As many of you know I have started working out and eating differently so that I can get into shape. I have contemplated making a Facebook page for people to follow my progress and for accountability. I was wondering what you all think.
Should I create a page of just keep updating on Facebook like I have been doing? Answer in the comments. Thanks!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
Laying My Troubles At the Lords Feet
Do you ever have something that bothers you so bad that you really can't get over that one thing? Usually it is a problem that you have no control over whatsoever. I can relate.
I have only told a few people what I am about to divulge here. So please read it with love and understanding.
We have 6 children ranging in age from 12yrs down to 5yrs. Our children are what people like to call stair steps. We didn't mean to have them at any particular spacing, it just seemed to happen that way.
We had our first and I started back on birth control but stopped taking it soon after since I was nursing and it caused my milk supply to drop. We became pregnant again when Amberly was 7 months old but lost that baby. The very next month I conceived Seth and his twin (whom he has named Michael). I lost Michael around the 12 week of pregnancy. During my pregnancy with Seth we started to search the Bible to find out what the Lord said about birth control. The one thing that we read over and over again about children was that they were the Lords blessing. The thought started to resonate with us that maybe we shouldn't discourage children from being conceived.
It was pretty easy after that. The babies came and who doesn't love a new baby? Rebekah was born when Seth was just 18mo old. Noah showed up when Rebekah was just 16mo old. Then came our closest spacing, Noah and Lori. Lori was born 15mo after Noah. It was busy to say the least! Then we had a long break for us. It was a full 22mo before Hallie came along. I thanked the Lord for giving us a bigger break.
By this time trusting the Lord with our fertility and child spacing had become an easy thing. We didn't even think about it. In fact we had come to just expect that once the last child was around 9 months of age, that I would be carrying the next one. That's just how it worked (or so we thought).
Boy, were we in for a wake up call!
Around the time Hallie turned 6mo old I had taken a pregnancy test. It was positive but that pregnancy ended 2 weeks later. Then there was nothing. We had entered a whole new realm of trust with the Lord and I did not like it one little bit. I began to worry about my body and Daniels. I mean, why weren't we getting pregnant? What was wrong with us? Why was God punishing us? Of course, I didn't verbalize these things that soon, but you can bet they were there. Trusting God seemed to be a lot easier when he was giving me something that I wanted. :-) Daniel reminded me to be thankful for the children that we did have. At the time, I was thankful for my children. I just wanted to have another.
Fast forward 2 years and many pregnancy tests later, still no baby. It was at this point that I was getting frantic. I mean, I was about to turn 30 and I was just sure that it was all gonna be over after 30. I started asking my gynecologist questions and she responded with, all's well. So, it was then, that I stepped over the threshold into the land of "trying to get pregnant". I temped and charted, I timed everything so that we would have the best chance of getting pregnant. Nothing worked. I never mentioned this to anyone because I didn't want to hear that I should be thankful. I wanted another baby and that was that.
(I just wanted to add that I don't think it was a bad thing for me to want another baby. I think that is a very good desire for a woman to have. That being said, secondary infertility is just as painful as primary infertility. So if you know a woman that has a child or even more than one child whose arms feel empty, please so her some compassion. It's not her fault that she doesn't feel as if her family is complete yet. She isn't just being selfish, I promise.)
It was then that I started to get very bitter. I thought that I "deserved" another baby. Prideful, right? Instead of trusting God, I was having a problem just hearing a pregnancy announcement. I stopped holding new babies because it made me too emotional. It was a rough time that lasted way too long. I got mad at Daniel for not being as torn up about our inability to get pregnant as I was. It was horrible. But like everything, it all works together for our good.
I started to pray about it. I started to study the Bible. It does say that children are Gods blessing and I still believe that with every fiber of my being. We still are trusting the Lord with his timing, but I have finally laid the burden of my fertility at Gods feet where it belongs. And after I did, such a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I can now enjoy the children that I have and not worry about it. With that burden has disappeared my bitterness for pregnancy announcements and seeing women with pregnant bellies walking around the mall. I wish I had known what to do 4 years ago, but I doubt that it would've had the same effect. I don't know if God will bless us with any more children but I know that He has opened our hearts to adoption through all of this. So maybe our family will grow through that avenue. I don't know right now and that's just fine.
God bless you all!
I have only told a few people what I am about to divulge here. So please read it with love and understanding.
We have 6 children ranging in age from 12yrs down to 5yrs. Our children are what people like to call stair steps. We didn't mean to have them at any particular spacing, it just seemed to happen that way.
We had our first and I started back on birth control but stopped taking it soon after since I was nursing and it caused my milk supply to drop. We became pregnant again when Amberly was 7 months old but lost that baby. The very next month I conceived Seth and his twin (whom he has named Michael). I lost Michael around the 12 week of pregnancy. During my pregnancy with Seth we started to search the Bible to find out what the Lord said about birth control. The one thing that we read over and over again about children was that they were the Lords blessing. The thought started to resonate with us that maybe we shouldn't discourage children from being conceived.
It was pretty easy after that. The babies came and who doesn't love a new baby? Rebekah was born when Seth was just 18mo old. Noah showed up when Rebekah was just 16mo old. Then came our closest spacing, Noah and Lori. Lori was born 15mo after Noah. It was busy to say the least! Then we had a long break for us. It was a full 22mo before Hallie came along. I thanked the Lord for giving us a bigger break.
By this time trusting the Lord with our fertility and child spacing had become an easy thing. We didn't even think about it. In fact we had come to just expect that once the last child was around 9 months of age, that I would be carrying the next one. That's just how it worked (or so we thought).
Boy, were we in for a wake up call!
Around the time Hallie turned 6mo old I had taken a pregnancy test. It was positive but that pregnancy ended 2 weeks later. Then there was nothing. We had entered a whole new realm of trust with the Lord and I did not like it one little bit. I began to worry about my body and Daniels. I mean, why weren't we getting pregnant? What was wrong with us? Why was God punishing us? Of course, I didn't verbalize these things that soon, but you can bet they were there. Trusting God seemed to be a lot easier when he was giving me something that I wanted. :-) Daniel reminded me to be thankful for the children that we did have. At the time, I was thankful for my children. I just wanted to have another.
Fast forward 2 years and many pregnancy tests later, still no baby. It was at this point that I was getting frantic. I mean, I was about to turn 30 and I was just sure that it was all gonna be over after 30. I started asking my gynecologist questions and she responded with, all's well. So, it was then, that I stepped over the threshold into the land of "trying to get pregnant". I temped and charted, I timed everything so that we would have the best chance of getting pregnant. Nothing worked. I never mentioned this to anyone because I didn't want to hear that I should be thankful. I wanted another baby and that was that.
(I just wanted to add that I don't think it was a bad thing for me to want another baby. I think that is a very good desire for a woman to have. That being said, secondary infertility is just as painful as primary infertility. So if you know a woman that has a child or even more than one child whose arms feel empty, please so her some compassion. It's not her fault that she doesn't feel as if her family is complete yet. She isn't just being selfish, I promise.)
It was then that I started to get very bitter. I thought that I "deserved" another baby. Prideful, right? Instead of trusting God, I was having a problem just hearing a pregnancy announcement. I stopped holding new babies because it made me too emotional. It was a rough time that lasted way too long. I got mad at Daniel for not being as torn up about our inability to get pregnant as I was. It was horrible. But like everything, it all works together for our good.
I started to pray about it. I started to study the Bible. It does say that children are Gods blessing and I still believe that with every fiber of my being. We still are trusting the Lord with his timing, but I have finally laid the burden of my fertility at Gods feet where it belongs. And after I did, such a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I can now enjoy the children that I have and not worry about it. With that burden has disappeared my bitterness for pregnancy announcements and seeing women with pregnant bellies walking around the mall. I wish I had known what to do 4 years ago, but I doubt that it would've had the same effect. I don't know if God will bless us with any more children but I know that He has opened our hearts to adoption through all of this. So maybe our family will grow through that avenue. I don't know right now and that's just fine.
God bless you all!
Rebekah's Birth Story
In April we have 2 birthdays to celebrate, Amberly's and Rebekah's.
Rebekah's birthday is the 12th. It wasn't supposed to be though. Her due date was May 5th. She has been anxious to get to business since before she was born. :-)
My pregnancy with Rebekah was not an easy one. Daniel had just been stationed in Abilene at Dyess AFB so we were moving into a strange new place. For the first five and a half months I could barely keep water down. I lost 18lbs those first few months. It was so bad that it finally scared Daniel and he took me into the ER where they gave me about 4 bags of fluid. After that, I started feeling better.
