Happy Mother's Day!

Six years ago I celebrated my first official Mother's Day! The year before that I was pregnant so I wasn't officially a mommy yet. I thought it would be fun to show a few pictures leading up to me becoming a Mommy for the first time!

Jeremy & I at our friends' wedding

(approx. 20wks pregnant with Daniel)

May '01

Sept. '01 (38wks pregnant)

I'm a Mommy at last!

Sept. 30, 2001

Approx. 7am

Our new family

Jeremy, Leanne, Daniel & Richard (our former foster-son)

Then 2 1/2yrs later, we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Rebecca, into our lives.

Yesterday's Mother's Day celebration was pretty low key but ended up being very relaxing and enjoyable.

We began our day by going to church, something that is weird for us! We normally have church Saturday night (our church rents another church's building, so we meet Saturday night so as not to "push" each other out on Sundays). This past weekend we joined with another church and met Sunday morning! It did kind of throw off the feel of our weekend a little but it was all good. So after church, we headed to the first restaurant that didn't have a 2hr wait! We managed to find one with only a 15 minute wait!

After lunch we headed home so the kids could give me their gifts. Daniel made a cute card and a very nice candle holder at school. It was very sweet!

Then, the kids - along with Jeremy - gave me the gift they all worked together on. Jeremy says I can't keep plants alive (I keep disagreeing but after looking around at the variety of dead plants, I'm beginnig to think I might have to agree!), so I was presented with a beautiful planter full of artificial silk flowers placed in real soil! I love the colors (blue being my favorite) and the kids were excited to show me the the flowers they each picked out. Daniel chose the pussywillows and Becca chose the blueberries. The great thing is that last summer I kept looking everywhere for a taller planter but, not wanting to spend lots of money, I didn't end up buying one. And here they gave me one for Mother's Day! It was perfect!

I was out with some ladies from our church on Friday night and ended up being out quite late, so needless to say, I was still tired yesterday. Jeremy took Becca grocery shopping while I stayed home and napped and Daniel watched some TV. Later, Jeremy put the groceries away, made supper and got the kids ready for bed. I really felt like I had a day off from "Mommy Duties". That is probably one of the best gifts I could have, especially these days with the extra kids I take care of!

After a phone call with my Mom and sister, Jeremy & I relaxed with some TV and headed off to bed. It was another great Mother's Day!

Weight Loss Update

Okay, something fishy's going on here! Either our bathroom scale is not working properly or Jeremy is forgetting about some major food cheating! The scale said he gained a bunch of weight this week, when he actually was eating pretty well.

We may take our scale back and try another one. In the meantime, Jeremy has picked up a detox kit. Our chiropractor has strongly recommended that Jeremy consider doing a cleansing / detox for his system. With all the unhealthy eating over the years and all the stomach problems Jeremy has had, he figured it was time!

After doing some research Jeremy bought a Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox Program. He began last night and over the next 12 days, Jeremy's system will get a complete cleaning and overhaul! In the next few days he may experience some irritability, fatigue, nausea, flu-like symptoms, low energy, headaches...! And I'm guessing that he will experience every symptom simply because he's never cleansed out his system before. But then again, he has been eating quite healthy lately. But after that, it sounds like everything should be great! He should feel more energy and feel better all around. He started last night and already he is noticing some action happening! Oh, and he could lose up to 10lbs during the next week and a half!

During this 12-day program, he has to eliminate all yeast products from his diet. That includes breads (he was only eating low-carb ones anyway), some fruits (apparently some are high in yeast?!), and vinegars. We have been making our own salad dressings lately, using olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some Epicure herbs/seasonings. Now we will have to use lemon juice in place of the vinegar, but that's okay. We should survive!

Look for updates on this newest adventure!

Grace Like a Deer

Earlier this week, a friend shared some verses from Habakkuk on her blog. I love the passage these verses are in so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it with you!

I had the opportunity to study the book of Habakkuk a number of years back when I was at Capernwray Harbour Bible School & Conference Centre (of Torchbearers International). At the time I wasn't too interested in studying this book, but as I delved into the study I quickly changed my attitude. It has since then become probably my most favorite book of the Bible.

If I was to summarize the book of Habakkuk in one short sentence, it would be "God's faithfulness never changes". How amazing is that?!

The book starts out with the prophet Habakkuk complaining to the LORD (1:2). "How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?..." (Thank You, Lord, that even when it feels You are not listening, You ARE.) And the LORD answers the prophet by saying (1:5,6), "Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people...".

The prophet complains again (1:13), "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?..." (Thank You, Lord, that even though at times it feels like the hard times will never end, You know when they will end.) And again, the LORD answers Habakkuk (2:2,3), "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets...For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. ...". The LORD finishes up with some "Woe to him...'s".

Then comes chapter 3, my favorite chapter! Habakkuk responds to the LORD by saying (3:2), "LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. ...". (I stand in awe of You, Jesus, because of Your mercy, grace and love for me!)

Then Habakkuk finishes up with the following verses. Every time I read these verses (16-19) it's as if there is a symphony in my head, playing softly at first, then with each statement, the music becomes louder, stronger, more celebratory, holding out and waiting for the final resounding note.

These verses are so exciting!

Habakkuk 3:16-19

"I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights."

Did you hear it? The symphony?! Isn't it amazing?! Even though everything around me is in utter disarray, the crops have failed, the sheep and cattle are gone, "yet I will rejoice in the Lord"!

