Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

 

Don’t say that I didn’t warn you in advance that this is going to be a long post, K?  As you may know it’s been a while since I last wrote.  Where do I begin?

I guess I will start by giving you a quick update on our little fam.  Jeff is doing wonderful with juggling home life, our new church, working a ton of hours and going back to school.  Straight A’s so far.  Way to go babe!

I’m busy as ever with field trips, teaching Jazzercise, homeschooling Miss D for Pre-School, volunteering at the kids school, babysitting for Lees Summit Community Church, serving on the Praise and Worship team at our church, and just generally trying to keep clean clothes on the kids these days.

Emmitt and Carleigh are already in “summer” mode.  They have had ice cream on our front steps at least twice this week.  And have stayed out literally until I couldn’t see them anymore because it was so dark.

Delaney is just trying to keep up with me, poor thing.  She has discovered that while I’m busy with housework she can go into Emmitt’s room and watch his TV and play his DS and he will never find out about it because he’s at school.  She’s sneaky like that!  Her freckles are coming in more and more and people comment on her hair color every day.  (You cannot get it in a bottle).

Since I last wrote we celebrated Emmitt’s birthday, buried my Grandma on my Dad’s birthday and celebrated Elijah’s birthday.  I could go on forever about my Grandma and what we have been through this past few weeks with Elijah, but I won’t tonight.  It’s still a little too hard to talk about.  I want to thank you all for your prayers, cards, emails, comments, food, and flowers!  We seriously wouldn't be as far as we are today with out the love and support of you all!

I want to comment on one last thing before I let you go for the night.  I’ve kind of been thinking about it all week.  Earlier in the week I had tucked the kids into bed and sat on my bed trying desperately to find something good to watch to unwind from the day.  (Where are my moms at?  You know the feeling of being busy all day and FINALLY getting a few minutes where you didn’t have to serve anyone food, clean anything, or even think for a little while.  My moment usually sounds like this “AHHHHH”) 

Anyway, I was little disappointed and upset that my “moment” if you will was ruined by a bunch of shows of “STARS” that we made famous for pretty bogus reasons.    One show had a former Playboy Bunny who just became a new mommy.  Another show had women who we famous for their bodies and looks.  Another show had women who were famous for being “SOCIAL”. 

What does that even mean?  Are they interesting because their husbands make a lot of money and they can shop whenever they want?  Or maybe they are famous because they wear designer clothing?  Maybe it’s because they are home all day and still need a nanny to take care of their kids?  Maybe it’s because they have changed the way they look through NUMEROUS plastic surgeries.  (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a plastic surgery hater, I’m not going to judge ANYONE for that.  I’m human, there are things about me I would love to change if I could , My problem is when you do it 6, 10, 15 times and still feel like you need to be “fixed”.) 

I guess the point that I’m trying to get to (in a total round about way) is the mere fact that God created YOU and ME for a purpose.  We don’t need to have a television show to have worth.  You are beautiful and unique and God loved you so much that he didn’t want to create ANOTHER you. You are perfect just the way that you are.  Not because of what you wear, how much money you have, or how big or little your nose is.  Be the best mommy, sister, friend, co-worker, grandma, cousin, wife, and person that you can be.  I guarantee there are others watching you when you don’t even know it. (Just like your own little show).

Let me give you a sneak peek into a new show coming up…it’s called the REAL Housewives of KC.  We start off the day waking up before everyone in the house to have quite time with the Lord, then we proceed to get ourselves and our children and husbands ready for the day.  Packing lunches, making breakfast, cleaning, laundry, more cleaning, kissing a boo boo, exercising (not with our $1,000 personal trainer who helped us loose 30 lbs just two days after we had our baby), sneaking in a bite of our kids leftover lunch because we didn’t have time to sit down (no personal chef here), bank, library, grocery store, school, park,supper, clean, homework, clean, bills, snack, clean, bath time, bedtime routine with the kids, kiss another boo boo, prayer time, story time, and finally we fall into bed only to be fully satisfied, happy, and fulfilled.  May not be a “Hollywood” story.  Probably pretty boring for some folks.  Not in the least bit predictable.  Maybe they could call it “HOLYwood”. Just a thought!

