Praying for my Husband

This guy rocks my world!  I know, I know...cheesy!  But, it's true!  I'm so thankful for Matt.  He is such an amazing husband and father.  February is my hubby's birthday month.  It's also holds Valentine's Day.  So, in the spirit of loving my husband, and going after the best God has for him and our marriage, I'm going to do this...

And, before you comment to tell me--yes, I know, February only has 29 days.  I think I'll just double up on his birthday and Valentine's Day and that will take care of that!

It's super duper simple.  There is a day-by-day plan that guides you.  It gives a brief description of what to pray each day and lists scripture references, as well.  If you want to join me, check out the article at Revive Our Hearts and leave a comment so I know who's with me!

Precious littlest one

Last night, Eli spent the night at Mema and PaPa's house with his sweet girl cousins and Jacob was back at his mom's for the week.  That left our littlest, Abel, as an only child for the night.  I had my Weight Watcher's meeting last night (down 38 pounds total) which gave Daddy and Abel some wonderful one-on-one time.  This morning, I ran errands and went to the library with my precious youngest boy.  Oh, how sweet that time was.  It is rare to have alone time with Abel.  He wakes up first, but shares a room with Eli, so both are usually up at the same time.  Abel is the first to bed at night.  His nap coincides with Eli's most days.  This morning was a blessing.  I was reminded of how much he is growing and how blessed I am to be his mama.  He is the happiest and friendliest toddler I have ever known.  I love watching him turn a stranger's frown to a smile with his wave and greeting.  I mean, who could resist this kid??

This morning, we sang and clapped; we read books and did fingerplays; we shopped and talked.  He brought joy to my busy world.  God has entrusted me with the responsibility of training this little one up and I pray daily that He leads me as I do His work.  I think it's just a bonus that this sweet little boy (and his two brothers) bless me daily as I answer His calling.

Please join us in prayer!

After a phone call with my mom this morning, I headed over to Nate's blog. According to the doctors, Tricia's chemo is not doing what is was hoped to do and a new spot has appeared. Please join the hundreds and hundreds of people praying for this family! We trust God in this and every situation!

Jumping the Gun

When Matt got off work today, he let me know that the buyout is not certain. It is contingent on the government bailout, so they are in a holding pattern.

Matt has a great peace about the whole thing. Of course, my female-driven hysteria makes up for his peace. Just kidding!! I know we are blessed!!

Thanks for your prayers and please continue to keep us in your prayers. We will also be lifting up all the many who have been or will be displaced due to the country's awful financial situation.

Financial Crisis Hits Home

The news has broken that Wachovia Corp, Matt's employer, is being bought out by Citibank. Please join us in prayer for Matt's job security! Employees are receiving very little information right now which leaves lots of room for speculation and breeds worry and concern! With all that said, Matt takes great pride in his ability to provide for our family and works tirelessly to be sure that we are well cared for. We believe that God will reward him for his efforts. We are trusting Him and know that no matter what may happen, He is Jehovah Jireh, Our Provider! Thanks so much for praying!!

40 Days of Prayer

Forty Days of Prayer for the Children is a prayer project sponsored by Children's Cup. Their work is focused on helping children who are in the most disadvantaged, underprivileged, and challenging situations--to find hope and healing in Jesus' name. Please support Children's Cup and join the Forty Days of Prayer for the Children beginning this Friday, August 1, continuing through September 9. You can get more information at http://fortydays.childrenscup.org/ including a guide to specific prayer topics for each day.

It's all about these children...

Thank you!!!

Hello muddah, Hello fadduh!

Jacob heads off to Camp KidJam at Wake Forest University with our church on Monday! The theme this year is "Take it in--Live it out!" Please pray that Jacob and all the other kiddos at camp learn more about how to take in what Jesus tells us, and then live it out at home, and school. Please pray for their safety. Please pray that they all have a great time. Please pray that God moves in a mighty way and works in our kiddos hearts. Please pray for all of us parents left at home, especially those of us who've never sent our kiddos away to overnight camp!

Thanks so much for your prayers! I can't wait to let Jacob share his camp adventures with you all!

Music to my ears!

Sorry the video's so dark, but it's the audio that matters on this one anyway! Take a listen!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

Eli decided to skip the whole rolling from belly to back step and went straight for back to belly. You know, he's advanced like that! :)

Time of corporate (yet long distance) prayer

Check out this post by Nate's dad regarding a time of prayer to intercede for Tricia and her tests and health in general. Please take some time tomorrow from 7-10am to pray. I know they appreciate it!

Bump in the road

Many of you who read my blog also follow the Lawrenson's blog.


Please take a moment to read Nathan's post entitled "Plans" and lift their family up in prayer. If you don't know their story, you can catch up here. Their journey has been a tough one, but God has shown up and shown out, so to speak. I pray that God continues to work miracles in this family!! Their story has been an inspiration to many...including me!

Two things

I'm praying in agreement with this post today.

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This is why I love living out in the country (aka "fake Raleigh")

This is not the actual deer that meandered across our yard this morning. Between me oohing and aahing, then running into Matt's office to let him know the wonders of nature were actually in our yard, by the time I remembered that we owned a camera and oh, wouldn't this be a great picture, the little doe had wandered off into the woods.

This is why I do not always love living in the country.

This is the actual snake that was on our back deck--he's much bigger than the one that was hanging out in our driveway, sorry no pic of that one. He's peeking in Matt's office to check on him. Our local snake charmer (aka Matt) gathered the snake up on a broom handle and escorted him back into the woods. I however would have prefered the old shovel to the head method for dealing with the snake, but Mr. Snake Charmer assured me this guy was a good guy and kept the varmints from coming in our house to reside.

