When Life Gives You Presents...

You take the tissue paper and make snowballs! At least that is what we did this morning in the Peak house this morning.

I was busy trying to clean and organize a closet in our house this morning. It is one of those areas that things just end up in. As of recently, it has been a jumbled mess of diapers, wipes, and lots of gift bags filled with tissue paper. I started by pulling all of the tissue paper out of the bags to discard of. There was a colorful pile sitting next to me when a moment of inspiration struck! I wadded them all into balls and placed them in a bag. I sat the kids down on the couch and told them that a huge snow storm happened, dumped out the "snow balls" and started throwing them. They quickly jumped in and our living room became a flurry of color and full of laughter. It was such a special moment, that words don't even do it justice. 

So often I can get caught up in the tasks of the day and lose focus of what is important. I am thankful that today I made the choice to stop cleaning and start playing. 

Some of our snowballs

Emery jumping over the couch to avoid being hit

In the end, I still got my organizing done :)

Heavy Heart

I usually tend to look at all situations in life in light of the bigger picture. I know that my family and I are blessed in so many ways, that most people aren't. The situations that are the hardest for me to deal with involve my children. With that being said, I feel so incredibly stuck right now. My heart is heavy and I have cried many tears over what we are going to do when I go back to work after my pregnancy leave. Our current situation was/is fine for Moses and Emery, but will not be with Amariah. I literally have never felt more helpless as a mom. I absolutely have to work, at least for the time being, but childcare is so expensive, especially with an infant. 

I am not really sure where I am going with this... I guess it would be wonderful if you could all pray for God's direction and wisdom for our family. For His provision. For His good and perfect will. Also, if you know a nanny that would be a good fit for our family (live in or out) please send them my way or if you have any other suggestions regarding childcare, please let me know. 

Brothers+Sisters=BFF

One thing that I have really enjoyed about being home, has been watching my kids interact. I don't know if it is because of the new baby or because Emery is a little bit older, but Moses and Emery are the best of friends. They have such huge imaginations and play all sorts of fun things together. They love each other and look out for one another. If one of them is not happy the other is genuinely concerned. It really melts my heart. They have also developed a deep love for Amariah (Emery's is a little more hit and miss) and they always want to hold her and shower her with kisses. When I see the love that they have for each other, my heart couldn't be happier, and I pray that they will always have a close bond. 

Excuse the poor quality...Here are so sibling love pictures

The other day Moses and Emery would not take a nap. We could hear them giggling and whispering so we knew they were up to something. When we  checked on them they had set up a tent in their room, moved all their bedding into it, and decided to camp out together for their nap. Once again, we have Curious George to thank, because we had just read a story about when George went camping in a tent. 

Community

About six months after we moved to California, I was having a conversation with someone and they asked me the area that I wanted to grow in most as a person. I quickly answered community with others. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that Jarrell and I never had community in the other places that we lived, but we moved so often that it was hard for us to stay connected to people. It made me guarded and not want to open up fully to others, because I knew that we probably wouldn't be in that place long term, so I didn't want to develop deep attachments to others. I wasn't super intentional with relationships. God is good and He brought wonderful friends along in those seasons despite my attitude.

When we moved to California, I deeply desired community with roots. People that I knew and that knew me. People that I weathered many seasons of life with and that understood me. I knew this wouldn't happen overnight and knew that it would mean opening myself up to others. I can say currently I am experiencing the community I desired three years ago. Beautiful things don't just happen, they are made. This community was made through times of joy, pain, sorrow, lots of tears, laughs, honest conversations, big life changes and just life in general.

The past three weeks have been filled with so many blessings of this community that I am so completely overwhelmed with love. I truly have a full cup. We celebrated the birth of Amariah with so many friends. So many people have provided us with the most amazing meals. People have brought such thoughtful gifts for not only Amariah, but for Moses and Emery too. We have had people that came and visited us from hours away to catch up with us and to meet Amariah. People have watched Moses and Emery for us, so that we have time to rest and time to spend together.

Our lives are so rich and full because of this community that God has placed us in. I am so thankful that I have grown in this area as a person because I would be missing out on so much.

Heart Check

Recently I had a once in a lifetime type of experience. Several other people were present, but I am not sure they felt the same way, but God used this to challenge me and to start to transform my mind and my life. Vonette Bright (who was the wife of Bill Bright, the man who founded Campus Crusade, Jesus Film, Athletes in Action, etc.) came and spoke at Forest Home, the place where Jarrell and I work. Bill and Vonette Bright were shaped greatly by Henrietta Mears, the lady who founded Forest Home, and the ministry of Forest Home.

Vonette shared about her life, her and Bill's love story, how she came to know the Lord, the ministries that Bill started (and her role in them), her time with Miss Mears, and her time at Forest Home. The whole time you could tell how deeply in love she had been with her husband. She always spoke of him in the highest regard and beamed when she recounted their love story. What amazed me the most, was her unending support and complete surrender to God's plan for her husband's life and what her role was in that.

She was a complete servant, which wasn't always the case. Early in their marriage she asked God to transform her heart in the day to day events in her life. She said slowly her perspective changed and she became increasingly happy with even the smallest tasks. Due to her dependence on God, she may have been the most calm spirited, loving, gentle lady that I have ever been around. She is the type of wife and mother that I want to be.

I am not sure about you, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the day to day tasks. As much as I love my kids and my husband, at times I get tired of the endless amounts of dishes, laundry, cleaning, and cooking. I feel like I continually serve and to be honest, at times I get tired. At times I feel like my life she be much more glamorous than it is. It is at these times, that I need to be more like Vonette. I need to depend more on God and rely on him to transform my heart. My kids and husband are the most wonderful gifts that ever have been given to me and I want to be more content with serving them, even in the smallest things.

They Fit-Update #1

Yesterday I took Amariah to the doctor and I wanted to share two highlights with you all.

Less than a week ago, I posted about my post-pregnancy weight loss plans. If you missed it you can read about it here. I already have my first update for you all. I am so excited and shocked about the results. Here is a quick over view of my goals:

#1- To lose all the weight that I gained with Amariah

#2- To lose my post-Emery weight gain of 20 pounds

#3- Healthy range of weight for my height, I haven't landed on a number yet.

So, as of yesterday, I officially have met my first goal. Like I said in my last post, I don't own a scale, so I wasn't sure where I was at with this goal, but yesterday when I took Amariah to the doctor I weighed myself. Much to my surprise, I have already lost all the weight I gained with her +1 pound! So to reach my second goal, I need to lose 19 more pounds. I am really excited because right now I am not even trying and I am getting results, so I can't wait until I am actually exercising. One thing I do know, is that in this pregnancy I made better decisions regarding what I ate and those are continuing now. I only wish that I had made the same choices in pregnancies one and two, but I can't go back and change that, so I am focusing on now. I can't wait to share this journey, as I feel like it will help me stay on track to my goals. 

Amariah's appointment went really well too. It was her two week checkup and the doctor was hoping that she would get back up to her birth weight. She not only got back to her birth weight but gained an extra pound and two ounces, which was no surprise to me because she loves to eat. Here she is at two weeks old:

One day we will get a picture when she isn't sleeping!