lessons learned

Is your house really YOUR house? Your land YOUR land? Your things YOUR things?

These are some questions I have been thinking about the last few weeks as we wait "to get our OWN house". See right now we live in a home that "isn't ours". Praise God for this house for sure! But it is quite different than living in your own home with your own things. God has used this time for me to check my heart, and then double check it constantly. Where is my heart most the time? Well as mother/wife who stays at home, my HOME is a very important part of my life. I confess that it can and has become too important to me, as I have learned about myself over the last month. I LOVE being at home! I love keeping my home the way I like it and cooking and cleaning and all that goes into it. (weird I guess that sounds) But I do. So, not having my own home the last month has been really strange and such a blessing for me all at once. God has reminded me in a BIG way that this world isn't our home, and that I should be living life over the sun. That my contentment and happiness in this life dosent stem from having a house and having it the way I want it, etc. The Lord is the One who fills me, who SHOULD BE my "home", my comfort, and the One that causes me great joy, not a house. Nothing we have here in this life is really ours anyways. It all belongs to the Lord.

My pastor growing up, Brother David Rice, once said in one of his sermons that he wanted this jeep. And that he would pass by this jeep for sale every day and ask the Lord to give it to him. Then one day God spoke to his heart and said, "David, when you want me as much as you want that jeep, then I'll give it to you."

I desire to desire Christ more than I desire anything else in life! I have found, however, deep in my heart that I have been wanting a house of our own more. This I must repent of! Praise God for showing me my sin and helping me see what needs to change! Sin is anything that replaces God, and how dare I replace Him, my Creator and all-satisfying Savior, with a measly ole house that will rust and rot and never fulfill me at all. He is everlasting and the joy and fullness He gives never ends.

I do ask that you continue to pray for us as we are about to have a new baby and do not know when our Clovis house will sell or if we'll be in a house of our own before she comes. PLease pray we will trust the Lord in whatever circumstance we face and be thankful. Pray that the Clovis house will sell soon according to God's perfect will. Pray He will continue to teach us great things during this time of uncertainty.

23 months

Griffin is 23 months old today. This is the last time I will ever say his age in months. After kids turn two, you just say they are two, two 1/2, etc. I think. It sounds weird saying 32 months or something. So, yes, he will soon turn the big T-W-O. 1 month to go. I am planning a cowboy/horse/western theme birthday party for him. I am eager to send out the invitations I got that are so, so adorable. I love kids birthday invitations, not sure why. You can just find such cute ones nowadays.

At 23 months Griffin is:

-saying all kinds of words and can repeat whatever word you say pretty much. We are looking forward to him putting more words together soon.

-running everywhere, or skipping, then throwing a clap in there somewhere. (his jolly jog)

-loves people. He is so social, and people love him back. :)

-sits down and reads his books out loud like the most scholarly gentlemen. He points at all the things in the book that he knows and says all the words he knows. Its very funny and sweet.

-loves animals, especially dogs. Our pastor and his family have a golden retriever, named Desmond (they are LOST fans) that G has bonded with since they live next door to us.

-loves water, to play in it that is. He already has a tan and its not even summer yet!

-loves both sets of his grandparents and says their names randomly quite often. I guess wondering where they are. I always tell him where they are and that they are coming to see him soon.

-still a great eater most the time. He loves frozen blueberries and any fruit, but always dosent mind it when I let him have a piece of candy or popsicle. He'll eat carrots and beans and is liking peanut butter more and more now. Drinks lots of whole milk.

Tyler just said, "FInally the day has come when I don't have to remember Griffin's age in months. I don't like that system."

Goodnight!

having a daughter, etc...

I just read a friend of a friend's blog that just had a baby girl March 1st. It caused me to really start thinking of this baby sister growing inside me and of the day she will come. Will she come on June 20th, her due date, like her big brother did? or will she come early or late? I often feel bad that I do not think about her more. I know she is in there, growing and developing, but I guess it just seems so surreal that she is, and that she is a precious baby GIRL. I also have really been treasuring all my days with Griffin, realizing that soon it won't just be me and him all day every day, which makes me sad in a way, not that I'm not excited to meet this new baby girl, though. I just have loved staying home with Griffin these last two years. TWO YEARS! that is so crazy to me! It seems like less time. I love him so much. He will always be my baby boy. He is my first baby, and will always be so, so special to me. These last two years spent with him have been the highlight of my life. They have been the sweetest times. I will hold them so close to my heart all my life. I will miss it just being me and him, and somehow I sense that he also knows that our special "me and him time" is almost over. This evening he grabbed my hand, looked into my eyes and said "wuv you." This was the first time he's told me he loves me on his own. I usually say it and ask him to repeat it to me. My heart melted needless to say. He is just so sweet and such a remarkable child that I definitely do not deserve as my child. I am so thankful for him.

I know I am going to love this baby girl just as much as Griffin and when the third one comes along, I'll be sad that it won't just be me, Griffin, and sister anymore. haha.. not that I won't be thankful and excited to have a third.

Anyways, I am treasuring and pondering all these things in my heart lately-being pregnant, knowing she is a girl, and these last 3 months with just Griffin.

Parks are FUN!

