Born To Victory

-Kenneth Copeland
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have perfect peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer...I have overcome the world.
– John 16:33

Jesus said as long as you live in the world, you're going to have trouble. (I can vouch for that!) But you're not just in the world. You're in JESUS in the world, and that makes all the difference. You're in Him and He's overcome every kind of trouble there is.
As God's child, you're not the defeated trying to get victory. You're the overcomer, and Satan's trying to rob you of the victory that already belongs to you.
When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, you were born into victory... because the Victor came to live in you. Think about it. The victorious Jesus. The Anointed One. The glorified and resurrected Lord. The Ruler of the Universe.
Cheer up, my friend. Have "perfect peace and confidence." That's Jesus who lives in you!

The Good Stuff

The great part about going back to work:
-I'm becoming more organized because I only have so many days at home.
-I haven't had any "insane mama moments" because the kids and I
have had a break from each other.
-The getting up early for coffee and Jesus times again instead of just afternoon times.
-Getting to wear all my fun scrubs!!! And going to get new ones ;)
- The yummy food and neat gadgets from drug reps.
-Getting to be in the medical field again.
-Getting to work with people. I am such a people person......

The great part about all the storm damage:
-God just resupplied our dimished firewood pile. Like HUGELY!!!
-We had alot of funning camping out at Dad and Mom's
-Using the fireplace ALOT
-Getting to do the old fashioned stuff with no electricity
-The cozy fireplace
-The beauty of the ice on the trees
-The helpfulness of everyone

The great part about the holidays:
-Time with friends and family
-Good, good, good food
-The looks on the kids' faces opening their gifts
-Having my hubby home for 2 wks
-All the cookies...ooh la la.....
-Drinking lotsa good coffee and relaxing
-The smells of Mom's baking
-The lingering hugs

The great part about God's love:
-His love for us never ends
-It didn't end after He sent that little Baby
-It's still as strong as ever today
-Until eternity
-He will never stop loving His people.

This is the good stuff......

Merry Christmas

A Healthy Boy

Check out the new FAT BELLY!!!! And that is a work of God!!! Hallelujah!




You know this boy is back to normal when he makes these kinda messes and wears his boots with his jammies.......I have truly missed this monkey ;)

Jesus

The birth of Jesus is the sunrise in the Bible.
"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

This Christmas Day I am so thankful for so much. Words cannot express at times what we
feel when our heart overflows.

A new sunrise came to our family today because God gave us the miracle of Jesus so long, long ago.....and still today we are experiencing miracles. Miracles of heart and soul and mind.

The wonderful Counselor gave us wisdom that only He can impart.

The Mighty God has shown His power in only ways He can do.

The Everlasting Father has held us close in His arms as only He can do.

And the Prince of Peace has poured on us His peace...that passes all understanding.

JESUS....King of Kings and Lord of Lords...lover of my soul.

Amazing Grace

This song has been going around and around in my head the last couple months.
I honestly feel like such a wretch some days and so humbled....that despite all
my failures....God still loves me and calls me His own.


"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.



T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.



Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.



The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures.



When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.



"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

The Manger of My Heart

The Manger of My Heart
This Christmas, Lord, come to the manger of my heart.
Fill me with your presence, from the very start.
As I prepare for the holidays, and gifts to be given,
Remind me of the gift You gave,
when you sent Your Son from Heaven.

The first Christmas gift, the greatest gift ever,
You came as a baby born in a manger.
Wrapped like the gifts I find under my tree,
Waiting to be opened, to reveal Your love to me.

This Christmas, Lord, come to the manger of my heart.
Search me and know the most intimate parts.
Reveal to me if I have ever hung a sign within,
Claiming it off limits, implying “no room at the Inn.”

Restore to me the wonder that came with Jesus’ birth,
when He left the riches of Heaven
and wrapped Himself in rags of earth.
Emmanuel, God with us, Your presence came that night.
As angels announced, “Into your darkness,
God brings His Light.”

“Do not be afraid,” they said, to shepherds in the field.
Speak to my heart today, Lord, and help me to yield.
Make me like those shepherd boys, obedient to your call.
Casting distractions and worries aside,
to You I surrender them all.

Surround me with Your presence, Lord,
I long to hear your voice.
Clear my mind of concerns and all the holiday noise.
Slow me down this Christmas, let me not be in a rush.
In the midst of parties and planning,
I want to feel Your hush.

This Christmas, Jesus, come to the manger of my heart.
Invade my soul like Bethlehem, bringing peace to every part.
Dwell within and around me,
as I unwrap Your presence each day.
Keep me close to You, Jesus.
It’s in your wonderful Name I pray.

