Thanksgiving Recap - Photos

Since I've decided that this blog would be one of a melting pot of things (thoughts, prayers, personal, etc.), I thought a review of our Thanksgiving holiday would be a fun and light-hearted post! We had a wonderful time visiting family and friends, while enjoying yummy food and Thanksgiving festivities! Here are only a few highlights of our trip to Florida! 

Samuel enjoying time with Grandma (I didn't get any on my phone of Samuel and Grandpa, but he enjoyed time with him as well!)

Spent lots of time with cousin Paxton.

Sweet fellowship with {precious} sisters in the Lord!

Joshua helping the Harsch kids build a fort!

Love this!

Thanksgiving morning!

He is so attentive to my reading!

Went to a movie with Joshua Thanksgiving night! I was anticipating great crowds and insisted we get to the theater at least 30 minutes early. This is what it looked like :)

Then, Joshua and I decided to be adventurous and check out Wal-Mart at midnight....HA

Taking a family walk to the park!

Samuel swinging at the All Children's Park - the same park I walked to with my parents and friends my entire childhood. Such sweet memories!

A surprise visit with my best friend from high school, Julie! It was nice to catch up and see her smiling face again. We both live in Kentucky but have to drive/fly 850 miles to see each other. It's worth every mile :)

{Precious} visit with Grandma Ruth! It wasn't the greatest of circumstances but it was so sweet to reminisce with her and for her to enjoy Samuel!

Completely zonked as we walked through the Atlanta Airport on our way home!

Thankful to God for memories made, words spoken, and lessons learned! 

May God be glorified in our giving thanks for all that He had done and given! What a good God!

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Turbulence

Our little family is spending the Thanksgiving holiday with my side of the family this week. I'll definitely post some pictures of our time here when we get back to Louisville! 

Joshua is joining me and Samuel this afternoon as he had some work and school things to wrap up in KY. We are SO excited to see him and have missed him so much! Samuel and I took a very early flight on Friday morning, which was really smooth (Samuel makes flying with a baby seem easy. Eucharisteo.) However, as we neared the end of our two flights and were descending in to the Daytona Beach area, we hit some pretty intense turbulence. I love flying but when we go through clouds, my face turns white, I begin to sweat, and life suddenly becomes very serious and precious to me. Well, as Samuel was cooing and entertaining the other passengers, we hit a cluster of clouds (which felt like a mountain range) and the bumping began. I held on tight and looked around. Was anyone else clutching the arm rests and whispering prayers?! Get a grip, Mer.

After things leveled off and I was confident the plane wasn't going down, I began to think rationally again. I began thinking about my own reaction to turbulence on the plane as well as the "turbulence" of life. How can I be so faithless at times, worrying about the future, and allowing myself to be troubled in my spirit? Then I looked at Samuel who was still sitting there as content as could be, trusting in his momma to protect him and care for him. Through the bumps, he kept his smile and composure, unmoved by the potential chaos around him. I thought, "wow, if only I trusted my heavenly Father with such simple and child-like faith..." And how much more does God care for me and every detail of my life than I even do for Samuel! That is absolutely unfathomable to me, but it brings me great joy and comfort. 

I don't want to be like Peter, who, "when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me" (Matt. 14:30). Here, Jesus had just walked on the water and Peter asked Jesus if he could walk to Him. Instead of keeping his eyes and faith on Jesus, he shifted his attention to the circumstances where Peter began fretting and not trusting in the Lord. I want to look to Jesus with eyes of faith and trust, knowing that He is taking hold of me and directing each of my steps. 

God is so faithful to give us little lessons in everyday life of His goodness in our lives. May I always focus on the author and finisher of my faith, persevering in trusting Him!

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
   From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
   who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
   he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;
   the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day,
   nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil;
   he will keep your life. The LORD will keep
   your going out and your coming in
   from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 121

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Think and Pray

Shalom!

What a good weekend! It started off with some good ol' Chick-fil-a on Friday with our "Buy a drink and fries, get a free sandwich" coupon, continued with some productivity towards school, followed by a great sermon at church about the story of Joseph and how his life points to the life of Jesus... All of this after a big ol' healthy helping of humble pie! {{sigh}} 

Humble pie.

No, but really. God has been doing some major renovations in this heart of mine! I am beyond thankful, though, for my wonderful husband who loves me enough to let me relax while he prepares a big slice of my favorite (well...) dessert. Joshua has been used numerous times to point out areas in my life that do not reflect biblical womanhood, let alone Christ-likeness, very well.

Well, this week's humble pie flavor was (drum roll, please)........... self-control, the tongue, and thoughtfulness! Yum!

After a series of events and responses, we pin-pointed something in my heart that needs some serious heart-makeover! Many places in Scripture, God exhorts believers to guard their tongues, hearts, and minds. In essence, He calls them to exercise self-control in all areas of life. Here are a few general examples of this command:

"...train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." Titus 2:4-5

"...for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." 2 Timothy 1:7

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

"A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls." Proverbs 25:28

There are others that I could mention, but these get the idea across that God wants us to be self-controlled. Period.

God has told us to be self-controlled, but He has also been pretty specific about a few areas that He desires us to have self-control in. Two areas in particular are our tongues and our emotions.

Here is where God is making it very clear that I'm not nearly as sanctified as I ought to be. But praise be to Him that He is a God who works in the hearts of those He loves. {{sigh}} 

I'm pretty quick to say what I'm thinking. I'm also pretty opinionated. Oh and I often wear my heart on my sleeve. All things that can get me into some serious trouble. After realizing that these are not fitting for a 26 year old wife and momma seeking to reflect redemption and biblical womanhood, I said, "well, how in the world am I supposed to change??" (So much for getting an MABC, huh? ;)) 

My precious husband is pretty much the greatest biblical counselor I know, just sayin'. He lead me straight to Scripture to help me better understand God's heart in this matter and how I can change for His glory. Here are some of the passages Joshua brought to my attention:

"When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly..." 1 Peter 2:23


"...let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious." 1 Peter 3:4

"The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things." Proverbs 15:28


"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh...If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Galatians 5:16, 25

What God taught me (and is still teaching me) is that I need to do a lot more thinking and a TON more praying before I open this trap of mine! When I am walking in the Spirit, I am better able to ponder how to respond to the circumstances I face and am better able to cultivate a spirit of kindness and gentleness to those God places in my life. If I am Spirit-filled and not walking in the flesh, my responses should begin to look more like Christ's than my old self. Jesus, my perfect example of self-control and Spirit-filled living, died a sinner's death for ME, never once shouting His opinion, arguing for His rights, or responding in foolishness. I really, really, really want to be more like my Lord! I want my responses to all things to be an outflow of my thankfulness for all that God is and all that He has done!

May God make me this kind of woman: She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26

Here's a picture of my precious family:

My loves.

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