Griffin is loving all these fun parks they have here! We have been to two and can't wait to visit all the others. These pictures were taken at the Catholic school playground that is right behind our neighborhood that we walk to every now and again. We have also noticed that most the neighborhoods in Georgetown have their own playgrounds within the neighborhood, which is really nice. So maybe when we buy a house here we'll have our own little playground to go to. :)

Georgetown-first two weeks

We have been here in Georgetown for two weeks now and it has been so wonderful! We love being back in Texas (no offense New Mexicoers) and have enjoyed our church more than we ever dreamed would have. Someone told us recently that its good for born and raised Texans to leave Texas for awhile, live somewhere else and then come back. We agree. We loved living in New Mexico and came to love it as our own, but coming back to our home state has been very special and refreshing, allowing us to appreciate it even more after being gone for awhile. So Texas is good, Terranova (our church) is amazing and living here has been such a blessing. The best thing, though, would have to be our church. We are extremely grateful to God for bringing us to Terranova. It has been so encouraging and the people, preaching, singing, etc. has ministered to us in very powerful ways. God is so good.
There is also so much to do here! Round Rock is five minutes down the road and has everything! And georgetown is filled with all kinds of stuff to do. Yesterday we ventured out to the river and walked along side it (there are sidewalks) and then we took Griffin down to the water and let him throw rocks in the river for about thirty minutes and after that he still wanted to keep throwing them! We love how in Georgetown you are in a pretty big town but you feel like you can escape to nature. We cant wait to go swimming this summer and wade in the river. They have several public pools and even a mini kiddy water park at the rec center.

We have made several new friends and have had dinner with two different families each weekend we've been here. People have been so welcoming and kind for which we are so thankful.
The house we are living in is very nice and has been such a blessing. Please be praying our house in Clovis will sell. We are being taught a lot of patience through this time and trust in God's timing and plan, knowing it is good and perfect.

PS. Tyler is loving his new job and youth group. He is very thankful to be part of Terranova and get to minister to teenagers here. Please pray for him as he continues to get acquainted with all the kids, etc...

Here are some recent pictures of Griffin. OH! And baby girl is doing great! I went to my new doctor last week and really liked him and his nurse. I am excited to have her here in Georgetown. Just about three more months to go! (we still havent decided on her name yet. Suggestions are welcomed...)

Alone packing in your soon to not be house anymore....

So today was hard, I'm going to admit it. I cried several times. (pregnancy hormones were a factor I'm sure) I have just become so sentimental about our house. And not to mention I am missing Tyler like crazy! He is in Honduras with our new church staff on a missions scouting trip. He has never been out of the country w/ out me! He also isn't able to call me. It was so hard not getting to talk to him today. I am so spoiled! I am used to being able to reach him at all times, so it was very weird today.
My good friend, Jan, kept griffin for me today so I could pack some more without having interruptions and it was very nice but very strange being ALONE! Now my dad was encouraging me about all this alone time I'm getting to have and he told me to enjoy the solitude because soon I'll be so busy with a newborn and toddler that I'll be dreaming of some solitude. So why did I not enjoy my house being silent today? I love having griffin running around the house, dragging all his toys all over the place. I even love him interrupting me wanting me to play with him for a bit or read a book. I love hearing him and tyler wrestling in the living room. Isnt that what a home is for? And I cannot wait to have this sweet baby girl joining in the noise making and filling out home with more life and laughter.
I have had so much time to think today, and my mind could not be kept from thinking of my family and my heart was constantly full of thankfulness to God for blessing me with them. I realized how much I would miss them if they were not with me, and how much I enjoy them each day.

I also kept thinking about our house that will soon be someone elses. This is Tylers and mines first house that we purchased. It was where we brought griffin home from the hospital and where griffin and i played all summer in the backyard making mudpies and swinging. It is where we have shared so many fun memories as a family. It will always be our new Mexico house, our first street to live on, taking walks with griffin up and down it. I will miss so much about it. I miss griffins nursey, the tree in middle of the backyard, all the creeks and noises it makes as you walk down the hall or open a certain door.
I know all this sounds a tad bit silly, but its how I feel. I have loved this house since the first day we walked into it to look at it with our realitor. It has been our home for 3 1/2 years and it will always be special to me.
It is, however, just a house. And you would think it wouldnt be that big of a deal to just pack up and leave. I am just thanking God for providing us with such a sweet and perfect first house. And I know that it really isn't the house in of itself that I have loved so dearly, but the precious times we have had here together as a family with our first child. It has been the best 3 1/2 yrs of my life, and I will always treasure the time we had here.

Georgetown, tx

I'll keep this short, since I have tried to write a long blog post several times with a lot of details and then had to get up to do something, never to get back to it, therefore losing it all.
We are moving! God has called us to a church called Terranova, in Georgetown, Tx., just north of Austin. Tyler will be their student pastor. We will be moving march 4th. We are very excited about this church and place that God has led us to. We are also very sad to be leaving Clovis, the students in the youth group, our church family, and dear friends we have here. It has been hard to juggle so many mixed emotions lately, but we are trusting God and His plan for us and know that He is always good. We thank Him for bringing us to Clovis for 3 1/2 yrs. and for all the many ways He has blessed us by being here.

Please pray for us during this transition.
Pray our house here in Clovis will sell soon and that God would bring a family or person to see it and cause them to love it just as much as we have. (side note: a family that goes to Terrnova has gone to scotland for 6 months, and they are so graciously letting us live in their house until they return, rent free. We praise God for this gift! This will give us time for our house to sell and then hopefully buy another one in georgetown within six months.)
Pray for energy to get everything done we need to get done- packing, loading, driving the 8-9 hr drive to georgetown with griffin, etc.
Pray for griffin, that he will adjust well and continue to sleep well being in a new place.
Pray for safe travel on moving day.
Pray that God would provide central baptist-clovis with a new student pastor who is God-centered and who will teach the word powerfully to the students here.
Pray that God would use us in Georgetown for His names sake and His great purposes, keeping us near Him and worshiping Him always.

Thank you for any prayers prayed. We truly do appreciate them!