I had sought the care of a lay midwife since there were no CNM in the Abilene area. I tried to keep my obstetrician but he kicked us out of his office when he found out that we were planning a home birth! So we finally found a midwife and started our care with her. Everything went fine after my extreme morning sickness stopped. We didn't even tell anyone that we were expecting until I was 20 weeks along. It was like it was our own little secret and we didn't have to hear anything negative about having another baby. :-)
At around 35 weeks, like always, I started contracting on and off but my midwife told me that nothing was "happening" so to calm down and relax. On the afternoon of April 11th I started having some contractions and I tried to ignore them and go about the day. I was 37 weeks that day so I wasn't really worried. We went to the grocery store and then to Babys R Us to get another package of diapers. When Daniel got home from work that afternoon I started cooking dinner and then I felt a small pop and felt a gush of water. My water had broke!
I called my midwife who came right on over and checked things out. I was at 4cm dilated and 50% effaced. She couldn't tell if it was my amniotic sac that had ruptured or not. She left to go check on her daughter and Daniel and I put the kids to bed and settled down for a movie. I kept feeling contractions but they weren't getting bad at all. This continued all night. The next morning my midwife came over and asked to talk to Daniel outside. She told him that she wanted the rest of her payment then. He gave it to her and she told him to take me to the hospital. She said that nothing was wrong but that she had just had a mother deliver a still born baby under her care and she didn't want to take a risk. That would've been understandable but what she said next was not. She said that she would not be accompanying me to the hospital like she had promised she would do in the event that I needed to be transferred to a hospital. She just took her money and left! I had no idea what to do! Daniel called for our babysitter and then we left for the hospital. We knew full well what kind of treatment we were going to get when we got there. And we were right. We were considered outcasts for trying to have a homebirth. All the nurses were looking down their noses at us. And the doctor did too. We finally asked for a new nurse and doctor. The nurse that came in was totally different (praise God) and the doctor was way more laid back as well.
I am terrified of Pitocin so after contractions were established my nurse turned it down. She said that after I had established a good pattern of labor then it was no longer needed. She unhooked my i.v. so that I could have mobility and she even got down on the floor with me when I had to get into weird positions to cope. Less than an hour later I was pushing.
Here's where it got funny. The doctor thought that he was helping, I guess. He knew our method of coaching that we use. We use "Husband Coached Childbirth" better known as the Bradley Method. He kept telling me not to push (even though my body was pushing) and he kept telling Daniel to get me under control. HA! Then he was pushing down on me (down there) claiming that he was stretching things. It was hurting more than the actual pain of childbirth. So I told him that I was gonna kick him if he didn't stop. He ignored me until the nurse told him to watch out. I was about to let him have it and the nurse felt me pull my leg back to kick. Thankfully, he quit. Finally Rebekah was born and it was more than an hour before they let me hold her. They kept telling me that her oxygen saturation wasn't high enough even though she had pinked up and was breathing fine. Turns out, the machine was messed up. She was our smallest baby. 5lbs 10oz and 19 inches long. But she has always been a fighter and she still is to this day.
God Bless you all!
Rebekah's birthday is the 12th. It wasn't supposed to be though. Her due date was May 5th. She has been anxious to get to business since before she was born. :-)
My pregnancy with Rebekah was not an easy one. Daniel had just been stationed in Abilene at Dyess AFB so we were moving into a strange new place. For the first five and a half months I could barely keep water down. I lost 18lbs those first few months. It was so bad that it finally scared Daniel and he took me into the ER where they gave me about 4 bags of fluid. After that, I started feeling better.
I had sought the care of a lay midwife since there were no CNM in the Abilene area. I tried to keep my obstetrician but he kicked us out of his office when he found out that we were planning a home birth! So we finally found a midwife and started our care with her. Everything went fine after my extreme morning sickness stopped. We didn't even tell anyone that we were expecting until I was 20 weeks along. It was like it was our own little secret and we didn't have to hear anything negative about having another baby. :-)
At around 35 weeks, like always, I started contracting on and off but my midwife told me that nothing was "happening" so to calm down and relax. On the afternoon of April 11th I started having some contractions and I tried to ignore them and go about the day. I was 37 weeks that day so I wasn't really worried. We went to the grocery store and then to Babys R Us to get another package of diapers. When Daniel got home from work that afternoon I started cooking dinner and then I felt a small pop and felt a gush of water. My water had broke!
I called my midwife who came right on over and checked things out. I was at 4cm dilated and 50% effaced. She couldn't tell if it was my amniotic sac that had ruptured or not. She left to go check on her daughter and Daniel and I put the kids to bed and settled down for a movie. I kept feeling contractions but they weren't getting bad at all. This continued all night. The next morning my midwife came over and asked to talk to Daniel outside. She told him that she wanted the rest of her payment then. He gave it to her and she told him to take me to the hospital. She said that nothing was wrong but that she had just had a mother deliver a still born baby under her care and she didn't want to take a risk. That would've been understandable but what she said next was not. She said that she would not be accompanying me to the hospital like she had promised she would do in the event that I needed to be transferred to a hospital. She just took her money and left! I had no idea what to do! Daniel called for our babysitter and then we left for the hospital. We knew full well what kind of treatment we were going to get when we got there. And we were right. We were considered outcasts for trying to have a homebirth. All the nurses were looking down their noses at us. And the doctor did too. We finally asked for a new nurse and doctor. The nurse that came in was totally different (praise God) and the doctor was way more laid back as well.
I am terrified of Pitocin so after contractions were established my nurse turned it down. She said that after I had established a good pattern of labor then it was no longer needed. She unhooked my i.v. so that I could have mobility and she even got down on the floor with me when I had to get into weird positions to cope. Less than an hour later I was pushing.
Here's where it got funny. The doctor thought that he was helping, I guess. He knew our method of coaching that we use. We use "Husband Coached Childbirth" better known as the Bradley Method. He kept telling me not to push (even though my body was pushing) and he kept telling Daniel to get me under control. HA! Then he was pushing down on me (down there) claiming that he was stretching things. It was hurting more than the actual pain of childbirth. So I told him that I was gonna kick him if he didn't stop. He ignored me until the nurse told him to watch out. I was about to let him have it and the nurse felt me pull my leg back to kick. Thankfully, he quit. Finally Rebekah was born and it was more than an hour before they let me hold her. They kept telling me that her oxygen saturation wasn't high enough even though she had pinked up and was breathing fine. Turns out, the machine was messed up. She was our smallest baby. 5lbs 10oz and 19 inches long. But she has always been a fighter and she still is to this day.
God Bless you all!
Monday, April 1, 2013
How Not To Treat the Mother of a Large Family
How Not To Treat the Mother of a Large Family
The title of this post sounds a lot more innocent than it really is. I wanted to title this post, What To Say To the Mother Of A Large Family If You Enjoy Getting Smacked Upside Your Head but I thought that was a tad too wordy.
As you can probably imagine, the comments that I get on a daily basis range from light hearted to down right inappropriate. Some people adore the thought of a large family or perhaps they were raised in one themselves. Others are amazed at our stupidity.
The comments started a lot earlier than you would think. We started getting them after we had our second and soon after I was expecting again. You would think a woman pushing two children around in a shopping cart with a pregnant belly wouldn't draw too much attention but you would be very wrong.
So without further ado, here are some of the gems that we have heard over the years. I have arranged these in no particular order but I have included what I have wanted to say (or in some cases did say) for your reading enjoyment. :-)
1. Don't you know what causes that? What I thought: Really? Really!?! Do I need to explain this to you? What I have really said: "It either has something to do with us washing our underwear together or it's something in the water."
2. Are you Catholic, Mormon, Amish....? What I thought: Do I look Amish? Profile much? What I said: "No, we are Primitive Baptist and no, not all Primitive Baptist have X number children."
3. Don't you have a T.V./cable? What I thought: If you think anything on television is more fun than what causes kids then you, my dear, are doing it wrong. What I have said: "Why, yes, we do."
4. Are they all yours? What I thought: No, we just drive around and pick up kids until our van is full and then we go grocery shopping. What we say: Daniel tells them that they are all his but he's not sure who their Moms are.
5. You sure have your hands full. What I thought: Sure do, now let me cut in line. :-) What I said: "Yes, I do. We have been very blessed."
