I Once Was Lost But Now I'm Found

The last three years of our lives have been a beautiful organized mass of chaos. Definitely not an adventure that can be covered in just one semi-inaugural post. 

In those missing years, I've had time to grow my spiritual walk with my Heavenly Father. 

He's placed some of the strongest, God-fearing women I could possibly get my hands on, I've jotted down every snippet of life giving truth and locked it away in my heart that I could possibly get my hands on. These beautiful women have given me so much to think about. I find myself questioning the relationship I have with my sweet Jesus - in a good way, of course. It's caused me to dig deeper into His Word, and given me the intestinal fortitude to turn away from that which can't encourage me or bring me joy. 

I am human, after all. I'm still navigating the burden of sin in my heart, and around those in my life. Isn't it amazing how we can be so full of Christ's love and yet, still give in to the temptation of the flesh? I know I do every single day, give in to this temptation of sin, whether it be fleeting, or compounding. 

I promise that I will share this new voyage into motherhood with transparency and authenticity. 

So there you have it, friends. Grab a coffee, sweet tea, or Arnold Palmer, perhaps. I welcome you on this journey of motherhood. The craziness. The confusion. The poop. Oh so much poop! 

I have no idea where this little blog might go. I have no idea what MY soul wants to express. I just pray that every time I sit down to my quiet little corner, and express the desires of my heart to each of you, that I can also express Christ's love for you. 

You are so much more than "just a mom"! As I tell my girls daily: You are the daughter of a King. You are the daughter of our Lord Jesus. You are the daughter of our God, Most High! You are Cherished, Loved, Covered, and Redeemed! His love for you is immeasurable! There is nothing you can do to halt that love! 

Happy Homemaker Monday #3

Seems like all I do these days are from my homemaker edition.... but it's been a pretty busy July... with birthdays, a funeral, a vacation, and job interviews.. 

July has been emotional. On to my Happy Homemaker :)


The weather:::

its mostly cloudy this morning, but it doesnt look yucky at all. like it wants to rain, but can't find the courage to do so.


 On my reading pile:::  

  I just finished "My So-Called Life as A Proverbs 31 Wife" by Sara Horn. I picked it up at Walmart and I read it in two days. such a cute little book with discussion questions at the end and your very own challenge! I extended mine for 31 days (no pun intended) and so far I can definitely see the difference it's making in my household.

On my TV:::

I'm not watching TV but I can hear little one watching Smurfs in the other room

On the menu for this week:::Monday - Spaghetti and Salad (It would be much cuter if we had Sunday Spaghetti but sadly, we don't)
Tuesday - talapia white rice and broccoli (boring, I know)
Wednesday - ranch chicken mac n cheese and green beans
Thursday - leftovers
Friday -  FAMILY DATE NIGHT!!!
Saturday - BBQ Pork sandwiches
Sunday - homemade beef stroganoff and salad
I'm pretty proud of this menu because everything is already in our pantry and it saved me a weekly trip to the store :)

On my to do list:::

Everyday I unload/load the dishwasher, wash/dry/fold a load of laundry and make beds but Monday is mainly bathroom day.  I Wonder if I will be able to muster up the motivation.

 Ive also got to make some index cards with Big Kid's High frequency words to review for the first week of school.. yikes! 

I need to organize the laundry room and make it look all cute-see as my Deeda would say. I'm so tired of looking at bare walls it's not even laughable. it's rather sad.

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

This might not apply, but I'm researching Pinterest like my life depends on it for cute organization ideas. 

Summer Fun:::

We've got two weeks left of summer. I might be a bad mom for saying this, but I'm letting the big kid do whatever she wants, as long as she doesn't sass. 

Looking around the house:::

Sitting in the kitchen, I noticed that the kitchen table needs to be cleaned off. The living room needs to be tidied (yes, I'm a lazy slob), Big kid's room is cleaned, baby is taking her nap and our room is being occupied by Big Kid.

From the camera:::

I love the contrast of this photo... Can anyone else see it? hint: our food choices! 

Something fun to share:::

Big Kid thinks I don't have a good re-memoration! 

Also, that moment when I see kids in Walmart that I've subbed and they're acting up but it would be too awkward to discipline them/call them by name... knowing that they have no clue who I am and having to explain to their parents.... oh the dilemmas we face lol (well, it made sense in MY head lol)

On my prayer list:::

We pray for my Nana every night after losing my Gendy. Those two were together for 56 years. Hallelujah! 

Still praying for a job.

Praying that God's Glory will shine through our Haiti Mission team :)

Bible verse, Devotional::: 

went to a concert last night for This Hope and boy were they amazing... I've got family that struggle with their purpose in life, and whether there is a TRUE God who loves and cares for them... I struggle within myself sometimes because witnessing to them is like pulling teeth. This verse brings me such hope because in the end.. we will all call Him holy.

