Rays of sun

Caught the sun streaming down on my beloved during some morning Bible time. I love him!

We like noodles

The other day, we went out to the Mongolian Grill for lunch and LaLa decided to give the chopsticks a try. It was quite funny to watch!

We are currently 23 weeks pregnant with our fourth child, and found out at our 20 week ultrasound that its a boy! Our oldest child is super excited since he currently has two sisters.

This post seems to be a little life update. I hope my new smartphone enables me to blog once again as it is right at my fingertips and so easy to use!!

I also wanted to tell you all about the current book I just read! It is just incredible. "Beautiful Outlaw" by John Eldredge is all about Jesus' personality. It is absolutely a life changing read. I am actually going to start reading it all over again because I want to soak it up and remember all of it!!

More about the impact Beautiful Outlaw has had on me to come...And also more fun pictures to share! You gotta love the photo apps out there- Instagram andPicsArt are two I love! Enjoy your day, I am waiting for my hubby to bring home more Mongolian! -just megs

It is by grace!!

It is by grace... It is by grace that we are gifted each day of life, To love, To dream, To be who we were created to be. It is by faith that we continue on, Through sickness, Through sadness, Through times of waiting in shadows. It is through hope that we have joy, Have endurance, Have peace, Have patience. It is because of love at we are saved, Love at the cross, Love in our hearts, Love from Jesus Christ. Today, I am so thankful for the time that I live in. I have daydreamed in the past of living in a different decade, but today I know that I am blessed to be HERE. We are going through some medical stuff, and our son has developed terrible asthma. I can look at this and think: this is such an attack on my family. Or I can look at this and think: THANK YOU JESUS. Because I live in a time where there is help for my son. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't have him to hold anymore. I live in a time where there is help for my friends son, who has graves, has had a tumor removed, and now recently was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I look at my church family and I realize, how few of us would actually be here if we lived in a different time! Praise the Lord for knowing when and where to place me. Praise the Lord for medical help for my children, myself, my friends. In this world we WILL have trials... But HE HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD!!!

Blogging on the Go

 I am in my van sitting outside my sons school, waiting to pick him up. It is a rainy rainy day here in the Northwest! We had so much snow last week, that it is still gracing many lawns and planters, resisting the rains best efforts to wash it away. Eventually it will have to succumb though. In the meantime, I am so thankful for our snow week this year!!

Today I have been thinking about how I can use pregnancy nausea and my health issues as a personal challenge to step up my mothering. For me, this is about loving and disciplining my children well. Not giving up during a time of difficulty. As for the challenge of household duties, we have hired a friend from church to help out around the house. This was before we became pregnant with this little one, because of my inflammatory arthritis and health issues. Some days (ok most, but that sounds like whining) the repetitive motions of folding laundry and doing dishes aggravate my joints in my hands, fingers, and elbows, making them hurt worse and become stiffer. I also become exhausted after a normal round of chores. I am choosing to save my energy for loving on my family, and keeping myself mentally afloat by not getting to the physical breaking point. 

Enough about that though! God gives us the grace we need each day. My choice is to just "survive" or to live with passion! I choose number two!

-just megs

Thoughts

Hello friends! I am afraid I am still having slight issues blogging from my iPad, so this might be a visually uninteresting blog.

 

But, there are exciting WORDS to share! We are blessed to be pregnant again, and are due in the middle of September. We will go in next Tuesday, the 31st, for an ultrasound to check on this little life and look for the heartbeat. We had two losses in the past, so this is the norm for us to go in early. I am 6 weeks and 2 days along today. Baby should be the size of a green pea!

 

Surprisingly, the nausea has already set in strong the past few days, usually it does this closer to 8 weeks. And tho it is hard to stay chipper and patient, it is an encouragement to my heart that things should be going well.

 

This will be my first pregnancy completely gluten free, and dealing with an inflammatory arthritis that pretty much affects my whole body, including my spine. With three little ones here at home, I pray the Lord will make me strong, give me patience, and help me to continue mothering well!! I am going to need to step up my game, and it is only by the grace of God that I can accomplish this!

 

I am thrilled I have been able to work on my art some, and look forward to sharing photos with you.

 

Until then, be blessed!

 

-just megs

rockin vintage italian leather boots...

and they are on their way to my house! thank you etsy.com. i heart you.

Christmas Crafting, and SVGcuts!

I have been having such a wonderful time Christmas crafting. This season is flying by for me this year, and I am feeling the need to extend my Christmas-ing into the new year.

Here is a fun star I made...

I heart SVGcuts! I am so thrilled with my new Shilouette  Cameo and my downloads from SVGcuts.com 

I am loving pinecones this season

And I even saw Santa out for a drive with Mrs. Clause!

My kids are so excited its Christmas time. And my one year old has completely un-decorated the bottom half of the tree

I am crafting most of my gifts this year. I made these letters for my Mother in Laws birthday this weekend

Yes, what a wonderful time of year.

