God's whisper

Something that I have realized about myself is that I expect God to shout, not whisper.  Because of this, I wonder how many times I have missed God's gentle voice.  In 1 Kings, the story of Elijah fleeing because he thought that God would not protect him, has given me pause lately.  I suppose because I am an "immediate gratification" kind of a person, I am often impatient in waiting for answers. 

When God appeared to Elijah while he was in hiding, God simply asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  He was asking him where his faith was; did he not remember how God had always protected him and provided for him in the past?  Andy Stanley says, "Today's worries often overshadow God's past faithfulness."  Very true.

I've been thinking about where I have missed God's whisper.  Landon is just now starting to sleep through the night consistently.  (He will be 10 months old next week.)  I have been in tears countless nights begging God to please help Landon sleep well so that he can be rested, as well as Scott and me.  There have been times when I have been beyond frustrated with God because he didn't answer my prayer by miraculously allowing Landon to fall asleep right then and sleep all night.  (See that immediate gratification glitch I have?)  However, throughout all of the past months, I missed God's whisper. 

Since Landon turned a month old, I honestly can't remember being exhausted during the day. 

Hindsight. 

God's whisper was Him simply giving me the energy, strength, and attitude to survive on minimal sleep for a very long time.

Not to say that I don't crash every night around 8:30, but that's not when my children, my husband, or my job need me.

There are other areas in my life where God has faithfully whispered, but the realization that God truly never lets go makes me want to listen even closer.

Is God whispering something in your ear?  Be still; listen.

Unwelcomed drama

Yesterday afternoon, December 5, 2008, around 4:50 p.m. Ella Beth had an accident.  A severe accident.  She had just tee-teed on the potty.  She was calling me in there so that she could wash her hands.  However, in the 5 seconds that it took me to get there Ella Beth decided to climb on top of the toilet and try to climb over to the bathroom counter.  She didn't make it.  I was there just in time to pick her up immediately, but I couldn't reach her before  Ella Beth landed on our ceramic trash can - which shattered and cut her forehead open. 

Blood galore.  Blood everywhere. 

Scott got Ella Beth and put towels on her head.  I called Scott's parents...this is the exact conversation: "Cleve, I need you to come here NOW.  We have to take Ella Beth to the emergency room.  We are leaving Landon in his crib."  He said, OK, and I hung up.

Now, they got there right before we left so we didn't end up leaving Landon alone...but I think we would have.  I'm talking blood everywhere. 

I had to work on keeping Ella Beth awake on the drive to Scottish Rite, but we arrived within 25 minutes.  They took us promptly back.  Now, she had calmed down pretty well on the ride there, but once she found out that the nurses and doctors were going to have to take off the towels and look at her head, she lost it.  I'm talking screaming uncontrollably!  They took one look and immediately said, "That's going to need stitches."  We figured, but had hoped for a good cleaning and a butterfly.

Once they cleaned it, we could all see bone.  Nice.  They put some numbing cream on her head, and then they gave her a sedative to help relax her a bit.  We had to put her in a straight jacket...literally...and the doctor stitched her up.  4 stitches total.  We were told that she will probably have a scar, but that is fine with us.  We were just so relieved that she didn't end up having a concussion.  Thankfully, the scar is horizontal so one day it will blend in with a wrinkle. ;)  Hopefully, with Mederma and vitamin E, it won't be too noticeable; but like I said, we're thankful for a scar and nothing worse!

Here are a few pictures:

  

Unfortunately, Ella Beth's boo-boo has not slowed her down any which has kept me stressed out and on edge all day.  I have repeatedly freaked out when I could just see another accident waiting to happen.  I'm praying that she makes it through this recovery without re-injuring her head.  We have to go back to Scottish Rite Wed/Thursday for her stitches to be removed.  I honestly don't know if I'll be able to handle that.  You can pray for me, too!

I can feel God moving in me

Today at work I had the most awesome experience.  I was able to worship our Mighty God with my boss, my "big boss," and my co-workers.  We celebrated the wonderful name of Jesus together as we sang worship songs and took communion together during our all-staff meeting.  How amazing it is that I work in a place where the mission is "To lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ."  I truly enjoy working at North Point, but after such an amazing staff meeting today where we celebrated in our almighty Father's name...it makes my "job" so much more fulfilling.  Even though I am a teeny-tiny part, everything everyone does at NP helps lead other people towards our mission.

At our staff meeting today, I stood with my friend Ashly.  I worshiped the Lord with my friend who has undergone a tragedy beyond anything I can imagine.  There were times when I was lost in prayer talking to God about how I don't know how Ashly is standing, let alone here to worship Him.  There is not a day that goes by where I don't think about Ashly and pray for her broken heart.  My heart still aches for the loss of Brooks.  But I am confident our God is a loving God because her tragedy has not broken her spirit.  I lifted my hands as we shouted, "God loves us.  Oh how He loves us."  He truly does.

In church yesterday, Andy said something that I thought was profound.  He said that God often doesn't speak to us unless He knows we are going to obey.  I thought that was absolutely amazing.  How true it is, too, isn't it?  Think about it, when we are at our limit - when we are desperate for an answer - isn't that when we can truly hear God speaking?  We are so willing to obey because we have exhausted all other options.  Wow.  Think about how being an obedient child of God would allow us to hear Him, hear the Holy Spirit's wisdom speaking straight to us, all of the time.  WOW!

I don't know about you, but my prayer for the next week/month/year (however long it takes) is to become a more obedient child of our Heavenly Father because I want to hear from Him.  I want to hear His guidance and His tender words of love and understanding. 