© 2003, Renee Swope ~ www.ReneeSwope.com

Attitude

"If I want to live something, I need to believe it first. What will my attitude be? I need to go to the Word of God and gain a vision for my life. A road map for the turbulent days ahead. Proverbs says that the ways of Wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Lead me in paths of righteousness Lord, for Your own Name's sake.

Jesus said that the eye is the lamp of the body, and that if our eye is good, our whole body will be full of light. I think this means attitude. If I have a positive perspective, my life will be full of joy. But he also said that if the light in us is darkness, how great that darkness. If I store up a negative outlook, it will be oppressive. Attitude. And I choose it. My life is what I make it, I am the prophet of my own life.

And it does apply to health- will I live with an offended, bitter, selfish outlook (and have that manifest in my body), or will I freely give up my life, like Jesus did (and have His resurrection life manifest in my mortal body). He said that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed, but if it dies, it produces many seeds. He said that if I really love my life, I will lose it for Him, and be glad."

~Taken from: http://journeyontohealing.blogspot.com/

More Storms

We lost power at 3 AM and listened to the trees branches fall....alll......night....long. I watched
as they fell on the power lines, watched the fireworks show....watched as it pulled the lines down.
Went in and checked on Ellie and she had thrown up in her sleep and had a blowout.
And said, "God, what more can go wrong.....when is this going to stop???"
Our yard was a mess this morning......no power still so we are camping out at Mom and Dads.
Ellie threw up again tonite.......but is now sleeping at 11 pm, i'm hoping this means a good night's sleep for once. Hope you all hava great weekend.

The Storm Isn't Over

*sigh* The storm isn't over it would seem.

For the last 3 wks....yes this is sounding all too familiar....Ellie has been throwin up
1-2 times a week (not near as bad as Gabe thankfully) and having that awful, nasty diarrhea.
And I'm talking BLOWOUTS where I'm doing laundry because of that twice as much
just like I was doing with the throwing up.

The "God thing" was I had weaned her from breastfeeding right before Gabe got sick in November....
so I was thankful I didn't have to worry about pumping and stocking in the hospital.
But in that time frame we had switched her to whole milk and she wouldn't drink it. So we
did 2 %. So October and November she was drinking that too but also breastfeeding.
The week we were in the hospital she started throwing up at Mom's when she would drink milk
so we stopped for awhile. I switched her to soy last week and she drank it fine, but threw that
up too. Last night I tried again and she spent ALL>NIGHT>LONG throwing up.
Jason and I thought it was bad watching a 2.5 yr old throw up but it's even more sad and heart breaking to watch a 1 year old ;( She got to the point last night where she would hold her breath
and turned blue and Jason had to throw her over his knee and pound her to get her to breathe
again. She had a huge nasty blowout at 3:30 this morning. I honestly don't know how much more of this hibity I can take. She didn't sleep good until about 7:30 this morning. I am so very tired and weary. She has been irritable all morning long.

Looking back, Mom and I remember her starting to get more irritable and not being happy as consistently as she always was so I'm wondering if her little body can't handle anymore either just like Gabe's did.

So we are going to go ahead and get allergy testing for her and not let it go as long as we did with Gabe. What are the chances that both our kids have the same allergies?!?!?!!? I was allergic to dairy til I was 1 then grew out of it, obviously our kids aren't gonna be that lucky.

The good news in all this is:
Gabe is a WHOLE NEW KID!!!!!! The irritability is gone with him, he's eating like there's no tomorrow, he's gaining weight very quickly, and back to his energetic mischievous self. He's so much easier to work with....just like he used to be.

I feel so bad cuz this whole past year I have been saying "Oh it's just his teeth or the terrible twos that he's acting this way" (and then I would go sit in the corner and pull my hair out or cry after certain days) But honestly....what if irritability in these 2 all along has been allergies? I wish they had little radar screens to tell us what is wrong.

So I guess the stormy winds are just gonna keep blowing on our house.....and I'm gonna
have to pray harder than ever before that I stay grounded on the Solid Rock so that I don't
just become insane in the process.

More Pictures

I have decided I will probably never scrapbook after how easy this is to put pictures on a blog.

Here is a family pancake night....yum yum yum.......

A girl after my own heart.....trucks NOT dolls.......

Snow & Gabe Update

It's snowing here today and beginning to look alot like Christmas!

So my brother Joshua comes to the rescue with his trusty yellow machine......

And these 2 guys just watched and drooled and dreamed of a day when they could have such a grand toy like Uncle Josh!

A BIG thank you to Paw-Paw who came and helped over the weekend when we had the sickies.

Many have been asking about Gabe. Well....currently he is onrier than ever and

EATING LIKE A HORSE!!! Praise God! He is still on his strict diet of: No fish,eggs,dairy,wheat,gluten,nuts. No fun....but we are making it.

