Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I love about my bath time: (which I am about to go enjoy:)

1) The scalding hot water on my skin. It is truly one of the greatest feelings in the world. AND it IS NOT hot enough unless my skin has 3rd degree burns when I get out:)

2)Cleaning my face with my BC cleanser.

3) Having time to reflect on my day.

4)Praying

5) Thinking and dreaming.

6) Singing at the top of my lungs. (I turn the vent on so it isn't quite so loud for the fam. )

7) Sometimes listening to music

8) Sticking my head under water to get my hair wet. But keeping my ears under EXTRA long so that I can't hear anything else:)

9) Sometimes I will give up my selfishness and Malaya will come in and talk to me. This is very rare b/c I covet my bath time but the older Malaya gets the more fun it is to have conversations with her.

10) Sometimes enjoying a relaxing bubble bath (this is also rare but I LOVE it when I take time out to do it.!

11) I love taking baths when I am getting ready to "dress up" to go out with my hubby! Also very rare but one of my fav things to do!! I have been known to spend up to an hour in the tub. Even letting water out and running it a second, sometimes even 3 times. Ask ANYONE in my family. Brothers hated this growing up!! Mom and I would compete for the hot water.

12) I think my baths is what yogo is to some people. It is my time to relax, calm myself, relax all my muscles, and go into my own peaceful place with God.

13) I think I have passed the obsession on to my daughter. Malaya has grown to covet her bathtime too. She hasn't always been a bath lover but the older she gets it the more she likes it. She has learned to appreciate the relaxation of it, the girlyness of it, and she loves it when I go in and talk to her about her day.

Now I am off to go enjoy all these things...Take time out this next week to enjoy a bath. It could potentially be lifechanging:)

Katlyn

Katlyn had her breathing tube taken out yesterday!!! YEA!! They are going to try to start giving her momma's milk today through a tube. So that is one thing to pray--that her body will take to that well.
Mark and Dina sound very encouraged. Mark and Dina switched places yesterday b/c Dina hadn't been able to see Katlyn for a whole week! Mark got to come home and be with her other 3 kiddos and Dina got to HOLD Katlyn for the first time yesterday!

Thank you all again for your prayers and please continue to pray for them as Katlyn still has a tough road ahead of her. Mark talked to me yesterday and just listed off miracle after miracle that God has performed through Katlyn!

Update on Baby Katlyn

I can not thank you all enough for your prayers and concern for Katlyn and her family. I can not wait to tell her one day about all the people that have prayed for her that she will probably never meet until she gets to heaven.
The doctors met with Mark, her daddy today (since I last blogged, Dina, her mom got sick so they had to send her home until she is well. Pray for her healing as well.) The docs told him that Katlyn is doing well but she has a long road ahead of her and to be prepared for some ups and downs in her condition.
Things to praise God for... She took a few breaths on her own today. Her fever has gone down. YEA!!

Docs are going to start trying to wean her off the oxygen very slowly so please pray that goes well.

Please continue to pray for her healing. I will continue to update! Thanks again friends and family for your prayers. It is so encouraging to Mark and Dina to know that so many are praying for them!

Please Pray!

Please continue to pray for Katlyn, my niece. She is fighting for her life right now. Here is the run down of the last few days.She was born at 7:45 Friday night. The doctors were very grim all day about their chances. There were a team of about 10 specialists that were surrounding the birth and took Katlyn the second she was born. They did not want her to even attempt to breath on her own. They immediately put 2 tubesdown her throat and put an IV in her umbilical cord. She was rushed to Texas Children's Hospital which was right next door to St. Lukes's where shewas born. Mark, her daddy went with her. The doctors came in about an hourlater to tell us the status of Katlyn: her heart is on the right side of her body, her stomach is up in the left part of her chest, along with some of her intestines, one lung is squished up against the stomach making it notfunctionable and the other lung is by the heart and has some working ability. The doctors did determine some good news that we had been praying for: She does not have heart failure and her oxygen level has been taken down to 25 %.She is a beautiful baby. She has a head full of dark black hair. She has beautiful dark skin. I got to go in and see her several times over the weekend. She is on a high dose of morphine to keep her from fighting on allthe tubes and of course to keep her out of pain. Every once and a while shewill open her eyes and would look right into mine. She knows her mommy's and daddy's voice. I got to go in once with just Dina (katlyn's mom) and myself. As soon as Dina started talking, her heart rate went up and she started trying to move around. I fell in love with her the minute I saw her. We were able to pray and sing over her. My heart will never be the same...Katlyn will have surgery in the morning to put all of her organs back into place. It will not fix what damage has already been done but the surgery isnecessary. After the surgery, the fight continues.PLEASE pray for her and her family. Mark (dad), Dina (mom), Alyssa (sister,10), Mark (brother, 6), Annette (sister, 4). As of last night they are staying in a Ronald Mc Donald suite just one hall away from the NICU unit.Pray for their strength. Especially Mark and Dina. They are exhausted in every way imaginable. And pray for their sadness.Thanks so much friends and I apologize for all the details. Please just prayfor them...

