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New Blog

2009-10-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

http://annapociask.wordpress.com/

Come join me on my new blog!

Andee is One

2009-10-19T12:24:00.001-07:00

I took these pics for a birthday present....and had an absolute blast doing it!!

They were mainly for Andee, but Darrick had to be in some too, and I am so glad he was! I mean, look at the first pic of these two. This is the way a big brother should love his little sister.

The tutu was made by Amanda Davidson, you can find her on facebook if your interested in having one made for your one year old!

Greeting Cards

2009-10-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

Couple options to choose from for greeting cards.

New Website

2009-10-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Check out my new website:

Anna Pociask Photography

I am super excited about my new website!!! Tell me what ya think!

Cutest Texan Cowgirl I Know

2009-10-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

My sweet little 14 month old is looking so grown up with her Texan cowgirl hat and boots on!

I had a western theme shoot planned, but just could not wait so I dressed her up and took some shots at home. She LOVES her hat! She usually hates things on her head, but not this time.

You can take this as a sneak peek until the REAL photoshoot. I am quite pumped about it! However, I am so in love with these photos. Everytime I take pics of her she looks more and more grown up....it's killing me!

If you know of any photo contests going on here in Texas I think these pics would be perfect for it.

A touch of art

2009-10-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

A good friend from Seminary drove down for me to take some pics of her sweet little girl yesterday. I had been wanting to use my cool $10 frame with some kiddo's and finally got to yesterday. This fence was just outside a laundry room...who would of guessed? I love making not so great spots into awesome spots!

I wanted to share my favorite shot with ya'll!

Sara + Aaron King = one hot couple!

2009-09-29T20:32:00.001-07:00

Sara and Aaron were married downtown Fort Worth at the YWCA. These are a few pics to hold over the family till I am finished with the rest.

You are able to get a feel of the classy but fun atmosphere...you see that by the shoes the guys wore and the sassy hot pink shoes Sara wore to the reception.

I used the pearls to drape the rings on because pearls was a major theme of the wedding. You are able to see little pearls in the bouquet and they were on each of the tables at the reception.

I had a blast and as you can see, this couple was way easy to photograph. Thanks again for letting me be a part of your special day!

New products

2009-09-28T12:03:00.001-07:00

I always upload my pics in the wrong order on here...well, here is the inside of a press book I designed. Scroll down for more pics. This is a hard cover, they come in soft cover as well.

This is 9x6 press book. It is a cheaper version of a story book. They come in hard and soft covers, and multiple other sizes.

Take a look at the other samples.
I created each page, as I would like to do for you!

This is an 11x14 Slim Wrap.
You are able to buy a very classy looking print and not have to buy a frame for it!
It stands off the wall a few inches to give it that studio look

This also has a metallic finish to it.

Photography Marketing

2009-09-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hello out there to any photographers--as you may or may not know my passion is to be a full-time wedding photographer. I know all business ebbs and flows, but right now I feel stagnant. I am sure everyone has been there, and with the economy now it's probably easier for most people to elope.

I have faith in the Lord to build my business in His timing. He will give me what I can handle, which I am very thankful for. Wow, what an awesome God I serve!

I am curious--what marketing tips would you pass along to other photographers?

Sara's Bridals

2009-09-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

So, it's not every day you get to photograph someone as beautiful as Sara. I would pose her and she was a natural, very laid back, and so humble.

We basically walked in a circle around a specific area to get all these shots. I am really trying to think outside the box, especially when it comes to shooting brides, weddings, and engagements. My business goal is to become a full time wedding/bridal/engagement photographer.

I have many goals set for myself and I know in God's timing they will all line up. Enjoy the pics and remember I LOVE COMMENTS!

Tell me what you like, tell me what you don't like, tell me what you would like to see me do more of out not so much more of. :)

Kiddo's

2009-09-22T12:56:00.001-07:00

Coming from a different angle, this is sweet little Clara. She is not so little anymore though. I use to babysit her when she was 6 months old.

Big brother Gabrielle. I am using a new effect here, I really like the way the finished result turned out.

Today is the first day of fall--who needs updated pics? This is the time of year I like to have my update family picture done.
This is just a sneak peek....more to come!

2009-09-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

There is something about this shot, that I love, loved it when I took it and knew I would love the finished result.

Beautiful bride walking out to take some shots with her bridemaids. One of those money shots that was not planned....doesn't every photographer love those kind of shots!
Boys will be boys! Gotta love the REAL moments!
Simplicity! Perfection! This picture speaks a million years.

I hope you have been enjoying my work....two weddings this weekend so many more pics to come!! I hope to capture moments that stun people, and put them into awe. Please pray that my business begins to grow in this area. I absolutely love shooting weddings, engagements, and bridals!

Stay tuned for bridals to be posted Saturday night or Sunday...I have had to wait to post them until the wedding passed. Yay!

2009-09-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend I have two weddings, one is on Friday evening and the other on Saturday. I am really hoping to set up more weddings after this weekend. I really enjoy the atmosphere on wedding days. I catch myself getting caught up in the ceremony. I have actually got choked up at a few, and had to tell myself to FOCUS! Marriage is such a beautiful thing God created for man and woman to enjoy. Marriage is not seen as something holy anymore. Marriage is looked upon as a joke. People say, "why marry, when we can just live together" I can not wrap my mind around that. It was only 50 years ago when people who divorced were banned from their family, or looked down upon. We live in such a people pleasing world nobody stands up for what is right anymore.

When Hollywood is setting the example for the world that it is okay to have kids together, live together, and not be married....what do you expect. I am scared for what Abigail will have to face when she gets older. I am not saying 16 older, I am thinking when she is around 8. Life is rough for girls, they have such high standards to look perfect because of all the magazines portraying perfect bodies that have been brushed up on photoshop.

Sorry for getting on my soapbox..... I am blessed to have lived life with my husband for almost 4 years now. I could not imagine living with him without a certificate, without a blessing from the congregation who witnessed our marriage, and most importantly God's blessing.

Just a side note-- more than 50% of people who live together before they get married, divorce. So--why take the risk?

I am on a roll lately....I will try to keep my blog up to date. Bridals will be up soon! I can't wait to show them off! Anyone need a photographer?

http://annapociask.poundslabsonline.com

Sharpen one another, not stab one another

2009-09-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Friendship..........
It is hard to come by these days, full of business, and the very fact we all have a selfish nature. Many are hurt by others due to selfishness, how one can gratify themselves. The end result= pain on both sides. I have experienced it, I am sure you have to....honestly, probably, on both sides.
When one seeks to fill their own desires, they only end up feeling alone and not complete. We must seek after eternal things, not earthly things. This day will vanish like a vapor....what are you putting your time and energy into? Who are you investing into, and not taking away from?
I have been burned one to many times....it hurts.....
When I invest into a friendship I do not expect in return deception...but, at times I have received that and then it makes future friendships even harder, because then I have to ask myself, is it worth the time of getting hurt again.
What brings one to a point of letting go of something that seemed so sweet at one time....laughter........harmony...........sharpening...........late night talks.............roadtrips.............
I understand seasons do change, but a true friendship should never waver. Do you give up and move on, or keep after something that seems lost forever?
Friends are to sharpen one another, not stab one another to get ahead in life. Like I said before, in the end, it will only leave you feeling alone.
What kind of friend are you?

Business

2009-09-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

It has become impossible to keep up on my blog....I have been editing a lot of pictures, being a full-time mommy, and just running a business.

So-- I am going to try to keep my blog for business purposes. I want to try to keep updates on my pictures and stories behind the pictures.

I know there have been a lot of shoots you have not seen, so once again here are a few to show off the work I have been doing. I will try to keep up on this.

If you are following me on here, please add me on facebook because I am much better at updating on there pictures of Abigail and my photography work. You can also become a fan of my work at Anna Pociask Photography. Thanks!!

I was hoping to get more pics up on here, but my computer was being too slow, now Abs is up from her nap. So--find me on facebook.

Accountability

2009-07-28T07:48:00.001-07:00

Accountability....Discipleship....Encouragement

Three very big parts of ministry that has been lost. Why? Well, what I have been told is:

"I have nothing to offer you, your a lot futher than I am spirtually" Pastors wife

We need to step up and encourage our friends of the faith, friends that have gotten away from the faith, and friends that do not have faith.

Who is investing in you right now?

Who are you investing into right now?

Who is keeping you accountable?

Can you answer these three questions? I can not, but am seeking the Lord to fill these areas of my life. The one that is not filled is someone older in the church investing into me. I miss this, and would love to have an older woman from church pour wisdom into me.
I would love to hear from people.... thoughts??

Busy with my photography business....

2009-07-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

So I know I have been out of the blogging world for over a month--its kinda funny but I have been reverting back to old school journal writing. Yes, with a pen and notebook! I use to write in journals for just about every occasion, then I got away from it due to business of life and the introduction of blogging. However, I have really been enjoying writing; don't worry this is not a farewell to blogging, but, I will have to say my free time goes to editing pictures. I did want to take some time to upload some of my work so you can see what I have been doing. Let me know what you think!

My business is really starting to pick up. As you can see I have been doing a little bit of everything. I still need to upload some of my wedding work. I am making a business trip August 5-11 up to Mo. I have 5 jobs lined up, I am super excited! I give the glory to God!

Anna

Digital Scrapbooking

2009-06-18T11:09:00.001-07:00

Quick question:

Who knows anything about digital scrapbooking? I know there is a ton I could do on photoshop wiht it. Any help would be very appreciated!!
Thanks!!

2009-06-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

We are in Mo enjoying time with family. Abigail is loving playing in the grass. Last night my mom and and I played against my dad and Jess a round of horse shoes. My mom and I had a good come back but did not win. I think we started making the guys nervous because mom and I started getting ringers left and right. Abs was content watching us in the pack and play. I was hoping we would wear her out enough to sleep through the night. She made it to 3:00 am, not quite good enough. Then, she decided to be up for the day at 5:00 am.
Our plane ride went really good. We were in the back of the plane, it had it ups and downs. The good thing was I could feed Abigail in privacy, the horrible thing was men who stay in the toilet for a long time means only one thing---STINKY POO! Oh man, it smelled like Mcdonalds. Sorry for the details...but I wanted you to feel my pain. I thought it was Abigail passing gas at first. I wish it was, cause then the smell would have passed....ANYWAYS....Abs fell asleep, praise the Lord! She was so squirmy when she was awake. But, now we are here and she is loving every bit of it. Papa cleared out the back for her to play on some big rocks. The pool is ready to play in. It has been raining today, so we have not been able to get in yet.
Sorry for no pictures, you will have to wait till we get back to Texas.

