Quiet Time Reflections

Today while doing my quiet time I read two things that really stirred my heart. The first thing I read that stirred my heart came from my Awaken 21 Day Prayer Journal. Here is the sentence that got my attention, "The closer you get to Jesus, and the more time you spend with Him, the more your heart will begin to beat with love for those He loves. " WOW!!!!! The scripture reference to go with this was Matthew 9:35-38.

"35 Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages , teaching in their synagogues , preaching the good news of the kingdom , and healing every disease and every sickness . 36 When He saw the crowds , He felt compassion for them , because they were weary and worn out , like sheep without a shepherd . 37 Then He said to His disciples , “The harvest is abundant , but the workers are few . 38 Therefore , pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest"

If I am quite honest I must admit that sometimes I lose sight of this and just feel worn out serving. I am reminded hear that if I remain close to Jesus it will keep my focus where it needs to be...on HIM!

The second thought that stirred my heart was from the book, Jesus Calling,by Sarah Young. Thank you Stacy for recommending it and thank you Julie for sharing a copy with me. I especially love this book because it is written as if Jesus is talking directly to you. I can barely contain my desire to pick up this book and read my thought for the day. The devotions are brief but very powerful. There are also a few CDs made that were inspired by the book.
I especially liked the following thought because I realize how weak and incapable I am of functioning without seeking God daily or even hourly.

"Though I (Jesus) have all power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you. The weaker you are the more gently I approach you. Let your weakness be a door to My presence. Whenever you feel inadequate remember that I am your ever-present help." (Psalm 46:1, Romans 12:12, Romans 15:13)

I pray that these thoughts will move your heart as much as they moved mine.

Our Campout

The boys and I had a campout last night while Raymond attended the Evangelism Conference. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed the quality time with my boys!

First, I put them in the tub and prepared our "campsite". Since I am 31 weeks pregnant we chose an indoor venue for our campout. There would be no "roughing" it here.

The boys actually have a tent but I couldn't but my hands on it.

During this time I also prepared our supper. Piggies in a blanket. I know it's not nutritious, but isn't that the fun of a campout????

Here's a sweet picture of the boys eating supper in their tent.

After we ate supper it was time for a movie and popcorn. We watched Despicable Me. I pretended like it was for them but I really like that movie. ;)

After the movie we had our ice cream dessert and then went to sleep. I didn't manage to get any pictures of the ice cream or the boys actually sleeping on the floor but they did! They stayed on the floor all night. However, in keeping with true camping they were up at the break of dawn. No worries...they will sleep well tonight. I will do it again soon, and maybe this time we'll do it when Daddy can participate. While watching the movie Jared made my heart melt. He said, "Thank you for the campout mommy." That was worth it all!

The Cloth Diaper Chronicles

 
We have decided to use cloth diapers with Merry Ellen. Before you think, ugh NO WAY, these are NOT your mother's diapers. They are super cute and quite easy to use. I am going to blog about my adventure with cloth diapers: the good, the bad, and the stinky. There is an upfront cost with cloth that you may not have with disposables BUT it will save you money in the long run which is the major reason I decided to go with cloth. When all is said and done I probably will have spent $300-400 on cloth diapers. I plan to have about 25 diapers on hand. I am in the process of ordering my diapers and getting them in. Then I will prep them for sweet Merry Ellen to wear when she gets here. (That will be an entirely different blog post.) I have ordered quite a few different brands and a few different kinds of cloth diapers. This will allow me to determine which works best for me and different diapers have different strengths. (some diapers are better overnight than others, etc)  I am very thankful for the advice and help of Raymond's cousin's wife Stephanie. She owns a natural parenting store in Baton Rouge called Angel Britches. Check out her facebook page here.  The majority of the diapers I have came from her store. Most of the diapers I plan to use are pocket diapers that can go from birth to potty training. They don't require an outer cover and you can stuff them more for extra absorbency. I will leave you with the websites for the brands of diapers I am using. Click on the name to be taken to their site.

Happy Heinys--These are super cute and I love the way they adjust. They also have an organic diaper created from hemp that is super absorbent. I ordered a few hemp diapers.

Fuzzibunz--These are so soft and super cute as well.

Bumgenius--I haven't actually gotten these in yet but I have ordered them.

Flip--These diapers are really neat. This is not a pocket diaper. This diaper is a cover and an insert. You just change the insert and not the entire diaper. If there is a little leak onto the cover you have to change the cover as well, so I can imagine this might not be my favorite diaper when Merry is little because of the consistency of dirty diapers of babies who are breast fed. (Sorry for the descriptive words...:)

Sunbaby Diapers--I ordered a very few diapers from this company. They are super cheap and I'm sure in the cloth diaper department you get what you pay for. I don't have high expectations for the quality of this particular diaper or it's performance, I just thought they would be good to have on hand for emergencies and those sorts of things. That being said I looked up reviews on these diapers and many of the reviews I read said they were pleased with them. We shall see. :)

So I suppose that's it for now. I begin my cloth diaper adventure. Please comment with any questions or advice you might have. Especially if you have an opinion on how to wash them and which detergent you use. (I currently have and plan to use Charlie's soap. Different people have different opinions on Charlie's soap.)  I don't want to have to go through a complicated process. (I know different things work for different people.)

Happy Diapering!

Catching Up

My goodness how time flies. It has been over a month since I posted last. We were super busy during December so I took a break from blogging. Thankfully we got to spend some much needed time with our families during the hoildays. I will do a Christmas post soon and share some Christmas pictures.

We are excited about 2012. We can't wait to discover what God has in store. The boys are getting excited about their sister, Merry Ellen,  arrivng in March. They even picked out a sweet color to paint her walls and with Paw Paw Ray and Daddy's help it will be done in the near future. I will post pictures when it's completed. I can't believe it is already only 3 months away. I have alot to do to get ready, but thankfully I have some great help.

I don't make new year's resolutions. I just pray every day of the year that God would mold me into something He can use. Anything good in me is all from Him and I shudder to think of who I would be without Him. I am really enjoying seeking God through Louisiana Baptist Convention's AWAKEN campaign. Even if you aren't "baptist" I'm sure it would minister to your heart. It's all about drawing yourself into a deeper relationship with Christ and seeking to impact those around you.  Check out the website www.lbc.org/awaken. There is a short video and devtional for each day. (It is 21 days long.) A book that changed my walk with the Lord forever is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It really challenged me to love God with my entire being. If you haven't read it yet I would strongly recommend it. You will never be the same. ;)

Until Next Time...