Happy Birthday, Jonathan

After such a sad weekend we got to have dinner last night with my brother on his birthday!
23 years ago today I was one proud big sister. I still remember the day he was born. I immediately felt my big sister instincts. As a toddler, he had the biggest, bluest eyes you have ever seen. He had beautiful long blond eyelashes that everyone loved. Even at 2 and 3 years old he was the socialite of our church. He would walk up and down the aisles greeting the elderly people and shaking their hands. I prided myself in being his protector. But there were times when he got the brunt of being the little brother. Josh and I skyrocketed him through the air once on a mattress and he landed on his dresser. That was fun. And then there were the many times that I dressed him up like a doll. One time a friend of mine and I decided Jonathan had chicken pox and we put lipstick dots ALL over his body. Mom was not too happy and we had to scrub the hundreds of dots off.
As with Josh, I was always very protective when it came to girls. If they did not meet "my standards" life was not going to be fun for him or the girl. The only times in my life I have yelled or spoken hatefully to people is to my brother's girlfriends. I didn't mind telling them their shorts were too short or their tops were too low. :)

I loved watching Jonathan play sports. I was one of his biggest fans. I loved watching him in the school play of Grease. I loved when Jonathan began to develop a love for music. I loved watching him worship and pray and be a strong leader in his youth group.

It was one of the greatest joys of my life to get to record music with him. He is my favorite person to sit by in church when we are all together. He is a great worship leader. I love that Jonathan has no problem telling people the truth and being blunt and honest. He is genuine and humble. I have watched him shed tears over his sin and rise up again stronger and more dependent on the Lord. He is an amazing example of Jesus to me, David, and Malaya.

I love watching him be an "unkie". He loves teasing Malaya. I think he is getting me back for some of the teasing and stuff we did to him as a kid. We love to wrestle. Just a few weeks ago in the presence of his new son, I pinned him down. :)

And now, he is a husband with a wonderful, beautiful wife and a daddy to our precious miracle, Jed! He is a great daddy. Jed has his gorgeous blue eyes.

Jonathan, Happy Birthday and may God bless your next year of life. I love being your big sis!

This blog is done by Malaya!!
Thirteen things I like about MY new cousin, Jed.
1) He sucks his thumb. I want to add this - I can't believe that he sleeps on Grampy's lap just like I did when I was a baby.
2)He's cute.
3) He's adorable.
4) He cries a lot!
5) He's cuter than anything that I know of.
6) He will probably like to ride horses.
7) I like to ASSIST in changing his diaper.
8) I like to hold him.
9) I like to kiss him.
10) He's cuter than anything :)
11) I can't wait for him to play with the toys I gave him.
12) I love him.
13) I LOVE him to wear his cute Cousin shirt that Mrs. Kelli made him. My mommy will post pictures when we get back.

Baby Jed Has Arrived!!

My brother is a daddy!! Jedidiah David Ross was born at 1:24 a.m. on June 6th. He weighed 6"11 and is 18 1/2 inches long!!
We can not wait to go see them!! Malaya is very excited (finally).

Jennifer delivered in the emergency room triage. She didn't make it to a room. 2 e.r. nurses delivered him. Very fun story for a first baby:)

I am so excited to have a precious nephew. May his heart already belong to the Lord!! I pray he is a bold, committed man of God!!

Can't wait to see you Jonathan, Jennifer and Jed!!

Thirteen things I love about summer!

I DID it (with lot's of help!!) Thanks friends!