I guess sometimes you have to take the good with the bad!

Is is just me or does that sentence above remind you of The Facts of Life TV show. You know it, sing it with me...you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life.

Okay, enough fun for now! Hope you have a great day!

Twelve weeks and a toenail

Today Eli is 12 weeks old! I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home and I was a hormonal, nervous, obsessive-compulsive, over-worrying, over-analyzing, over-scheduling, over-the-top, first-time mommy to a newborn mess! But here we are 12 weeks later and although I still worry and analyze, I've calmed down so much and Eli and I are both better because of it! I feel so blessed that God has given Matt and me two wonderful boys to raise. I pray the He continues to help us train them up in His ways so that they can be world changers for Him!


On another note, I spent the afternoon at the doctor. Yes, the afternoon. Although I had an appointment at 3:45, you know how the doctor's office can be. I wish I could bill them for my time. You know, the recent calculations by salary.com has a SAHM making $117,000/year and if I do my math right, the doc owes me somewhere around $75. But I digress. I was at the doctor due to a red, swollen, and OH SO PAINFUL big toe. For your viewing pleasure, I took a picture, but had second thoughts when I realized I might lose readers...or readers might lose their dinner. So off to the doctor I went. I checked in and hobbled over to find some worthy reading material for the wait. Do you know there was no People or InTouch magazine to be found?!? I was forced to settle in with the Time magazine (I ought to charge the doc extra for that pain and suffering). What seemed like an eternity later, my name was called. The nurse greeted me with a cheery "And how are we today?" Ok, first off, what's with the "we"? And secondly, you have my chart, you know what time my appointment was actually scheduled for, you know why I'm here, you saw me hobble over after replacing the dreaded Time magazine...YOU KNOW HOW I AM! But I politely give the nurse the expected "I'm fine" and we head to the back. After the fun task of stepping on the scale, I was put in the exam room to wait some more. Once the doctor came in, he looked at my toe and determined it was infected--most likely due to improper nail cutting or an ingrown toenail. He asked if it was painful. I said OH YES and then he proceeded to poke and prod and pull at my poor red, swollen, and OH SO PAINFUL big toe. While he did that, I prayed that I would not accidentally kick his teeth in from the pain! He prescribed a shot of antibiotics (which I discovered later was to be administered in my rear end) and an oral antibiotic plus soaking and releasing the pressure (I will not get more detailed here) three times a day! He smiled, told me to have a great day and off he went. Tonight, the toe is feeling a little better...but, my rear-end is sore! I guess I'll have to take the trade off!!

Answered prayers

Many of you have joined me in praying for the Lawrensons. You can read about them here at Nate's blog. In an answer to prayer, Tricia and Gwyneth are both "home" from the hospital. They will temporarily be in Durham while Tricia recuperates from her double lung transplant (another answered prayer). Praise God!

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Ps. 37:4

New baby, prayer request!

Matt's sister Mary gave birth to a baby boy, Callum Albert William Burnett on May 2nd at 2:42am. She labored for about 25 hours and the labor was not easy. Please pray for Callum (and Mary and Iain) as he has pneumonia and will be kept in the hospital for at least a week. I know this will be a difficult time for Mary and Iain and baby Callum, but we know that God has a plan and is holding them in His hands. Thanks for your prayers!

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. NIV (emphasis mine)

Please Pray!

Many of you who read my blog might remember me mentioning this family before. This is Tricia and Nate Lawrenson. Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis. She delivered a beautiful little girl (15+ weeks prematurely) 12 weeks ago. Yesterday (which was Nate's birthday...wow), Tricia received word that she would be getting new lungs. The double lung transplant was performed overnight and she is now in ICU at Duke. You can get all the details at Nate's blog here and his dad's blog here.

Please join me in prayer for this family as they continue this journey!

Tricia and Gwyneth updates

Happy Birthday, Gwyneth.
Baby Gwyneth was delivered by emergency C-section yesterday. Both she and mom, Tricia, are in very fragile states. Please head over to her hubby's blog here to get the most recent updates. Please continue to pray for this precious family!

PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

Tricia is not doing well and for the sake of both her health and the health their unborn little girl, Gwyneth Rose, they have opted to proceed with a C-section. It will take place either this afternoon or tomorrow. Please join us in prayer for this entire situation. Details of specific prayer requests are available at Tricia's husband's blog. Feel free to click that link to let them know that you are praying for them.

As I sit and read about what Tricia and Nate are going through and reflect upon the many baby and pregnancy blogs that have come in my path, I feel so humbled. I"m brought to tears! Our little Eli is healthy. I'm healthy and everything is progressing normally. I've done nothing to deserve this gift. God has blessed us with it and I am more thankful than I could ever express. It rips my heart out to think of what these parents and families are going through. Truly, it is by the grace of God that they continue to press on daily. Their faith and trust in Him is inspiring! It is such a testimony! Please take the time today to pray for Tricia and Nate!!!


Isaiah 53:5 says "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

Prayer Request

I was catching up on my blog reading last night and came upon this blog via Jordan and Patience Leino's blog. Please join with us in praying for this family who is dealing with an extremely risky pregnancy and trusting God through the journey! What an inspiration! Reading these blogs has really opened my eyes and makes me so aware that it's truly a blessing and a gift from God to have a healthy pregnancy. I am so thankful!

Big Day!!

Today's the day! Please cover us in prayer as we go to the perinatologist this morning. We have such mixed emotions--excitement, anxiety, elation, trepidation. We know we'll find out about the placenta, about any structural abnormalities, and the gender. That's quite a doctor's appointment! After we leave, we're swinging by Jacob's school to let him know first, then we'll head home and I'll post. Talk to you then!