I have been taking a lot of pictures. You can add me on facebook and see a lot more updated pictures. I am better at updating on there with pictures. Since I am here in Mo I have time to write, but when I am home in TX I use my time editing pictures when Abigail is sleeping.

Not sure if I already bragged about this but Abigail can whistle. It is quite cute. One day she looked at Justin and I intently whistling and she began whistling. She sucks in air instead of blowing out. She now roars like a bear when I show her a picture of a bear. It more so sounds like a sheep because she says BAaaaaar!

Until next time....

Update on our little sweety

2009-06-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

This is Abigail going to town on some banana's. She has not learned how to gracefully put them in her mouth yet. :)

Abigail winning in the wresstling tourament.

You can see Abigail's first tooth in this picture!!

Yesterday was Abigail's 9 month check up. I hate these check ups; because they usually mean a prick in the thigh. :( Atleast she only had to get one vaccine yesterday and one prick in the finger to draw blood. They wanted to check her iron level and also see if she has any lead in the bloodstream. She was a strong girl, as always....but those crocodile tears get me every time. It is SO hard seeing your child cry because they are in pain.

Abigail is still on track to being a tall little lady. She is 30 inches long-- still in the 100 percentile for her age. She weighs 19.5 pds.

Okay--so I know you are dying to see pictures. :) Here are a few from the past few weeks.

MY NEW CAMERA!!

2009-05-22T07:10:00.001-07:00

I am moving up in the world of photography. I am booking weddings, which is an area I have always wanted to get into, but never had the time while being a full time student, momma, and wife. Now, I am free from school, and am pursuing my passion of photography to a higher level-- Anna Pociask Photography

This past week my new camera came in, I officially own a real professional camera-- the Canon 5D Mark II!! There is such a difference, I am amazed! Here are a few pics I have taken with the new camera....ofcourse on my top two models---my handsome hubby and preciousl baby girl.

2009-05-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

My internet has been down for a week, I know..I know...no excuse.

I have also been busy with GRADUATING, getting my photography business going and comforting a TEETHING little girl...Yep, she FINALLY got her first tooth last week! It makes her look so big....so, no more biting on my fingers, yowsers, they are sharp!

What are you praising?

2009-04-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

My memory verse for the week was spurred on by a reaction I heard in class yesterday. There is a Korean girl who has flunked her drivers license a couple times and yesterday she happily told the class she finally passed! The class clapped their hands and all together said, "Yay!"
Not many minutes later the professor mentioned leading his neighbor to Christ; the class did not clap their hands for joy of their new brother in Christ, or yell with excitement. There were a few low rumbles of, "that's great". Why is that?
Why are we as Christians so backwards when it comes to what we praise? We go to games and cheer like crazy! We go to church and we hesitate to lift our hands during a song of praise. I really want to understand what is holding Christians back from truly praising God for salvation.
As you go about on your day, remember this verse....

"Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is FITTING for the upright to praise him." Psalm 33:1

Whatever singing joyfully means to you, do it. Don't hold back from being glad and having sincere hearts, praise God...Acts 2:47a
It is fitting to sing joyfully, shine forth your joy for the Lord!

Anna

Mindy--continued...

2009-04-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more of my favorites!

Mindy

2009-04-26T19:26:00.001-07:00

This is Mindy May, one of the craziest, spunkiest, prettiest gals I know. She is full of life, very photogenic, and has the cutest freckles. Mindy needed a head shot for her website for where she will be working, but I decided to also get some fun shots while we were at it. Mindy is working on her PhD at Southwestern Seminary, and she will make such an impact on our world one day through her gift of counseling. Thanks Mindy for the great day! There are more pictures to come. This is just a little sneak peak.....more to come!

Scripture Memorization

2009-04-21T06:29:00.001-07:00

I know I have a long road ahead of me, but this week the Lord has been leading me to learn of his holiness and how to tremble before Him. I know some people love storms, and actually one time during my life I loved to sit outside when storms would be rolling in, lightning all around, gusts of wind hitting me, and then when the rain started to pour was when I would go inside. Well, since moving to Texas storms scare the holy day lights out of me ( never really understood that saying) however, you get the point. I curl up like a little girl who is afraid of the dark. Oh wait, I still am afraid of the dark....hmmm...anyways, there is a Scripture that speaks to what I am getting to. Psalm 97:4 says, "...his lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and TREMBLES." How do I and (we) get to the point of trembling before the Lord as we do when loud thunder rumbles over the rooftops of our homes?
This week my memory verse is: "Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth." Psalm96:9. I am starting to post a memory verse on the right side once a week, you are welcome to memorize with me. I think memorization of Scripture is something that has been thrown to the side and seen as not important. When meditating on specific scriptures God really reveals Himself to me in a different light. I feel so much closer to Him. Right now I am asking Him to help me get to a trembling state with Him. You would think this would be an easy task, but with all the casualties in life, it is easy to sit back and not worship God the way He intended. Join me on this journey and pray for me as I step into a new light with God.
Love to all, Anna

Celery and Asparagus

2009-04-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

Okay--pre-warning--this is a very random blog. But, I have to keep it interesting, right? :)

So--you know when you eat asparagus your urine smells like it too? Well, if not, try it out. Just steam the asparagus and put a lot of butter on it if you do not like the taste of it, oh and a little bit of garlic powder.

Well, the other night Justin and I had some celery with peanut butter on top. (It's the only way I will eat it) Anyways, I had a tank top on and I lifted my arms up to stretch, and all of a sudden I got a wiff of celery. I thought to myself that's weird we ate celery the night before, why would I be smelling it now. Strange enough, my underarms smelled like celery! So, I am not sure, but maybe if you perspire after eating celery it ceaps throught you pours and you have a nice perfume of celery. Odd thing is, Justin's underarms did not smell like celery. WEIRD.

Okay, there you have it, weird post for the week! :)

A Good Reminder

2009-04-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, CONTINUE to live in him, rooted and built up in him, stregthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Colossians 2:6-7

I have been meditating on this Scripture for the past week because it is so easy for me to get caught up in my daily routine with Abigail, keep up with my studies, and make sure the house is clean and tidy.....and forget to continue challenging myself spiritually....and forget to be thankful for the small things in life the Lord pours down on me.....and forget to overflow with joy to others such as my friends, family, and others I come in contact with.

How are you continuing in the faith?

What small things are you thankful for that are taken granted of?

Who have you been overflowing into that needs to feel and see the joy of Christ?

Anna

Easter Weekend

2009-04-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

The fun begins...checking out the eggs. We kinda did it backwards at first, we let her play with the eggs in the basket, then we threw them out in the grass for her to go after....she had a blast!

Hmmm.....blue or green?

Green! That a girl, momma's favorite color!

"This egg finding thing is a breeze!"

"I found a treasure inside, another bow!"

Making faces!

She took off with her friend's Easter basket.

Later that day I took her to Botanic Gardens to get some pictures of her in her Easter dress.

Sitting so proper and ladylike before we left for church.

Easter Sunday!

Found an Easter egg under the couch. It is so cute when she squats down to look under the couch if she sees something, but this time she got all the way on her belly, she meant business!

Easter was a lot of fun, but at the same time I was sad because we had no family here to celebrate with us. The Lord knew I needed comfort because while in church as we sat down I looked to Justin and said, "I need you to hold me close because I am about to cry because I feel lonely." Soon after that some friends of ours came by and visited with us, that made me feel a little better, and then a family I use to watch their kids for sat by us and gave us BIG hugs! After that, it was confirmation that God was letting me know that I was not alone and that I had a full house of believers that were my family. Truthfully times when Justin and I feel alone when we can't find a babysitter or when were at church and only have the two of us to sit by one another as family, it has made us rely on one another that much more.

Our home has been a roller coaster of emotions lately due to not knowing what direction to go in once I graduate, but we do have a peace from the Lord. I am sorry for the suspense, but I would like to write about it once I hear back from a specific place. So, once again, here are some pictures from Easter weekend to hold you over until I feel led to share.
FYI-

Abigail is into everything,

starting babble a lot,

still no teeth,

pulling up on anything she can get her hands onto,

and still not consistently sleeping through the night. She likes to tease me and sleep through the night maybe once or twice a week every once in awhile.

2009-04-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

I promise to update very very soon! There is a lot going on in the Pociask home....but we have some direction, but are still waiting to hear back from somewhere. Here is a picture to hold you over until I have time to write.

I graduate in 3 weeks so I am finishing up all my assignments and taking tests!

Your Health-- Juice Plus

2009-03-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you a product that has changed my life and my husbands from the inside out.
Have you heard of Juice Plus+? I have been on it for over a year and so has my husband. Since taking it Justin no longer suffers with allergies or asthma. Before Juice Plus+ a cold would drag on for weeks, after Juice Plus+ it would last maybe 3 days!
Juice Plus provides nutrition from 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains in convenient and inexpensive capsule form. It truly boosts your energy levels!
I have DVD's that you could look over to hear from well respected doctors that support Juice Plus.

Did you know 75 to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints or disorders?

Did you know a 1/3 of Americans get almost 1/2 of their calories from junk food? We so often care about what our outer appearance looks like, but forget to take care of our inward appearance. It is scary to think of all the arteries that inflammed and close to rupturing to having a heart attack.
1 out of 4 children are obese today. We need to take a stand and begin getting the correct servings of fruits and veggies in our bodies.

We need to get our daily servings of fruits and veggies, but honestly it is hard buying that much in a week at a decent cost. You would only be paying $1.50 a day to get your complete serving of fruits and veggies a day!! Juice Plus makes it convenient to get your daily servings of fruits and veggies in capsule form. The research is off the charts for Juice Plus.

Juice Plus+ capsules contain no corn, yeast, wheat, or egg or milk products, and very minimal amounts of sodium, sugar, and calories.

Here are 5 scientific claims Juice Plus can say it does for your body:

Delivers key phytonutrients that are absorbed by the body. (goes straight to the bloodstream)

Reduces oxidative stress.

Helps support a healthy immune system.

