Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Last ones:)




What a beautiful day the Lord gave us!

Wedding #3




Wedding Pics #2





So Sweet! Aunt Abbie




I couldn't resist posting a few more:) Okay, ALOT more!

Anger #4

I still have a few more anger posts to do. Hope you are up for them:) You have all heard the saying "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." It sure rings true in my house. I totally set the tone for the day. If I start the day off angry, I know it's going to be a rough one. Gracie and Piper respond to me and to each other the very same way that I respond to them. You know, you are in the kitchen washing dishes and you hear one of your kids say something to their sibling in a tone that is terribly familiar. You correct them, yet your heart is grieved because you know where they heard it first. This happens far too often in my house.
Or you correct them in an angry manner and they give it right back to you. Yeah, that's why God says "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." They respond so differently when I correct softly.
It is amazing to me what an influence I have on them. I am often overhwelmed by that fact. Being such a sinner, I often ask the Lord why He gave Gracie and Piper to me. Didn't they deserve a loving, caring mommy who would take much better care of them? Then He reminds me that He has ordained these two little ones just for me. They are the perfect children for me. And He has called me to the task and He will help me complete it. "The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him."

Wedding


Jenna, Tristen, and Gracie

The wedding party


Sorry it has been a while since I posted. We have been busy around here with the wedding! It was sooooo much fun and sooooo very beautiful. It was in Asheville at this adorable place called The Farm. I think it's the most beautiful wedding site I have ever seen. And Lauren and I had a blast taking the pictures. But I need to clear something up... I am in no way a photographer:) I just love taking pictures and my sister has a great camera. And my sweet friend Ryan loaned me hers for the weekend. Thank you again friend!! After the wedding I told my sister I think I missed my calling! I am just kidding of course but I really enjoyed taking the pics. Sooo, here are a few.. We took 1300 of them. Yes I said 1300!!! But we were there the whole weekend, so we got everything from the bridal luncheon, to the rehearsal, to the ceremony. And it is my cousin:) Congratulations Jenna and JJ!!
I am having trouble posting pics right now, so I will get them out soon!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

This week

Gracie had a 24 hour bug on Mon and Tues so we are laying low this week. What do we do when we have to stay in? Well, we have manicures and pedicures, bake pumpkin muffins, watch the rain, watch videos, color, play play-doh, and clean. We have gotten alot done around here:)
Please pray that none of the rest of us get it. My cousin Jenna is getting married this weekend and Gracie and Tristen are in the wedding and Lauren and I are the photographers. Poor Lauren started throwing up yesterday but she is feeling better today. Pray for protection for the rest of us. Thank you!
There were some miracles that happened while I was on vacation that I forgot to update you about. Lori and Joy both had their babies on the same day! That is way cool God, all those miracles all at once. First, Joy was the one who I told you had the placenta issues where they placenta grew outside of her uterus and attached to her organs. There weren't sure she would even survive the surgery. Well she did! God was so kind to sustain her life. She had a rough delivery though. They put balloons in her arteries to help stop the bleeding but she still ended up receiving 6 pints of blood and 2 units of plasma! That's half the blood in her body that she lost. Wow! Ansley, their daughter is wonderful:)
Now Lori delivered Addison Grace and Jesse Faith that evening by C-section. She wasn't feeling well and knew something wasn't right. They did an ultrasound and decided that Baby Jesse needed to come out. So here they all are!! The babies are in the NICU and doing exceptionally well according to the Drs. They were 3.5 and 2.5 pounds. Please pray for Addie's lung. She has a spot that they think is nonfunctioning and they will have to remove it through surgery if that is the case. Lori is doing really well. I can tell God is holding her tightly. She has had a rough recovery but is doing better and better each day.
Praise the Lord!!

Anger #3

Colossians is full of advice to combat anger. Chapter 3:8 "But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth." We are commanded to put our anger away. To kill this sin. Joe said in one of his messages, "Be killing sin lest it be killing you." That is so true. But when we are trying to get rid of this sin we need to put on something in it's place. Col 3:12-17 "Put on then, as God's chosen ones. holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another....and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...and be thankful... And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus..." Man, if we are applying these verses to our time with our children, there is no room for anger! I am so grateful that God shows us what character traits to work on to combat our anger.
As I write this, I am aware of my own temptation to be prideful and self-reliant, thinking I can do these things on my own. No way. I need the Holy Spirit to guide me. The Lord must change my heart. Prov 3:6 says "In all your ways acknowledge Him" God loves to be asked for help. Yes, even with the mundane things us moms do day in and day out. Anger is certainly worth his time. Every morning when I awake I try to remember to ask God to help me with my anger. I pray for that too when I ask the blessing for our food and when the girls need discipline. It is an ongoing temptation for me, every minute of the day.
Another temptation is to be legalistic. To think that by working on my anger I will achieve acceptance from God. Absolutely not true! I have already been justified by Christ dying on the cross for me. There is nothing I can do to add to his finished work. The reason I even want to work on anger, or any other sin is because I have been created to glorify God. That is why we exist people! God wants us to become more like him everyday, sanctification. I can't believe he even gives piddley ole me the opportunity to glorify him. What a privilege. So that is why I will continue to work to rid myself of this anger. So God can receive the glory.
Richard Sibbes said "There is more mercy in Christ, than sin is us."

