We WIN!

I've had the Israel song "We Win" in my head all week.... probably because I heard a great mini-message last Saturday night from the great Pastor John Rohr that had to do with that.

There have been so many times that I just want to throw in the towel and quit. On many things..... too many for me to list here, but something just keeps me in the game. That something is the Hope I have in God.

I know a lot of my friends have been going through some tough things lately (myself included), and I just wanted to leave you with this thought. Don't give up. With Jesus- We Win! WE WILL WIN! He conquered death, with Him ALL things are possible. Whatever you are going through, just remember, it's WORTH the fight. We will see victory. We have been promised that.

Read Is. 61:1-3

There is a verse in there that says "He sent me...to put on a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair..." I heard this from the wonderful Lynette Lewis once "Praise is a garment I must CHOOSE to wear & it WILL begin to fit". So even when you feel like giving up, put on that garment of praise and it will begin to fit you, then we can see VICTORY.

A Green Favorite!

I've always loved Publix, and I know there are many of you out there that share my admiration for that great place, where shopping is a pleasure. Hey, even my 3 yr old asks to go there every time we pass by! (not to mention he gets a free cookie from the bakery)

I haven't bought into the whole going green thing to the extreme in all areas of my life, but I'm not all against it, I just use wisdom and try to conserve where I can. It seems like getting those reusable bags at shopping places is all the rage lately, and frankly I was annoyed by it at first... just seemed like another "thing" to buy, that they were plugging to get you to spend more $$, so I wasn't going to give in.

Until.... I got a free Publix reusable shopping bag. I think they converted me! I love it! It is WAY better, stronger, larger, and quality, than paper or plastic. I will now proudly bring my bag into the store, and to other places- it's super convenient and practical (and useful on car trips!). So I encourage you... get a reusable bag and go Green! And hey, it just might turn out good for the environment. :)

Walkie Walkie

So Eli turns 15 months old in 3 days and is just the sweetest baby ever! He is actually cuddly, and I love that! He is so different from Aiden, which blows me away... yet they do have some similarities (maybe i'll do a chart of them in the next post).

Aiden was walking BY 10 months old... he is an eager beaver, dramatic, and very independent (and defintely leans towards my personality). Where as Eli so far has shown the opposite (and leans towards Ross' personality) laid back, chill and content. I can tell so bad that he just wants to keep up with Aiden (esp. at the park)... but the kid won't walk yet! He does cruise on furniture and can hold my hand to walk... but he just won't stand alone or take that first step (he's turned it into a game now to fall into us when trying, haha). All of his pants have holes in the knees now because they weren't made for crawlers at this size, lol!

So many people keep saying, you'll be wishing he was crawling still once he starts walking... but so far I cannot say I feel that way. I end up having to carry him everywhere, and he fights it cause he thinks he can just get down and walk, and the kid is getting heavy! lol.

I'm not complaining, just sharing my thoughts. :) I'm just so blessed by two healthy and happy boys... and i'm excited for the day they start running together!

Shame on Him!

I was watching the Today Show the other day and the hosts were outside talking and they were showing people's signs that were standing there. One of them said"HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Honey!" So Matt Lauer asked the man where his wife was and how long they were married. And this was his reply:

"We've been married 37 years and I forgot our anniversary yesterday so she made me come out here since 5:30am and hold this sign to show everyone I am a fool until the show is over. Happy Anniversary Baby, I love you."

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH! I saw that and started laughing out loud! (he actually had a good attitude when he said it) Matt Lauer's response was funny too: "oh man, that is bad... Martha Stewart is on in a little while, I'll bring you some of her crafts after the show so you can bring it home to your wife." LOL!

What is so funny about that is he had to stand out there in the cold for HOURS (cause that show is so long!) trying to make up for his whoops moment! LOL.

What's the worst thing you have forgotten, how did you make up for it?

What's Next or What's Now

I was listening to Hillsongs today and there is a line in one of the songs I love "I wanna be where you are..." I was thinking about that for a while and realized I keep saying that, but am I really doing that?

What I mean is... I want to be where God is. Not living in the past (dwelling on past issues/junk), or living in the future (constantly thinking of what is next for me). But to be HERE. Present in God's presence.

I get so caught up on what's next for me lately that I realize I can easily neglect what is now for me.
It's always about going back to the basics: Seeking His Kingdom First, Then things will be added.

Lord, give me your eyes, ears and heart for where I am now so I can make the most of every opportunity.

Wrapping up #2

I know this is probably one of the strangest (not to mention grossest) blog title yet.... but I couldn't leave what few faithful blog readers I have, without resolve to Aiden's pooping adventures. :)

We have SUCCESS! Unfortunately I can't tell you any secrets to how we got Aiden to finally do #2 in the potty every time, apart from it being a miracle from Jesus. haha.