Helps protect DNA

Positively impacts several key indicators of cardiovascular wellness. ( It keeps the arteries from clogging or becoming inflamed)

I am not saying that Juice Plus should substitute you from eating your fruits and veggies. Amazingly enough, after awhile you will begin seeing a change in the way you want to eat. Your body will begin wanting to eat more fruits and veggies. There is also the Vineyard Blend, it actually helps the Juice Plus work even better. "Investigators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine studies the effect of the three Juice Plus+ blends taken together on the constriction of blood vessels that occurs after a high-fat meal. They found that subjects who consumed Juice Plus+ were better able to maintain the elasticity of arteries, even after a high-fat meal." AMAZING!! The antioxidants in berries and grapes have been shown to boost brain power.

I would be more than happy to send you more information if you are interested. You can also go to this website: www.apociaskjuiceplus.com

I am such a believer in this product I now sell it because I want to see others get the correct servings of fruits and veggies so they have a longer lifespan that is full of life and energy. They are already saying that they are recommending this to cancer patients and women that are pregnant! This is the real deal for staying and being healthy!

Once children started taking Juice Plus doctors were amazed by how less of visits those children were making to the doctor.

Please let me know how I can help you! I not only am selling this for the income, but truly because I am a believer in it, and want to see and help others recieve the nutrition they need. You can email me at: photosbyanna@gmail.com

Look forward to hearing from you! If you are interested in Juice Plus, I will also help you get on a better eating plan and exercise plan, and every so often send articles to you on health.

Hanging in MO

2009-03-20T07:01:00.001-07:00

Hey all!
Sorry I have not been on here, but I am home in Mo enjoying times with family and friends. Wow, has it been so good! Today, two girls I played volleyball with in college are coming into see me. I can not imagine all the stories we will be telling! Last night I hung out with my childhood best friend, Jodi. There is something about getting together with a friend that you have not seen in years but are able to pick up where you left off. Jodi and I have some of the silliest memories. It seems like when we get together, we thrive off of telling stories from when we were younger.

I will be back in Texas land on Monday night. I think Abigail is ready to get back to her crib. Abigail has been sleeping with me off and on every night since we have been here. That means no sleep for mommy. There are a few times my eyes just could not stay opened, and I would drift off when she was in bed with me. I just have this fear that if I fall asleep I would push her out of bed, because I am a bed hog! However, Abigail gives me a run for my money, because she likes to squirm you out of bed too. Not unless she is super sleepy and needs her mommy to cuddle up next to. :) Daddy is back in Texas and is missing his two favorite girls. It was so sweet, yesterday I put Justin on speakerphone so Abigail could hear his voice, her face lit up with a big smile. I love the fact that she knows her daddys voice. I also know that it made daddy feel loved.

Abigail is in the stage where she only likes her mommy. Sometimes this is a cute thing and makes me feel loved, but other times I feel bad because I know my family would like to hold and love on her. But, I think she is adjusting and getting use to all the people around her everyday. The first day was rough, however, I think she is teething and that has been making her a little more sensitive. Poor thing!
I hear Abigail waking up from her nap, so I better wrap up.

I am still waiting to hear replys on what you would like me to write on.

Happy 1st day of Spring!
Anna

Dear Mom

2009-03-11T13:51:00.001-07:00

When I think back to highschool I really regret the way I treated my mother. Looking back to all the work, sacrifice, unended hours, unconditional love, discipline, clothes she bought me and sewed for me, beautiful prom dresses that were bought, the many boo boos she kissed, vomit and bowel movements she cleaned up after, making each banana curl perfect for every pony tail she put on my head, washing my clothes, making me dinner, sacrficing buying herself clothes so I could have more, seeing my mom wear the same sweater over and over again and wonder why...now I understand, the most awesomest funnest birthday parties she threw for me--for example: fashion shows, costume party where my mom made me a cinderella dress, my surprise 16 b-day party that I had no clue about. My mom is Queen for going ALL out to make her children feel special. Any birthday or special occasion I definitely felt like a queen! Thanks, mom!

It is funny how I can look back now and see all the wonderful things my mom did for me when I was a child, but then just took them for granted. My mom use to always tell me you will understand one day when you have children of your own. I am sure I rolled my eyes (which she hated), and sighed with a whatever attitude. I hate looking back to my ungratefulness, but am grateful now my mom and I have the best relationship ever! I hate that it took this long, but better now than never. Learning from my mistakes of being an ungrateful daughter has made me pray each night for Abigail and my relationship. There is not a night that passes that I do not pray for our relationship.

I was thinking today when I wanted to write this blog:

I challenge you to write your mom a letter or give her call today and let her know what you appreciate about her. Ask yourself these questions:

What things do you cherish about her?
What things were you not grateful for when you when younger but now are grateful for?
What things are you sorry about, but never took the time to truly tell her how sorry you were?
What is the best memory you have with your mother?

These are just a few questions to spur your thoughts, but let me know what other things you add to your letter. I would love to hear how this goes with your mom. If you would be willing to post your letter on here, I would greatly appreciate it. I think many readers would benefit from it. I will be praying for you, knowing that not all sons and daughters have the best relationships with their moms. Do not rely on your own words, let the Spirit lead you. I pray there are wounds mended and tears shed. Blessings to you, and thanks for stopping by!

Dear mom,

I cherish that you have always been there for me even when I had treated you like dog poo. I cherish that you always had me dressed to a T, with matching bows and socks, OFCOURSE. I cherish that you pushed me to be the best in anything that I went out for. I cherish that you taught me how to make others feel special even if they were from a different socioeconomic level than I was. I cherish that cried with me when I hurt over silly boyfriends. I cherish that you put together the most beautiful wedding I could of even dreamed of. I cherish that you are alive and we are able to talk on the phone every day whenever we want to. I love you mom.

I am sorry that I was not grateful for the all nice clothes you bought me, and the many hours you put into sewing me the cutest and best of material outfits for Easter, Christmas, school activities, and just cause you wanted to sew me an outfit. I am grateful that you took less sleep so I could have adequate sleep when I was a child. I am grateful for you believing in me even if it was hard for you to express to me that you were. I am grateful that you have always been my biggest fan!

I am sorry if I caused you heartache over the boys I chose to date and the words I threw in your face that were not respectful. I am sorry for the times I disobeyed you. I am sorry for my attitude when I did not like my big frilly dresses you put countless hours into making. I am sorry for rolling my eyes at you, cause I know that always lit a fire in you. Still not sure why, but maybe one day I will understand. :)

I will have to say some of the best memories I have with you are on our mother/daughter shopping trips and getting our ritual cookies and coke. Another memory I will always cherish is when you were there with open arms to hold me when I won homecoming queen.... I love you mom!

Love,

Anna--(Sweet-pea)

Praying with Hope

2009-03-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought it is weird that many people all over the world write their personal thoughts and feelings online for anyone to see? I have always been one that struggled with being open with my true feelings and thoughts with others due to the fear of what they may think of me. It is easy putting on a mask day to day. There are days we may be truly hurting inside, but do not have the courage to break down to someone due to pride, fear that person will not look to you as having it all together, or simply not having a special friend to share these uttermost thoughts with.
I want people to be able to read my blog and find encouragement, but to also leave feeling challenged. There is so much energy and time I would like to put into this, but right now being in school I have not had that kind of time. I have come a long way with sharing my true self with others and have come to find that I encourage many people by doing so. From this day forward, you will still get Abigail updates, but I also want to start writing devotions, challenges to spur you on to being a wife of noble character, how to live simply...I don't know, these are just a few things that I want to write on. If you have any ideas that you would like me to write on I am free to suggestions. Also-just a side note--if you read my blog regularly please let me know you are a follower. There is a place on the right side you can click on to become a follower. I like to know who my audience is, this will help me know what to write on. Thanks!

I have come to be convicted of sleeping in until Abigail wakes up. So, when Justin gets up for work I have now started to get up to have my quiet time. I felt as if I was putting sleep before God. I was justifying that it was okay for me to sleep in because I had been up with Abigail during the night.
Well, I felt as if I was shorting myself when I would try to read Scripture in the morning while Abigail was playing. I was never really able to have a sincere time in prayer, it would get interrupted and I would forget what I had been praying.
It has been refreshing getting up before Abigail, knowing that my priorities are straight-- God--then my child. It is so easy to get caught up in putting Abigail first, instead of God. I really am striving to become more of a prayer warrior. I think at times it is easy to take for granted the gifts from God, and to stop praying specifically.
Two different times when I was in Africa I had asked God for a shooting star, and he shot one across both times. The first time was with a friend, the second I was lying on a roof with my girls. I simply asked, God will you give us a shooting star. As I finished saying star, a star went across the sky. I shouted out with tears streaming down my face--"God, you are so awesome!" Thank-YOU!
I want to pray with faith like that all the time. I must not take for granted the blessings God will give due to not praying with faith. Right now I am praying for specific things, by specific days. I believe God will answer them, right now all I can do is wait for Him to answer. As I wait I am encouraged by these Scriptures.

"But as for me, I will always have hope: I will praise you more and more." Psalms 71:14

HOPE: Confident expectation that God will intervene and deliver.

Sorry--have to go, Abigail is awake from her nap.

Be encouraged--

Cease from worry
Be still-- Psalm 37:7
Wait Patiently
Do not fret
Follow God's voice
Wait for peace

Mommy Moment

2009-03-03T12:23:00.000-08:00

This afternoon when I got back home from class I could tell Abigail was ready for a nap. Well, sometimes her body tells me something different than her mind tells me. :) I laid her down and she cried, and began getting mad. I know the difference between her crying when she is tired vs. I do not want to be in my crib. ( I personally think it is because she loves hanging out with me).... :)
I took her out to calm her down, this usually works.... I put her back down, she was fine, but as I looked at the monitor her legs were hanging out so being a good mommy that I am I went in to help her out. She had a big smile on her face, I helped her out, and as I turned to go out the door, all HELL broke lose. We were back to square one. Just a side note, this is unusual for Abigail. I once again took her out, walked around, wiped her nose, and then decided to rock her. The rocking chair was the winner. She slowly laid her head down on my shoulder, still catching her breath from crying so hard and finally fell asleep. This was an hour process....

