April Goings-On!

Last week at our church plant, Foothills Baptist Church, we did a children's dedication! Most of us had dedicated our children at previous churches, but felt compelled to dedicate our children to this new church we've begun! We want to dedicate our children to our God and trust that Foothills Baptist Church will gather together and support our children and help us to raise them in the Lord!

 

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This weekend was Easter and we had alot of fun celebrating Easter and our Risen King!!!

 We died Easter Eggs, made Empty Tomb Bread, and had an Easter Egg Hunt!

The Before Picture!

Lydia loved dyeing eggs!

Her fingers turned pink from dipping her eggs in by hand!

Elijah dipped his whole hand in while dyeing his eggs!

This was his hands when he finished!

Here is the after picture! Eli liked busting the eggs open to eat the yolk after he would dye them causing quite a bit of messy fun!

And... here is their Easter baskets! They were so excited to get them!

I am feeling truly blessed by what God has given me! I'm still dealing with my back and pelvis injury. It's been quite painful and a much longer process than I ever expected. However, through it.. many blessings have come! I have found why I had so much difficulty giving birth to my children, my husband is receiving help for his neurological disorder, and our daughter is receiving the same help for some movements she is having... all because of my fall on the ice in December. Throughout this process, it's been difficult for me to do much housework or much with our children. Bending/Twisting, standing for longer than 15-20 minutes, or sitting in the same position for very long.. all create extreme pain. My husband, Andy, has been WONDERFUL and an absolute blessing to be working at his job, at our church, taking care of our home, and doing so much for our children! How thankful I am for the blessing he is in my life and for what God has given me in a husband! 

John 1:16 "From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another."

Refinement

My last few days have been a conglomeration of struggles! Physically, Emotionally, & Spiritually! Then, this morning.. as I feel to be at the end of my rope I run across the blog post of one of my friends. Her Blog!  She spoke in her blog just recently about Daniel along with Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego and their fiery furnace experience! ( Read Bible Story Here ) I just read through Daniel last week and remembered what meaning this story had to me last week.. and she really expounded on that too!

Financially, we are struggling. I was so excited when Andy went to interview for Denso yesterday. Only to find out that they didn't have any positions available, but would add him to their file of "possible employees". I had my hopes up! I had figured it all out financially and it was going to be a real blessing! We would be able to get the things we needed... and things we wanted too! I was thrilled.. I prayed with Andy before he went and I felt such peace that he would get the position! When he came home and gave me the "it's not going to happen... not for right now, anyway" I was quite devastated. 

After getting myself better together, I called and shared with my mentor. She told me, "We all go through trials. My trials are different than your trials. Right now you're in a money trial. But, if he'd gotten this position.. there would have been a new trial to go through." I knew exactly what the trial would have been. Right now Andy is part time. I get to see him alot and spend time with him. Along with my injuries from my back keeping me from being able to do much.. he has been invaluable to me. My new trial would have been not seeing him very much... our work schedules were probably going to coincide. I knew it would be a big adjustment. My mentor reminded me, "We all get refined. Sometimes, we just go through periods of being tired of being refined." That's where I am, I think. Except.. God's not there with me! lol.  He tells me in the bible He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Well, he loves me alot (I know He does) because He's refining me alot lately! haha.

So, in thinking about my friend's blog post this morning about the story in Daniel with S, M, and A... I wonder if they ever asked, "God? Exactly.. how long do you think this is going to take? Because I have stuff to do!" I don't know.. maybe they did. I tend to think they just relaxed and enjoyed the site.. enjoyed the "refining" because they knew that out of this refinement.. God was going to give them an amazing story, an amazing testimony, and they would come out  of the fiery furnace better than ever! They would be able to proclaim just how great & awesome our God is!

I am still in quite a bit of physical pain, which is wearing on me. People I love seem to think it's okay to tell me whatever they think about me or my life without any regard to my feelings from their comments. Their words pierce me and often paralyze me. I am learning to stand up. I am trying to set boundaries... I admit, it's not easy and I need to get strong enough in myself and in my God to do this! God is bringing me through these fires to make me a better person... He created me uniquely and with a purpose. However, His purpose for me, comes out of His refinement of me. 

Zechariah 13:9 "I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say: They are My people, and they will say: The LORD is our God."

Sarah

Since we moved in to our new house in October last year (2010) my family has been wanting a dog. Andy and I both grew up with dogs. We had dogs when we first got married and when Lydia was born and began antagonizing them they didn't like it and they started growling at her, snapping at her, and eventually one of them bit her. We found wonderful new homes for them and haven't had any animals since. I have to be honest... I've enjoyed not having someone else to care for. However, I have constantly been reminded how much "the kids" would love having a dog.. says Andy! haha

I began thinking a few days ago about a dog, however. The weather was pretty and our children do love playing outside so much! This got me thinking, this time of year would be an easy time to house train a new pet. So, today, when my aunt posted on FB about a fundraiser for pets with adoptable dogs, we decided to go take a look! This is when we found Ocito. She is a young Jack Russell Mixed dog and is very sweet, calm, and very quiet! We really liked her! 

