A Reminder To Myself

Having a new baby means a lot of things for me... Precious moments, simple joys, sleepless nights, extra pounds and clothes that no longer fit... That last one is a fierce battle for me. Although I keep reminding myself that I just had a baby, I cannot walk past a mirror without feeling awful about myself and fearing I will never lose this extra weight.

Years ago I read a book by Lisa Bevere called YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU WEIGH. How desperately I need that reminder! I think it's time to get that book off the shelf and revisit the truths found in it's pages. How easy (and dangerous) it is to define myself by what I see in the mirror or by the numbers on the scale. So I pray for the ability to daily see myself through God's eyes and to approach weight loss with a healthy mindset....something that's so much easier said than done.

What I want to do... (Romans 7)

Why is it that the people who mean the most to us are often the ones we most frequently show our worst sides to?? Some days I feel as though I am constantly operating in my flesh...allowing unkind words to come from my mouth and unloving actions to dictate my day...even after spending time with the Lord in prayer! Just as Paul described his struggle in Romans 7, so I see myself in his words: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do! But what I hate I do... For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do! But the evil I do not want to do-thIs I keep on doing...what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!". Romans 7:15,19,24,25. God knows this heart that I wrestle with, and He also knows the cure. In Jesus I have hope of being delivered from my flesh! In Him I am being sanctified and made more like Him. And although some days this process seems woefully slow, He has promised to complete the work He has started in me. I pray that God's patience and grace would be upon all of us as He takes us from glory to glory!

And Baby Makes Six

Things have changed a lot since the last time I posted. At that time my baby boy was only two months old. Today as I write this he is 19 months and the big brother of our newest addition...Alyssa Joy!

Our sweet baby girl will be four weeks old tomorrow...and we all love her to pieces! She is a continual reminder that God is good and a giver of good gifts. She is also a reminder that I am now the mother of six children which I still find hard to believe at times! Why God would choose to entrust these precious lives to me, I'm still not sure. Whatever the reason, I know I want to be faithful with what He has blessed me with. Perhaps part of His plan in giving us a large family is to continualy reveal how desperately I need Him every minute of every day. Without His strength and grace, I would be lost. That fact is true whether I have one child or a dozen, but the more arrows He adds to our quiver the greater and deeper my dependency on the Lord becomes. These crazy, sleep-deprived days put me right where the Lord wants me...aware of my inadequacy and of His sufficiency!

I hope to share some of this journey with you in the days to come. I hope you'll join me in my musings!