Thirteen Things I love about summer:
1)Of course going to the pool.
2)Eating Watermelon
3) Sleeping late.
4) Staying up late
5) Going on trips to visit friends and family
6) Eating Snow Cones
7) Now that Malaya is in school I have learned this past week to appreciate summer more than ever. I loved her being in school but I also love the break!
8) Celebrating my anniversary with the man I love!! 8 years we will chime in this year. I can not believe it!! Did I mention that I think he is SO hot!! ;) When we are 80 I will be the one in the nursing home saying, "Have you met my hot husband? Yeah, he's the one in the nursing home gym with a dumbbell in one hand and drinking his protein shake in the other." I love him! :)
9) Celebrating lots of family b-days. The summer festivities begin tonight!
10) Going to the zoo, park, and other outside fun.
11) Going to Celebrate Freedom. ( Though our Cel. Freedom buddies have moved, we might brave it out this year. Wiggies, would you like to join us? :)
12) Most summers I would be saying going to the beach but we did the mountains instead over Spring Break. But now my bros live close to Galveston so maybe we can still catch a day of the ocean.
13) Fourth of July!! I love watching Fireworks!

Hope you all have a great summer and it brings a season of change and draws you even nearer to God. Makes me think of a Nichole Nordeman song. I'll share later...

Thursday Thirteen (still just a wanna be:)

You are probably sick of hearing about Kindergarten but hang in there for one more post and then you can hear about 1st grade for a whole year:) Just get ready you moms of preschoolers. It is rough!
Starting Monday the tears started flowing! Wednesday was the whip at graduation. I was the Mom that was having to take deep breaths to keep from making snorting noises b/c I was crying so stinkin' hard. Malaya was up on the risers in her beautiful curls. She looked so big. She sang her little songs with such energy and passion. We yelled and screamed for her when she got her certificate. I was so proud of her. I just can not believe she is 6 years old and just finished Kinder! Malaya's teacher has been such a special person for me and Malaya. She and I grew very close and we became great friends. We refused to say goodbye today b/c we couldn't stop crying! Yes, I tend to be a sap at times:)

Okay, I will move on with it...Keeping with the crying theme...

13 songs that make me cry:
1) "Let Them Be Little" - by Billy Dean (This song was the culprit of a lot of my tears yesterday! This is a must have song for all moms! Look it up and see if you don't cry!)

2) "I Will Remember You" - Sarah McGlothlin (Second song that made me cry yesterday and makes me cry on our Senior Kojie video!)

3) Any song my brother Jonathan sings. (His voice is so pure!)

4) "It is Well With My Soul" - I cry for one of two reasons: In gratefulness and praise that Jesus has made "it" well OR in repentence and disgust that the devil has made my heart NOT well with "It".

5) Whatever song they play on GH when it is a Jason/Sam scene. (Not even a big JaSam fan, but just the melody of the song makes me tear up.)

6) "Make You Proud" - New American Idol, Taylor Hicks (I know I just heard it last night, but I still cried!)

7) "A Bridge Over Troubled Waters" - Michael W. Smith version (don't know why it makes me cry??)

8) "I Will Be Here" - Steven Curtis Chapman - Once again, when my bro. Jonathan sings this it makes me cry.

9) Hearing Malaya sing. "I Am a Promise", " Jesus, Be the Center", "Jesus is Able" and on and on....

10) "It's All About You" - Passion

11) "This is My Desire" - Jeremy Camp

12) Almost every Phantom of the Opera song

13) Drum Roll Please... And don't laugh, The Last song in Grease, "Always Be Together"; When Olivia Newton John turns around and waves to all her friends, the tears well up.

Maybe I am more of a sap than I thought!!

Thursday Thirteen "want- a- be"

Okay, I have been wanting to try and be cool like my friends and join the Thursday Thirteen. But since I am not cool and have not been successful:) I have not been able to figure out how to post the graphic. So I am going to post but without a fun, cute graphic title. So I still will not totally consider myself a part of "the gang" until I figure it all out but until then I will stick to the words and still have some "Thirteen" fun!!