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Anger #2

Before we talk about how anger affects those we love, I think it is very important to first talk about the One it grieves the most, Our Lord. For this is who we are sinning against first. His word is clear, we must put anger to death. There is only one case in which anger is acceptable and that is when it is righteous anger. I don't know about you but it's rarely righteous anger for me. God has equipped us to fight this battle with anger. Colossians has a ton to say on the subject. We will talk more about that tomorrow.
So, as I prayed for God to show me what my anger does to my children I was so saddened by what I saw. Their little faces tell it all. Their countenance drops to sadness and usually they start crying right away after I have spoken to them harshly. And Gracie will say, "Mommy please don't be angry with me." It breaks my heart when she says that. It's like I have ripped her sense of security right out from under her. Her mom has become a monster. If I am responding to the Lord's prick of my heart, I will ask her for forgiveness right then. She is always so kind to grant it very quickly and move on. What a blessing that is.
There are two suggestions I have for you today. If you sin against your child in any way, ask them for forgiveness. Everytime! This is such a good example for them to see you doing this. Make sure you are specific and you tell them what you are craving and what would have been the proper response for you to have. Like today, I was in my bathroom getting ready and the girls were coming in and out. They are not allowed to do this, they are supposed to play nicely while I get ready:) They came in to bring me the phone and Piper got into some trouble. She dumped out a box of stuff for the second time this morning. I immediately lit into her and picked her up and set her outside of my door. Of course she was devastated that her mommy treated her that way. So after I cooled down for a minute I knew I had just sinned against her and the Lord. I asked the Lord for forgiveness and then went and asked Piper. Yeah, she is young but start asking young ones anyway!
The second suggestion I have, and this is one I really need to work on incorporating.. is to stop yourself right in the middle of your sentence and say "And I am sinning right now." Like "Piper, I can't believe you are in that box again, get out!!!! Why are you, and I am sinning right now." Then you can go right into asking them for forgiveness right then and there!
I share my sin with you hoping that you are encouraged that God's grace is sufficient for you and I. I am going to get angry again with my children, I am going to grieve God's heart again over this. But He is faithful to pick me back up and help me grow. Maybe tomorrow when Piper gets into something she isn't supposed to, I can respond graciously to her and give her the training she needs. Proverbs 16:24 "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body."
I want to be a sweet aroma in my home. I want our home to be a place where they girls love to dwell. Where they feel grace abounding even when they are sinning.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Beach Post 5



Yeah, this is the best it gets, getting all four in one pic

This is it!! I know it's alot of pics but my sister let me borrow her awesome camera so I took 200 of them! So I really pared it down, right? Thank you Lauren!

Beach Post 4



Matt, Tracie, Christopher, Sammy

Beach Post 3



I am having trouble getting pics to upload, so I am going to try again. More beach pics, of course!

Anger #1

Since God changed my heart and saved me, I have wanted to be a mom. So when I was in nursing school and people would ask me what I was going to do when I graduated I would tell them I wanted to be a mom. I would get some strange looks:) (Before God changed my heart I had planned to be a nurse midwife and the breadwinner of my family.) But I knew that was what I was called to do. Be a wife and a mom. Jeremy and I were married when I was a sophomore in college. After I graduated with my BSN, I worked for about two years and then we were ready to start our family. But it didn't come right away like we had hoped. We tried to get pregnant for 7 months on our own and then began taking fertility meds. The first month with Clomid, I was pregnant. We were thrilled! Our baby girl would be born on December 2nd of 2003. The moment I had been waiting for, for years. Holding that sweet little one was heaven. Then I came home from the hospital. I had the postpartum blues and I didn't know what to do with this baby who wouldn't sleep. I was crying alot. The anger saga began. I loved being a mom so much but I realized I didn't always get my way. When Gracie turned one, Jeremy and I decided to start trying again. Similar story, I started out on Clomid right away this time but didn't get pregnant. The medicine wasn't working. I sought help from a Dr who really seeks to treat the problem from the inside out and again it took 7 months to get pregnant. This time we were really stunned. We felt for sure we would be waiting for another baby for a few years. 27 months later my life really changed when our second little girl came along. I really had no idea how selfish and lazy I was. The anger really got worse. There were two little ones demanding my attention. I didn't really care for the inconveniences of being a mom. The job I had dreamed of. Some days I wanted to send them back.
God really began to prick my heart about my anger when Piper was pretty young. So that is why I chose to focus on it last year. Like I said before, I still have a long way to go in the battle but God's grace has been sufficient.
So, what is anger? A strong emotion of displeasure and resentment, wrath. Wow. Is that how I want my children to have me think of them. As an object of displeasure and wrath? That grieves my heart. One of the things that made the most impact on my battle with anger is when one of my friends encouraged me to pray and ask God to show me how my anger affected my children.
More tomorrow...