On his 3rd bday he voluntarily went, but then we went a couple weeks until he did it again. I stayed consistent (which is so key!) to talk to him about going on the potty and making him try before naptime and bedtime. He still wouldn't go again.

Warning: the story below is kind of gross-
That all changed when our family came down with a stomach bug. Aiden got it the worst, and to my amazement, Eli has an immune system of steele and never got it! But over Christmas, Ross, myself and Aiden had about 2 weeks of off and on stomach issues (i'll spare you the details, but yes, both ends).

We were down at my parent's house and Aiden got #3 (the runs, sorry!) he was going like every 10 min. and obviously that would get his skin pretty irritated from the diaper so my mom (Thanks Marmee!) offered to him to go on the potty to help his bum bum not be so sore. He acutally took the bait and did it! So after going like this for like 24 hrs he got it down (repetition is key)!!

We celebrated big time and he kept it up even until now! So my advice to all you parents who are trying to potty train, or will be one day- use the stomach bug in your favor! haha. I laugh now that maybe that is why God gave us all the stomach bug over Christmas, to get Aiden #2 potty trianed!!

So hopefully this will be my final post on anything potty training. But you never know with 2 boys, there will probably be some funny stories to come.

Playing Catch Up on Products I Like

I haven't had a new entry for this label in a while, so here are 2 of my recent favorites:

Skippy came out with a new All Natural Peanut Butter! I LOVE IT! I got hooked on the all natural PB (thanks to Jen) and couldn't bring myself to buy any of the name brands w/ hydrogenated oil and other junk in it anymore. And now that Skippy came out with this one, I have to hold myself back from eating it by the spoonful! I love that it doesn't separate. This one is MMM Good!

And another thing I can't get enough of... Clementine's! If you have never had these small oranges, you GOTTA try them! They are super easy to peel, seedless, always juicy, and just the right serving size! My brother introduced me to them a few years ago and everytime I see them, I have to get them. At Publix lately they have had cratefuls on sale for only $4.99 for a ton of them! Aiden even loves to peel them himself... I think he could eat like 10 a day!

Simplifying My Life

There are just WAY too many ways to complicate life these days. Way too many ways to get caught up in the busyness, hustle and unimportant things that distract our finances and time... things that can be better spent elsewhere. Along with my resolution theme going on in my blog lately I think this is one way God is calling me to assess my life in... simplifying.

There are many ways I am accomplishing this goal... in little ways- keeping up with dishes, laundry, implementing a cleaning schedule, making a daily schedule for myself and the boys, picking and choosing the real valuable and fruitful things in my life over the time-taking, mundane, etc. So in another way to attempt to simplify our lives, my husband and I decided to sell our house.

We only built it and moved in a little over 2 years ago, so it was not an easy decision. We love this house and picked out every detail thinking long term with it. There are multiple reasons we decided this would be the wise thing to do, I won't bother you with the details, but ultimately we believe this will simplify our lives even more so that we can spend more important time and finances in more important areas right now. There will always be a chance to build a great home in the future... but we need to make sure we are being wise in our present to be able to do those great things in the future.

Anywho, the reason I write this blog is 2 fold: please be praying with us to sell this house quickly and to actually be able to make some money off it to pay off debt. AND to challenge you, where is God calling you to simplify?

Discipline...ouch

Discipline has been on the forefront of my mind lately... not just because I have a 1 yr old and 3 yr old, but because I feel like I am facing a real season of walking in discipline myself. I heard this quote from a Pastor I truly respect. 

"Don't be exhausted simply because you are undisciplined." - Pastor Jim Laffoon

It's ok to be exhausted from other reasons, working hard, etc... but to find yourself exhausted simply because you weren't disciplined to do things such as work out, use time management, being lazy, etc is not excusable. 

I like to read a Proverbs a day (to keep foolishness away, har har) and today I came across Prov. 5:21-23, summarized says "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths...He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly." Wow... I have a lot of analyzing my use of time to do. I don't want to be a fool. 

It's a new year, and a great time to evaluate how disciplined I am, or are not, and start to change some things. What are your thoughts?

In The Year 2009....

{must sing the Late Night with Conan Obrian way} :)

It's that time of year again, where we make the New Years Resolutions.... here is what I reslove to work on:

1. Keeping my New Years Resolutions, haha

2. Discipline (My hubby and I are in the same boat with this one, maybe we can spur each other on and actually keep to it then!) in the 4 areas: physically- eat right and work out; mentally- expanding my brain and my children's brain w/ reading and learning, emotionally- see #3, and putting effort into communication and romance in my marriage (coming on 6 years in 17 days!!!) and spiritually- consistant QTs! Not quite times, QUALITY TIME w/ Jesus.

