3.29.2010

easter week...

i promise i am still alive and i am doing ok! i know i have been very absent from blogging (writing, reading and commenting) as of late. i just don't know where the days have been going, they have been going much too fast for my liking. i feel like i blink and the day is half over and time for lunch. then i blink again and it is completely over and time for bed. if anyone has figured out the formula for slowing down the days yet, please let me know :)

so these days for me have been filled with the normal things a mom has to do everyday, which has included cleaning out closets and switching the wardrobes over to lighter spring clothing! yeah - i am so glad that spring is here! i am ready for some consistent warm days and let it just rain at night! it always seems that i buy clothes for the kids for the new season and then the weather goes back to the old season. but i think slowly but surely spring is coming to stay!

with easter just a few days away, can you believe it?, i will be busy this week putting the finishing touches on our easter outfits and getting stuff for the kids' easter baskets. we will be spending this week and easter weekend, egging the city of charlotte. our church, which meets at several campuses throughout a normal weekend, will be meeting all together for one big huge easter service. we will be having our worship experience at time warner arena (home of the bobcats basketball team) and we are expecting atleast 10,000 people to be in attendance! holy excitement! i can not wait to be a part of this awesome day!

i make no promises, (but surely hope) to blog again this week before easter! so, if i don't get back here before easter, i wish each of you a happy easter! i have been horrible at taking pictures lately, so i will be sure to do that this weekend so i can share how cute my kids are! i also have some exciting news to share but i am saving that for a post of it's own (nope, i am not pregnant, i know that was your first thought!).

until next time!

many blessings,
dawn

3.24.2010

a new day...

the gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to Him.
ezra 8:22

last week i had one of those days. it was just one of those no good. horrible. bad days. you know we all have them. situations occur, you are tested on every level. you say things to the ones closest to you that you should not have said. your tone was wrong. you shed tears, you shake your head in disbelief. you get angry, impatient and mad. you take it out on everything and everyone in your path. it may not be throwing things or lashing out. we each have our own way of handling the our emotions.

i have a hard time keeping my emotions back, i can not hide how i feel especially with those that are closest to me. i was dealing with something that caused me so much pain and it had nothing to do with my family. but my kids got the worst of me that day and not the best. because i was shaken and broken and just couldn't get it together. and as hard as i tried i just could not shake it off.

the quality time didn't happen. i didn't talk nice. i just couldn't wait for bedtime. i just needed to be all by myself. in a quiet place to think, to breathe, to cry. deep inside, i knew i handled it wrong with my kids. i let my negative emotions get the best of me. but i hadn't the strength to handle it right. to suppress my emotions and be the mom i knew i should be. it is hard to admit but it is the truth.

not giving myself any kind of excuses, fully knowing it is an area of weakness for me, i tucked each of them into bed and whispered, "mommy is so sorry that i was impatient with you and that i yelled a lot today, but tomorrow when we wake up this will be behind us. this day will be over. and tomorrow will be a new day and we can start all over."

and only because of His grace.


but he said to me, "my grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness."
therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 corinthians 12:9

consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials
of many kinds, because you know that the testing
of your faith develops perseverance.

james 1:2

3.19.2010

bye bye week, hello weekend!

i know it has been a week since my last post. this week has just been one of those really "off" kind of weeks for me. lots of ups and downs. and i must say that i am so glad it is friday! this morning, i am taking the little kids to the park! hopefully, i will remember my camera. we are going to meet some new friends there!

this last week started off with me being sick. i actually started with some kind of stomach bug, where i just felt queasy and achy and yucky on sunday, so i had to miss serving as the nursery coordinator, i just couldn't spread my germs to those sweet babies. it lasted a few days. i didn't have much of an appetite. so i think starting off the week being sick just threw the whole week off. i am feeling so much better now.

and of course this week was full of tests and challenges on top of me being sick. but through all of it i was able to really focus on God's desire in how i handled the things that came at me left and right. i was able to see that these road blocks were put in my way to throw me off course. but i will not allow it because He is my strength. i know that the plans God has for my life are from Him and i will persevere through the trials and overcome them! so, i have been able to put it all behind me and move ahead in the right direction towards Him.

so i am glad that this week is over and i am looking forward to a great weekend! we are starting it off with a date night to celebrate my hubby's birthday and then we plan to have lots of family time! which will include some spring time shopping! i am ready to change over the closets and get rid of the winter coats and sweaters! i am so excited that spring is upon us!!

happy weekend everyone!

many blessings ~
dawn

3.12.2010

floating...

the anchor has sunk and the ship is just floating along. not really going forward and not really going backward. lots of stuff stirring inside and along the edges of the ship but no real direction or movement being made. lots of clutter being removed and scrubbing of the decks gives a fresh feel but still not going forward. a course not mapped out and not challenge to undertake. no sign of a storm to come and know the captain is in full control.