Thirteen Things I Have Loved About Having a Kindergartener:
1) Watching Malaya make new friends and making some great new friends for me too!
2) I never realized how much I LOVE making copies, cutting out laminating, hanging bulletin boards, decorating the Kinder hall. SO FUN to me!!!!!
3) Getting up early and starting my day. (You see before kinder. I was quite a late sleeper.)
4) Coming home and going on walks by myself and having lots of self reflecting time.
5) Getting to spend time with David on his off days.
6) Being room Mom, I loved planning the parties and special things for her teacher.
7) Malaya having such a FABULOUS kinder teacher. It was such a blessing to have a Christian teacher. We even got to go to church with her once and worship with her! What a blessing for Malaya and me to get to see and hear her teacher worship God.
8) Having Malaya's friends over to play. There were not many days when someone has not come home with us. Malaya loves it!!
9) Watching Malaya progressively learn to read.
10) Getting to watch Malaya tell friends about Jesus or ask about church. Malaya never knew that there are some people that actually DO NOT believe in God till this year. Great faith building for her!!
11) Learning how to be a better parent and seek some MAJOR wisdom while dealing with a few "new" and "exciting" situations.
12) Getting to watch Malaya in programs sing and do her choreography so proudly and confidently!!
13) Simply just knowing that we made it through the first year of school!!!! YEA!! The weeks leading up to Kinder were full or tears and fear (much more for me than Malaya). So knowing that we conquered the year!!

Now we push ahead to First grade. Maybe next week I will post about the things I am looking forward to about 1st grade!!

Stalking Thought

At a conference I went to a couple of weekends ago the key speaker kept saying a quote over and over that is stalking me.
"God loves it when people speak well of His Son."
I love that!! What Father doesn't want accolades and encouragements and praises and positive talk about their children. What Father doesn't love it when others even think to simply just talk to others about his children and let others know how much they love and appreciate his children.

The gift of Jesus is so miraculous and so praiseworthy why am I so stinkin' timid and sometimes even unthoughtful about talking to others about Him. Not in a presuasive, convincing way but just sharing in conversation about what Jesus' blood has done for me, how it daily transforms me, how He has forgiven me, how it seems so superntaural yet you can literally feel His activity in Your life.
Sometimes I just want to slap myself:) A new friend of mine is constantly telling me and others that this message that Jesus has annointed us to tell is URGENT!! Some people literally can not live another day without knowing Jesus. They will die of loss of hope, they will die of feelings of destruction, etc. Sometimes there is time to build relationships and gain people's trust before we need to share but sometimes it is URGENT! It is life or death.

I say these words empty b/c I have not acted on them more than I can count on one hand but I feel in a way that God is speaking to my heart and saying "Get with it daughter." "Are you who you say you are?" "There is work to be done."
My frustration comes because I don't know where to begin so yesterday I started praying that I want God to kill Jenny Bizaillion and Him just do it in me. I felt kind of relieved after that saying the words b/c it took the pressure off of myself. But now will I truly die and let Him do what He will do???
That is the question!!

Where has the time gone??

SIX years ago today I gained the title of "Mommy". I would have never dreamed in a million years how much I would love being a mom.
This day six years ago, I experienced a joy and a love and a protection that I didn't even know existed. I don't think I stopped staring at her for months. The minute she was born she exuberated "Bizaillion". She looked just like her daddy and still does:) I used to love to sit and sing her the ABC's even though she was only a few days old:) I loved dressing her up in cute clothes. I loved reading to her and sleeping with her:) Every age and stage has had it's joys and it's frustrations. I look back now and I already see things that I could have done so much better but praise God that he can clean all that up:)
Malaya has also become one of my closest friends. I love hanging out with her-shopping, going out to eat just the two of us, singing together, reading her books, working puzzles, making up skits together, and watching movies with her. I love talking to her about life and about things in her 6 year old. I love watching her worship God and hear her in the bath tub bust out the praise to her Creator:) I love it when I lay down with her at night and she puts her hand on my cheek. I love singing her to sleep and I love hearing her pray. It is so interesting the things that a six year old has to share with God. It has definitely caused for some late night giggles between me and David. She loves hanging out with her Grammy and Grampy and uncles and aunts and cousins. She loves playing big sister to all the younger kids at church:)
I never would have imagined that being a mom would teach me how to be more like Jesus but it does. She challenges me on my thinking, on my patience:), on my committments, etc.
Malaya has blessed our lives in a bizaillion more ways. I truly can not imagine my life without her in it!
We celebrate you today, Malaya! It is the biggest blessing in my life to be your mom. I can not wait to see what the Lord is going to do through you, my precious daughter! I love you!

