The Temple

I was reading John chapter 2 for my devotional time this afternoon, where Christ overturns tables in the temple because merchants came in and turned the practice of sacrificing to God into a money-making enterprise. I've heard this passage many times, but have never taken the time to dig deeper to see how it can be applicable to me.

This morning it pressed a question on my heart: "How sacred do I hold the things of God?".
Christ was zealous for the temple then because it was where God dwelt, He must be just as zealous for the temple of my heart, since the Spirit of God now dwells there. Yet, how many times do I sit around filling up the dwelling place of the living God with things that (right or wrong) bring no honor to Him?

Worse- God Himself died to cleanse me of sin to make it possible to live in my heart. And I've been struggling to even renew my mind day by day through time in His word. I need my God, I need His word, and my children are watching me. How can I so often forget that this life isn't just about me?

Three Years With My Boy :)

Three years ago today I was laying in a hospital bed, catheter connected, plastic pumps preventing atrophy in my legs, and more than exhausted after 17 hours of labor ending in an emergency C-section at 12:15 that morning. Nine months after my wedding day, I was both mourning the forever loss of my ability to give birth naturally and terrified to be a mother at age 20. I really can't express how full of fear and worry my heart was at that point- fear for my marriage, fear that I would fail as a mother, fear of being judged and viewed as irresponsible by everyone we knew, worry for the difficult years I sensed ahead of us, and sadness at the loss of the future I had so carefully planned. I'm ashamed to admit I was hardly excited to meet my firstborn son as I wallowed in uncertainty.

This morning I stayed home sick from church. When my husband and children returned home I was greeted by little arms around my neck and beautiful blue eyes that looked into mine as he hugged me and said "Mommy I missed you". My eyes fill with tears as I type this and regret my heart the day God placed this child's eternal soul in my care. Things would have been so different if I had trusted God's plan instead of clinging to my own.

Paul and I refer to the year following as our "Red Sea". God took us through trials so intense I thought it was impossible that we could make it out with our family and marriage intact, and He grew us through them. He provided for our needs at times when we shouldn't have been able to pay our bills. I was able to stay home, my deepest hearts desire during those months I had to work, Paul finished school in just four years, we have a beautiful daughter, and we just bought a house. We have grown into such different people than we could possibly have on our own, and been so abundantly blessed.  Like the ancient Israelites drew comfort knowing God led them through the Red Sea, no matter what happens in this life we will always be able to reflect on those years and the way God proved time and again that He cared and would provide.Three years ago I thought my life was over with the birth of my son, but as he turns three today it is so much better than it ever could have been without this precious boy.

Thank You Lord, for my Westly.

Our First Big Project!!!

 This past Saturday we completed our first major demolition/home project!!! There really is not a whole lot that we need to change about this house, but the "closet" in the master bedroom has been on the books since day one. Our bedroom is off the kitchen (as you'll be able to see in later pics), and it had been previously used as an office (a very large one!) so the lack of closet space had not been an issue. In fact, the nasty thing you see below had probably not been in use these past 10 years, judging by the 3 inch layer of dust inside it! There was one hanging rod and two sliding doors (already removed in this pic, but sitting beside it), awkward to say the least.

 Filthy, not functional, and an eyesore. Three strikes my friend.

Paul got the job of demolition. I was slightly disturbed by how much he enjoyed that... but I am glad he had fun.

And here is what it looks like behind a 50 year old built in closet!!! I'm sure you've always wondered. 

Yup, 50 year old cobwebs, 50 year old unpainted wall texture, and 50 year old unfinished plywood floors. 

Fortunately, the previous owners were super considerate and left us not only paint samples for each room  for touch-ups, but carpet scraps!!! Unfortunately, our bedroom is purple, and the carpet didn't match. But- it was free and I can seriously live with the results you are about to see!!!

(paint still drying)

Our new wardrobe from Ikea!!! And FYI- up to this point it all happened in one day, including the drive to Ikea! We are a little nutty, I'll admit. My amazing husband was up until 3am building this! I was up too, but we've discovered I have issues with using screwdrivers. The darn screws just don't go in straight. I must always get the bad ones ;) Anyhoo- I was useless with construction, so I unpacked instead. 

Our beautiful closets with their new hardware!!! Laaaaaaaa!!!

And the inside :)

Quite the transformation, eh?

Now for one of my favorite views in the house. 

Remember this from a previous post?

It looks different now!!!!.............. =)

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 (about 2 seconds after I said "Westly! Get off the table!!!")

I was not in love with the forest green walls- but the flat green paint (and inability to afford to repaint at the moment) sparked my imagination- chalkboard wall!!! We've been having a lot of fun with this during the day, and every visitor is now required to leave us a note :) 

I. love. it.

And p.s.- I am in love with my $5 chandelier. So glad we made a project of this thrift-store find!

 

The curtains to the left in the above photos are my pantry. Originally it had wood sliding doors, but they made it dark and difficult and ugly. Check those out in the "before" pics above if you please.

The light was kind of magical one afternoon as Briella perused my jars.

I had to snap a few :)

 There you have it!!! True, this was not a tour of our entire house. 

But, it is as close as you are going to get until I'm good and ready!

Have a good night, all :)

My Munchkins and the Move :)

Hello Everyone!!! 

Sorry about the radio silence for the past week and a half, but since moving I have had neither the time nor the inclination to blog. I do have some photos of our "home-in-progress" that I hope to share soon, maybe even in another post later this evening, but I love my kids more than this house, so they come first!

Rewinding a bit to Briella's first Easter. I'd been saving this dress for a special occasion, so I was excited she to finally put it on her! She is more than a little on the wiggly side, so I gave her a "mum-mum" to help keep her stationary- if not still :)

A few days after we moved in- my munchkin has been falling asleep everywhere this past week! 

The corner of our couches form a little nook perfect for West's "fork", or "fort" as the rest of the world would call it.  We just happened to find him like this- he set it up himself to watch a movie,

Attack of the sissy-monster!!!

This week we spent an entire morning in the backyard (our backyard!!!). Yes, this is me in my pajamas...wearing crocs... and yes it was past 11am at this point. I have no defense. 

Anyhoo- that morning I weeded the dirt....

...Westly threw the dirt...

...and Sissy ate the dirt.

It really was so special just being outside, not in public, and chillin' with my little ones.
Briella loves to pull up on our gazebo and peek at me through the bars :)

Such a cutie :)

The other day West helped sissy onto his ride-around truck and loaned her (read: forced her to wear) his hat. It was pretty cute to watch him pushing her around our giant living room :) These two have been spending more and more time playing together and getting along since we moved. I love it!

So you got a few sneak peeks of our new home- now on to blog about our recent projects!