If you have an electronic die cutting machine (Cameo, Bosskut, ect) be sure to go visit www.svgcuts.com. It is absolutely phenomenal. 

Ah, how delightful to be Celebrating Christmas, and to be able to blog (finally) from my iPad.

-just megs

scrumdilly-do!: Homemade Holidays: make a mini yarn garland

scrumdilly-do!: Homemade Holidays: make a mini yarn garland:  Happy December friends! Here's a nifty, easy (with a wee bit of wait time involved) garland project that can be adapted for any holiday. ...

Return of the crafting!

My husband converted our old laundry room into....my new STUDIO!

And so, with great joy and good tidings, I announce: the return of crafty projects to this blog!!l!

Painting, papercrafts, art, you name it, I will have it here. In addition, I have the blessing of using the NEW Silhouette CAMEO! And I HEART SVGcuts.com! And so many other sites I have discovered...My Thoughts Exactly, Pumpkin Patch Stamps, Websters Pages...and on and on and on....

Photos will follow shortly!

Baby MnM

Watch her grow...

Now she's 9 months old!

- just megs

Creativity and Worship

Creative expression is Worship to you. Our souls thrill when they are captivated by a striking piece of music, or for those with the blessed talent to play music- when their fingers hit the right chords that resound in their spirit and echo into the heavens. That is how my soul and spirit respond when I use the creative desire in photography that you have given me. I imagine this is how my mom feels when she sits at a canvas and her brush dances across the surface, creating beauty that pours forth in worship to the King of Kings. How a dancer feels as she executes her arabesque flawlessly across the stage. How a runner feels when they are in the rhythmic momentum of their jog. How a writer feels when the words flow forth onto the page.

It all cries out "Glory!" Praise! Be magnified O God! 

Those who don't know you think that the thrill of creative expression comes from within, and that it is meant to glorify themselves in some way. What they have yet to realize is that the gift of creativity was given to worship the Creator of all things! Sadly, these gifts can be used to worship self, to worship evil. Worship is exalting something, pouring out our focus on something...you don't have to be consciously involved in a religion to worship something. We all worship something daily. Whether it is the almighty God, ourselves, the earth, other people, the media...sadly, much of the world is deceived. The Evil One is one of deception. Twisting our desires and focus, manipulating us slowly into worshiping something other than God, and therefor worshiping evil. How heart wrenching to realize that if it is not God we worship, it is evil! Because worship is meant for God only. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 

The Word of God directs us to worship God only. Luke 4:8 says: And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" Jesus is responding to the devils attempt at tempting him. Manipulating Jesus' priorities and trying to take something good and use it for his own evil. One of the most used tactics of the enemy. Take good, and twist it a little to use it for evil. Sadly, the evil is subtle, and not realized. Pride, self worship...even "doing ministry" when the goal is to serve oneself and ones own pride. 

The beautiful thing is that we don't have to be manipulated! Glory to God! We are kept on the path of God Worship through the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit. He keeps our hearts right as we come humbly before him. He washes away our pride, our self desire, our inclinations to wander. And as we are washed, we can come to Him in divine worship.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
Revelations 7:9-12

Generous Living

Matthew 10:5-10
5 Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
"Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. 6 Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. 7 Tell them that the kingdom is here. 8 Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
9" Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. 10 You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.

You have been treated generously, so live generously...

Generous living. Some people are such graceful examples of this. Christ lived generously.

My thoughts are drawn to a specific area of generous living, that of our hearts and emotions. Our culture puts self first, others second. If someone hurts us, we are taught to protect ourselves and build walls so they may not enter into the venerable realm of our hearts again. This can severely stunt generous living. Generosity is giving above and beyond, and when you are withholding yourself from loving others with your whole heart, generosity is crippled.

Jesus lived generously. Over and over again. He gave his time generously, he healed generously...but the most outstanding act of generosity in his daily life that stands out to me, is his love and acceptance of one man whom he knew, from the beginning, would betray him at the end. And yet, he allowed this man into his inner circle. He called him. He loved him. Judas.

Judas is brought up several times with the obvious statement that lets us know that his sin of betrayal was premeditated and contemplated. One such reference is in John 12:4-" Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him..."

That is generous living. He didn't guard his heart or words from Judas. And the whole time Jesus KNEW what was coming.

Another example of generous living is discussed in Matthew 10:41-42:
41 Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God's messenger. Accepting someone's help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. 42 Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."

This generosity is smaller, simpler, but just as important. We are all called to live generously, and even the small generosities matter. Jesus tells us that it is a large work, but to start small. You don't have to begin your life of generous living by loving your 'Judas' right this minute. It is character built up over time, through acts of generous living, and a constant giving of yourself to the Lord. Until one day, you find yourself able to love the Judas' of the world, because Christ loves them too.