Happy Birthday to our special friends who celebrate birthdays close to us:
Matthew who turned 5 yesterday!
And Ashlyn who turns 5 today!
Bizaillion's wish you both a Happy Birthday!

Thoughts on Prayer

Here are a few quotes I have been compiling about prayer. Of course most of them are thoughts of humans but there is still something to learned by the words. I hope some of them touch you in some way:)

"It is not prayer which draws Jesus into our hearts. Nor is it our prayer which moves Jesus to come in to us. All He needs is access. He enters in of His own accord, because he desires to come in. And He enters in wherever he is not denied admittance." O. Hallesby

"If our petitions are in accordance with His will, and if we seek His glory in the asking, the answers will come in ways that will astonish us and fill our hearts with songs of thanksgiving." J.K. Maclean (I love the part about that the answers will astonish us. AMEN AND AMEN!!)

"Our faith in prayer can be no passing attitude that changes with the wind or with our own feelings and circumstances; it must be a faact that God hears and answers, that His ear is ever open to the cry of His children, and that the power to do what is asked of Him is commensurate with His willingness." E.M. Bounds

"In God's name, I beseech you, let prayer nourish your soul as your meals nourish your body. Let your fixed seasons of prayer keep you in God's presence through the day, and His presence frequently remembered though it be an ever-fresh spring of prayer." E.M. Bounds

"One night alone in prayer might make us new men, changed from poverty of soul to spiritual wealth, from trembling to triumphing." C.H. Spurgeon

"If I am a Christian, I am not set on saving my own skin, but on seeing that the salvation of God comes through me to others, and the great way is by intercession." Oswald Chambers

"You will find when you search for me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

"In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee." Psalm 5:3

"If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in." Revelation 3:20

"We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers." I Thessalonians 1:2

Well, that is probably enough for now. God has really been teaching me through many ways just how powerful prayer is. I am in the "preschool" stages of learning. So bring on the learning:)

Have a great week, blog friends!

Life is Rockin' and Rollin' Along

Well, I just got home from a meeting with 10 people that I will be working in ministry with for a phase of my life. We met for 4 hours and hearing hearts that are on fire for the Lord and His service has fired me up!! I am going to be doing administrative work for a company called Kidstand. If you are interested check out the website, www.kidstand.org And if anything, just say a prayer for this ministry. The website explains many more details. I am just so excited to get to be part of a team that is passionate about sharing Jesus with children. Our team has been asked to come to Africa in September and I am highly considering that trip. Much more prayer on that front!! I am sure I will be blogging about this more in the future...

We got back from Ruidoso on Friday night. We had a wonderful trip with our family, (mom, dad, both brothers and sister in laws, and of course my sexy hubby and beautiful daughter). Here is a run down of our 5 day trip:
Monday: Left Keller at 6:00P.M. and arrived in Ruidoso, NM at 3:00 a.m. (yes, we are crazy:)

Tuesday: woke up at 9:00 a.m., went for a drive through the mountains, saw the Ski Resort, did a little hiking to a mountain that had a breathtaking view. The clan sat and we were all speechless for a few minutes and then we worshipped our amazing creator together as a family. It was a blessing!! Then coming off of an intimate time with God, my brothers proceded to... no I won't tell the blogworld about it:) Malaya started feeling sick so I hiked while carrying a 60 pound child back to the car. I finally sat down on a rock and waited for the testosterone in our family to catch up. See my dad's blog for a cute story about this, www.rross.blogspot.com

Wednesday: woke up at 7:00 to head to Ski Apache! We had a great day. Malaya loved her little ski school and I was so impressed with how good she was. David had a blast and is ready to go back. I hung out with my 7 month pregnant sister in law for the day. After dinner we headed back to the house and watched American Idol and worked a 500 piece puzzle. My favorite thing--EVER!! "Amy" (aka Josh) came to visit. (I really hope I can figure out how to post some pictures. Our time with "Amy" is always one of the highlights of our trips. It is during that time that I laugh the hardest of the whole year!! She, I mean he, cracks me up!!