To say the least, this was a mommy moment that no other helper could have figured out. But, knowing Abigail's quirks I was able to soothe her and now she is taking her afternoon nap. I say this because I am starting to see the importance of mommy's being home with their children. Children need their mommy's and daddy's. However, I do understand that being home is not for every woman. For some women staying home would make them want to go to a coo coo house. Staying home takes patience and it is a calling. I do not have all the answers and I do not have everything figured out, but it seems like my heart is being pulled to stay home with Abigail and our future children.

It is worth not having things of this world
It is worth not having the extra income
It is worth cutting back on my social life

Children are our responsibility. If I want my children to know our values and beliefs I am the only one that can truly ingrain that into them throughout the day. Daddy helps throughout the night and weekends. :)
I also know that I do not manage being overly busy well and if I am running from my job, to home, to cooking dinner, cleaning up, bathing and feeding my child, giving myself to my husband, keeping in touch with friends and family, I will explode. When I get stressed, I am not too attractive and pleasant to be around. I know this about myself and need to take that into consideration. I want the best for my family, and I feel I would be shortchanging my family if I chose to be a full-time career woman. I always said my family would come first, well, this is one way of staying true to my oath.
Staying home means there will be many sacrifices, but being a Christian it is easier to live a life of simplicity and to not get caught up in all the material items of the world. I am not saying that I do not desire them, but, I am willing to give that up to give my children a better life. I may not have the nicest of clothes, but I will have the nicest of jobs--being a full-time mommy.
Being a full-time mommy has to be a choice you are willing to make.
I know there are many of you who have known this has been a big struggle of mine, so I appreciate your prayers and going along with me on this journey. You can always keep up with my updates on my blog, but would always love to get together for coffee or a playdate if you have kids.
I will graduate in May and what our life looks like after that I still do not know. We are living this day by faith, and not worrying about tomorrow.

Bumps and Bruises

2009-02-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

She looks so proud! We are very proud!
Nana came to town this past week. Abigail and Nana had a lot of fun together.
She has scooted herself backward right under our bed.

It is crazy to think Abigail is already half a year old! We are having so much fun. I use to think I never wanted her to get big, but the bigger she gets the more fun she gets. She is to the stage of bumps and bruises. She has aced sitting up, but now she can go from her belly to sitting up. This causes much action when she is in the crib, which means a lot more head bangs. She is pretty tough though. She is trying to crawl, she will put two arms out and try to go forward when she is sitting up. I love that she is trying to get closer to me when I am sitting on the floor. However, I will enjoy eating, reading or doing whatever else on the floor without her exploring, eating, and ripping into it. :) Right now I would explain Abigail as a little firecracker, just because she is exploding developmentally so much. We read every night before bed now, and she truly loves it. I sit her on my lap, and she looks at each page intently, every once in awhile she wants to touch and taste. Then, I pray over her and she goes to bed. Oh, the blessing and gift of being a mother.

On a more serious note:
As most of you know I will be graduating in May and that gives me the freedom to get a big girl job! However, I have never had more of a heavy heart with making the decision if I will begin working or if I will be staying home with Abigail. Justin and I have been searching this out, and as of right now financially it looks like we need my extra income. We will have to move out of our apartment come May because Justin will not be able to take classes and I will be done. Our rent will be more expensive and we are not sure where we are even headed. Each day we keep telling eachother, we must live DAY BY DAY BY FAITH! Faith is something that has always come easy to me, but with this, it has been truly difficult. I guess I want the best of both worlds. I would love to work, but I would love to be home with my baby girl. I feel more pulled to stay home, but then I also feel guilty because we spent 3 years of our lives in Fort Worth so I could get an education to work, and now I am not even sure if I am going to work. It may be a pride thing.... Then, there is the other side, if I work I will feel guilty for not being the one who is raising and training up my daughter. I hate the thought of someone else seeing my baby wake up from her naps, seeing her crawl and getting into things, smiling and giggling, bumping her head and me not there to comfort her. As my graduation day gets closer I only become more heavy hearted. I hate that I do not have anywhere close of a direction of what the best thing is for our family. It is just funny to think that back in the summer of 06 we had our lives all planned out, and nothing has gone the way WE HAD PLANNED. I can laugh in this because God is constantly reminding me that He truly directs us and guides us....So please join me in prayer. I ask that you reply with a specific day and time you will put aside to pray for us. It will give me strength to know I have fellow believers lifting us up in prayer and fighting with us as we face this hard decision.

Growing so fast

2009-02-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

This is after church. We dedicated Abigail on Sunday the 8th. She looks so big sitting up! She looks so proper in this picture with her hands in her lap. I love her smile in this picture too.

Well, did you expect to see a lot of posts once the semester began? I sure hope not. But, I do have good intentions of writing on here to give updates, but times always slips away. There has been a lot of changes going on with miss little Abigail.

1. She weighs 16 pds which puts her still in the 95%tile.
2. She is 28 inches long, still at the 100%tile for height.
3. She is sitting up like a big girl. She had mastered this about a week ago. It is so weird looking at her sitting up, she looks so big now.
4. She slept through the night twice in the past week. All the way from 8:30-6:00! However, I went to bed at midnight, so I still not get a lot of sleep. I find myself staying up later and later once I put Abigail down to bed. It seems like that is the best time for me to study and pick up around the house.

Abigail and I will be home in March. Justin will come for a few days. Abigail and I will be there from March 13-23! Yay! It will be a long trip, which means it will make it harder to leave I am sure. The last time in the airport on our way home my mom and I busted out into tears as she was saying her last goodbyes. No fun!

I have been getting a lot photography jobs and future jobs lined up. It has been so much fun!

Fix our eyes on Jesus

2009-01-13T10:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I started off my morning with my usual feeding with Abigail and then a little snuggle time in bed. We ventured into the kitchen so I could have my hot cup of coffee, then off to wash my face and brush my teeth. Then, it is play time for Abigail and my time in the Word.
I have been finding myself thirsty every morning to get into Gods Word. It has been so refreshing. But, who can relate: when you are dedicated to studying Gods Word you slowly begin to get tested and taunted by the enemy?
Well, it never fails that Satan begins throwing things in my face, emotions, physical appearance when I am striving to grow and walk with God. As reading through the Old Testament I am greatly encouraged to keep persevering knowing that I serve a faithful God no matter what the circumstances are. As I was being attacked I was reading an email from someone that told me some very sad news. Her best friends husband had been cheating on her for over a year. This woke me up and brought much heaviness to my heart. It is so easy for us to get caught up in our own pity party and daily routines and forget about so many others out there who are hurting and going through much more difficult times than we could ever imagine.
We need to fix our eyes on Jesus every morning and keep the focus off our selves.
If you have been out of Gods Word for quite some time I encourage you to pick up your bible today and read for 15 minutes. You will be amazed what you will learn about God.

Christmas

2009-01-07T12:20:00.001-08:00

She was much happier to be out of that hot sleeper!

Christmas Eve--we just got back from the candle light service at our church.

She much rather of ate the presents. :)

There are more pics to come!

Old but still finding new

2009-01-06T07:50:00.000-08:00

I guess I could call it a new years resolution...but really just starting at the new year seemed like a good time to start reading through the Old Testament. I have never read it all the way through, front to back. I have read many passages in the Old Testament and a few books all the way through, just not the whole Old Testament. I created a plan off one of our bible programs so I know how much to read a day up till next January. I am writing this not to boast, but so you can keep me accountable. You are welcome to ask me whenever you see me or write me how my reading is going. I know right now being off from school I have more time to devote to studying the Word. So, the challenge of keeping up with my quiet time will be when school starts. I did make it so when I read it is only Mon-Fri. As I am reading I am asking God to show me new things about Himself, and He already is. I have been underlining in pencil the new things that have been standing out to me. I wanted to try something so I will do it on here. I am going to write out all the new things that have been revealed to me. I know it will reveal things about God. (Now, this will only be from chapters 1-10, and as time goes on I will update what God is revealing to me)That is what I want from my quiet times. I want to know more about Him. I don't want to know more of what He can do for me....I want to get away from the individualistic side of my time in the Word. Can anyone relate?.......

NIV (what is in bold is what specifically stood out to me in that particular Scripture)
Chapter 1:
v. 14: And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons adn days and years.
v.16: God made two great lights-- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser ligh to govern the night.
v.18: To govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
v26.: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creature that move along the ground. (This was not something new, just something that I like to be reminded of)
v29: Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plan on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. (Multiple times you will see the words from God--"I give"

Chapter 2
v.25: The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Chapter3
v.1: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

Okay, so typing this all out will take a lot of time. Lets see what we have so far in bold.
What do you see that I don't?
How do the words in bold speak to you?

A few things that I see about our God is that He is:
He is specific and He is a planner.
He is giving.
He is gracious enough to make us in His image.
He is in control of what He makes.
He gives direction.
He sees fit for a man and woman to be husband and wife.

Give it a try, while reading Scripture underline what stands out to you and see what it reveals to you about God. Amen!

The first's keep happening one after another....

2008-12-31T08:52:00.000-08:00

1st time to eat cereal. The first night most of it came right back out, but by the 3rd night she was swallowing it and opening her mouth for more after each bite. She is a good little eater. I thought this face was priceless.
This is just funny...but this is the 1st time to have a double hair style....one in the back and one on top. I have to have fun with her hair now before she begins telling me no or starts taking out her hair bows and bands.
1st time to open a Christmas gift! She was more interested in eating the wrapping paper... :)
1st time to meet Great Grandma Murphy!
I know you must be wondering where in the world I have been. Well, I have traveled to Mo and simply I have been relaxing from the stress of school. But, now I am way behind on uploading pictures on here. So, the first update will be on some of Abigail's firsts' she has had in the past couples weeks.
She also giggled for the 1st time on Christmas day. But, she has not done it since then.
She is rolling from her stomach to back and back to stomach now. But, funny thing is she only rolls from her stomach to back in her crib. She is really active in her crib. It's kinda funny. Actually, right now she is sleeping with her butt straight up in the air. It is pretty cute! She has come to take a trait after her Uncle Jesse, she loves sleeping with a silky blanky. Sorry Jess, your secret is out. :) That was the only way Jesse would go to sleep when he was a baby. If Abigail is a little fussy when she goes down for a nap or night time I just give her the silky blanky and she is out.
Next up....our trip to Mo!

Lead me Lord

2008-12-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

I remember in college telling God that I would go wherever he wanted to send me. I always had in mind that I would go to Africa one day and work among villages taking care and loving on orphans. A LOT has changed since my singlehood in college....

