Out with the old-In with the new

Last week we traveled to Virginia/Tennessee for my Grandmothers funeral. She battled cancer for 2 years. She is no longer suffering but home with Jesus!!! Will I miss her, of course but as a dear lady said once "don't pray me out of Heaven". My cousin Bryan officiated the service and spoke of knowing Christ just as my Grandma wanted. One of the first things she asked me each time we spoke was "are you still going to church, loving God, taking your babies to learn about God". Her body was old, decaying, dieing, BUT she is alive, new in Christ. Oh how happy I am that she knew Jesus and loved him.

Just this morning I received 3 text messaged before I even woke up. A man from our church lost his short battle with cancer. Not very old and you would never have even known he was sick for a while. Riding his motorcycle with his wife and daughter, playing around with all the kids at church. We watched his body deteriorate little by little attempting to come to church then having to leave in the middle of service. I prayed, we all prayed for God to heal his body and rid it of cancer. Just because he didn't answer our prayers the way we hoped doesn't mean he didn't at all. This man in healed now. His purpose and time on earth was done according to Gods will and God said "come home my child". We will mourn but also rejoice!

A passage that a friend shared on facebook was of great comfort this morning:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Life right now

I have so many pictures and so many posts in "edit" mode...one day I might get to them. I had planned on posting a Mother's Day post about things I wish I could tell my mother, then our whole house got sick. Not easy on this pregnant Mama. And 2 days ago I received a call from my uncle about my grandmother.

My mom was her only daughter out of 7 and I am my moms only daughter.Grandma, my mom, and I had a connection and I get my stubbornness from both of them :) When my mom passed away 12 yrs ago, my grandma looked to me as "her daughter". I spent many, many summers with my grandparents in Florida. When my grandpa died a couple years ago and I went down, I was the one who could tell grandma what to do. "Sit down grandma , your doing too much" - "grandma, you need to eat breakfast, I made this for you and you are going to eat it". Her sons stayed at a hotel to spend time together and I (and my aunt) stayed with her to make sure she was ok. I enjoyed it!!!

Grandma was diagnosed with cancer (several places) over a year ago. She chose to have some treatments and was taken off of them when it was discovered that they were only making her sick, not helping. Last week she was in the hospital and when my uncle called, I was told that she is home on hospice care. She is at the very end of her life. I am sad, sad that I didn't call her more over the last year, sad that I didn't try harder to get down to see her. Life for us has been busy but that's not why. Money was a factor in flying down $500-$900 for a plane ticket (are you kidding me?). I didn't call because I didn't want to face loosing another "mom". It's hard and after dealing with both my parents and a set of grandparents dieing within year of each other, I have a hard time dealing with any death.  I could barely hold it together enough to talk with her for 5 minutes last night.

She will be brought back to Virginia (I think) for the funeral and I assume laid to rest next to my mother. We are hoping to travel down but who knows if we can work it out. It would be nice to see my brothers and the rest of the family. Right now I am just trying to process it all, to keep up with my responsibilities here at home and pray that she goes in peace!

Monday Makes {lazy mamas pizza}

When I was feeling sick a couple of weeks ago the last thing I wanted to do was cook. But the family still needed to eat-they can't have cereal every night :) I like to keep a few things on hand for quick, easy dinners. One of our family favorites is pizza. I buy crust, shredded cheese and peperoni to keep in the freezer for quick preparation (I have lots of homemade sauce from my fall canning). Just pull everything out of the freezer in the morning or if your lazy  you forget put the crust in a zip-lock bag and place in a bowl of warm water (the rest can go on the pizza frozen). It takes no time at all to assemble. Pat out your crust • spread on some sauce • sprinkle the cheese • place the pepperoni • add  a few spices • bake on 425 degrees until the crust is done and the cheese is melted to your liking.

This is not my usual way to make pizza. I prefer a homemade crust and I will add more spices to my tomato sauce. It is still a great pizza though. The cost was around $6 which is better on the budget than ordering out. Enjoy the pictures I took of the last one I (and my helpers) made.

PS If you are wondering why our pizza only has half covered in cheese - my sweet little guy is still having trouble with dairy :( Therefore I am still on a no dairy diet. Praying he will be healed soon!!!

Thanksgiving

We are already starting to think about Thanksgiving around here. 

Our next little blessing is due November 24th!!! 