Thursday: All the guys except Jonathan went golfing. The girls headed out for some shopping and ice cream/fudge eating. We had a great time!! Josh and Kayci cooked dinner for us (it was delicious!!) and we watched a movie and worked 3 more puzzles.

Friday: We gathered things together and headed home. Arrived back in Keller about 10:30.

We had such a great trip. I have not spent much time in the mountains. It was just beautiful!! I loved the trees, the animals, the smell, the scenery!
Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Well, tomorrow is my mom's birthday! We get to celebrate the birth of Beverly Joann (Jones) Ross. The world has never been the same:) Here are some of my prized memories and things I love and appreciate about my mom!
One of my favorite things to do with my mom when I was little was work puzzles. My mom had me working 100 piece puzzles at a very early age. When my brothers took naps, working puzzles was our special time together. I loved seeing my mom be involved at my school. Mom never missed a field trip, concert, recital, etc. I loved that she taught my Bible classes, VBS and more. I remember listening to her with her friends as she would laugh with them, cry with them, listen to them, pray with them, etc. Her mama claws whipped out very seldom but when they did-watch out!! I rode the bus ONE time when I was in Kinder. I wanted the bus driver to look at my work I had done that day. She wouldn't look at my work and told me to go sit down. I NEVER rode the bus again:) My mom had firm yet stable and consistent discipline. There was never much question what was accepted in our home and what wasn't. I loved reading books with my mom. I think we read Go Dog, Go at least a million times in my lifetime. Mom challenged us academically to always do our best. She encouraged me to be a reader, which is one of my favorite things to do to this day!
When my first boyfriend broke up with me of course I was devestated!! My mom slept right beside me that night. She knew my little heart would mend but she let me know I was not alone. She always encouraged us to stand up for what was right and pure. Before we ever went out on dates or out with friends her last words would be, "Remember WHO'S you are!!" And of course many times we forgot who's we were but Mom was always there to forgive, accept and encourage us on our journey. She encouraged us to never stop seeking God. Her heart and arms were always full of love. My friends and boyfriends loved coming to my house just to visit with her. She could encourage and find a gift in the scummiest of scum. I mean that in a nice way:) I remember a few friends who came in our home (mine and brothers included) who were making horribles decisions in their life and living their lives in junky ways and after a time with Mom, they would feel convicted and sorry yet be so rejuvenated about their life. She believed in them. She has gerat vision of looking past people's dirt and seeing the beauty of God.
As I went off to college, my mom and I developed a real friendship. She was the one I would call and gush about David. I brought home a few stinkin' boys but Mom loved David from the first minute. She and David had a connection immediately. She and I worked so hard on our wedding. We made so many great memories during those 6 months. (She has a notebook about 4 inches thick if anyone needs any research for caterers, decorators, florists, bakers, etc.)
David and I called she and Dad first to tell them we were pregnant with Malaya. We made up a little riddle and it took them a minute to let it sink in that they were going to be grandparents. And so began her role as Grammy. She is a great Grammy!! She was in the room when she was born. I LOVED her presence there. I even was okay with the fact that the second Malaya was born she dropped my hand and went to grab her granddaughter. I never saw her again for the next few hours:) The nurse kept telling her nicely to let go of Malaya's hand but Mom would just so very confidently say, "She needs me." And of course did not let go:) Malaya and her have a very special bond. They "get each other". They are very similar in a lot of ways, ways I am not. They are both social butterflies. They love to talk. I LOVE it when I am in the car with the 2 of them and they want to play the Quiet game. Bottom's up, I win every time. I think the longest game ever has been about 5 seconds. They like to be prissy together. They just love being together.
Thank you Mom for always being a source of strength. Thank you for being bold. Thank you for not being afraid of confrontation and standing for the truth.
Thanks Mom for also battling for us kids in prayer since the time we were conceived. God has blessed your faithfulness in many ways. Thank you for praying for our future mates (we all got gifts from those devoted prayers.) Thank you for praying for our souls. Thank your for praying dangerous prayers and asking God to do whatever it takes in our lives to make us like Him. Thanks for spending hours on your knees for us. Thanks for your bold teaching and example. Thanks for your constant redirection to God's word. Thanks for setting us on a path to Jesus even when at times you had to snap our heads into that direction. Thanks for always letting me cry and whine to you about life. Thank you for sacrificing my heart to the Lord. Thanks for reminders of our focus and our goal. Thanks for teaching us about purity, holiness, love, forgiveness, devotion, and perseverence. Thanks for being my friend and one of my closest confidants. Thanks for being a loyal friend to so many over the years. I have seen people become closer to Jesus because of your listening ear, your compassion, your teaching, your prayer and your counsel. Thank you for being a willing vessel of Jesus. Thank you for living your life so selflessly. Thank you for letting me continue to learn and grow from you. You are a constant source of advice and counsel in marriage, parenting, relationships, and life in general.
Thank you Mom for living your life to please Jesus. Thank you for living your life to smell like him, to look like him and to sound like him. Thank you for being one of the biggest blessings in my life.
Happy Birthday Mom. Thanks for being you!!