*****

waiting is so hard for me. not hearing a direction or knowing a move to make. i like to be moving and doing, while God has been calling me to just be. while i have been waiting for a direction to take or a move to make, He has been working on me from the inside out. feeling like i was getting close to whatever He has planned, whatever that something "big" is i feel coming. i surrender all to Him as i learn to just be, knowing He is in control of this ship. wanting Him to fully use me to His glory i wait. and just as i am getting use to waiting, He gives me this direction*, stay busy doing the last thing I told you to do.* in obedience, but not by my design i focus on the last thing He has called me to do. for now. i am comforted that He is in control and that i gave it all to Him.

so where is your ship today, floating and waiting? cruising and doing? or sinking and shaken?


        I surrender all, I surrender all, 
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
humbly at his feet I bow,
worldly pleasures all forsaken;
take me, Jesus, take me now.



i cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.
psalm 57:2

but thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
2 corinthians 2:14


*taken from a leader in the making by joyce meyer

3.11.2010

eyeglasses...


joshua got his first pair of glasses!
doesn't he look so smart?


3.06.2010

five...

it feels like yesterday when i loaded up josh and jordyn and headed out to run some last minute errands to get a few last minute "must haves". later that same night after being with a group of friends from church, i installed the infant seat in the back of the van. thinking i was ahead of the game, two weeks before my due date these things were done and the bags were pretty much packed for the hospital.
little did i know as i was checking off the remaining "to dos" baby #3 was ready to make his way into the world, even if i wasn't.

five years ago today, i gave birth to the sweetest baby boy ever. you can read the rest of his birth story here.

today jesiah celebrates his fifth birthday! last night we celebrated with a party and he had his first sleepover with two of his best buddies! today we had a family day, and he got to pick out a few gifts at his favorite store - target!








jesiah,
you are such a kind and sweet boy. mommy and daddy are so proud of the big boy you are becoming. you say the sweetest things that melt my heart. i love how you hold jaelyn's little hand when you are sitting next to her in the van. you have become such a great big brother to jaelyn. jesiah you are so bright and know so much at five years old. you have endless energy and are so busy. most days you play so well all by yourself. you love to dress up and pretend play. you are becoming so good at video games too! you are so laid back and so full of life. you are starting to really take an interest in learning and reading, which is perfect timing considering you will be heading off to kindergarten in august. mommy is going to miss you so much when you are in school, but we have so many months left until that day. i am just going to focus on loving you and teaching you all about God over the next few months. you are such a special little boy and God has such big plans for you, jesiah. you are such a blessing to our family. we love you so much! happy fifth birthday, little buddy!
love, mommy

3.04.2010

almost five...

tomorrow, my "baby boy" jesiah will turn five years old!
can you believe it?
i can not!
he is not a baby, toddler or preschooler any more!
he is a big boy!
(insert happy sigh here)
he is such a blessing he is to me and our family.
jesiah is so full of life and i am so excited to celebrate his big day!!!

in honor of his birthday tomorrow, here is a look back at the last four years...


birth to one...



read birth story here











one...




two...



three...


read birthday post here


four...


read birthday post here



i shall return over the weekend with another post all about jesiah and
also some birthday pictures of his celebration!

until then, i am off to love on my four year old, because he is not officially five yet!

things that make me smile...

jaelyn's little voice
**
looking at jesiah's baby pictures
**
& thinking about the day he was born
**
watching tv on the couch with my hubby after a long day
**
getting a sweet comment on my blog or an encouraging text message from a friend
**
planning a baby shower for a friend
**
crossing something off of my to do list
**
going to church


so, what are you things that make you smile today?
focus one those thoughts and not the ones that don't.

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

3.02.2010

read this instead...

today is one of those days where i just am at a loss for words, i have been for a few days. no worries, nothing is going on. everything is good! i just don't feel like "talking" that much. my twitter and facebook updates have been lacking too, not just my blog. i am busy this week planning and getting ready for jesiah's birthday. he will be five on saturday. i also have some other things i am working on for church.

while i was catching up on my blog reading, i read this and wanted to share it with you. ephesians 3:20 is the theme for my blog and one of my favorite verses ever. it is one of my pastor's too. so, since i don't have much to say today, read this! i promise it will give you such a great perspective and leave you very encouraged!