Justin and I have always talked about oversea missions, we have even talked with the IMB a couple years ago. You may be thinking this has to do with us maybe moving overseas somewhere, actually it has to do with moving and living right here in the states.

Now that I am married and with child making decisions has become harder. I think that I use to be so much more flexible in college when I was single because I did not have to think of the best interest of others too. Now, when a decision is made Justin and Abigail have to be included in on it too.

I will go wherever Justin leads our family, because I trust Justin listens to the Lords leading. My heart is to be back in Mo. But, that is not good weight to use to determine if we are to move anytime soon. Justin looks at his job now and sees that it is stable and knows moving means he would have to find a new job with a B.A. in Christian Education. I know that having a Masters woudl help get him a job in a church, but moving would only take him away from getting his education. I have deep convictions of knowing that Justin is called to the ministry and he needs to finish his education. But, I also have deep convictions of being home with our children. As for now, Abigail. I do not think it is fair for our children to be raised by someone else during the day while we go off to work. I know many people do it, and I do not look down upon those families. These are my own convictions.

Back to the beginning of this post I said I would go wherever the Lord wanted me. It never crossed my mind that He would want me in Fort Worth, Tx for awhile. If this is where He has called us for a few seasons, this is where I will stay. But--if only it were that easy. Staying here still means hard decisions need to be made. Not sure if that means we will move off campus once I graduate because Justin may not be able to stay in school full-time while working full-time...or if that means I will start working full-time so Justin could go to school full-time. Right now, this is all unknown.

The unknown always makes us or atleast should make us reach out to God more. It does for me. I want the best for my family....I want to be seen as a woman that fears the Lord and is guided by His mighty right hand. My prayer comes from Isaiah 41:10... ( So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand). Join me in prayer. Amen.

Abigail's 1st Christmas

2008-12-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

Abigail is helping daddy pick out where to put up the Christmas tree.

Abigail is not too excited about the beginning process of the tree.
The end result!

Now for the Christmas decorations-- Abigail's 1st stocking.

The puzzle we have begun to work on. As you can see many pieces are still on the table not put together.

Got to have Christmas mugs for all the coffee drinking that goes on in this house!

You got to have little candies around the holidays! :)
Abigail is getting a kiss under the "mistletoe"...I just used a pretty ornament as our mistletoe. It still works. Okay--more pictures to come. Hope you enjoyed! :)

Random moments

2008-11-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

For all my Mo. people that keep up on my blog--- ABIGAIL AND I WILL BE HOME DECEMBER 16-21. Justin will be joining us on the 19th. Abigail and I will be flying for the first time together. Pray that is goes smoothly and that I wont be too nervous.
We look forward to the Murphy Christmas dinner. Abigail can't wait to meet all her crazy cousins! :) We would love to come by and see people-- let me know when a good time is to come by.

First time to grab onto Mr. Lion--she was quite excited! :)

Ready for church! She is always dolled up. It's so much fun!

One morning after her nap I went in to check on her and she had scooted her way around and had her feet dangling out.

Now that she can grab onto things she automatically puts everything right into her mouth.

Just rolled over for the first time from her back to stomach. She had been getting to her stomach but could not figure out how to get her arm out from under her. Look at her holding her head up so high!

26 Years of Life

2008-11-25T08:24:00.001-08:00

Every year when my birthday comes around my mom always reminds me that I am not officially my age until 5:23 pm that night. Every year I always say, "oh mom"...., well this year is different. I am holding on strong to the lasting hours of the age of 25 today. Justin keeps reminding me that now I have to round up--ewww.... to 30! Don't like the sound of that. That means I need to have atleast one more child before the age of 30. That is definately doable. But, right now I don't want to think about going through the whole pregnancy process and definately not the delivery process again! I am still trying to get back into shape!

This year I have been given the best gift ever for my birthday--ABIGAIL!
It's funny how so many things change once having a child of your own. I have recieved some birthday money and I did not even spend it on myself. I bought Abigail's Christmas dress and another cute outfit for Thanksgiving. I much rather buy for her. It is so fun! Probably with the rest of my birthday money I will have Christmas pictures done so we can send them out to family. Which reminds me--I need to get an appointment made.

For the past year of my life I have been pregnant 9 months of it and have had a baby in my arms the last 3 months. We concieved in the middle of November last year. Kinda fun, huh.

So--now being the age of 26 I can look back and remember a lot of:

Planning
Excitement
Planning some more
The unknown
Expectations
Joy
Preparing
Praying
Lots of pink,dresses and bows
Unconditional love
Sacrifice
Trusting
Thankfulness
Change
Being sleep deprived
Baby showers
Moving to a new apartment
Giggles and kisses
Wet and dirty diapers
Becoming a family of 3

I know in the years to come I will have even more to add to this list and a lot will stay the same. I look forward to what the Lord has for my life this next year around.

Let loose

2008-11-19T18:35:00.001-08:00

Something that puts me and I am sure many people on edge is being honest with our inner thoughts and feelings. I was encouraged by all the replys on facebook from my last post, "Is the grass greener on the other side?" Many told me they were thankful for how I was honest with what was going on with my life. ( I appreciate ones who let me know they were encouraged by my post)
I think being vulnerable is a scary thing. I hesitated to write what was going on, but truly felt lead to share. I am reminded of a Proverb in chapter 11:25, "...a generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." Knowing I refreshed others refreshed me. It's funny how that works. :)
Have you ever stopped and noticed how many times you are asked throughout the day, "how are you?" but then all you say is "good" ask back and then it ends right there. I have become irritated by this Americanized greeting. There are many times when someone has asked me how I was and I was not doing good. But, in our culture we buck up, put a smile on our face and say, "fine", "great", or "good".
I believe we as a culture are missing out on true fellowship due to time constraints, scared of what others may think of us if we share what is going on in our lives, and simply wanting others to think we have it all together.
I challenge myself and whoever reads this to ask yourself--
What am I holding back? What would I like to let loose from within me? I am not saying spill your guts on here, but maybe there is someone imparticular you need to talk to about something that has been put away for too long. Maybe it is the person you have been closest to all your life--but for some reason have lost contact and don't know where to begin with words. Search your heart, and ask for the Lords leading. He will give you the words to speak.
Why are you holding back? What are you afraid of? Lets begin making a difference by going a little deeper with friends and family. People are wounded and need refreshment-- "They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14).

Is the grass greener on the other side?

2008-11-17T19:06:00.001-08:00

Coming from a womans side of view.... from the time of toddlerhood girls naturally know how to cradle and take care of baby dolls. As we grow a little older we know all the rules to playing "house". We look to our parents and begin orchestrating what it looks like to be married. We eventually hit the age to begin dating. As we date we start sorting out the good and bad guys. Which one is quality material for marrying we begin asking ourselves..... We as women daydream about having the beautiful wedding, having babies, and a house to grow old in making fun memories on the way...
These are all things we can't wait for...what then happens after all these come true. The reality hits, I have my family, I had my beautiful wedding, and now what?

I have many single friends that look to me and think I have my life all figured out and my life is perfect because I am married and already have one child at the age of 25. I know I was in the category of being single back in college, but now I have other things to look toward. BIG life decisions that are not easy making. I do ask myself, what now? Am I living my life the way God would want me to be living it?
I know in May I will have a Masters in counseling. I love counseling, but I much rather be home impacting my children. This is a tough decision to make. Sometimes I hate how our culture is-- that the ideal is for both the man and woman to work. It be much easier not having the burden to feel like you need to help bring in any income. But, I want to work, but I also want to be a stay at home mom. We always want what we can't have. So--what will it be?
I could not image working 40 hours a week, coming home in the evenings cooking, cleaning, and only having a few hours to spend with my family. That breaks my heart thinking about that. I also know that the only way Justin will get his Masters is if I work. He can not keep working full time and finish his Masters. There are only so many night classes offered.
I have been reading the book of Acts in the mornings with Abigail. Acts always gets me on fire and reminds me of how I need to be spreading the gospel as the disciples did. I want to please the Lord with my life.
My fairy tale has come true, and now I wonder what the next big step is. I feel as if I have lived all my life looking forward to something and now that I don't really have something BIG to look forward to I almost feel lost.
I want the best for my family. But, honestly I don't know what that looks like. I think, I want to be back in Mo. so my family can grow up knowing their cousins, aunts, and uncles. But, what if that is me being selfish, and we get there and that is not what the Lord wants.
I know that the only way to know what to do is for me to pray. Will you pray for us and with me?
Pray that my selfish desires will not get in the way.
Pray that I will hear the Lord speaking.
Pray that Justin and I will be on the same page.

Hope you were able to keep up with my randomness....this is what is on my heart and mind right now. Thank-you for your prayers.
May the Lords will be done!

2008-11-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

I am simply exhausted. I wish I was done with school so then I would not feel guilty to take a nap. I just fight the urge to sleep and make me a big cup of coffee. Abigail has started waking up at midnight the last couple of nights. She is not hungry, just waking up. So, I put the paci back in her mouth and she goes back to sleep. It seems like no big deal, but it is when I am never able to get into a deep sleep. She usually wakes up 2-3 hours later and then is ready to eat. I look forward to when I can give her cereal at night before bed. I hope that will help her start sleeping longer.
Please pray for my strength to finish out the semester strong. I am on page 11 for my research paper, have 4 to go. But, honestly I have nothing else to write. I am tempted to write my conclusion and be done with it.
I am trying to finish up all my big assignements before Thanksgiving. We are driving out to Alabama to have Thanksgiving at Justin's moms house. I know I will not get anything done there because our 2 nephews will be there too. They will keep us busy. It will be our first long roadtrip with Abigail. I hope it goes okay.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season?
I am thankful for the gift of Abigail and that she is completly healthy.
I am also thankful that I serve a God that is my strength when I am weak.

Mommy/Daughter Time

2008-11-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

Today Abigail and I had a lot of fun. Well--we have fun everyday, but today I felt like Abigail was starting to play back with me. I kiss her cheeks and she will always try to get me back by sucking on my face. It is so funny. Then, we played dress up. She was not into the hat....she was ready for a nap so that did not help. As you can see on the 2nd picture she is dazing off--sign of sleepiness. These are a few pictures to capture our day. I seriously can not kiss her enough. She is so sweet. I love being a mommy. So-- are you starting to see that Abigail looks like me? :)

Joy of family

2008-11-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

One proud Uncle!