6. What kind of birth control do you use? (This is the rudest comment ever.) What I thought: Really? How is that any of your business? What I said: "We don't believe in birth control." I think in the future I will just repeat the question to the person that asks it. (If they are asking in a mean spirit.)
7. Which one is your favorite (the best kid)? Usually followed closely by, Which one is your least favorite (or the worst kid)? (This one is usually asked in front of all of the kids.) What I thought: What kind of idiot are you to ask me that, especially in front of my kids? What Daniel said: "What kind of question is that and why would you ask me it in front of the kids?. LOL
8. Are you planning on getting fixed? What I thought? You are a nosey rosy. I think you should fix your manners. What I said: "Clearly, nothing is broken."
9. Better you than me! What I thought: With that attitude, yes! What I said: "Yes ma'am/sir."
10. When are you gonna stop? What I thought: When you stop asking silly questions. What I said: "Well, we aren't gonna stop until we have an ugly one and every time we have another they just keep getting cuter!" or "That's up to God."
I could go on but I see no need. As you can see, there is no end to the nonsense. In fact, it has become a source of amusement for Daniel and I to watch people in restaurants as we walk to our table. Most people aren't aware of how their heads bob up and down and how their mouths move when they are counting the children. We just smile, sit the kids down in their spots and hope that they behave. If we are approached we smile and try and convey to the person that is inquiring into our lives that we are just ordinary people trying to serve and extraordinary God.
God Bless you all!
The title of this post sounds a lot more innocent than it really is. I wanted to title this post, What To Say To the Mother Of A Large Family If You Enjoy Getting Smacked Upside Your Head but I thought that was a tad too wordy.
As you can probably imagine, the comments that I get on a daily basis range from light hearted to down right inappropriate. Some people adore the thought of a large family or perhaps they were raised in one themselves. Others are amazed at our stupidity.
The comments started a lot earlier than you would think. We started getting them after we had our second and soon after I was expecting again. You would think a woman pushing two children around in a shopping cart with a pregnant belly wouldn't draw too much attention but you would be very wrong.
So without further ado, here are some of the gems that we have heard over the years. I have arranged these in no particular order but I have included what I have wanted to say (or in some cases did say) for your reading enjoyment. :-)
1. Don't you know what causes that? What I thought: Really? Really!?! Do I need to explain this to you? What I have really said: "It either has something to do with us washing our underwear together or it's something in the water."
2. Are you Catholic, Mormon, Amish....? What I thought: Do I look Amish? Profile much? What I said: "No, we are Primitive Baptist and no, not all Primitive Baptist have X number children."
3. Don't you have a T.V./cable? What I thought: If you think anything on television is more fun than what causes kids then you, my dear, are doing it wrong. What I have said: "Why, yes, we do."
4. Are they all yours? What I thought: No, we just drive around and pick up kids until our van is full and then we go grocery shopping. What we say: Daniel tells them that they are all his but he's not sure who their Moms are.
5. You sure have your hands full. What I thought: Sure do, now let me cut in line. :-) What I said: "Yes, I do. We have been very blessed."
6. What kind of birth control do you use? (This is the rudest comment ever.) What I thought: Really? How is that any of your business? What I said: "We don't believe in birth control." I think in the future I will just repeat the question to the person that asks it. (If they are asking in a mean spirit.)
7. Which one is your favorite (the best kid)? Usually followed closely by, Which one is your least favorite (or the worst kid)? (This one is usually asked in front of all of the kids.) What I thought: What kind of idiot are you to ask me that, especially in front of my kids? What Daniel said: "What kind of question is that and why would you ask me it in front of the kids?. LOL
8. Are you planning on getting fixed? What I thought? You are a nosey rosy. I think you should fix your manners. What I said: "Clearly, nothing is broken."
9. Better you than me! What I thought: With that attitude, yes! What I said: "Yes ma'am/sir."
10. When are you gonna stop? What I thought: When you stop asking silly questions. What I said: "Well, we aren't gonna stop until we have an ugly one and every time we have another they just keep getting cuter!" or "That's up to God."
I could go on but I see no need. As you can see, there is no end to the nonsense. In fact, it has become a source of amusement for Daniel and I to watch people in restaurants as we walk to our table. Most people aren't aware of how their heads bob up and down and how their mouths move when they are counting the children. We just smile, sit the kids down in their spots and hope that they behave. If we are approached we smile and try and convey to the person that is inquiring into our lives that we are just ordinary people trying to serve and extraordinary God.
God Bless you all!
Be Fruitful and Multiply
To Be Fruitful and Multiply
I hope that you all are having a very blessed Monday morning. It was a great weekend for the Warrick Family. First, we enjoyed a visit from Daniels parents and then we were so blessed to have a wonderful Sunday full of fun and fellowship at church for Easter Sunday. Some of the women in the church put together an Easter egg hunt for the kids and they had a ball! They also had plenty of sugar! Daniel and I did as well since we have imposed a candy tax on our children. This means that anytime our children hit the jackpot and their "cup runneth over" with candy, we get a piece (or two). Ah... the perks of being a parent.
Any who, as I was looking over the pictures of all of the children hunting eggs, I realized how blessed each set of parents was that was there yesterday. We have all been blessed with one (or more) of the Lord's blessings. Each time a child comes into the world the Lord is trusting you with the nurturing of one of his miracles. Have you ever thought about that? That is a very humbling thought.
I decided to look up in the Bible the term "be fruitful and multiply". I used the King James Version of the Bible (the only Bible that we use) that is online. I was lazy and the computer version counts it for me. :-) The phrase "be fruitful and multiply" is found 64 times. It applies to having children 48 times. The other 16 are references to animals and fields being fruitful. If something is mentioned over and over in the Bible, I believe that we better pay attention. We also believe that God has not rescended this command so it still is applicable to life today. Has God changed or have we?
I also looked for references that describe children. The ones that I found describe children as a reward, blessing, or an heritage of the Lord. These do not seem to be negative words to describe children. In fact, the words that the scriptures use to describe children are some of the most positive words we can think of. (Has God changed or have we?)
If this is the case, why is it that so many people seek to avoid having a child? It's not just a "worldly" attitude either. It is an idea that has invaded the Lord's people as well. So, I decided to look up several different words/phrases that have to do with not want children or wanting to limit the number of children that are born. In every scriptural instance that I found, being childless or having limited children was spoken of in a way that, in my opinion, shows that it is a shameful thing. (Has God changed or have we?)
Now, I am in now way striking out at anyone. Everyone has to read the Bible for themselves and make their own choices. I am just pointing out that it was frowned upon.
So why are so many people today more interested in having a huge home, a brand new car, and all of the bells and whistles (along with the bills) that come with having it all? At the same time, why are they so sure that their hearts and pocketbooks can only handle one or two children? Wouldn't another child be more enjoyable to have around than a jet ski? And why have a mini-mansion with all of the perfect decor if there will only be very few people around the home to enjoy it?
Having a large family isn't for everyone. I certainly didn't think that it would be for me until I met my husband and his rather large extended family. Daniel was the oldest of five children and his mother was one of twelve. The get togethers at his Grandpas house were quite an event. People roamed all around the property and house. Children climb all the trees, played in the woods, and some even spent their whole weekends camping down at the bayou. It was all so strange and wonderful to me. I never wanted to leave once I got there. There were so many people to talk to and such good food and fellowship. I love those memories that I have from that time in my life. I never thought that I would get any of the names straight!
Then there are people that would go out to Grandpa's and while they would enjoy their time there, they would leave and be glad to get back to the calm of their life. You see, when you have many children, there is much chaos at times. There are many opinions, some squabbles, lots and lots and lots of noise, lots of dirty dishes, and lots of dirty clothes. Some people just cannot deal with it or so they think. God grows us into our roles most of the time. Sometimes we do have to jump in with both feet and flail around until we realize that God only threw us into water that was just shallow enough for us. Then we stand up and carry on. I could not have handled six kids whenever I first got married. I couldn't handle myself! I was 18 years old when we were married and Daniel was only 20.
God has only given us what we can handle. He is a great God and He knows His children. We let God plan our family. No, we are not trying to be the next Duggar family, although they are good role models. We are just putting the size of our family in God's hands and putting faith in Him since He knows best. We are of the mind that if God said to do something in the Bible, you are supposed to do it. If God said not to do something then you don't do it. If he is silent on a subject then you have to read the word and look at the examples that are given and use those instances to form your opinion. As long as you do it prayerfully and with love, you are on the right track.
