our hearts overflow.

jude thomas arrived on 12.16.11

and we have fallen in love, not with only one,

but two precious little boys.

one is just a little bean.

and the other now seems like a giant.

our hearts overflow...

we are so grateful to the Lord.

exuberant.

exuberant: 

joyously unrestrained and enthusiastic;

produced in extreme abundance, plentiful

our exuberant elijah.

much thanks and great expectation.

since we are expecting our baby boy to come any day now, 

we've been taking advantage of fun family outings. 

last weekend, we enjoyed the twinkling lights at the brookfield zoo.

elijah is loving the Christmas decorations and lights. 

he also is very taken by the moon. always asking to go see the moon.

maybe he'll be our little astronaut.

he is such a sweet little boy, full of so much life and enthusiasm.

always absorbing and learning from everything around him.

we can hardly keep up with all his new words.

he loves singing the alphabet. identifying letters and numbers.

looking at his books.

playing football with daddy. whenever he sees football on the tv, he says, "Tebow!"

all things cars.

farm animals.

trucks.

he even loves to "nuggle" (snuggle) mommy.

our little guy is growing up so quickly...

 we find ourselves so thankful to raise another little boy.

although this has been a cherished season, we are excited to be a family of four.

to watch elijah become a big brother.

to continue to enjoy the many changes (even the challenging ones). 

we praise God for His goodness and faithfulness to us as a family of three.

and we continue to rely on Him and trust Him as we become a family of four. 

goodbye, days of one little boy. 

hello, days of brothers and being a family of four.

we are expectant for what God has in store.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, 

according to the power that works in us. Ephesians 3:20

well done good and faithful servant.

earlier this fall, we said goodbye to my precious grandmother who'd battled alzheimers disease for the past ten years. it's been very bittersweet. she is now set free from the deteriorated mind and body and is in fullness of joy with Jesus. but we miss her terribly.

God has been showing me so much through her death...

     this life here is but a blink of an eye. am i living today completely surrendered and for the glory of
     God?

     there is so much 'stuff' i can let get in the way of just enjoying the Lord and allowing Him to use me
     to be a blessing to those He has placed in my life.

     life is so simple. yet i can make it so complicated.

immediately as i began to grieve, this letter below came to mind. it reminds me not only of my precious grandma but also serves as a reminder of the kind of woman of the Lord i long to be.


elijah and grandma . july 2010


Dearest Grandma,

 

Your beautiful life has impacted this world in ways beyond what your humble heart could ever know. You have been one of the most influential women in my life; however, I know my life is only one of many you’ve impacted greatly.

 

Beginning from my earliest memories, I was intrigued by you and wondered what it was that made you so special. It never mattered what we were doing, I always loved being with you and learning from you. And although I’m flooded by incredible memories with you throughout the years, there are a few characteristics that have had the greatest impact on my life.

 

Your unconditional love. You always made me feel like I was loved just for the unique person I was. Not because of what I did or didn’t do. Not because of how I looked or didn’t look. No matter what, I knew you loved me. And I watched how you loved others – unconditionally. No one had to compete for your love, because you had plenty of love to share with all who God placed in your life.

 

Thank you for unconditionally loving me, Grandma.

 

Your servant’s heart. You never sat down if there was someone who you could serve. And you did so always with a joyful, willing heart. Grandma, you lived a selfless life of always putting others first. And as I watched you so closely, you made it such an attractive quality. One I would then pray for in the years to come – a true heart of a servant.

 

Thank you for selflessly serving me, Grandma.

 

Your words of grace. You always spoke with such kindness and grace. Whether you were speaking directly to me or to others, you had only good things to say. You were quick to encourage and build up people and never did I hear you speak poorly about another. As I watched you, you made it look so natural and easy to speak kindly to and about others.

 

Thank you for speaking words of grace and kindness to me, Grandma.

 

Although I always knew you went to church, it wasn’t until my college years when I really began to have a close personal relationship with Jesus myself, where I began to realize I was so intrigued by and drawn to you because you, Grandma, had always been such a beautiful reflection of Jesus. You loved Jesus with all your heart and then you let Him use you.

 

I will always remember what you shared with me when I was preparing to go on my first mission trip. For the first time, I learned you had dreamed of being a missionary when you were a little girl. You then went on to explain that God had other things in store for you.

 

Grandma, I’m so thankful God had plans for you beyond what you had planned for yourself. You may not have spent your life ministering to others in a foreign land, but you did spend your life faithfully ministering to those God put into your care. Grandma, thank you for faithfully ministering to me through the years. And I know many others would say the same to you.

 

You spent your life reflecting Jesus in the most simple of ways and now you are spending eternity in the presence of Jesus where I look forward to joining you someday. But until that day comes, by God’s grace, I will follow your example and keep my relationship with Jesus most important and then faithfully let Him use me.