For the past 3 weeks Abigail has been on a pretty solid schedule. I believe it has helped with naps and night time. She eats, we play, and then she gets sleepy and I put in her crib without any fussiness and goes right to sleep. As the weeks have progressed she is sleeping longer and sounder during her naps. I use to rub her face gently and she would squeeze her cheek up against my hand and the bed, so it made it hard for me to get my hand out. I started putting the little doll up against her cheek and she loves it. As you can see above in the picture. Pretty darn cute! She still is only sleeping from 8:00 pm till about 1 in the morning. She has slept 7 hours straight twice. I am hoping she gets back into sleeping longer. We have been having guests off and on this past month so that has messed up her schedule. This past week we got back on track though.

Last week Uncle Jess and girlfriend Casey came to town. I will let the pictures speak for themseselves. We had a lot of fun and it only made me more sad when they had to go back to Mo.

Our little beauty

2008-11-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favoirte pictures of Abigail right now. My favorite ones change so fast because she is changing so much every day.

My little model...she is such a natural. However, I did have to prop her arm under her chin because she would not stop sucking on her hand. Don't you just love her little dimple!?

Gotta love big bows! I think I could have all girls, they are so much fun!

This was the first time to face her out in the BabyBjorn, I am not sure if she liked that more or just the fact she was able to chew on it the whole walk. Anything close to the mouth is for sure going in the mouth to suck on. She is becoming a slobbing machine.

Last week we had the first round of vaccines. I am not sure who it was harder on me or Abigail. Right when she started wailing, I had to hold back from crying with her. She did really good though, once they were done and I picked her up she stopped crying.
She weighed in at 12 pds 4 ounces 90% for her age, and 26 inches long 100% for her age...she is in 3-6 month clothes in length, but still has a hard time filling them out. She is going to be long and lanky. I had to take her back to the doctor today because they were out of one of the vaccines-- she only wimpered. She is so strong. But, I had them weigh her again and she is at 13 pds now. I am amazed how fast babies grow.
She has become very, very observant. She likes staring at her LEFT hand...I think she may end up left handed. It seems to be the dominant hand. My Grandma is a lefty, so she could be, and so is her cousin Xavier.
Next post I will add a lot of pictures. Her Uncle Jess and girlfriend Casey came to town and so has Nana Murphy in the past couple weeks. We captured some great pictures!

9 weeks

2008-10-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am not sure to be happy or a bit sad that my little girl does not really need me to fall asleep anymore. Today each time I was holding her in my arms while very sleepy she would squirm and start squealing. So, I thought, well I will put her in her crib....she fell asleep in minutes. It came around to another nap time today and the same thing happened again, this time she fussed a little bit, but just squirmed a bit and fell asleep again. I cross my fingers when I say these words, because I have come to realize that after a few days of consistency with sleeping at night I think, "oh finally, we have a set routine"...then she surprises me the next day. ha ha
The whole sleep thing has been the biggest challenge, but it slowly is falling into place. I have also learned that each baby is different and going off someone elses way of raising their baby may or may not work for me.
I decided I needed to get her use to her crib if I was going to lay her down in it awake. Each morning she has time in her crib to play/watch her mobile...which she loves. This has familiarized her with her crib. She rarely cries bloody murder anymore while laying in her crib, not unless she is really hungry or has a wet diaper, and a couple times she just needed to burp.
She is such a good baby, and I love watching her change day by day.
Today was her first day to go to the nursery at church. Yes, I waited till she was 2 months old. It was hard, but then again it was nice to be able to pay full attention to the sermon today. She pretty much slept the whole time in the nursery.

2008-10-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Where do the days go? It seems like every evening I wonder where the day went..By the time Justin gets home and we eat dinner it is already dark out. I just wish there was more time in the day. This is when it needs to be lighter longer outside, because the weather outside is actually enjoyable.

Abigail will be 2 months old tomorrow. She really has got the hang of smiling and letting out little giggles. She is really close to rolling over. Last night she slept from 10:30-4:30. It was great! I thought I would feel rested today, but I am still really tired. If I was not in school I think I would have more energy. I am definately ready for the semester to be over. We have a sweet friend that is watching Abigail while I go to class this semester but next semester we may have to find someone new. Please be in prayer for that. It would be convenient to find someone who could come here while I am in class instead of having to pack her things up and her to go to someone elses house.

Yesterday I had to take her to the Dr because her belly button looked infected. The doc cleaned it up and put some sort of cream on it; it already looks better. She weighed in yesterday at 12 pds 1 ounce. She really is growing fast!

Last weekend she met her cousins and other Pociask family. Her cousins were so amazed by how little she was. Xavier (the oldest) was really good with her. He kept washing his hands so he could hold her.

Bath Time!

2008-10-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

Abigail :mommy, I am not so sure about this...

So, Abigail has the strongest embilical cord ever! It is still hanging on strong but I decided to give her a good bath anyways...They say to wait until it falls out, but the sponge baths just were not doing it. At first it seemed like she liked the bath...but as you can see later she got very mad. Oh, but she smelled so clean afterward.

Abigail: mommy, this is torture!

Full of smiles

2008-10-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

Our little girl really has caught the hang of melting her parents hearts......her smiles are precious! I can't believe how big she is getting. It is so fun watching her grow physically and mentally. Her hair cracks me up...today I seriously could not get it to lay down, so I was just calling her spike all day. See the pictures above.

Have I mentioned that I love mommyhood? Well, I do!! :)

One month old

2008-09-18T12:54:00.001-07:00

Look at those pretty blue eyes.

First smile at mommy! This is her big smile! Today she gave me a little smirk when I was talking to her....oh so precious.

Yesterday Abigail turned one month old! All I can say is....we survived. :)

I have started to learn her cries and know when she is tired, hungry, or just bored. The first two weeks were scary, plus when your hormones are all crazy that does not help. But, from then on I have had the chance to figure things out on my since my mom went back to Mo. Abigail and I have lots of fun together during the day. Most people would say you can't do much with a newborn. I disagree. You can interact with them by talking, cuddling, feeding, watching mobiles... Yesterday she smiled at me for the first time, it truly melted my heart. She did it again today when we were having mommy/daughter talk time on the couch. She is so cute!

I have finally come to realize that mommyhood takes a lot of sacrifice--for one sacrificing sleep! But, everytime I hear her cry in the middle of the night I enjoy the moment I am feeding her and then burping to rocking her. There are many mundane things with raising a baby, but I look at it as sheer blessing and a gift. I cherish every moment with her, she will only be tiny for so long. I already got sad when I was looking at pictures of her from her first week of life, she has changed so much already! She is getting so long and filling out. Right now she is going through an acne phase, hopefully it will clear up before Saturday. We are having our first family photos taken together. Her dress is adorable! I will post those pictures later...well, if they give us a CD. They will give a website I am sure, so I will post that next week.

I have also learned that when a new life comes into your home you have to adjust quality time with your spouse. There are many times when I am up in the middle of the night feeding thinking... I can't wait to get back into bed so I can cuddle with my hubby. It seems like night time is our only alone time, and he is asleep! :( I know things will change once she starts sleeping through the night and gets a little bit older.

A funny thing about Abigail is that she is a sucker, no problem with her latching on. The funny thing is the other night Justin had her up on his shoulder, he heard her sucking but thought she was sucking on her hand...well, when I was feeding her later that night I saw what looked like a bruise on her arm, come to find out....SHE GAVE HERSELF A HICKEY!

The many faces of Abigail

2008-09-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was able to catch all these expressions in the matter of 5 minutes. She is quite expressive, so fun! The one by the hairy arm is Justin holding her-- I thought it was pretty impressive she was blowing bubbles. :)

Nap time

2008-09-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

What is your approach to nap time and putting your baby/child to bed? Why did you take this approach--what worked, what did not work?I have been rocking Abigail to sleep every night and putting her in her crib asleep. She wakes up shortly after crying not unless she is super tired. During the day I have been letting her sleep in my arms, swing...etc. Today I decided to start some sort of routine. I have a feeding schedule but that is about it. Today I fed-then played-then tryed putting her down in her crib awake but pretty tired. Well, to say the least I could not stand hearing my baby girl cry bloody murder. I tried comforting her by patting her and rubbing her face gently and that would work until I left the room again. To say the least, I failed at my task and picked her up because she was shaking from being so scared. She fell asleep in my arms instantly and I held her tightly feeling like a horrible mother. So, once again I am asking for stories and experiences. I am new at this and trying to do the best for Abigail.

She is growing fast

2008-09-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

Our little Abigail is growing like a weed. We went to the doctor on the 3rd and she had already grew 3 inches and weighed 8 pds 15 ounces. The doctor said he would have been happy if she was back up to her birth weight which was 8 pds. 3 ounces but she had far exceeded that. It gave me much relief to know she is getting enough milk. It is hard knowing when you are breastfeeding, when you give a bottle it tells you how many ounces.
Last night was one of those nights you look forward to every night. I put Abigail down at 8:45 and she did not stir to eat until 11:20. She ate, I put her back down then she did not wake back up until 2:30, same routine then back up around 5:20 then next feeding at 7:15. So, I was able to get some good sleep last night. It was hard falling asleep the first round because I thought something was wrong because she had not woke up sooner. She is sleeping sound right now and I have been able to read a little bit for class. She must be growing! :) She is such a twig, she gains weight but then gets longer and makes her look skinny all over again.
Yesterday I put her on a mat similar to a baby einstein and she rolled over on her side, she already can lift her head up pretty good. She is a very strong and active baby.