My Back Experience

Well, I've posted on FB many times about slipping on ice last December. Our front porch steps were solid ice and I slipped and fell down them. I was in alot of pain for a couple of weeks and have felt a little tender since. However, this Saturday I started feeling some terrible pain in my hip region. The same area from when I fell 4 months ago. By Sunday, I was in TERRIBLE pain and Monday was even worse. 

Just through talking with people over the last few months, many friends have told me about Dr. Jon Edwards. He's a chiropractor and many people have shared their testimonies with me about how he helped them. On Sunday, a friend heard me talking about my hip pain and suggested I go see Dr Edwards too! So, I really feel like the Lord led me to his practice. I went yesterday for an EMG and X-rays. Today, I went back for the suggested treatment plan and my first adjustment.

Interestingly enough, it's not my hip. It's my pelvis! My pelvis is rotated and one side of my pelvis is protruding forward quite a bit while the other is further back. My left hip (the area of pain) is 15 mm lower than my right hip (considered at the normal height). My spine is way out of line and needless to say I have severe nerve compression in my lower back where my pain is from.

It truly is amazing how God created our bodies to work together. He explained that my rotated pelvis has probably been this way for a while but my fall made it worse. Dr. Edwards thinks this is why I had so much trouble having my children. They were c-sections, but brutal c-sections may be considered an understatement. My body underwent "major trauma" (in my ob's words) in order to get my children out of my body. So, I'm a little excited to think that if I decide to have another baby it may be alot easier next time since my pelvis will be in the right place!

Needless to say, I'm in a lot of pain right now. Cannot stand for more than 20 minutes (that might even be pushing it!) and will not be able to exercise again for 3 weeks (very sad to me!) In the meantime, I am thankful to have found a bible believing, Christian, doctor who is willing to work with me to get my body healthy! 

Lydia thinks I might need a wheelchair and Elijah doesn't know why I keep having to go to the doctor, but truly my family has been wonderful and especially Andy has been great as he is having to wait on me alot right now. I praise God for them! I'm thankful for God's provision in this and that I didn't break anything and that relief is around the corner!

I refuse

I have been in spiritual warfare for about the last month. For anyone who has ever been in spiritual warfare.. it's exhausting, painful to your heart, and an arduous journey.

 

I have tried to hide from it, I have tried to escape it, and I have tried to act like nothing's wrong. But the fact is, a big thing is wrong! By doing this, I am allowing sin in my life. I am not trusting in God or relying on God.  I have been reluctant to stand up for myself, and I have avoiding it by telling myself that, "I don't know how" or "I'm not sure what to do".  However, as these revelations came to me today I decided, "I refuse to allow such sin in my life!"

 

It is robbing me of my joy.. and isn't that what satan wants? To steal, kill, and destroy me?  Well, over these last few weeks.. I think that's what I've been allowing him to do. I have been somewhat paralyzed with fear. But now, I am going to put on my full armor of God!

 

Ephesians 6:11-17 "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

 

 

So, as I was riding in my car this morning... this song came on, "I Refuse" by Josh Wilson. While, I must admit that this song is actually referring to helping others and no longer looking at everyone as if they're okay, but truly seeing them as people with "a story"... the Lord spoke to me in a different way through this song! I am going to refuse for satan to win this battle. I am going to refuse to stand around when God has called me and equipped me to stand strong in Him, for who He created me to be and for my family!    Here are the words that spoke to me the most!

 

Sometimes I,
I just want to close my eyes
And act like everyone's alright
When I know they're not.
This world needs God
But it's easier to stand and watch.
I could say a prayer and just move on
Like nothing's wrong.

But I refuse. 

‘Cause I don't want to live like I don't care.
I don't want to say another empty prayer.
Oh, I refuse to
Sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself.
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse. 

       ..................

To turn my back
And try and act like all is well.
I refuse
To stay unchanged,
To wait another day,
To die to myself.
I refuse
To make one more excuse. 

So here I am! I refuse to allow satan to enter my life by any means. He cannot prey upon my fears or any attempt to keep me in darkness. I am a daughter of the King! That is my statement throughout this and I will stand tall and courageous, because if David can slay a giant, then I can rest assured my God will not leave me!!  Pray for me, will you?! *wink*

This is kind of a long post, but hey... it's been a while since I blogged!!  Thanks for reading this part of my journey!