Captivated Heart

Well, I am finishing up with a powerful book, Captivating by Staci Eldridge. This book has spoken to me in some strong, "in your face" ways. I love when I can be slammed in the face with truthful teaching. There is one part that focuses on God's romance with us. I always knew that God loved me and I had heard about this "romance thing" before but through this book I was able to understand a little more. I am still blown away by the fact that God desperately wants me (us) to be imtimately, dedicatedly, head over heals in love with him. The word "intimate" used to scare me, especially thinking about me and God. But he wants to have a romantic relationship with us. He wants to "date" us. He wants to bring us "gifts" of His love. Wow! I will probably blog about that more later but here is another excerpt from the book that also meant a lot to me.

"Living in true beauty can require much waiting, much time, much tenacity of spirit. We must constantly direct our gazes toward the face of God, even in the presence of longing and sorrow. It is in the waiting that our hearts are enlarged. The waiting does not diminish us. As a pregnant woman is enlarged in her waiting, so are our hearts. God does not always rescue us out of a painful season. You know that he does not always give to us what we so desperately want when we want it. He is after something much more valuable than our happiness. Much more substantive than our health. He is restoring and growing in us an eternal weight of glory. And somtimes...it hurts."

WOW!! That so speaks right to the depths of my soul!!!!! This journey requires passion, determination, grueling battle...The Bible talks so many times about that it is in waiting and silence when we find Him and recognize Him. Most of the time, I forget that focus!

I desire that "weight of glory".
______________________________________

On a lighter note----
-I am SOOOOOO glad that Drew won Dancing with the Stars. He was my favorite the whole time.
-David is almost finished with the court house job. The final days are touchable!!:)
-I had to wake Malaya up for school this morning. (Usually she gets up on her own) I thought that it was going to be a whip of a morning. But she shocked me. She had a great attitude. She busted her rear to get ready and jumped in the car. So as we were walking in to school I told her that I was so proud of the decision she had made to have such a great attitude even though she was still tired. She looked up into my eyes with the most confident look a little 5 year old girl can give and said very bluntly, "Mom, we DID pray about my attitude last night, remember!!" I was busted!! Sometimes I forget that God really does listen to all of our "jibberish":) Malaya reminds me so much about the simplicity of our walk!

College Roomies!

I got to spend some time this week with my college roomates. Not only were these girls my college roomies but we also went to high school together. We had the best time!! We talked about old boyfriends and old high school experiences. We have so many great memories from Poteet High School and MCoC youth group. Then we went to ACU together. We gained the Freshman 15 together. We exercised together to lose the freshman 15. We were together daily (when one of us wasn't out with a boy:) We pledged together. We were in each other's weddings. They dropped to the floor (literally) when I told them I was expecting Malaya. I have recently gotten to celebrate with them as they welcomed their sweet boys into this world.
We talked about "mommyhood". We talked about God's activity in our lives. We talked about what we desire Him to do in our lives.
Through all this conversation I was reminded what a HUGE impression these women made in my life. They have represented Jesus to me in so many ways.
We have laughed together, cried together, celebrated together, had many sleepless nights daydreaming and talking about what our lives were going to be like one day:). We have prayed together, worshipped together, encouraged each other in our walks, and so many other things!!
I can't wait to tell Malaya about some (not all:) of our memories and watch her as she one day develops these life long friends! Love you, roomies!!

Realization!