20 hours of labor

2008-09-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am finally finding the time while daddy is holding Abigail to write my birthing story. To all my friends that wanted to know if I made it all natural.......Beginning on August 14th and 15th I was having sporatic contractions through out the day. I knew the day was approaching, and I was hoping so before the following Monday because my doctor was going to induce me. On the morning of the 16th I started having contractions that were closer together and more consistent. My husband and I decided to go for a walk because that determines if the contractions are real and it helps the process. They began to be around 8 minutes apart. My body felt different and I knew we were going to be having a baby that day. (hopeful thinking, she decided to not come until the early morning of the 17th). Anyways...Justin and I decided to play some Yahtzee to pass the time, let me just say when a contraction comes on you lose all your train of thought...every time I had one we forget whos turn it was or how many times one of us had rolled the dice. To say the least, we did not finish one round. Justin began packing up the car and cleaning up around the house. We planned to stay at the house as long as I could take it. Around 1 in the afternoon I decided we should go to the hospital because the contractions were only 2-3 minutes apart. The pain was still tolerable. We get to the hospital, they check to see how far I had dilated. I was only had a stinkin 2! That was not good progress, but since I was overdue my doctor had me stay. When I put on the hospital gown I thought this is so crazy...I am going to birth our child today! I am going to be a parent. The whole process was nothing that I ever imagined. Majority of the time it was just Justin and I in the room. Every hour the nurse would come check me and that was about it. As the hours went by the pain became stronger, I tryed different sitting, standing, walking, and even a hot bath. I recommend a hot bath if you do not take an epidural. That is the advantage of going natural, you can walk around. The contractions became very exhausting, I eventually stopped talking to Justin and had my eyes clothes most of the time. The contractions moved into my back and that is when the pain became something I had never experienced before. Everytime it hit into my back I felt as if I was trying to crawl away from the pain but there was no where to go and any position I tryed did not help. When I decided to take the hot bath it relaxed me for a little bit until I threw up. After that I knew I was about done. It was around 11 pm at this time and this is when I started talking to Justin... :) He kept telling me I was doing great...over and over again..eventually I told him, "think of something new to say"....he told me later he was dumbfounded and did not know what else to say, then he came up with, "I am proud of you"...I told him, " I do not care if you are proud of me." haha...I told him from the beginning to not take anything personal during my labor. Also, when he kept telling me to breathe...oh buddy, that is when flames were coming out of my mouth and repeated back to him, "I AM BREATHING!" Anyways..like I said it was around 11 pm going on midnight when I said I am done, I could not bare the back pain no longer and I wanted the epidural. I was exhausted and I was stuck at an 8, who knew how long it was giong to take to get to a 10 and then I still had to push. I went in strong knowing I was not going to have a huge needle put into my spine, but once the contractions moved into my back it changed everything. Front labor is definately doable without an epidural. The docs came in I did not think twice about what they were doing, and then they had the edacity to ask me stupid questions. I could barely talk at this piont. My nurse told me I could hold onto her as tight as I needed to, and I did! They said it would only take 80-90% of the pain away...well, I believe it took 98% of the pain away. They had to tell me when a contraction was taking place, it was amazing! From then on I was able to enjoy the rest of my delivery process. My husband said he was happy because I finally was talking to him again. My doctor broke my water and just let my body work until I was to a 10. Once I was there, I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO START PUSHING!! It was around 2:00 am now. I pushed a little less than an hour. I pushed every time a contraction came on. They were going crazy when they could see all her hair. The doctor actually made a mohawk with her hair when she started coming out. haha. Once I saw her crowning all that energy I did not have came back full force for me to start pushing as hard as I could. I could not wait any longer to hold my little girl! Once I pushed her out after 20 hours of long labor they put her on my chest to hold and to feed for the first time. It truly was amazing and breathtaking. She knew exactly what to do. God is so good.
Now we are a happy family of 3, learning new things every day.

Family

2008-09-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Chillin with daddy

She is out!

Loving her stroller ride!

I never realized how much I could miss my family until now. It was so hard when my family left when they came to see Abigail. Everyday I think about how I can't wait for my bub to come back and visit his niece. I want Abigail to know her family--but I know it will be hard since we are in Texas. I hope we will all be able to take trips to see one another. It's amazing what a little life can change. I always miss my family, but now I miss them in a different way. Family is important to me, and I want Abigail to know her Nana, Papa, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

I have come to realize each night is a different adventure. Two nights ago Abigail did not sleep for an hour in a half solid until 3:30 am. Last night after each feeding she went right back to sleep for 2 to 3 hours. It is so funny trying to keep her awake while feeding, she starts off strong then starts slipping off to sleep. Then her whole body becomes limp. It is quite funny! Justin and I have a little routine. If Abigail is not going to sleep right after I feed her he will come hold her so I can sleep until the next feeding. He usually will change the diapers at night to help out too. Today is the first day Abigail and I are home alone together. My mom had been here the first two weeks and then yesterday Justin was off work for Labor Day. So far so good--she has been sleeping a lot this morning. So, I am trying to get a lot of school work done and catching up on here. :) I am tempted to wake her up so she will sleep tonight, but I have to realize she is going to sleep no matter how hard I try to keep her up. I read newborns sleep 14-20 hrs a day anyway. So, I will let her sleep and I will take advantage of my free time.

I look forward to being able to exercise again. I want to take Abigail for strolls in the morning and in the evenings with Justin. We took a few laps around our apartment complex the other night. She loved it as you can tell by the picture.

got to go-- she is waking up!

Pictures of Abigail

2008-08-27T11:50:00.001-07:00

As for now I just have time to post some pictures-- she sure is a beauty!

Still pregnant

2008-08-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Went to the Dr today-- had another sonogram, the baby is around 8 pds and is healthy. I also was put up to a fetal monitor to check the baby's heart rate and movement, but also found out I was having contractions. I have been having contractions sporadically throughout the day. Lastly, I saw my doctor and she predicts for me to not make it to Monday. If I do, I am going to be induced on Monday at 7:30 am. The Dr said she has dropped even more, that is why she thinks I will not make it to Monday. Lets hope she is right.
I feel so exhausted right now. I am still counseling clients, and to this point it is hard concentrating during session due to being so tired and distracted by the arrival of Abigail. Okay-- so, the next post I promise will be pictures of our sweet little girl!! :)

Dilated to a 1

2008-08-07T10:43:00.001-07:00

Update on the doctor visit today-- first of all, I am one day over my due date. But, I have dilated to a one, and she has dropped a whole lot more since last week. Next week if I have not had her yet they will do a sonogram to check on the placenta, the aminiotic fluid and any stress levels. So, I ask for you to pray specifically that I will not have to wait another week to go back to the doctor. Pray that I will begin having contractions or that my water will break very SOON. My doctor says I have 2 weeks after my due date to wait for natural delivery-- if there is no progress in 2 weeks I will have to be induced. I would prefer to not have to be induced. Thank-you for all your prayers! Also, pray for my patience. :)

The due date has arrived.....

2008-08-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day I have been waiting for...the due date. I know that does mean she will come, but atleast we know it is almost time. Yesterday morning I was having contractions, but as the day progressed I felt normal. However, I have been extra tired lately. I took two cat naps yesterday. My mom, dad, brother, and his girlfriend have been anxiously waiting for the phone call to let them know I am in labor. They plan to all hop in the car once I am in labor and drive on down. My mom plans to stay longer to help me adjust, cook, and keep the house tidy for us. Thanks mom!

I keep having little spurts of energy because I am getting so excited that the time has finally arrived. I just wish a due date for pregnancy was the same as a date like a wedding. You know for sure you will be married the day you set, but with a pregnancy date it's all about when the baby is ready. I have definitely have been learning how to be patient through this process.

There really is nothing like waiting for your child to be born....no comparison to Christmas-- you open the gifts and eventually the newness wears off. No comparison to your wedding day-- you are stressed out up till the day because of all the little details that have to be finished. But, waiting for your child there is excitement and once they arrive the newness is renewed each day when they look at you a different way, they start putting on the pounds, they begin to develop their own little personality, they have their first steps and words....the list goes on. A child brings a fresh of breath air to your home. I know there will be plenty of stinky days too, but it all depends on how you look at life. You can look at a child as a nuisance or simply a gift from the Lord. We are given such a big responsibility-- and I look forward to the adventures that lie ahead.

38 weeks

2008-07-28T14:12:00.001-07:00

We took some updated pictures of me at 38 weeks in Abigail's room. I only uploaded a few, but you are able to see how much I have grown in the past couple weeks. She is definately putting a lot of strain on my back. We are almost one week away from our due date, that seems impossible.
I went to the doctor on Friday the 25th but I had no news that was exciting...I have not dilated at all. So, I am doing all the remedies that everyone says to help bring about labor. So far all I have had is cramps, which are no fun. The heat has really started to bother me, I become nauseated if I am outside too long. I would say this last month has been the hardest throughout the whole pregnancy. Hopefully the next post I will be bragging about our daughter that has arrived!
Please be praying for the delivery process...I am a bit nervous about the pain. Which I know is normal. Thank-you for all your prayers thus far.

I Promise....To Provide

2008-07-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my pastor challenged me with how we spend our money. Justin and I live pretty simple, but I was challenged with the reminder to be content, knowing that God provides my everyday needs for life and GODLINESS. Godliness, how often do we stop and think God is providing for our Godliness. We are always so wrapped up in how God is providing for our material needs.

I have below some of the main points from his sermon, I added some questions for readers to chew on and then at the end I put questions that Justin and I can ask eachother each month.

I would recommend reading over the points more than once, let them sink in.

“I PROMISE…TO PROVIDE”
Hebrews 13:5-6

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.” Hebrews 13:5

Our having never catches up with our wanting.
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

This is a call to live without covetousness (the love of money), and to live with contentment (enough).

Our fear is not if we think we are going to have enough to buy gas or get by in life....
Our fear is that we think we are not going to have enough to have a nicer house, car, clothes…

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

This is all demonstrated in …
Joyful simplicity-- how is God dealing with you when it comes to living simple?
Sacrificial generosity-- what are you sacrificing?

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” Acts 4:32

Increasing desire, decreasing satisfaction. Possessions will never fulfill our needs as God can fulfill them. We will be in a constant state of decreasing satisfaction, we will always want more.

The more stuff we have the more it robs us of our time with family.

These are questions that I want for our family to be aware of....

Pociask Challenge

Where does the majority of our paycheck go a month?

Where or who could we give to each month?

How often do we remember that God provides what we need for life and godliness?

What challenge will you take away from this?