 

Thank you, Grandma, for being such a beautiful reflection of Jesus. God has used you to greatly impact my life and the lives of many.

 

I miss you already.

  

Her children (and grandchildren) rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Proverbs 31:28

  

party time.

earlier this month, we celebrated Elijah turning two!

i'm not sure how it's already been two years since he was born. oh, how quickly time is passing...



i love the excitement captured  in his face in this picture. greg and i carried out his cake and a cupcake for him to blow out his candle while everyone sang 'happy birthday'. he was super excited to have everyone singing to him. he is often heard singing 'happy two one.' i should explain. we've also been working on counting, so he logically thinks one and two are also said sequentially...even if it is 'to' rather than 'two.' so much fun watching him learn.

 

we had a sweet, simple party with family back in indiana.

 

thank you, mom and dad, for graciously hosting and feeding all of us. we were spoiled.

we couldn't have asked for a better second birthday party for elijah.

 

he opened many very thoughtful gifts, which he loved. he didn't even know what to play with first. here he is playing with his trucks, which he can spend hours playing with anything related to transportation. complete with truck sounds and all.

 

and for those requesting a pregnancy picture, here is mommy finishing every last detail of party decor. i must admit, i love the details that go into decorating. it's a fun, creative outlet for me. : )

big brother.

it's elijah here. sorry my mom has neglected updating the blog with all that's been going on in our life. give her some slack though, she is growing a little brother for me. that's right! i will be a big brother in December!

looks like we'll have to add a baby stick person to our sidewalk art.

mom said, she will do some posts with updates very soon.

thanks for still stopping by to visit our blog.

elijah

resurrection sunday.

Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life.

Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me,

although he may die, yet he shall live.

John 11:25 (amplified Bible)

we have much to celebrate today.

even though the little guy and i are home sick and unable to be with family and friends to worship and celebrate today, i find myself rejoicing in the beauty of being in relationship with the very God who died on the cross for my sins and conquered death so that i could have life. my plans for the weekend didn't turn out quite like i wanted, but God so graciously is meeting me and lifting my eyes to Him.

nothing can separate us from the love of God. not even sickness.

{what do you do to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus?}

get back up.

The godly may trip seven times, but they will get back up again. {Proverbs 24:16}

yet another encouraging promise the Bible offers to those who put their faith and trust in Jesus.

no matter what it is that has you knocked down, you can stand back up and ask the Lord to help you walk confidently.

this little man is an incredible reminder of this promise. it doesn't matter how many times he falls down, he immediately jumps right back up and continues his journey. he doesn't sulk and stay on the ground overcome by fear. he gets back up.

{what has you knocked down?}

{will you stand on what is true and get back up to continue your journey with the Lord?}

true beauty.

Charm is deceptive,

and beauty does not last;

but a woman who fears the LORD

will be greatly praised.

Proverbs 31:30 (NLT)

{would you pray for this weekend's conference and for each young woman to come to understand true beauty?}

spring is coming.

the long, awaited spring is coming! and i'm sure you join me in anticipation and excitement.

last weekend, i had the 'itch' to do lots of outdoor and indoor projects to prepare for spring (prune the landscape, wash the windows, deep clean the floors, etc.) even many of the neighbors were out and about spring cleaning.

instead, i spent quite a bit of time on my own preparing for this coming weekend's conference - a 'spring cleaning of the heart' you could say.

God really blessed the weekend and did give me some time to enjoy the outdoors with my family too.

And for the spring cleaning, my precious husband tackled the outdoors; i did find time to majorly clean my floors; and the rest will always be there waiting for me. : )

i thoroughly enjoy a clean and neat home and want my home to be a safe, peaceful place for others; however, it should never come before my relationship with the Lord and my relationships with those God has placed in my life.

now, how about you?

{do you enjoy spring cleaning?}

{is it ever a challenge for you to balance the 'daily' of life with the 'important'?}

aloha.

yes, i said, aloha!

my love and i are back from our maui trip and are so thankful for the time away.

this month, we celebrate five years of marriage and couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate.

not only were we in a breathtaking place where we were blown away by God's creation.

but we were together - just the two of us - and we savored the time together.

even without hawaiian vacations, we are totally blown away by the love of God and His goodness towards us in the everyday of life. 

{how are you seeing God's love for you and His goodness displayed in your life?}

childlike faith.

Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive and accept and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child does positively shall not enter it at all.

Mark 10:15 (Amplified Bible)

Watching this little guy and his amazement for life has caused me to look more closely at this verse. Yet another way he challenges me to draw closer to the Lord without even realizing it. 

Lord, please help me to have a childlike faith until the day I see You face to face.