3. Work on my initial reactions. I admittedly have a frustration/anger/stressing problem. These tend to be my first reactions to my situations. I DO NOT want to default to these emotions anymore.

4. Going Deep. I want to make a concerted effort to get deeper in my relationships, stop the surface stuff and connect with friends/ family/ God. 

5. Stop being Mediocre. If I'm gonna Blog, I want to be a great Blogger; If I'm gonna cook, I wanna be an excellent cook; If I'm gonna be a mom, I want to be a great mom; If I'm gonna be a wife, I want to set the bar; If I'm gonna be a follower of Christ, I want it to bring transformation...

That is just the top of the list, I have many more goals and prayers in my heart for this year... I think New Years is the perfect time to re-evaluate where you are and where you want to go. What is in your heart?

Good Gifts

Happy Birthday to all the Middleton Boys this week! December is my favorite month of the year, all my favorite people were born then... Eli, Aiden, Ross and Jesus! :)

I have come to realize that I enjoy giving my boys gifts, more than I enjoy receiving them myself. With one exception... Aiden, for his 3rd birthday today, decided to give us the gift of pooping in the Potty! We have been waiting since July for this! 

Anywho, there is a verse that I was reminded of this week. Matt. 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Having kids now, I love seeing new sides to God that I hadn't before. I can totally understand how it brings delight to him to bless us and give us life giving things. I love how he shows us through practical examples, like children. 

So Happy Birthday to all the boys in my life this week. I am blessed. Here are some pictures of the good gifts my Father has given me!

Thanksgiving... Gobble Gobble

There is nothing that can change your attitude and perspective quicker than being thankful. Col. 4:2 says "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." We are called to be devoted to it! I think the fact that it is worded like that in the Bible says a lot.

It's hard to choose thankfulness in the midst of a tough situation, I can attest to that. But God calls us to live to a higher standard and to devote ourselves to that very thing. I think that is significant. I don't know about you but I can ALWAYS find something to be thankful for. Whether it be for the air I breath or the roof over my head, or the amazing people God has placed in my life. I must devote myself to thankfulness. 

It's so easy to not stop and reflect on what we are thankful for every day, just getting caught up in the busyness of life and choosing to complain rather than give thanks. I am purposefully trying to teach my almost 3 yr. old to choose thankfulness rather than complain, and I'm finding myself convicted about that very thing. 

So I challenge you in the days leading up to Thanksgiving Day to choose thankfulness over complaining. If you find yourself saying something negative or whine-ish than Stop, Think, and Find something to say thanks for. It will immediately affect your attitude and perspective of the situation. Test it. :)

What are the top 5 things you are Thankful for?

One Month from Today!

Hard to believe one month from today my little baby will turn 1 and four days later my little boy will turn 3! OH MY GOODNESS! Time is FLYING by! 

I just had to say that because it just hit me. WOW!

They make me smile. :)

Even More Reason.....

to vote and to be patrons of these businesses....

Go Vote and then you get these free!

- Coffee from Starbucks!

- Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich, at participating Chick-fil-a's

- Shane's Rib Shack Combo Meal

- Krispy Kreme Donut

- Cake Shop cupcake

- Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Shop

Company's like these just make being an active citizen of this country even more enjoyable. Thank you for motivating me even more to get involved!

I Use This Everywhere

Hence the name "Clorox Everywhere Hard Surface Daily Sanitizing Spray". Quite the name, and quite the product! 

I Love this stuff, especially with having kids, but it's good for anyone! Spray it on any hard surface (I admit i've used it on cloth surfaces too, and everything turned out ok), and you're good to go. It's great for kids, just spray down their toys and let it dry or wipe it off, either way and it's sanitized for the next use! I also used it on the high chair and booster seat all the time. It's safe around kids too. 

There's my product I like for the month. :)

What's better than Sacrifice?

I recently decided to get a Holiday job... pick up a few hours at a local store to keep on top of things over the Holiday's... I feel like a high schooler all over again. :)

So the topic of Sacrifice has been on my mind. We talk about this topic a LOT in our campus ministry... in order to do anything significant in this world it means sacrifice usually has to happen somewhere. 

As I was reading today, In Prov. 21:3 it says "To do what is right and just is MORE acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." This is so good. So many times we choose to do something that is convenient at the time, or that feels good at the time, over doing the right or just thing... which usually brings us to a point of needing to sacrifice at a later time to make up for it (ex. buying something on a credit card). But if we just chose from the start to do what is Right and Just, that is more pleasing to God... and usually a sacrifice isn't necessary, you can enjoy the fruits of the good decision.

Just wanted to leave you with that thought for the day. So I'm not asking today "what do you need to sacrifice" but I am asking "what is something you can choose to do today that is right and just, for the Glory of God?"

Follow up to Halloween Question

Great response from everyone! Thanks!