Thankful•Excited•Happy

(now that I'm not tired•sick•emotional)

I had a great first couple of weeks but around 6 weeks all day nausea set in. From mid morning until night time I was perched on the chair curled up like a baby. My poor son would cry every time I sat down. Sometimes he would cuddle with me and others I would lay on the floor in an attempt to play with him. For about a week now, I have felt great. A bout of nausea here and there but nothing that puts me down and out. It has been so long since my first pregnancy (13 yrs) but I didn't much with my son. They say that every pregnancy is different and they are right :) 

Now that I am feeling better, I've been nesting I would say. It happened last pregnancy too. I start hitting my to do list like the baby will be here tomorrow! I can't help it-I'm a planner wanting everything done before I don't feel like doing a thing (which is what I intend to do from November 1st on - lol). 

I have lots and lots of pictures of projects I have done over the past year and will hopefully get them into posts soon. I might even get some pictures of the nursery up before we add the extra crib ;)  

My growing belly and I will be back soon! 

 

A lesson from my son

If you have children then I am sure you have experienced a night or two of no sleep. I am not talking about the newborn eating every few hours sleepless nights. No, these are much worse in my opinion. A night where your little one cries all night and nothing you do can calm them. Your heart aches because you know they are in distress, tired, uncomfortable.


The last couple of nights have been like this in our house. Seriously, last night was rough.  As I was sitting downstairs with a screaming baby at 3:30 am, I wanted to cry out in frustration but I prayed instead. I prayed that I would be able to calm him down and he would feel safe in my arms. He calmed down a few hours later and about 7 this morning we went back to bed.


I am joyful that I was able to love this little boy that God has blessed me with, to make him feel safe and comfortable. I needed last night to remember that God is my source of comfort and I am safe within his arms.


P.S. As I am typing this Gunnar is feeding himself some applesauce and wearing some too :) Feeling much better!


Linked to: Women Living Well, Raising Homemakers 

This moment in time

• Thankful for the beautiful weather here in WNY
• Happy to have an organized sun room to enjoy the said weather
• Haven't slept in many nights due to a molar teething little boy
• Missing church because of the teething little boy
• Hoping to make it to Sunday School
• Thinking it's time to get the grill out this afternoon

R•E•S•P•E•C•T

What comes to mind when you hear the word respect. A little Aretha Franklin? You children being obedient? How about where your husband is concerned? How do you show him respect? 

In Sunday School we have been doing a series on "Shalom at Home". The section we are discussing now are the needs of a woman vs a man. Women want to feel loved, be shown affection, have a sense of security. Men want to be sexually fulfilled, shown respect, and I can't remember what else (oops, better pay more attention). I can't tell you how to meet your husbands needs on the first one but I can give you a couple tips on showing some respect.

I like to keep my house company ready. Not perfect but tidy enough that I can welcome a friend in to have a cup of coffee or tea with out having to worry about {the mess}. My husband also likes a picked up house. Not just the rooms that company will see but all the rooms. I tend to let my laundry pile up-clean-folded-stacked in my closet which is not shared with him and in a different room. This drives him bonkers!!! He is willing to do the dishes, vacuum, whatever he needs to do in order for me to put away my clothes. Out of respect for him, I really should make this a priority. The same goes for taking care of other little things he has asked me to do. He knows that I am busy keeping up with our 1yr old so if he makes a point of asking me to complete something then I know that it is important to him. By not doing the task is a form of disrespect to him. I don't always get to everything and honestly I forget things easily. He understands that I can get distracted but there are no excuses for me saying numerous times that I would call our insurance company and it takes me 3 weeks to call. He would rather me say that I had too much going on, etc. 

Don't husband bash!!! There are times that I believe it is ok to ask for prayer or advice regarding your husband but I don't run to them and say "can you believe what that...blah, blah, blah" For one, it will turn your friends against him. Even if you forget what it was that he did, chances are that your friend won't and will remind you of it later down the road. Second, it will not make you feel better and will only hurt your relationship with him. Are you saying something that you would say directly to him? Even then, really evaluate whether you want to share that with anyone or keep it private. 

Pray, pray, pray! If you find that you are struggling to respect him-pray about it. Ask God to give you opportunities to show him respect. Ask your husband how you can show him more respect. I am sure he will be shocked you asked then gladly give you some ideas.

There are situations where a husband can take advantage. If this is you- first pray about it by yourself then lovingly go to your husband and discuss your concerns. There are times when marriage is harder that digging a ditch by hand but it's worth it. 

What are some ways that you show respect to your husband?

~Jac



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