Look at your children and see them as the blessings that they are!
God Bless you all!
I hope that you all are having a very blessed Monday morning. It was a great weekend for the Warrick Family. First, we enjoyed a visit from Daniels parents and then we were so blessed to have a wonderful Sunday full of fun and fellowship at church for Easter Sunday. Some of the women in the church put together an Easter egg hunt for the kids and they had a ball! They also had plenty of sugar! Daniel and I did as well since we have imposed a candy tax on our children. This means that anytime our children hit the jackpot and their "cup runneth over" with candy, we get a piece (or two). Ah... the perks of being a parent.
Any who, as I was looking over the pictures of all of the children hunting eggs, I realized how blessed each set of parents was that was there yesterday. We have all been blessed with one (or more) of the Lord's blessings. Each time a child comes into the world the Lord is trusting you with the nurturing of one of his miracles. Have you ever thought about that? That is a very humbling thought.
I decided to look up in the Bible the term "be fruitful and multiply". I used the King James Version of the Bible (the only Bible that we use) that is online. I was lazy and the computer version counts it for me. :-) The phrase "be fruitful and multiply" is found 64 times. It applies to having children 48 times. The other 16 are references to animals and fields being fruitful. If something is mentioned over and over in the Bible, I believe that we better pay attention. We also believe that God has not rescended this command so it still is applicable to life today. Has God changed or have we?
I also looked for references that describe children. The ones that I found describe children as a reward, blessing, or an heritage of the Lord. These do not seem to be negative words to describe children. In fact, the words that the scriptures use to describe children are some of the most positive words we can think of. (Has God changed or have we?)
If this is the case, why is it that so many people seek to avoid having a child? It's not just a "worldly" attitude either. It is an idea that has invaded the Lord's people as well. So, I decided to look up several different words/phrases that have to do with not want children or wanting to limit the number of children that are born. In every scriptural instance that I found, being childless or having limited children was spoken of in a way that, in my opinion, shows that it is a shameful thing. (Has God changed or have we?)
Now, I am in now way striking out at anyone. Everyone has to read the Bible for themselves and make their own choices. I am just pointing out that it was frowned upon.
So why are so many people today more interested in having a huge home, a brand new car, and all of the bells and whistles (along with the bills) that come with having it all? At the same time, why are they so sure that their hearts and pocketbooks can only handle one or two children? Wouldn't another child be more enjoyable to have around than a jet ski? And why have a mini-mansion with all of the perfect decor if there will only be very few people around the home to enjoy it?
Having a large family isn't for everyone. I certainly didn't think that it would be for me until I met my husband and his rather large extended family. Daniel was the oldest of five children and his mother was one of twelve. The get togethers at his Grandpas house were quite an event. People roamed all around the property and house. Children climb all the trees, played in the woods, and some even spent their whole weekends camping down at the bayou. It was all so strange and wonderful to me. I never wanted to leave once I got there. There were so many people to talk to and such good food and fellowship. I love those memories that I have from that time in my life. I never thought that I would get any of the names straight!
Then there are people that would go out to Grandpa's and while they would enjoy their time there, they would leave and be glad to get back to the calm of their life. You see, when you have many children, there is much chaos at times. There are many opinions, some squabbles, lots and lots and lots of noise, lots of dirty dishes, and lots of dirty clothes. Some people just cannot deal with it or so they think. God grows us into our roles most of the time. Sometimes we do have to jump in with both feet and flail around until we realize that God only threw us into water that was just shallow enough for us. Then we stand up and carry on. I could not have handled six kids whenever I first got married. I couldn't handle myself! I was 18 years old when we were married and Daniel was only 20.
God has only given us what we can handle. He is a great God and He knows His children. We let God plan our family. No, we are not trying to be the next Duggar family, although they are good role models. We are just putting the size of our family in God's hands and putting faith in Him since He knows best. We are of the mind that if God said to do something in the Bible, you are supposed to do it. If God said not to do something then you don't do it. If he is silent on a subject then you have to read the word and look at the examples that are given and use those instances to form your opinion. As long as you do it prayerfully and with love, you are on the right track.
Look at your children and see them as the blessings that they are!
God Bless you all!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Amberly's Birth Story
Amberly's birth was a textbook case of a first time birth. The doctor made sure of that and I was too naive to know any different.
I had been having braxton hicks contractions since the 6 month mark of my pregnancy (just as I should). My doctor however used these contractions to scare me into thinking that I was going into preterm labor. I didn't know the difference so I listened to my doctor and started bed rest. I was even put into the hospital for a couple of weeks near the end because of these contractions. They didn't even hurt that bad now that I think about it. They just really freaked me out.
At 37 weeks and 2 days I called my doctor because I was contracting and I was so tired of not knowing if this was it! She returned my call and told me to come in the next morning and that she would induce me. I was all for it! I was so ready to hold my baby and see her. :-)
So we woke up at 5am the next morning and headed into the hospital. We arrived there around 5:45am and the ball started rolling. The nurses did all of the paperwork and took all my vitals and before I knew it, I was lying in bed hooked up to monitors and an IV drip of pitocin. My doctor came in, broke my water, and said I could have my epidural any time after 3cm dilated. Labor officially started at 6:30am.
So we waited. And waited. And waited.
Then it hit me! The first real contraction took hold of me and all of the sudden all of this baby making business got real! At first I tried the Lamaze breathing techniques, I tried moving around. I even tried throwing a stuffed animal at Daniel. Nothing was helping!!!
After about 2 hours of active labor I decided to throw in the towel. I opted for the epidural. This was around 11:30am. (Later I found out that I hate epidurals) After that I decided to lay back and relax. I chatted on the phone, I watched TV, Daniel and I joked about changing the baby's name (something we always seem to do).
I relaxed this way until 5:15ish. Then it happened. You know on TV and in movies when the pregnant lady suddenly screams out, "I have to push, NOW!!!"? I had always thought the actresses were being overly dramatic during that scene. Let's just say, I was schooled very quickly. That is just how it happened to me. I was sitting there in my bed, as happy as a lark when all of the sudden it felt like a sumo wrestler was trying to make his way out of my posterior. "Daniel!!! I have to push!!! Go get someone NOW!!!". Of course, my nurses were very nonchalant about the whole thing. They checked me and of course, this being my first baby, it was going to take a little bit longer. So the nurse instructed me on what to do and how to push. (What women ever did before proper pushing instructions from a qualified hospital nurse is beyond me.) Then I got to the point in which the nurse felt like I had earned the presence of the doctor so she called my obstetrician. Then the room got very crowded and from my point of view started to look a lot like Monty Pythons "The Meaning of Life" movie. There were people everywhere. Upon my review of the birth video, I saw one person there that was sitting in a rocking chair and reading a magazine!!! Pushing was the easy part so I will skip ahead to 5:05pm when Amberly made her first sounds on planet Earth. Born with her eyes wide open and squalling at the top of her lungs, Ms. Amberly Ann was born. The first of 6 children. I was instantly in love and so was Daniel. We had a lot to learn and Amberly has been a great child to learn from. I don't know what I would do without her.
She'll be 13 this April and I can't believe that the time has flown by so fast. She's growing into a beautiful young woman. I love you Amberly!!!
I'll probably write Seth's birth story soon. It was my easiest birth of all.
Until then.....
God Bless!!!
Monday, February 4, 2013
A Day in Our Crazy Life :-)
I would love to tell you guys that I have it all together and everything in my house is organized and our day is structured. If I told y'all that, I would be lying. I used to have my house organized and my time strictly managed.
Then life snuck up behind me and gave me a wedgie.
A little over 2 years ago Daniel, my husband, had to have back surgery and life as we know it changed. Now I am not saying that was a bad thing. Actually it was a very good thing since it allowed him to become more involved in our daily life. It also caused us to become very frugal (we thought we already were) and very flexible.
Our schedule before this major change was this:
6 am- Get up with Daniel and get dressed. See him off to work.
6:15 am- Start a load of laundry, breakfast, and coffee. Sit down to check FB of course.
6:45 am- Kids start filing into the living room. Kisses and hugs and then orders to go get dressed for the day.
7:15 am- Breakfast for all the kids and coffee for Mom.
7:30 am- I washed breakfast dishes and kids are off to clean up their rooms and bathrooms.
I would also switch over the laundry to the dryer right now and put another load in the
washer.