My Princess and My Fella

I am so thankful for my little girl.  She is tiny in body, but not in spirit.  No day is ever a boring day when spent with Ella Beth.  She is on the go from the time she wakes up until the time she falls asleep.  Thank goodness we still get a nap in most days!  She amazes me at least once a day.  She doesn't forget anything.  (Which isn't always good for me..."Mommy, you said I could have a surprise if I put my sweater on nicely.  Remember that?!"  Good ol' bribery...coming back to bite me!)

So by now most of y'all know that I had Ella Beth's ears pierced, but I'll post it anyway. :)  Well, last Friday I took Ella Beth to her pediatrician's office to have her ears "medically pierced."  It was an experience!  She did great for most of it...most of it.  I truly believe that it didn't really hurt her at all because she never complained about it hurting, but the "pop" of the gun scared her.  I felt so bad after they did the first one (since it was done at the doctor's office they couldn't do both ears at the same time...bummer).  She cried and said, "I don't want to do the other one.  It scared me."  Well, we couldn't leave with only one ear pierced!  So, we bribed her with a sucker and the other ear was pierced.  Once the second ear was done she said, "Where's my sucker?"  That's my girl!  And, since leaving the doctor's office she has showed off her earrings to everyone.  She is so proud of them.

Here are a couple of pictures with her new studs.  Now, Ella Beth has tiny ear lobes and her diamond studs are tiny, too.  But, if you look closely you'll see what our princess loves to show off.

 

 

(Everyone told me that when Ella Beth turned two the "terribles" came with it.  No one told me, however, that when she turned two she would also turn into a wild child.  This, my friends, is Ella Beth's current smile.  Ask her to smile for a picture, and this is what you get!)

And, my little fella is 9 months old today.  Sniff, sniff.  I am so thankful for Landon, and how God chose to put him into my life.  He has to be the sweetest little fella ever!  He loves to snuggle...and I just eat it up!!!  He's so happy.  He has also mastered crawling.  He goes 0-60 in no time, and watching his little self crawl all around makes me smile endlessly!

 

 

Our Thanksgiving Thankful List:

Ella Beth: pre-school, Mommy, and Daddy

Landon: Mommy, Daddy, and his bottle

Scott: family, and how God has always watched over him and his familly

Amber: family, friends, and God's never ending love

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU!!!

7 Random things

I've been tagged by my friend JJ to come up with 7 random things about myself that you probably don't know.  Let's see how well I do.

1) My favorite word is "LOVELY."  I don't have a great explanation other than I just love it.  I save it for very special uses.  For example, hydrangeas (which are my favorite flowers) are always LOVELY to me. :)

2) I am terrified of scary movies.  I'm talking terrified to the point of tears.  I can't watch commercials that advertise upcoming movies on TV if they even look like they may be scary.  When I was in high school, I went to see Scream with my high school youth group.  After the killer asked Drew Barymore's character what her name was because he wanted to know who he was looking at, I buried my head in my youth minister's coat and didn't watch another second of the movie.  FYI: that scene was the very first scene in the entire movie!

3) One of my secret vices is sugary cereal.  I *heart* Lucky Charms, Coco Puffs, Cookie Crisp, and Honey Smacks.  Hey, they have to be better for me than donuts!

4) I am a clean freak locked inside the mother of two.  If I didn't have two children making constant messes, my house would be spotless.  I hate clutter, but am surrounded by it.  My desk downstairs is 100% horrifying because: a) I never have time to clean it, b) it's where everyone else (i.e. Scott) puts junk mail and our recycling magazines and newspapers, c) when I do have time to clean it, I'm way too tired and don't want to :)

5) I have always wanted a "pixie" haircut.  I am sure it would look absolutely horrible on me, and I am sure Scott would have a heart attack the moment I walked in the door...but, I'd still love to try one out.  Maybe I should buy a wig and tuck my hair up in it to see what it would look like!

6) I simply MUST get ready each morning.  I am not one of those people who can lounge around in their pjs all day and feel comfortable.  I must have a shower, dry my hair, and put on chapstick for any day to be successful.  I will (and do!) get up at 5:30 each morning just so that I have time to get ready before my kiddos wake up.  Yes, that sometimes includes Saturdays.  Scoff me if you must, but you wouldn't want my company otherwise!

7) I really don't enjoy being petite.  It's hard to shop for clothes and shoes; people think I'm much younger than I am...and treat me like it.  Most people think that being petite is "cute" - but cute gets old.

So here are the rules:

*Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

*Tell seven random facts about yourself on your blog

* Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs

*Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Ok - tag, you're it:

Ally
Angie
Ashley
Cherish
Karin
Kylie
Megan

Mr. Blue Eyes

8 months.

The bluest eyes I've ever seen.

The happiest little fella I've ever met.

Yep, this Mommy loves her boy!

How do you BOO?!

I have something to admit.  Halloween was more fun this year than I can ever remember.  Ella Beth was so excited and into everything.  She loved dressing up as Minnie Mouse, and she absolutely loved Landon as a little leopard. 

Landon playing at Kimberly's house:

All of the kiddos at Kimberly's.  None of them were much too happy about posing for this shot!

Our first Trick-or-Treater.  Brody lives next door; he and Ella Beth are big buds.

Mommy and Landon.

The kiddos in our family that we trick-or-treat with each year. We could barely keep Ella Beth still long enough to take a picture. You can see her excitement all over her face!

Landon with big cousin, Chess.

Ella Beth was so exited all night long. Her trick-or-treat buddy was Jordan, and they had a blast!

Jordan and her little sister, Kylie, "helping" Ella Beth. It's so sweet how the kiddos love Ella Beth and always make sure she is OK. :)

 

Ella Beth with cousin Kaitlin.

 

And a great shot with Mommy and Daddy!!!

 

Now, be honest...too many pictures for one post??? Hope you enjoyed them anyway!