I personally grew up "celebrating" Halloween... as in dressing up and trick or treating, carving pumpkins, etc. I have some great memories of that! (Ross is convinced he never carved a pumpkin until last year, I find that hard to believe)

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in the area, but in researching it looks like Halloween started as a time to worship the dead, ghosts and evil spirits so they won't get mad. People would sacrifice animals & more, and try to appease them. Then when the the traditions moved to America it took on a new meaning, yet still having the same superstitions of dressing so evil spirits don't recognize them, and leaving food/sweets out by their door to appease the ghosts/evil spirits. Slowly turning into a fun time for kids to run around disguised to get treats and such.

I think it is wise to know why we do what we do. I think there are spiritual implications to everything we do. I don't want to be ignorant to the original intent of why we celebrate the things we do. I also believe God can redeem anything. So I think with me and my family I want to be wise and know why we do what we do, and make sure we have purpose to what we do.

I have no problem with dressing up, and getting/giving candy from neighbors, and carving pumpkins... I just want to make sure my kids know why, and that we set ourselves apart from worldly traditions. We aren't doing it to appease evil spirits, or hide from them. I see this as a chance to be creative and silly and make sure we are pleasing God, not trying to appease the devil. As long as your conscience is clear before God and you do everything to honor Him, we can bring God's redemption to the holiday and turn what was meant for evil into good.

Practically I think this can be done by honoring God with how we dress, but serving/blessing others and by praying to God, and do all things to bring Him pleasure, not praying to spirits or the dead or being concerned with pleasing them. I think this also means not glorifying death, witchcraft, or fear (in costumes/haunted houses/ etc). Let's not be ignorant, and avoid truth, but be knowledgeable and bring redemption to these areas!

Those are just some of my thoughts...

Halloween: Spooky or Cooky?

Growing up in a church, I have heard several different opinions about Halloween. I would like to know your thoughts!

Do you think Halloween is a holiday Christian's shouldn't be involved with?
If Christian's do get involved what is ok, what is not?

Do you celebrate Halloween? Party? Costume? Trick or Treat? Animal Sacrifices? :)

What have you been taught about Halloween? What would you teach your kids about it?

I've been taught several different things, from we can redeem the holiday and just have a costume party/ reason for fellowship... to don't even associate with it since it began as a pagan holiday of worshiping the Devil. Of course it's near impossible in America to avoid anything Halloween because it is one of the highest selling holiday's, candy, costumes, party supplies...etc.

I want to hear your opinions, then I'll share mine!

My Go To Book

Besides the Bible... I have a few books that I frequent. When I first found out I was pregnant with my oldest I didn't even know where to begin to look for baby help. I was recommended many books, but the 2 most helpful were Baby Wise and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, thanks Hope! 

So my product today that I am promoting is Baby Wise. They have a whole line of books that are written for their specific developmental stages. I reference these books more than any other, and so far I have found them to be the most helpful.  

I have heard many differing opinions about these books through the years, from it being to strict and unrealistic, harsh or things like that... all I gotta say is you gotta find what works for your baby. Every baby is different. I can speak from experience with that. But I still believe there are basics and great principles and tips you can pull from Baby Wise. That is also one of the reasons I liked reading the Secrets book in addition, because it brought some balance. 

Unfortunately kids don't come in specific manuals, or instructions (that would be awesome though).  So when all else fails I go to the book and implement what I read. More often than not, within a few days I find that it works... it takes patience and a strong will, but it can happen! If you are in the baby rearing stage, don't get discouraged! Stages come and go. My biggest encouragement: Ps. 30:5 "weeping may last in the night, but joy comes in the morning."

There will be break through, you will get a full night of sleep again, they will figure out how to eat well, you will be able to truly enjoy your children, I promise (I am speaking to myself here too, so don't think for a second I have it all together, haha)!! 

Sticks and Stones...

I'm sure you all grew up hearing the phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt them." 

I have come to the conclusion that the above phrase is far from the truth. Words have power to them, and we must learn how to tame our tongues.

As it says in Proverbs  The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

I can't even begin to explain how many people, including myself, I have had to work with in ministry and friendship relationships where one or more ruthless words were spoken over them, and it caused a drastic change in who they were as a person, and how they view reality. 

I don't want to teach my kids that saying. We need to realize how much power is behind the words we speak... and are spoken to us. If something was said to you that effected who you are as a person, how you see reality now, you need to address it and not just say that old saying  "I'm rubber. You're glue. What you say bounces off me and sticks to YOU." Because in reality, words to stick, they stick and begin to build up until they come flooding out one day. 

Let's be a people who speak life over people, not death. Let's be a people who deal with what has/ will be spoken to us, repent for believing lies, forgive people, and not walk through day to day life believing what ignorant people say, but believing what our Creator, God says about us.