8am- I would clean up my bedroom and bathroom, straighten the living room and kitchen.
9:30am
9:30am-School with younger kids first while bigger kids read. Then switch.
11:30am
11:45am- Fix Lunch and eat.
12:30- Nap time/quiet time (for all kids) This is when I would fold clothes and do my deep cleaning.
2:00pm-School for older kids on computer and younger kids color, play with playdough, or some
other craft.
3:30pm-School is over for the day so the kids go out and play and Mom starts on dinner.
6pm-Dinner
6:30pm-Wash dinner dishes and clean kitchen while Daniel hangs out with the kids.
7-8pm- Baths, brush kids teeth, and bedtime.
8pm-Clean up house and get ready for the next day.
9-11pm-Hang out with Daniel
11:30pm- Sleep
It's funny how I remember it so vividly. I wish I could get back to that and maybe one day I will. :-)
We are a homesteading family now. We have cows, chickens, goats, and a baby lamb. Our schedule now looks something like this.
8:30am- Wake up to kids com either coming into our room and climbing in bed with us or kids fighting.
9am-Breakfast and coffee (everyone eats at a different time)
10am-Noon- School for all (kids are sharing computers so we rotate) Little kids work on reading and writing.
12:30pm-Lunch
12:45pm-Kids play outside
1pm-3pm-School for big kids.
(Notice the lack of nap time/quiet time) This is the reason that my house stays dirty nowadays. :-)
3pm-Kids play outside/help with animals.
6:30pm-Dinner
7:00pm-Baths, brush kids teeth
7:30pm-9pm-Daniel watches TV with kids or plays games with them.
9pm-Start trying to get the kids to sleep.
11:30pm- Bedtime.
Now take the above schedule and scramble it liberally with livestock auctions and home renovations and you will have a loose interpretation of our version of chaos.
I am trying to improve it though. I'm about to start the process of decluttering (again) and reorganizing things. After that I think that the house will get a pretty steady rhythm going again. Now that we are homesteading we have to be pretty flexible with our schedule. It is more important for our kids to learn how to live and work in the real world than it is for them to learn how to sit still at a desk all day. We apply school lessons to everything we do for practical applications of the things that they learn in school. We have found that they retain the knowledge better that way. And they are learning how to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds. So it is a worthwhile trade off I guess.
Whenever things change (if they ever do) I'll do an update post on our schedule.
God Bless!
Then life snuck up behind me and gave me a wedgie.
A little over 2 years ago Daniel, my husband, had to have back surgery and life as we know it changed. Now I am not saying that was a bad thing. Actually it was a very good thing since it allowed him to become more involved in our daily life. It also caused us to become very frugal (we thought we already were) and very flexible.
Our schedule before this major change was this:
6 am- Get up with Daniel and get dressed. See him off to work.
6:15 am- Start a load of laundry, breakfast, and coffee. Sit down to check FB of course.
6:45 am- Kids start filing into the living room. Kisses and hugs and then orders to go get dressed for the day.
7:15 am- Breakfast for all the kids and coffee for Mom.
7:30 am- I washed breakfast dishes and kids are off to clean up their rooms and bathrooms.
I would also switch over the laundry to the dryer right now and put another load in the
washer.
8am- I would clean up my bedroom and bathroom, straighten the living room and kitchen.
9:30am
9:30am-School with younger kids first while bigger kids read. Then switch.
11:30am
11:45am- Fix Lunch and eat.
12:30- Nap time/quiet time (for all kids) This is when I would fold clothes and do my deep cleaning.
2:00pm-School for older kids on computer and younger kids color, play with playdough, or some
other craft.
3:30pm-School is over for the day so the kids go out and play and Mom starts on dinner.
6pm-Dinner
6:30pm-Wash dinner dishes and clean kitchen while Daniel hangs out with the kids.
7-8pm- Baths, brush kids teeth, and bedtime.
8pm-Clean up house and get ready for the next day.
9-11pm-Hang out with Daniel
11:30pm- Sleep
It's funny how I remember it so vividly. I wish I could get back to that and maybe one day I will. :-)
We are a homesteading family now. We have cows, chickens, goats, and a baby lamb. Our schedule now looks something like this.
8:30am- Wake up to kids com either coming into our room and climbing in bed with us or kids fighting.
9am-Breakfast and coffee (everyone eats at a different time)
10am-Noon- School for all (kids are sharing computers so we rotate) Little kids work on reading and writing.
12:30pm-Lunch
12:45pm-Kids play outside
1pm-3pm-School for big kids.
(Notice the lack of nap time/quiet time) This is the reason that my house stays dirty nowadays. :-)
3pm-Kids play outside/help with animals.
6:30pm-Dinner
7:00pm-Baths, brush kids teeth
7:30pm-9pm-Daniel watches TV with kids or plays games with them.
9pm-Start trying to get the kids to sleep.
11:30pm- Bedtime.
Now take the above schedule and scramble it liberally with livestock auctions and home renovations and you will have a loose interpretation of our version of chaos.
I am trying to improve it though. I'm about to start the process of decluttering (again) and reorganizing things. After that I think that the house will get a pretty steady rhythm going again. Now that we are homesteading we have to be pretty flexible with our schedule. It is more important for our kids to learn how to live and work in the real world than it is for them to learn how to sit still at a desk all day. We apply school lessons to everything we do for practical applications of the things that they learn in school. We have found that they retain the knowledge better that way. And they are learning how to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds. So it is a worthwhile trade off I guess.
Whenever things change (if they ever do) I'll do an update post on our schedule.
God Bless!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Suggestions for New Blog Posts
I am having some writers block. I think that is what it is called. :-)
So, I'm putting this question out there to my readers. What do y'all want me to write about? I don't really want to just copy down what I have been studying in scripture or bore anyone with my childbirth stories. Please let me know.
Leave a comment under this post to tell me what you would like to see on my blog. I would be so grateful for the help. Thanks!
God Bless!
So, I'm putting this question out there to my readers. What do y'all want me to write about? I don't really want to just copy down what I have been studying in scripture or bore anyone with my childbirth stories. Please let me know.
Leave a comment under this post to tell me what you would like to see on my blog. I would be so grateful for the help. Thanks!
God Bless!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
What Are the Traits Of A Good Woman
1. Obedience (1Peter 3:5-7)
I believe that every woman has trouble with this one. There is something in our nature that has to question whether or not we should listen to our husbands. I mean, sometimes he makes the wrong choices, right? But here's the deal. You chose him to be your husband so you must have put some faith in his intelligence at one time. More than likely he has your best interests at heart. After all, he did marry you because he loves you and cares for you. So listen to your husband ladies and let him wear the pants in the family.
2. Concern for children (Exodus 2:2-10)
If you look up the scriptures that I've given, you will see that it is the story of Moses and how his mother protected him from being slaughtered by Pharaohs soldiers. I believe that this is one of the best examples ever of a mother that cares for her child more than herself or her own feelings. She could have tried to keep Moses hidden for years but she knew it wasn't safe. So she did the best thing that she knew to do. She hid him until he couldn't be hidden any longer and then she gave him up for his own good. I know that it had to have been heart wrenching to have placed him in that basket. Even in her sacrifice God rewarded her. Moses sister followed the basket and when Pharaoh's daughter found the baby she told the princess that she knew of a woman that could nurse the child. So in the end Moses' mother still had an instrumental part in his formative years.
3. Loyalty (Ruth 1:14-18)
A good woman is loyal and can be counted on.
4. A desire for children (1Samuel 1:9-28)
I find it interesting that the desire for children should be listed as one of the traits. I don't find it interesting because it doesn't fit in but because it blends with every other trait so well. From the call to obedience (God commanded mad to go forth and multiply) to tenderness which is self explanatory to any mother. I find women that have not desire for children awkward to be around. They are often very selfish and narcissistic. I find them very unfeminine even if they are the most made up and best dressed woman in the room. There is something very natural about women and babies. When Amberly was a baby I would sometimes bring her to my sister in laws pep rallies and the teenage girls would go crazy over her. It was very natural. I still have a desire for more children though God seems to have something else in His plan for us so I am trying to be patient and see what that is. :-)
5. Modesty (Esther 1:10-12)
Women are naturally more beautiful than man. God did that on purpose and I think that we are supposed to put our best face forward modestly. I'm not going to get into the argument here about pants vs skirts or long hair vs short hair as I think that is something that is a personal decision for everyone. I try and get my girls to dress modestly and for us that means that they are to wear clothes that cover them properly. The clothes cannot be too tight or low cut. Amberlys make up must be minimal and only used to accentuate her features. You want to highlight what God gave you not put a clearance sticker on it!