Philippians 2:9-11

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

tuesday thoughts

family story.

I am blessed to have the husband that I have. He has a high stress job and works all day at that job. I hate how the stress of that job affects him. He also works very hard not to bring that stress home because he knows how important it is to me to enjoy our family time. Even with all that work and all that stress he still finds the time and energy to facilitate bath time so I can clean the kitchen from dinner. Sometimes we turn the tables and he "sorta-kinda" cleans the kitchen for me. During one of those nights I asked him to load the dishwasher for me and I would finish cleaning after tubby-time. He flat out refused and said he would do anything and everything else except load the dishwasher... and that got me to thinkin'.

Isn't that what he do to God all the time?

God - "Hey, I need you to plant a seed for me... Are you up for it?"
Us - "Well... I don't know, God... I mean, it would be uncomfortable for me to talk to someone about you. Can I do anything else?"

We are given strengths and weaknesses by God to glorify Him. Some people sing. Some people teach. Some people are really good at empathizing... and when God asks us to step out of that comfort zone and exercise that weak muscle it makes us uneasy. We start to question our abilities. And we flat-out are not willing to do it.

We could save thousands of souls if we would just follow the path God has set out for us to follow, but instead we refuse to go outside of our comfort zone. I myself take responsibility for doing the same thing.

When my little one is shining her light into the darkness I try and quiet her because I don't want to ruffle feathers.. I don't do it because I don't want to keep his kingdom to myself. I do it because I don't want an adult telling my child that the #1 thing she believes in is a joke, or isn't right. I need to be more bold in my relationships and in my ministry... I need to flex my weak muscle and be the guiding force in my children's lives and be the spiritual LEADER when my husband isn't there to do it. We need to stop being so scared to step into the darkness, because with God's love, we have a light to illuminate our path. 

is natural family planning an option for you?

participating in the Mommy Brain Mixer today. 

This girl is co-hosting this week! you should go check her out!

So much has happened since my last post and I'm sorry, buuuuut life happens.  Since October I've become an aunt for the first time and let me tell you... Being an aunt is just as special and amazing as being a mommy but it's a completely different love all at the same time. Is he not the most precious thing in the world?!!!?!!?

Ok, so now for the purpose of today's post. I've had some issues with my OBGYN lately and am looking for another one. One of these issues is the issue of birth control. I haven't tried EVERY birth control out there but I've tried plenty. None of which have worked for my lifestyle.

With my mother being a nurse, the minute I hit puberty it was off to the doctor to get on the pill to "regulate my cycle"! (I only wish you could hear the happiness disdain in my voice). Needless to say I've been off and on BC since I was 14. I've been on several brands of the pill, I've been on the patch, I've been on Mirena, and the DepoPreva shot. Each form of BC had different side effects on me. All have made me nauseous, all have made me moody and have affected my eating habits. Each time I would go back to my doc telling him that it wasn't working for me and I wanted to try something else. The only options given to me were hormonal contraceptives or barrier contraceptives.

About two years ago I heard from a friend that an acquaintance of ours was using natural family planning but at the time I thought this acquaintance was absolutely crazy and was playing with fire for not being on hormonal BC. Today is a different story because of all the health problems I've experienced because of unnecessary hormonal contraception.

I don't know how my husband has put up with me for as long as he has. I pray for that man everyday for his patience and unwavering love for me.

I was just curious one day and googled "Christian birth control" because ultimately I want to do the Lord's will and follow the path He has set out for me. I was astounded at the actual science behind my Christian Birth Control/natural family planning search.

One article mentioned that if a woman starts hormonal birth control before her first full term pregnancy that her risk of getting breast cancer raises to 40%.

As soon as I read that I threw my pill packet in the garbage, called my husband and told him I was done and decided that I was going to look for an OBGYN or midwife that would support MY wants as far as MY healthcare goes. I was also shocked to also read that the side effects I was experiencing was not "normal"... that it was actually my body fighting the chemicals in my body. My body was at war with itself and that scared me.

You might know a lot about NFP and not even know it. Using a fertility monitor or charting your temperature while trying to get pregnant is a form of NFP. But  it's not just for conceiving, it's for control as well. The days you would participate in your "marriage act" to conceive are the days you abstain from your "marriage act" in order not to conceive. It's not that simple but that's the math of it. You use your abstain days to court or be with the family.

I know this is a lot of information to absorb, but I want to empower you. I want to empower you because I want to give you options. Options that I wasn't given. I felt lied to, I still feel lied to. I know I will have a lot more posts about this topic because it's an ongoing issue in my life that I think is so VERY important.

It wouldn't surprise me to know that not a lot of people know about NFP because I didn't hear about it until a few days ago. I encourage you to do a lot of research in order to inform youself because you are your first and best advocate for health.

Ultimately it comes down to this for me. If a medicine is going to alter me in a negative way... I'm done. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Whitney