Last night I had one of those moments as a parent when you realize that time is so fleeting. As David and I were praying last night he worded something in his prayer that hit home. He was praising God that Malaya so much desires to spend time and have relationship with he and I. (This was coming off of the fact that Malaya had been begging David for weeks to take her to Cabela's and walk around.) Last night he took her out and they spent some special time at Cabela's. And then he said the heart piercing thing - That there will come a day or phase when she we will not be the first people at the top of her list to spend time with or if she desires it at all. The words took my breath away for a second as I remembered how many times that day Malaya had asked me to play Barbie's with her. It took me forever to sit down with her. So as of today I am going to be much more intentional about spending as much special time as possible with my daughter so that one day when her life does involve a lot of other people, I will still have the memories of working puzzles, reading books, watching movies, playing Barbies, Polly Pockets, dressing dolls, playing house and school, dancing with her, riding bikes, going to the park, etc.

And then I remind myself--she is 5 (about to be 6). I think I still have a few more years in the bag:)

It's a Boy!!

Just got a call from my little brother and they are having a little boy!! I am so excited and there is no one here to share the news with so I am sharing with blog world!! Malaya told me yesterday that even if it is a boy she is still going to put makeup on him and play dress up so look out Jonathan and Jennifer and especially little Jedidiah. That will be his name! They may not call him that but that will be his official name!! I love it!
2 Samuel 12:24 and 25 - "She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. " In my side notes it says The giving of this name suggests that the Lord's favor rested on Solomon from his birth. And since the name also contained an echo of David's name, it provided assurance to David that the Lord also loved him and would continue his dynasty.
WOW!! I pray that Jedidiah along with Malaya will continue to pass down for generations to come the name and spirit of Jesus.
"And we must tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord"!! Amen!
I am a proud aunt!! Congrats Jon and Jen!!

I'm Lonely and Some Kinder Updates!

I HATE when David is gone! I miss visiting with him every night about our day. I simply miss his presence in our home. I quickly forget the comfort, the protection, the companionship and the laughter that he offers. And of course I miss his hugs and kisses:) I am so ready for him to get home!!

On another note-I can not believe we are getting closer to the end of the year. Malaya has grown so much this year. Yes, she has gotten taller and more beautiful:) but her brain just amazes me!! Her knowledge has just exploded this year. She is reading and she knows how to add and subtract. (she counts mostly with her fingers which drives me crazy but I am constantly assured that is normal and okay)! She has loved learning about animals, indians, farmers, and so many other things. I applaud her teacher. She has been a fabulous teacher. I began praying many years ago for her future teachers. Last year Malaya and I prayed about it every night. God answered that prayer with precious Miss Rhodes. She is a Christian. She loves the children. She has just an amazing heart. I have loved being her Room Mom. God has also taught Malaya a lot this year about being a friend. As you could see in early kinder year blogs we had a few bumps in this area. But I have seen significant improvement. I am so proud of her. She is having a friend over to our house today and then she is going to another friend's house tomorrow! I have heard her ask kids in her class before if they believe in Jesus and if they go to church. I think it was a shock to her at first that not everyone did but I am trying to hammer her with the fact that it is those kids that God wants you to love. It has been such a lesson and example to me to attempt to teach her about her "mission field". She is a leader in her class. She likes to be in charge and have all the ideas of what to play and how to direct the other kids. That will be a continual thing that we are practicing on balancing:)
Another issue that has been interesting for me to deal with this year is Malaya's sense of style. I have watched another Godly friend deal with her daughter on this issue and b/c of her great example, I have attempted to be a little more linient than I have been in the past. Let me say I am the farthest thing from being a stylish/trendy person but having a daughter, you do want them to look cute and yes I'll say it- trendy! But this past year or so Malaya's idea of this and my idea of this is quite different. The past few months Malaya has taken charge of her own "hair care"-washing of, brushing of, STYLING of...It is always quite interesting. In the beginning I felt the need to explain to others of "the look" but I have quit that. It is always interesting to say the least.
She loves to wear jewelry which is not me AT ALL!! Putting a simple t-shirt on or a sweat shirt (my daily attire) is just horrible.
I know in later years some moral issues will enter in to this subject of dressing but for now I like to see her personality bloom through her sense of style. She makes me laugh!
I am anxious to see what else God has in store for our kindergarten year. He truly never fails to make me laugh at the marvelous way He works!!