6. Industry (Prov. 31:10-31)
I think that every good woman works heard and that is what this verse is talking about. I also think that most mothers meet this standard easily. Wives and mothers are industrious any way you look at them.
7. Complete devotion (Luke 7:38-50)
Complete devotion is a hard thing to find in this day and age. These verses tell us the story of a woman that was a sinner and how she washes Jesus' feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. She then annoints them with ointment. A Pharisee saw this happen and thought to himself, if this man (meaning Jesus) were a prophet, he would know that this woman is a sinner. (He thought it and Jesus heard his thoughts. Just think about that for a moment. Jesus can hear your thoughts.) Jesus turns to this guy and says, "Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head." That is devotion folks. I know that it would be easy to say that we have devotion for our husbands and children but how easily could we say that we actually practice devotion to them daily?
8. Tenderness (John 11:20-35)
John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible. It simple says, "Jesus wept." He wept for Mary and Martha after they had lost their brother. He knew that Lazarus was going to be raised from the dead. He knew because He had told them that it would happen. He was crying WITH them. Just because you know that a situation is going to be okay, doesn't mean that you shouldn't be tender with the person that is immersed in that situation. Women need to be tender. Period! A mother needs to have tenderness and practice it daily. All the boo boos and hurt feelings will pass. You know they will and it will be something new in 10 minutes. For right now though, that boo boo is the most important thing in that childs life. Care about it because it has lasting benefits. When your children get older they will know that you care and come to you with their hurts.
I fail daily in at least one of these areas. It is hard to fight the flesh and do what the spirit is supposed to do.
God Bless you all!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
What is Gods Will? And How Will I Know His Will From My Own?
I have been doing a lot of "soul searching" this past year or two. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we have been trying to pay off all of our debt and that comes with sacrifices that many would never fathom. I mean how many times a week can one family eat beans and rice without the house exploding? :-) How long will we have to live in this trailer that really could double as a nice duck blind? Get my drift??? I mean, sacrificing and doing without is not anybodies idea of a good time. There have been times when I would've love to seen Dave Ramsey (author of Financial Peace University) drawn and quartered. (Sorry, Mr. Ramsey but I bet I'm not the first to think something like that since this debt free stuff isn't for the faint of heart.) There have been many days that what I wanted was to throw out the idea of a debt free lifestyle, go get a credit card, and go hog wild buying everything that I thought that we needed. Then I would come back to reality and realize that if I did that, then we would have to pay bills for the next bazillion years. We are on the precipice of debt free living. We can reach out and touch it. Our passenger van is paid off now. WOOOHOOO!!!! It felt great to hold that title in our hands and know that our hard work and sacrifice had paid off, literally! So yes it has been worth it and I look forward to the post where I can write that we are truly, completely debt free.
Back to my original thought. (Sorry, just ask my husband, I am prone to straying off on a tangent or twelve.) Some of my soul searching has been from dealing with past issues in my life that I needed to deal with and let go of. A lot of it has led me down a dark path that I didn't want to go down, but I know now that I needed to go down that path to teach me some very important life lessons that I can hopefully pass on to my children. I only hope and pray that they can learn it early on from me and not have to take as long as I did to make the same amount of progress.
So the title of my post today asked a couple of very important questions: What is Gods will and how will I know His will from my own? I still don't know the answer to this since I am still studying and I don't know that I will ever truly know Gods will from my own every time I am faced with a decision or a desire. But I am trying and I do think that counts. The first thing I did to find out Gods will was to open my Bible and a concordance. I have the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and it is easy to get sidetracked but I feel that anytime that you are studying the Bible and your eyes are drawn to something different than you were searching for that it is probably something that God is trying to draw your attention to. My eyes were searching through the concordance for Gods will when my eyes landed on the word WOMAN. The index defined woman as the female sex and then it gave all the references in the bible that applied. I started skimming over the descriptions and found this. Woman- described as: beautiful, wise, widow, evil, foolish, gracious, virtuous, contentious, adulterous, honorable, silly, and holy. These words made me wonder, so I looked up the scriptures that were posted next to each word. I began to read descriptions of good women and bad women and I began to question which of those women that I could compare too. Don't ever do this unless you want to step on your own toes. And that is not very easy to do since as human beings we usually find ourselves blameless of pretty much everything.
In the next column it said, Work of. The first thing listed was kneading meal (Gen. 18:6) which of course is the making of the bread. I don't think that every woman has to literally make bread in order to be following Gods will but I do think that it shows that women are basically the cooks of the home. I know that men CAN cook and some even enjoy it and I am not arguing that point. My point is that women have always been the ones that gravitate towards meal preparation. Next listed was drawing water (Gen. 24:11, 13, 15) which looks at how Isaac met his wife Rebekah. She drew water for him to drink when he showed up. The women were always the one at the well getting water for things so this is listed as another duty of the woman of the house. This is also how Rachel met Jacob. Next was tending sheep (Gen. 29:6). Now I know that most women don't have livestock to take care of although a few of us do. :-) Since sheep were a source of food, milk, clothing, and income for the family back in those days, it stands to reason that the woman of the house had a vested interest in making sure that they were tended to well. Making cloth (Prov. 31:13, 19) was on the list as well. Now the modern day woman tends to make cloth (i.e. provide clothing/blankets) by going to a store and buying these things. Some women still make clothes but not the majority. The point is that she provides the clothing and linens for her home and hopefully does it smartly. The last duty that was listed but in my opinion is the biggest duty of all was caring for the household (Prov. 31:27, 1Tim :14) simply put, she guides her home and takes care of all the needs of the home.
Remember how at the beginning of this post I said that I was looking for Gods will. I think that he led me to it. If we live the way that he has said for us to then His will can be seen and felt. I think that it is when we step outside of what God has given us as priorities, that is when His will becomes cloudy. I want to talk more about this but I also have other things on my mind that I need to spend time on so I will conclude here and continue this sometime soon.
God Bless you all!
Back to my original thought. (Sorry, just ask my husband, I am prone to straying off on a tangent or twelve.) Some of my soul searching has been from dealing with past issues in my life that I needed to deal with and let go of. A lot of it has led me down a dark path that I didn't want to go down, but I know now that I needed to go down that path to teach me some very important life lessons that I can hopefully pass on to my children. I only hope and pray that they can learn it early on from me and not have to take as long as I did to make the same amount of progress.
So the title of my post today asked a couple of very important questions: What is Gods will and how will I know His will from my own? I still don't know the answer to this since I am still studying and I don't know that I will ever truly know Gods will from my own every time I am faced with a decision or a desire. But I am trying and I do think that counts. The first thing I did to find out Gods will was to open my Bible and a concordance. I have the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and it is easy to get sidetracked but I feel that anytime that you are studying the Bible and your eyes are drawn to something different than you were searching for that it is probably something that God is trying to draw your attention to. My eyes were searching through the concordance for Gods will when my eyes landed on the word WOMAN. The index defined woman as the female sex and then it gave all the references in the bible that applied. I started skimming over the descriptions and found this. Woman- described as: beautiful, wise, widow, evil, foolish, gracious, virtuous, contentious, adulterous, honorable, silly, and holy. These words made me wonder, so I looked up the scriptures that were posted next to each word. I began to read descriptions of good women and bad women and I began to question which of those women that I could compare too. Don't ever do this unless you want to step on your own toes. And that is not very easy to do since as human beings we usually find ourselves blameless of pretty much everything.
In the next column it said, Work of. The first thing listed was kneading meal (Gen. 18:6) which of course is the making of the bread. I don't think that every woman has to literally make bread in order to be following Gods will but I do think that it shows that women are basically the cooks of the home. I know that men CAN cook and some even enjoy it and I am not arguing that point. My point is that women have always been the ones that gravitate towards meal preparation. Next listed was drawing water (Gen. 24:11, 13, 15) which looks at how Isaac met his wife Rebekah. She drew water for him to drink when he showed up. The women were always the one at the well getting water for things so this is listed as another duty of the woman of the house. This is also how Rachel met Jacob. Next was tending sheep (Gen. 29:6). Now I know that most women don't have livestock to take care of although a few of us do. :-) Since sheep were a source of food, milk, clothing, and income for the family back in those days, it stands to reason that the woman of the house had a vested interest in making sure that they were tended to well. Making cloth (Prov. 31:13, 19) was on the list as well. Now the modern day woman tends to make cloth (i.e. provide clothing/blankets) by going to a store and buying these things. Some women still make clothes but not the majority. The point is that she provides the clothing and linens for her home and hopefully does it smartly. The last duty that was listed but in my opinion is the biggest duty of all was caring for the household (Prov. 31:27, 1Tim :14) simply put, she guides her home and takes care of all the needs of the home.