Shortly before I attending Capernwray, I was driving alone along a winding road. On one side of the road was a forest and on the other side was a steep rockface mountainside. As I was peacefully driving, a sudden thought broke my silence. "What if there is a deer ahead?"

Immediately I heeded the warning in my head and slowed down, becoming more aware of my surroundings. As I rounded the next corner, there in front of me was a deer, standing in the middle of the road! Because I had that "thought" and had listened to it, I was able to slow down enough before the deer pranced away up the mountainside.

A couple things struck me. First, WOW! God had warned me of a danger ahead! Thank you, Jesus!

Second, the way the deer turned and pranced up the mountainside was amazing. It was so graceful. With only a bound or two the deer was off the road and with another couple prances, it was out of sight. If I was to climb that mountainside I would be scared, slow-moving, grasping for the next place to cling on to. But this deer, without thought bounced, 1 - 2 - 3, and was gone! Such grace, such strength, and without hesitation.

"The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights."

Thank You, Jesus, for life experiences that help me better understand Your words in the Bible. Thank You that You are my strength and that I can depend on You, even when it feels everything around me is crumbling. Thank You for making my feet like those of a deer, enabling me to go on the difficult heights with grace.

Weigh-In Saturday

Minus 5!

Jeremy took this week and each day made healthy eating choices. He didn't look at the week as a whole - that can be too overwhelming. One meal at a time!

To help with staying focused this past week, Jeremy bought and cooked up some sausages last week and boiled up a dozen eggs. That way, each morning he could warm up a couple sausages and have a hard-boiled egg for breakfast. He was getting tired of cottage cheese every morning. He also takes fruit (apple or pear) with him and eats it on his way to work. This helps to kick his metabolism into gear and helps set the eating habit tone for his day.

And this week he lost 5 lbs! Yay! He is now at 243 lbs.

I think we will be looking at buying a smaller size of pants in the next few weeks if the weight continues to come off. Already, his pants are beginning to look a little big, and one of his pullover sweatshirts is very baggy on him (his tummy used to fill it out). I'm setting aside money each month to help with purchasing Jeremy new clothes once he's down to his ideal weight. He has also been unpacking some smaller-sized clothes that he's had in storage for a few years.

One of Jeremy's goal is that once he has acheived his ideal weight we will go and buy him a suit. He has never had one and for the past few years we figured why spend the money if Jeremy's going to lose weight? So that will be his "special" purchase at the end of all this.

Imagination!

Last weekend we were invited to some friends' for supper. Some of their kids babysit for us, so our kids were thrilled to go play at their house!

After supper the kids came out and modeled their lovely, creative outfits they found, with help from Miranda. We had a great laugh and the kids were so proud of themselves. Thanks, Miranda for playing with our kids so well and meeting them at their level. It means so much to our kids!

Thankful Thursday

Today is "Thankful Thursday". I have never participated in it before, but today I have something I feel compelled to share. I first saw it at Heather's blog, "Mumblings of a Mommy 'Monk'", but I believe it originated at Iris' blog "Sting My Heart". If you want to participate in "Thankful Thursday", go to Iris' blog and leave your link on Mr. Linky. So here goes...!


I was reading a post by Heather at "Mumblings of a Mommy 'Monk'". I must say that this post was very good and I encourage you to read it! Click here to read this post. It's about the tone that mothers set for the home, based on the saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" Definately worth reading the post.

But back to my point. A few posts ago I wrote about "Joy???" and feeling like I didn't have it at the time. Since then, I have struggled to feel like I have joy.

I left a comment on Heather's blog because I was really able to relate to what she shared about moms setting the family tone. While I was leaving a comment, I quickly read through the other comments. A lady named Christin, of "As Gold Refined", left a comment that really spoke to me. Christin made a comment about the difference between joy and happiness. Here is part of what she said:

"Joy isn't the same thing as happiness. Happiness comes as a result of circumstances - joy remains no matter what your circumstances - you can be unhappy and still have joy. Joy is a promise from the Lord and it is obtainable - we just need to seek Him first. :) As we continue to do that, He will continue to mold us. We just need to remember to keep moving forward with our eyes on Him. :) Yes, we are certainly works in progress! And God promised to complete the work in us if we don't grow weary in doing good."

Although it was encouraging to read that explanation between the two, I still struggled to feel the joy. As much as I loved what Christin wrote, I felt that I still wasn't "getting it" with the whole "Joy" thing.

Well, last night, our church small group met. Instead of doing our regular routine, we spent the evening praying and having communion. We prayed for people in our church, whoever God put on our heart. We were able to get through quite a few people. Have you ever spent time praying in a group, and when you were finished praying no one spoke right away? That's how it was last night.

It was so good to spend that time, bringing people before our almighty, caring God. I am so thankful for that time last night. After our prayer time was over I felt the joy return to my heart. "Joy is a promise from the Lord and it is obtainable - we just need to seek Him first." In order to seek God first, we need to take our eyes off ourself! Coming before God in prayer is an excellent way of doing this.

I am thankful for fellow Christians who share a passion for praying. I am thankful I shifted my focus off my own woes to consider other people and how they are hurting. I am thankful that I can have joy even when I don't feel happy. I am thankful for a God who never changes, who is always waiting for us to come before Him, who wants to bless us in ways we never imagined (big or small).

Praise & Coffee Giveaway!

It's the first of the month again. Time for Praise & Coffee's free giveaway. All you have to do is go to this post and leave a comment. The draw will be made on the 10th.

This month, the prize is 1 bag of Starbuck's coffee and the "Holy God" CD by Brian Doerksen.