This and That

I think I've officially given up hope of blogging regularly in this season of my life. There's just too much else pulling at my time and attention - good things! Yet, I can't seem to just give up this space entirely. Writing is therapeutic for me, and I love looking back on the memories I was able to capture in the past. So, for better or worse, whether anyone still reads, I will write :) 

Here's my collection of random thoughts for the week.

• I'm writing this at 5 am, not because I dragged myself out of bed for some purposeful quiet time, but because I couldn't sleep. I was just telling a friend how excited I was that we had somehow managed to avoid all the nasty illnesses and viruses that our friends have had this winter, and then Bam! I got something. Just a nasty cold, I think, but my sore throat and sinus pressure had me tossing and turning all night and I finally just gave in and got up...at 3:30. I'll be feeling it this afternoon, for sure, but for right now I'm trying to view the unexpected quiet time as a blessing rather than a curse :)

• My pregnancy is cruising right along uneventfully, something I will never again take for granted! Tomorrow marks my 23rd week, and baby boy is active and moving! There is just nothing like the feeling of those kicks! I just had another round of bloodwork that confirmed that my thyroid is behaving and my levels are EXACTLY where they need to be! I'm so grateful to have found such a kind, caring, thorough endocrinologist! I knew I would love her the moment she gave me a hug as I sobbed out an explanation of my thyroid problems and pregnancy complications just weeks after my second miscarriage!

• One of my favorite afternoon activities has been to turn on podcasts and sermons to listen to while I do some of the more "mindless" cleaning around the house. It's amazing how much it actually invigorates me to keep working! Some of my favorites are John Piper, John MacArthur, and Nancy Leigh DeMoss (with Revive Our Hearts). This week I've been listening to a sermon series by Matt Chandler on sanctification. This message right here...good stuff. Here's just a snippet:

Here's something I want you to consider...There are things that are explicitly sinful the Lord wants us all to put to death in our lives, and...there are morally neutral things that also affect me negatively...There are things for which there is no Bible verse that would say, "Don't do this," yet when I'm around it, in it, or participating in it, it robs me of affections. It creates drift away from the Lord. Rather than pulling me toward the Lord, it affects my confidence in the Lord.

Are there weights, are there encumbrances, are there things that are entangling you in your pursuit of Jesus that might be morally neutral but are affecting your joy in the Lord?

Sanctification is about pressing into the Lord, having our minds renewed, and being very serious about putting anything and everything to death that might either be sinful explicitly in the Scripture or anything that might even hinder my love for the Lord and my delight in the Lord. What I've noticed is that people don't tend to be that serious about sanctification. Like the responses, "There's nothing wrong with that," or "Where does it say that in the Bible?" are really silly responses.

If it's affecting you negatively in regard to your love for the Lord, passion for the Lord, and desire to follow after the Lord, then I don't know why you wouldn't want to cut that out of your life.

Wowza. That's not necessarily a new truth to me, but it's had me doing some hard examination of the "weights" in my life...and they are there. 

There's so much other good stuff in that sermon, well worth the 45 minutes it takes to listen to it!

• These girls keep me so busy and their imaginations never cease to amaze me

Most days I let them choose what they want to wear (within reason - has to be modest and weather appropriate :) unless we have somewhere specific we are going. On this day they wanted to match. Sophia will wear a skirt or a dress all day every day, although I have convinced her that wearing a tunic with leggings is a close second ;)

• I've mentioned the deer before that visit our yard almost every afternoon. I snapped this picture awhile ago of one who was wandering around by our back deck, looking for food.

The past week or so there has been a group of 4 or 5 of them that have settled down to rest in the tree line right behind our house. It's gotten to the point where we don't even really bat an eyelash when we see them anymore!

• Valentine's Day - Supplies for the lovely homemade Valentines I talked about making have NOT been purchased. I read this post the other day that literally made me laugh out loud at the truth of it. Really, my girls have been begging to buy some character themed in a box Valentines from Target for weeks. Who would I really be making the homemade ones for? Not for them. Not for me, I don't get my grins and giggles from that kind of thing! Not for the kids receiving them, all they really care about are the treats. So....to impress the other moms? If my girls really want something homemade someday, I will make the sacrifice to help make it, otherwise, we are making a trip to Target :)

(And hey, if you get your grins and giggles from crafting Valentine's, you have every right to do it up big! Whatever floats your boat :)

And that, my friends is all she wrote. 6:20 and my girls will be awake shortly. Happy Wednesday!