Remember how at the beginning of this post I said that I was looking for Gods will. I think that he led me to it. If we live the way that he has said for us to then His will can be seen and felt. I think that it is when we step outside of what God has given us as priorities, that is when His will becomes cloudy. I want to talk more about this but I also have other things on my mind that I need to spend time on so I will conclude here and continue this sometime soon.
God Bless you all!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Happy Birthday Lori Mae!!! (Just a few days late)
Seven years ago today, I became the mother of five. I gave birth to my third daughter and my world became even sweeter than it already was. I have been thinking about what to post for the last couple of days when it occured to me that I should write her birth story. So here it goes. Bear with me please as it has been a few years. :-)
We were living in San Antonio at the time of my pregnancy with Lori. Daniel was working for the military and I spent my days taking care of the other four children. We had went to see a few doctors during my pregnancy but we weren't taken with any of them so we decided to receive our medical care at Austin Area Birthing Center in North Austin. We had used their services with the birth of our second child and absolutely fell in love so it was well worth the drive for us.
During my pregnancy I had been put in the hospital once or twice for contractions so we were convinced that she was going to come early and we decided to go to Austin and stay with Daniels parents while we waited on her arrival. We thought that she was on her way several times during the next few weeks. I even started having contractions on Christmas morning! She hung on past her due date and I was still pregnant when my first postnatal visit was scheduled. We decided just to keep the visit and go in to get checked out and talk about our options with our midwife.
The morning of our appointment I was having a few contractions here and there but as usual for me, nothing serious. When we saw our midwife Jean she suggested that we allow her to check my cervix and if conditions were favourable then she would try and cause a few contractions. Sure enough, I was dilated to a 4.5 and 80-90% effaced so she went ahead and did what she knew would stir things up. We left the birth center with instructions to call if anything started to happen or if my water broke. We went to lunch and then we went and walked around the mall, talking about the kids and what the new baby would be like. It was very calm and relaxing but there were NO CONTRACTIONS!
By the time we arrived back at my in-laws home I was in a very foul mood since I was tired of being pregnant and my midwifes suggestion hadn't worked so I went in and took a nap. That afternoon I woke up to a few measly contractions and I spent some time with Daniel and the kids. Right as it was getting dark I decided that I would go for a walk around the neighborhood by myself. I needed some alone time with God to cry and pray. Just as I was ready to walk out the door, I felt a huge gush or water. I turned and looked at Daniel and said,"Oh my goodness, my water broke!!!". Daniel and I started to rush at that point. Usually, if my water breaks I have only 30 minutes before the baby is born and the birth center was about an 45-50 minutes away. Daniel and I told the kids goodbye and hopped in the van before we even called the midwife. Big mistake!!! When we did call her, she told us not to come in until I started having contractions that were hard to talk through. So we went and got a bite to eat and waited. Finally I started to have pains so we called and told our midwife that we were on our way.
When we arrived our midwife checked me and found that I was around 6cm dilated and fully effaced so we thought that we were well on our way to having this baby. Boy were we wrong. I sat on the birth ball, took herbs, and walked to no avail. Ms. Lori Mae was not ready to make an apperance. The midwife told us to get comfortable and try and get some rest so we climbed in bed and tried to go to sleep. This was harder than you might think since there was another woman there giving birth and she was making progress a lot faster than I was. I found myself laying there in bed and listening for the sounds of a baby and praying for that couple. At around midnight I heard their babies first cries and said a prayer of thanks to God for a safe delivery for them.
Soon after, my midwife came in with a coffee cup and woke me. She said in a very apolegetic voice,"Our blender is broken but I fixed you some castor oil in some orange juice. I think if you stir it and then gulp it really fast then that will work. It worked for the couple that just had their baby." Needless to say, I was not looking foward to chugging an ounce of castor oil no matter what it was mixed with but I was was sooooo ready to hold my baby that I was willing to try anything. So I stirred visciously and then I chugged. I thought I had drank it all but to my dismay, when I put the cup down it still had a pretty good size swig left. So I repeated the whole process. All I can say is YUCK!!!! Never again. I'll just start charging rent for my womb if another one decided to go overdue. :-)
So we waited. And waited. And then the tummy issues struck and that's all I need to say about that. We changed midwives somewhere around 6 in the morning and I was up walking again. I would progress to around 8 cm dilated and then that was it. The baby was posterior (which means she was turned facing my belly instead of my back.) and this was causing me to have severe back labor. Not fun! Finally around 9:30 in the morning, the owner/head midwife walked in and said, "Let's have this baby!". At this point I was just about ready for a c-section sans epidural if that is what it took after all of that back labor. Jean assured me that I did not need a c-section and that the baby would be here in no time. She asked me to push with my next contraction and guess what? I went from an 8 to complete! I was ecstatic when I heard this and I started getting excited to see my baby. Within the next 10 minutes I was holding her. It was such a relief! After that we just laid in bed and held her. Daniel got up and gave Lori her first bath and I went and took a shower. We were headed home after just 4 hrs of recovery. Her brothers and sisters couldn't wait to hold her.
I'm so glad that I finally typed her birth story. Typing it made me remember lots of details that I wouldn't want to forget.
I plan on including all of my birth stories here in the near future so stay tuned!
We were living in San Antonio at the time of my pregnancy with Lori. Daniel was working for the military and I spent my days taking care of the other four children. We had went to see a few doctors during my pregnancy but we weren't taken with any of them so we decided to receive our medical care at Austin Area Birthing Center in North Austin. We had used their services with the birth of our second child and absolutely fell in love so it was well worth the drive for us.
During my pregnancy I had been put in the hospital once or twice for contractions so we were convinced that she was going to come early and we decided to go to Austin and stay with Daniels parents while we waited on her arrival. We thought that she was on her way several times during the next few weeks. I even started having contractions on Christmas morning! She hung on past her due date and I was still pregnant when my first postnatal visit was scheduled. We decided just to keep the visit and go in to get checked out and talk about our options with our midwife.
The morning of our appointment I was having a few contractions here and there but as usual for me, nothing serious. When we saw our midwife Jean she suggested that we allow her to check my cervix and if conditions were favourable then she would try and cause a few contractions. Sure enough, I was dilated to a 4.5 and 80-90% effaced so she went ahead and did what she knew would stir things up. We left the birth center with instructions to call if anything started to happen or if my water broke. We went to lunch and then we went and walked around the mall, talking about the kids and what the new baby would be like. It was very calm and relaxing but there were NO CONTRACTIONS!
By the time we arrived back at my in-laws home I was in a very foul mood since I was tired of being pregnant and my midwifes suggestion hadn't worked so I went in and took a nap. That afternoon I woke up to a few measly contractions and I spent some time with Daniel and the kids. Right as it was getting dark I decided that I would go for a walk around the neighborhood by myself. I needed some alone time with God to cry and pray. Just as I was ready to walk out the door, I felt a huge gush or water. I turned and looked at Daniel and said,"Oh my goodness, my water broke!!!". Daniel and I started to rush at that point. Usually, if my water breaks I have only 30 minutes before the baby is born and the birth center was about an 45-50 minutes away. Daniel and I told the kids goodbye and hopped in the van before we even called the midwife. Big mistake!!! When we did call her, she told us not to come in until I started having contractions that were hard to talk through. So we went and got a bite to eat and waited. Finally I started to have pains so we called and told our midwife that we were on our way.
When we arrived our midwife checked me and found that I was around 6cm dilated and fully effaced so we thought that we were well on our way to having this baby. Boy were we wrong. I sat on the birth ball, took herbs, and walked to no avail. Ms. Lori Mae was not ready to make an apperance. The midwife told us to get comfortable and try and get some rest so we climbed in bed and tried to go to sleep. This was harder than you might think since there was another woman there giving birth and she was making progress a lot faster than I was. I found myself laying there in bed and listening for the sounds of a baby and praying for that couple. At around midnight I heard their babies first cries and said a prayer of thanks to God for a safe delivery for them.