The health food stores are gonna make us broke so I'm going

to have to check out some other options. Any ideas are welcome!

I tried giving him a little bit of wheat for 2 days and he started acting sick again

so I have went back to strict diet until we see allergist in January.

Thank you thank you to everyone who has blessed us with their prayers and financial gifts.

We are deeply humbled and grateful for all the love and support.

I would have to say I'm finally getting excited for Christmas because of you.

So thank you for lifting my spirits and sticking by us thru this season we're in.

I do have to say I'm pretty excited to be back at work. I worked yesterday and today

and I'm DEAD tired.....but really enjoyed it. I forgot how much I loved the medical field.

I'm super blessed that God opened this door for me and excited to see what all He has

in store for me at the clinic. AND I hope I make it thru all the training and remember

everything I did 2.5 years ago!

A Mother's Prayers

“But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames” (1 Cor. 3:13-15).

“If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.” That’s the kind of mother work I want to invest in, the enduring kind. The kind of work that isn’t washed away with the next wave, that isn’t tinder for the next match. What survives a fire? This house won’t. Abba Paul’s baskets didn’t. But what he wove with the baskets did: prayer.

So a mother kneels. So a mother gets up and works and prays, prays and works. Because the prayers we weave into the matching of socks, the stirring of oatmeal, the reading of stories, they survive fire.Aren’t the prayers of our days more important than the products of our days?And the prayers are the genesis of all that can withstand the flames: love, patience, faith, joy, hope. Our prayers make our work acts of praise; our prayers make our work acts of passion for these people living here. These people we love more than life."

~Excerpt taken from
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2008/12/what-withstands-fire-open-letter-to.html

Bugs

Well it seems bugs are continuing to rain down on our house.
Ellie and I got the flu this weekend....yuck.

I missed out on Jason's big Christmas concert today.
I haven't had a chance to get excited for Christmas yet.
I'm consumed by not letting Gabe get ahold of the wrong foods and get sick.
I'm supposed to start work tomorrow.
The laundry IS NOT stopping.
The funds are low for buying gifts.

I'm trying so hard not to get depressed....but this winter weather isn't helping any.
BUT.....
I am thankful for my Dad that came over to help today while Jason was at his concert.
I am thankful we have a warm home.
I am thankful for all the churches that are covering us in prayer.
I am thankful that Jason got up many times in the middle of the night with Ellie.
I am thankful the kids seemed better today.
I am thankful for all our friends and family that have been praying and loving on us.
I am thankful that God is still in control and He WILL WIN our battles for us!
I am thankful that God will chase away all these bugs in His time.

Christmas Time

You know it's Christmas time when you see these beautiful singers strolling the streets

and buildings of our community. These are our Madrigals...and they are awesome!

And I'm so proud of Jason for all his accomplishments with them.

Live Love

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11 NKJV

Jason and I like to stick with the NKJV of the Bible. But every once in awhile, I like to look up other versions. Basically I like to think of it as "mini-sermons" when I read The Message version. Someone else's perspective on that certain chapter or verse. In this case...a couple verses. I like what it had to say:

"So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God."
Philippians 1:8, The Message

FAITH

"Abraham persevered all the way to the top of the mountain, built the altar, bound his son, and lifted his knife in the air to plunge into his son's bare chest because he was Absolutely Sure that God's word NEVER fails."

I read this somewhere today and it really just made me STOP....and think. Wow....Do I have enough faith to do this with my son? The last couple weeks we have just been praying that God would continue to heal Gabe and we are seeing that live and in action. BUT....what if God said He
wanted more? Could I really, really do it?

Pictures-Last Day

This was our last day at the "hotel".....Gabe waiting very patiently to go home with his healthy "gluten free" cookies. Poor kid can taste the difference and wants nothing to do with them. I'm hoping this diet won't last much longer. We are supposed to add things slowly back into his life.....*sigh* How do you do slow with a 2 1/2 year old boy that loves his crackers and pretzels?!?!?!!?

Our wall decor in hopes of making it more homey.

Thankfully his first night home was good sleep, just like the last couple nights at the hotel.

Except, I won't be weighing him and doing his vitals in the middle of the night ;)

Last night at home, a little bit of attitude started peaking thru....I was sooooo happy to see it!

And here we are resting.....trying to push the fluids and get fat back on his bones ;)

He's still very weak and listless at times, but more burst of energy come from time to time.

He has pooped 3 big ones today!!! Hallelujah! I never thought I'd be singing "Oh Happy Day"

while changing his diapers....but I was this morning! He had gone a whole week without doing

his stinky duties. He's eating alot of baby food which is a good thing.

Thank you again for all your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, cards, emails, hugs, food, gifts....

We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives. May God bless you abundantly in return!