Monday, October 22, 2007

Beach Post 2






The beach


Love those legs:)



We had a wonderful time at the beach!! Tracie and I took the kids down on Tuesday and the daddys came down for the weekend. That was a special treat! They don't usually get to come with us. I think this is one of our favorite beach trips. Tracie and I travel alot together. We always have a ball:) Still settling in here at home. God was so kind to give us warm, sunny weather in the middle of October:) There are tons of pictures coming and I promise to start our anger talk tomorrow. Here are a few pics for starters...

Monday, October 15, 2007

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, off to the beach we go...



Happy Monday everyone! Tomorrow the Gibson girls are heading to the beach. We will be back next Sunday. Daddy is joining us next weekend. Supposed to be beautiful weather! But when I get back we are going to do a little series here on our blog about anger. I have been thinking about it all weekend and I had a conversation with a friend the other day and she commented that noone ever talks about a mom's anger in relation to small children. Well friend, that's not going to be the case anymore! I studied anger last year for my "one thing" so I am going to dig out my journal and share with you all what God has taught me. I am VERY far from over dealing with this sin but maybe you can be encouraged by what the Lord has been so kind to show me so far. SO email me your comments and anything you really want to talk about. You can email me privately if you want. I would appreciate your prayers as I look back over my journal and prepare to share with all of you. That I would be grateful for how the Lord is changing me and not condemned by how much further I have to go. And that what is shared will really serve you all:) So much of what I have learned you all have taught me, and I am soooo very thankful. I will leave you with this verse... Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." This one really urges me to consider all my words and actions carefully, to examine if they are God honoring. When I am training Gracie and Piper am I doing it in a way that honors the Lord, or is it in anger? Would He be pleased with my attitude and tone of voice? Much of the time the answer is no. But I know God is faithful and He is going to help me change.

Love to all of you!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Please Pray

This is a busy posting day!
I have been reminded this week that often what I think are challenges are nothing compared to what others around me are going through. And often I react so foolishly to my circumstances. A friend and I were ministering to another friend who is going through some major challenges in her daily life as a wife and mom and we just looked at each other after we left and said "We are fools for the way we react and treat our spouses."
Here are two more that you can pray for if you think of it...
Lori, pregnant with twins and having a very rough pregnancy is in the hospital for further monitoring. She is doing fine today, just bored. Her blood pressure was a little up so they put her in. I can update those of you who would like, just give me a call. But Praise God- she is 30 weeks!!!! Miracle! They weren't sure she would even make it to 24 weeks.
Then, Joy. She is pregnant with her first baby and has been in the hospital for quite some time. She started bleeding really bad. Diagnosis-placenta previa, where the placenta covers the cervix. But it got worse from there. Now she has placenta increta, her placenta has grown through her uterus and attached to other organs. The latest MRI yesterday showed that there are some major blood vessels attached as well to the organs. So at first they were concerned about her losing her uterus but now they are concerned about her losing her life! The baby will be fine but mommy may not.
Yet both of these women have exhibited extroardinary courage and steadfast trust in the Lord. What incredible examples they have been for all of us.
Please pray for all three of these women. My, one day we will no longer suffer, our precious King is coming!!

Fall is finally here!

Well, it's been a busy last few days. Don't you just love this weather? Jeans and a t-shirt is my favorite!
If any of you were wondering, cumkin is what Gracie calls Pumpkin:)
In reference to the pictures below. Okay, Piper is almost 19 months, but at least I got them done, right? I can't fail the second child. That's not supposed to start till the third at least! I decided to try and be smart and post what I wanted to say as the last post instead of the first so it would make more sense:) So the past few posts were all the pictures from our adventure at portrait innovations. She did pretty good but usually she hams it up for them. Meemaw likes to get her pic made with all the little ones on their first birthday. Yeah we are a little behind. She is the third great grandchild. Guess that explains it! And Gracie really wanted to get her picture made with Piper too. And I am a sucker so of course I let her. So enjoy!
A sweet moment: I have been struggling the end of this week with anger, even more than usual. So yesterday when Gracie and I were doing our quiet time I asked her if she would pray for me. She said sure and it went something like this, "Dears Word (Lord), Please help my mommy not be angry today. Help her not be selfish and help her be kind and not angry. Amen" Man she knows that one of the roots of my anger is selfishness without me even asking her to pray for that. Thank you Lord!
Have a great weekend everybody!

Piper is 18 months

Peek-a-boo
Man,
I forgot to turn this one too:(
Piper's beloved Be-Be
Meemaw, her great-grandma
Sorry I forgot to turn it, love this one


Piper's 18 month pics



Gracie wanted to get her picture made with Piper!

Gracie is Uniqua from the Backyardigans

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Even more pics

Baby Rachel
Rachel and Lucas
The girls
Look at my pumpkin!
The corn patch