Soon after, my midwife came in with a coffee cup and woke me. She said in a very apolegetic voice,"Our blender is broken but I fixed you some castor oil in some orange juice. I think if you stir it and then gulp it really fast then that will work. It worked for the couple that just had their baby." Needless to say, I was not looking foward to chugging an ounce of castor oil no matter what it was mixed with but I was was sooooo ready to hold my baby that I was willing to try anything. So I stirred visciously and then I chugged. I thought I had drank it all but to my dismay, when I put the cup down it still had a pretty good size swig left. So I repeated the whole process. All I can say is YUCK!!!! Never again. I'll just start charging rent for my womb if another one decided to go overdue. :-)
So we waited. And waited. And then the tummy issues struck and that's all I need to say about that. We changed midwives somewhere around 6 in the morning and I was up walking again. I would progress to around 8 cm dilated and then that was it. The baby was posterior (which means she was turned facing my belly instead of my back.) and this was causing me to have severe back labor. Not fun! Finally around 9:30 in the morning, the owner/head midwife walked in and said, "Let's have this baby!". At this point I was just about ready for a c-section sans epidural if that is what it took after all of that back labor. Jean assured me that I did not need a c-section and that the baby would be here in no time. She asked me to push with my next contraction and guess what? I went from an 8 to complete! I was ecstatic when I heard this and I started getting excited to see my baby. Within the next 10 minutes I was holding her. It was such a relief! After that we just laid in bed and held her. Daniel got up and gave Lori her first bath and I went and took a shower. We were headed home after just 4 hrs of recovery. Her brothers and sisters couldn't wait to hold her.
I'm so glad that I finally typed her birth story. Typing it made me remember lots of details that I wouldn't want to forget.
I plan on including all of my birth stories here in the near future so stay tuned!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
How to get your husband to tell you to take a nap.
Apparently I have stumbled onto a marvelous way to get a nap in. I aggravated my husband. Now, I have to admit that it was not done on purpose. In fact, I, didn't think that I was cranky at all but my husband did. So when we got home from shopping he tucked me in and gave me a kiss. Did I need the nap? Yes!!! Did I know that I needed a nap? No. But after sleeping for three solid hours I woke up in a much better mood. I am very glad that I didn't do what my sinful side was telling me to do and argue and fight it. I could have fought the issue and stayed up. I could have pitched a hissy fit. I mean, how dare he be so condescending to me and treat me like a toddler? I was a grown up! (All this was played out in my head and finished off with a stomp of my foot.)
So, yes, I have found a great way to be put down for a nap but I wouldn't recommend trying it since I felt quite foolish and juvenile after waking up and realizing how immature and cranky I had acted.
I am very thankful that Daniel is the head of our home. He always has our best interest in his heart and in his head. I'm pretty fond of him in fact.
All that being said, I came across a quote today that made a great deal of sense to me. It was this:
“It [feminism] is mixed up with a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands.”
― G.K. Chesterton
In the scripture it says that a woman is a help meet. (And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Gen. 2:18) I believe that I was created just for my husband and that he was created just for me. He watches over me, protects me, loves me, makes me laugh, supports me as much as he can in all of my hopes and dreams, sacrifices things for me, gives me a reality check when I need it and some days he even puts me down for a nap. In other words, he meets my needs. In return I love him, look after him, make him laugh, support him to the best of my ability, sacrifice things for him, and sometimes I even put him down for a nap. That is the way it works. If you want your marriage to work, you have to leave the thought of 50/50 behind. Marriage is both partners giving 100% each and every day.
Feminism is an ugly lie that tells women that by taking care of their home and family that they are worthless. Feminism tells women that they are only worth something if they are equal with men. I have news for ya. God himself created us equal. We each have our essential parts to play to keep the family/world spinning. Each of the sexes have something to do on this earth or things get horribly out of balance. I definitely don't feel worthless by staying at home and taking care of the lives of everyone around me. If I wasn't around chaos would soon follow. I know this as a fact. I took a job outside of my home for a month about a year ago and our home suffered for it. My husband did a great job with the kids but the house cleaning and laundry piled up and organization went out the window. My hat is off to Mothers that have to work outside of the home. I really don't know how they do it.
And don't even get me started about the fact that there is not a man out there that would volunteer to give birth. I know that my husband would not. Just ask around if you don't believe me. Men don't even want to hear birth stories. The women that I know though, sit around and tell our birth stories like they are war stories. The men clear the room pretty quickly when the stories start. We women battle sleepless nights long before the first contraction and we do it with a grace that a man could never muster.
Men are their own miracles. They are created to protect, provide, and love. Most men are very logical and technical beings. They are serious and don't get wrapped up in all the drama and emotion that women have issues with. Then you place a newborn in their arms and they melt. They are usually soft when it counts but at the same time can be fiercely on guard. Yes they sleep more soundly as a new father than a new mother normally does but remember that he does have to wake up early and provide. He might not do things exactly as perfect as you think you do when he is caring for the kids but you have to step back and realize that he is learning his way too. It might not be your way but he is pouring just as much love into your children as you do. Men are essential just the way God created them. Any dumbing down of their manliness will not result in a better man. Just look around America today to see the example of what feminism has done to the country.
My point is this: Women, don't act bossy and tough like a man and then ask why your husband doesn't treat you like a woman. He is just treating you as an equal. So unless you want to open your own doors and carry your own heavy stuff, start acting like a lady.
So, yes, I have found a great way to be put down for a nap but I wouldn't recommend trying it since I felt quite foolish and juvenile after waking up and realizing how immature and cranky I had acted.
I am very thankful that Daniel is the head of our home. He always has our best interest in his heart and in his head. I'm pretty fond of him in fact.
All that being said, I came across a quote today that made a great deal of sense to me. It was this:
“It [feminism] is mixed up with a muddled idea that women are free when they serve their employers but slaves when they help their husbands.”
― G.K. Chesterton
In the scripture it says that a woman is a help meet. (And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Gen. 2:18) I believe that I was created just for my husband and that he was created just for me. He watches over me, protects me, loves me, makes me laugh, supports me as much as he can in all of my hopes and dreams, sacrifices things for me, gives me a reality check when I need it and some days he even puts me down for a nap. In other words, he meets my needs. In return I love him, look after him, make him laugh, support him to the best of my ability, sacrifice things for him, and sometimes I even put him down for a nap. That is the way it works. If you want your marriage to work, you have to leave the thought of 50/50 behind. Marriage is both partners giving 100% each and every day.
Feminism is an ugly lie that tells women that by taking care of their home and family that they are worthless. Feminism tells women that they are only worth something if they are equal with men. I have news for ya. God himself created us equal. We each have our essential parts to play to keep the family/world spinning. Each of the sexes have something to do on this earth or things get horribly out of balance. I definitely don't feel worthless by staying at home and taking care of the lives of everyone around me. If I wasn't around chaos would soon follow. I know this as a fact. I took a job outside of my home for a month about a year ago and our home suffered for it. My husband did a great job with the kids but the house cleaning and laundry piled up and organization went out the window. My hat is off to Mothers that have to work outside of the home. I really don't know how they do it.
And don't even get me started about the fact that there is not a man out there that would volunteer to give birth. I know that my husband would not. Just ask around if you don't believe me. Men don't even want to hear birth stories. The women that I know though, sit around and tell our birth stories like they are war stories. The men clear the room pretty quickly when the stories start. We women battle sleepless nights long before the first contraction and we do it with a grace that a man could never muster.
Men are their own miracles. They are created to protect, provide, and love. Most men are very logical and technical beings. They are serious and don't get wrapped up in all the drama and emotion that women have issues with. Then you place a newborn in their arms and they melt. They are usually soft when it counts but at the same time can be fiercely on guard. Yes they sleep more soundly as a new father than a new mother normally does but remember that he does have to wake up early and provide. He might not do things exactly as perfect as you think you do when he is caring for the kids but you have to step back and realize that he is learning his way too. It might not be your way but he is pouring just as much love into your children as you do. Men are essential just the way God created them. Any dumbing down of their manliness will not result in a better man. Just look around America today to see the example of what feminism has done to the country.
My point is this: Women, don't act bossy and tough like a man and then ask why your husband doesn't treat you like a woman. He is just treating you as an equal. So unless you want to open your own doors and carry your own heavy stuff, start acting like a lady.
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