’s wonder instead of marvel in it’s beauty?

Let’s open our eyes and approach each day with a child-like thrill of the amazing world the Lord has created!

joy:  We got to see the anteater take a bath and the lemurs bathe each other!  (Anteaters are the strangest looking animals I’ve ever seen!)

Mommy! I see it!
Fish! Fish!
Hi, fish.
Fish, where are you?!
I see it!
Bye, fish. See ya.

I see it!
Hi, animal.
Mommy, come on!
Animal, where are you?
Hi, animal.
I see it!
Bye, animal, see ya.

Bird! Mommy, Bird!
I SEE IT!
Bird, where are you?
Hi, bird. I see it!
Bye, bird. See ya.


 

Feb14

It’s a BOY!

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At 19 weeks, we went in to see our first real ultrasound with this new little one last week!
I don’t think it’s completely dawned on me yet,
We’re really having another child……SOON! 

I’ve just grown accustomed to this expanding belly.
I take prenatal vitamins.
I follow those prenatal precautions.
And I wear bigger clothes.

But I haven’t actually pictured our family with 2 little ones, yet.
(Actually, that thought has been almost daunting.)

Perhaps if technology wasn’t where it is today, I would hardly realize that there’s another child here who’s joining our family!

But seeing this child’s hands, feet, heart, head, arms, legs, and even little face in 3D helped me to begin realizing that there is a real, living, growing, loving, smiling child here in this tummy!

Finding out that he is a BOY! gives us the freedom to say he instead of it.

And we’ve even decided on his first name, Micah!
(We’ll have to keep you posted on the middle name.  We’re not sure about that one, yet.)

Nolan is learning to say his baby brother’s name, Miyah, as he hugs my belly.
I’m not sure if he’ll completely understand until Micah is born.
I’m not sure if I’ll completely understand until then either.

As I’m sitting here, posting this, Solomon has his hand on my belly.
And for the first time, he can feel Micah moving!

joy: I am daily amazed at the brilliance of our magnificent Creator!

Oct19

And There Was Light

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One of my favorite names of God is Creator.
Especially in times when I struggle with trusting Him,
or when I need help to obey a prompting that He puts on my heart,
I remind myself that He is THE Creator.
He IS powerful.

I don’t need to be so concerned with completely understanding how everything will come together
or even making sense of something in the past that He allowed to happen.

However I do need to be in the business of trusting Him more!

After all, my Lord created all of this world, simply with words!

Genesis 1 (paraphrase)

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep……

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light……

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water”….
And it was so.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear”……
And it was so.

Then God said, ”Let the land produce vegetation”…..
And it was so.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky”……
And it was so.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky”……
So God created the great creatures of the sea…and every winged bird….

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures….
And it was so.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. 

Is the Lord calling you to something that you’re nervous about doing?
He can be trusted.

Are you having trouble believing that He will answer your prayers?
He is able.

When you feel overwhelmed by your situation,
remember that God has your best interest in mind.
He loves you.
And He’s not just anybody,
He is the Creator of the universe!
He IS powerful.

joy:  I have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe!!!

Oct18

Creative or Analytical?

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Do you consider yourself more creative or more analytical?

Do you see possibilities or strategies?

I’m sure that all of us have a bit of both.  And perhaps they’re not that different from each other.

Personally, I consider myself more analytical.
I want to know the why’s and how’s of everything.
I enjoy finding the most efficient and effective strategies to accomplish goals.
From organizing our home to running errands to spending time with friends to selling our house and finding a new one.
I want to understand everything, and if I don’t, it’s a little frustrating.
Okay, a lot frustrating.

This character trait actually gets me in trouble many times, but I’m working on it.
Instead of asking so many questions, I could just roll with it a little more.
Instead of being so fixed on spelling out all the steps of an entire process before even beginning, I could just take the first step and let it come together.
I’m learning to trust more.

This month in children’s church, our memory verse is Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We’re talking about how God is our amazing Creator and He has actually imparted creativity into each of us that we can use for His glory!

He really has imparted His creativity into each of us for His glory.

There aren’t uncreative people.

Even analytical planning and strategizing can become a creative offering to the Lord!
As long as our trust in Him is greater than our desire to understand everything.

joy:  All of our character traits can be used for His glory.  After all, He put them in us!

Oct13

A Foggy Morning

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Yesterday morning, I drove to work through the beautiful, thick fog that landed on middle Tennessee like a soft, fluffy blanket.
It was awesome!
White, smokey mists hovering around autumn trees, hills, and creeks.
Peacefully sitting, existing, being.

Fog is so mysterious and enchanting to me.
I can always see the space around me, but I can’t clearly see far ahead or far behind.
Yet once I reach those points, I can see clearly in that space.
I’m sure that there are scientific explanations, but the beauty of it all is just as fascinating!

As I carefully drove in awe and wonder, the hovering cloud of tiny water droplets seemed to resemble what it might look like to see the Holy Spirit resting on us.  What a great reminder to go about the day, asking for His presence to fall on us, our neighbors, the places and people that we drive by, that we think of, that we see.

Driving through the fog, I can only see the space around me, trusting the direction of the road that I’m on.

Living in the Holy Spirit, I can live fully, joyfully in the present time of each day.
Not overcome with anxiety about the future.
Not haunted by regrets of the past.
Acknowledging that His gifts that are readily available now and giving thanks!
Seeing clearly, the people He’s put in my life now.
Living purposefully.
Loving without inhibition.
Cherishing each moment.
Seeing the beauty around me.
Even in the fog.

joy: Feeling God’s Truth in the amazing nature that He created.