“Hey Look, I Actually DO still Blog!”

Hello Blog Family!  WOW, it’s been almost 4 months since I have blogged.  I had to take a little time off for reasons that I don’t want to mention out there on the “World Wide Web”, however, I’m happy to let you know why I had a little break from writing if you are curious.

But, I’m BAAACK! He He.

I have so much to feel you in on but I don’t want to write a 4 page blog..so I’ll just have to do it little by little.

I guess what made me want to come back again is the fact that I stopped writing and people were constantly saying “ I was reading your blog the other day…”.  I find it amazing that even though they are very old blogs, people are still taking time out of their busy day to check in with us.  I think of it as an honor.  THANK YOU all for caring enough about us to check in every now and again.

We have been on a pretty amazing adventure these past 4 months.  The holidays went way too fast, Delaney turned 4, Carleigh lost her front teeth, and now we are prepping for Emmitt’s 9th birthday.  I try every day to just savor the moment, because it’s gone in the blink of an eye.

I was up at 2:00 a.m. this morning.  I couldn’t sleep because I felt like God was giving me things to write about.  I laid their trying to go back to bed, and then I would think of something else to write about.

The main thing I wanted to mention is that Jeff and I started 2010 in prayer, fasting and reading the bible.  I was able to fast for seven days and Jeff fasted for almost 40.  (He cut it short to have Birthday cake with Miss D).  The type of fast we did is called The Daniel Fast.  If you are curious about it go to http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/danielfast.php.  It will answer any questions you may have.

Let me just tell you that before the Daniel Fast, I had never fasted longer than one day.  To fast an entire week seemed almost impossible.  But, when we started talking about it, I knew in my heart that I needed to do it.  I wanted to give God the first week of 2010. I want him to show up and show off.  I’m tired of doing the same ol’ same ol’.  I want more.  I want to take things to the next level.  I want to heal from these past 3 years.  By day 7 I felt like a new Marsha.  I felt healthier, more focused, loved, refreshed and satisfied. The only explanation as to how or why I felt that way is JESUS. 

Since the first day of 2010 God has been dealing with me to give him my first fruits.  Giving of the first fruits basically mean to give to God from a grateful heart. It sets a pattern of giving back to Him the first (and the best) of what He has given us.  In the Bible people would give God the first fruits of the Harvest as an offering to Him. I started thinking about giving him the first hour of the day, first day of the week, first week of the year. 

Over the last few weeks I have been DVRing some of my favorite Biblical programs.  (Beth Moore, Joyce Myers, Joel Osteen and Paula White).  The very first one that I sat down to watch was Paula White talking about giving God our first fruits.  I thought to myself “That’s weird, I’ve been thinking about that since January 1, 2010”.  So I listened to every word she had to say.

The very next morning I got up 30 minutes earlier than my normal time and gave it to God.  All that I can say is that the day was sooo smooth. 

The very next morning I sat down to watch someone else and guess what they said “You need to put God first”.  I thought….”Okay, that has to be a coincidence.”  So after that show ended I watched someone else that I DVR’d and guess what they talked about?  Yep, you guessed it, giving God the first of everything. 

Needless to say that the 5 shows that I randomly recorded with four different people over the past few weeks all talked about “FIRST FRUITS”. I felt like God slapped me upside the head.  Okay God, got it.  (Does He ever have to slap you like He does me sometimes?  Unfortunately sometimes that’s what it takes to get my attention). He’s still working on me!

I said all of that to say this….where is God at in your life?  I used to not find 20 minutes in my day to spend with Him because I was just TOO busy.  Yet I could get on Facebook and check everyone's status.  (You all know that can eat up 20 minutes of your day or more).  Ouch. I want to challenge you to take the first few minutes of your day to pray, read, sing, or just thank Him for all that He’s done for you.  I guarantee you will not loose those minutes that you spend with Him.  Maybe you could get up on Sunday and just give him a couple hours at Church.  I know that you would leave there feeling better than before you got there. He will supernaturally multiply your time.  How do I know?  He’s been doing it to me since the first of the year.

I’ve taken enough of your time for one day.  I pray that 2010 brings you HOPE, healing, freedom, blessings and such an outpouring of love you almost can’t contain it.

Much love,

Marsha