Weekly visit

2008-07-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

I don't have much news....but Abigail's head has dropped! The cervix is still closed. The Dr. is still predicting her to come on the due date or a little after, but she said anything could happen. :)

Life

2008-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

Friday the 11th my doctor checked to see if there was any progress of Abigail coming anytime soon. She said everything is on schedule and it does not look like she will be coming early. I have mixed feelings on this. I want her to come early, but I know that I need to finish up my hours for counseling. I still have 19 hours of client contact to get before August 6th. I am definately in the last stage of the pregnancy where I am just READY. I want to work out again and I am tired of worrying about if I have eaten or drank something I should not have that could harm Abigail. I just want her safe in my arms.
I have been doing a little research on vaccines. If you are a mother and know much on vaccinations, would you mind sharing with me your fears and not fears on vaccinations? I am nervous about them, not because I dont want my baby girl pricked by a needle, but I know there could be side effects to some vaccines. A childhood family friend was given to much of a certain vaccination and now he mentally disabled. I think vaccines are good to have, but I just don't know which ones are necessary and which ones are not.

Today I am working on my last assignment for my summer classes. It will be such a relief when I am done. I then only have to focus on preparing for counseling sessions. Justin and I have been enjoying our time alone before Abigail gets here. Just last night he said, it been nice just relaxing with one another, its kinda like the stillness of the ocean before the storm hits. :) We know that once Abigail gets here everything will change. We are aware that our quality time will have to be worked at. The other night we talked about fears once Abigail gets here for our marriage. Some that we mentioned were,

1. We will lose our intimacy.
2. Be more irritable with one another due to lack of sleep.
3. Not as much quality time with one another.
4. Putting Abigail first.

Since we are aware of these fears, we are going to work at not falling into the temptation of slipping apart emotionally, physically, and spiritually-- but to take this journey of parenthood to grow in our sanctification process. Dinner time is some of our best discussion time, it is usually when we ask one another questions-- like, how we can better our marriage or make sure there is no unsaid things that have been bothering one of us. I pray we will be able to secure our quality time and still evaluate our marriage. I know as time goes by with more children, evaluation for our marriage will be very important. It is so easy for marriages to get caught up in their children,and forget to take time to grow in their marriages. Being a woman that is worthy to be praised by my children and husband is something I desire to pursue the rest of my life. My family will always come first. I want to be able to reach out to broken families and give hope to them.

Most importantly I want to model to our children how a family should function-- I know that our children will have a lot of friends that will come from blended families. I want our children to know that marriage is a hard thing to work at-- but it is worth it.

Sacrifice comes in many different avenues, and family is where you will be tested the most.

I want our children to see that you have to work hard for the things and people you love. I know our society teaches do what feels good-- you should not have to be unhappy.

Well, a family principle in our family will be to not give in when times are rough-- but to persevere.

This ended up being longer than I intended...but it is all truth and I pray to be a faithful and loving mother that raises my children in a home that fears the Lord.

Revelation and Relationship

2008-07-12T08:27:00.001-07:00

I have been taking an OT class this summer as an online course. I wanted to share a little bit of what I have been learning or thinking on revelation and relationship.

Revelation and relationship have much importance to the Christian life. However, I think a lot of Christians miss the mark when they only apply revelation to the end times. Revelation to Christians today has become a self-seeking, self-assurance concept. Christians believe they are safe from the gates of hell, and they no longer seek out a relationship with God. Your relationship with God does not end once you become saved; the richness of the relationship is just beginning.
The concept relationship has even lost its significance to Christians. You always hear so many believers talking about strengthening their walk with God, but there is never a lasting impact that is evident. If Christians took the same time they do for all the activities they are involved in throughout the week as they did with their time with the Lord we would have a changed society.
There are so many hungry people wanting to ‘see’ God reveal Himself to them. If only believers would realize God reveals Himself to us each day through nature, relationships, miracles, provision, and the very breath of life. We as Christians are greedy and want more than these simple but yet astounding gifts of the Lord. I look at revelation as a gift from God. He does not have to give us any information on who He is, but He desires to have relationship with us.
By God being in relationship with us reveals to us His character of mercy. He could have left us in our sinful nature from the time of Adam and Eve. But, from the very beginning His purpose for salvation began to unfold. God used ordinary people to reveal His ultimate goal for humankind. Christians need to see that God still works the same today as He did thousands of years ago. God is still revealing Himself to us through relationships. But, I believe Satan has blinded Christians by the business of the world to see this truth.

The last big items!

2008-07-10T05:57:00.001-07:00

My younger brother bought us our big items-- the stroller and car seat! Last night Justin put the stroller together and is going to have the carseat in my car ready to go. This weekend we plan to have them inspected. I highly recommend the Chicco Cortina Travel System!

The room is complete...I think

2008-07-08T09:38:00.001-07:00

There will be many sleepless nights that I will be in this glider. It is so comfortable, I do a lot of my reading for school in it. However, I get distracted when I study in her room. Can you imagine why? :) My mom is making a curtain still, so once that is up I will take a picture. See, I knew the room was not complete yet.

The finished touch of the letters Justin and I painted. The colors turned out great.

We got the lamp at target, it is perfect lighting for when we have to change or feed during the night. It also has little shelves to put cute things on.

I have officially nested, no, what am I talking about...I nested about 2 months ago. They say once you have nested it is a sign for labor. Well, I am still waiting...

There have been some changes to my body though. I can barely walk due to the pressure on my sciatic nerve on my lower left side of my back. When I 'try' to sleep at night, my hips hurt from the pressure too. Needless to say I am in the official last month of being ready to have my baby girl here in my arms. I keep telling her I am ready, but she just is not listening. :)

We are under the one month mark, she seriously could come anytime now. I just have to wait patiently....which is so hard to do.

Until next time...

4-6 Weeks

2008-06-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the doctor, and she estimates that Abigail weighs around 5 1/2 to 6 pds right now. The doctor said she will gain another pound or so. Well, I sure hope she is right! I am in my 34 th week of pregnancy, so that means I can deliver Abigail in another 4-6 weeks!!! That seems so crazy to me. It seems like we have been pregnant forever. I can't believe the time is almost here. Considering I have had friends go early with their first baby makes me want to have my suitcase packed ready to go! She could come anytime now....
In two weeks when I go back to the doctor I will be able to know if there is any progress started. That makes it even more real!

Motivation

2008-06-23T09:49:00.001-07:00

I have two weeks left of 2 classes out of the 4 I am taking this summer. The only problem is that I don't have much motivation left in me to finish out these next two weeks. I know I will get everything done, but it has definately been a struggle. All I can think about is preparing for Abigail to get here. I am preparing for labor, getting her room ready, making sure we have everything we need before she gets here. I miss my family and want them here now, but they will not be here until Abigail arrives. So, if your reading this blog I ask for you to pray for my motivation, strength, and perseverance. I do not sleep good at night, so that makes it hard to concentrate during the day too.

Maternity pictures

2008-06-21T14:19:00.001-07:00

Justin and I went to Botanic Gardens this morning and took maternity pictures. I will have to say Justin did a good job. Thanks honey!
Enjoy!
Tell me which ones you like the best, I need to figure out which ones to put in the nursery!

Praise be unto God that He has placed a child in my womb!

Abigail's room is coming together

2008-06-20T07:37:00.001-07:00

I wanted to make something in Abigail's room, so I bought wood letters that spell out her name.

Here is the finished result. It is so much cheaper to make letters than to go buy them. I used some ribbon that was used at my shower. Trying to be frugal.

Here is more of a close up of her bedding. I love the colors!

Here is the beginning of her collection of clothes, there have been more added since this picture was taken. Yesterday I went to Old Navy but resisted to buy anymore clothes. But, they have some really cute stuff out right now.

Here was the disaster once I got home from Mo. I was organizing all the sizes.

I will post more pictures of her room once it is complete! :) The countdown really is on, we are down to 6 weeks. We are going to be taking a Lamaze class next weekend, it will also give CPR class other parenting tips. If you did not know, I plan to go all natural. So, you can pray for me. :)

Baby Shower in Mo.

2008-06-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

My mom did a wonderful job at decorating and being creative. Which is not surprising! :) She had beautiful flowers made, pictures of me as a baby, pictures of my crib and bedding since no one from back home is able to see it in person.

Here I am at 30 wks with my delicious cake! I was sure to have more than one piece. You can do those things when your pregnant!

Kate and her newest addition, Seth! He is so adorable!

Some close friends from highschool. From left to right, Chelsea (Gowen) Weible, Lisa (Neubrand) Jones, myself, and my crazy friend Lindsey Shelton.

My mom surprised me with the chocolate fountain. I spent a lot of time at this table.

All the many presents, I was tired by the time I was finished opening all of them. Abigail definatley has been blessed with lots of clothes!

Mom and me, if you notice in the background those are dresses mom sewed for me when I was a little girl. I am going to take a few and dress Abigail up in them. :)

This is my younger brother's girlfriend, she was a big help at the shower. If your wondering what the fuzzy pink thing is, well, it was a big button. Let's say after I saw it in this picture I took it off. :)

More of the dresses my mom sewed for me. This is where I sat to open all my gifts.

One of the bouquet of flowers for the shower. I wish I could have taken them home with me.

I could have posted a lot more pictures of me opening gifts, but I thought this gave a little taste of how awesome my shower was. Thanks Nana! :)

Baby Shower in Fort Worth

2008-05-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

Tummy time!

My super cute diaper bag!

My pregnant friend that is due in 4 weeks! Yay! Mac and Abigail will be buddies!

Played the game of guessing how big I am with a string. Everyone guessed way over.

The diaper crew, I liked the suspenders, very creative.

My two great friends that gave us this shower.

Justin and I have been blessed by a good start of gifts for Abigail. We also feel very blessed by our new apartment. It is so spacious! I actually have counter space to bake and cook on, it's luxury living here. Abigail has her own room, and it is coming together. When it is more organized I will add pictures. As for now I wanted to add pictures of my shower.

Moving!

2008-05-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

We have a move in date-- May 16th! So, all week I will be packing. Justin will pick up the baby furniture on Friday and get that moved in. Then, on Saturday move in everything. He is going to rent a U-haul. It's so nice all the offers we have had to help us move. We should be able to get moved in real quick. While I am at my shower, the boys will be moving our stuff across campus. Yay!! Finally, I get to start on the baby room!!
Some goodies about our new place is that our stove is new and much bigger than our last one, our fridge is bigger than our present one also and its new! There is so much more space. Wow, once I get the room together for Abigail everything is going to start feeling even more real.

Another update...

2008-05-05T19:03:00.001-07:00

It looks like she is smiling... I can't believe how much she has grown in the past 6 weeks since our last sonogram.

Last week I went for my monthly check-up. I found out that I have low iron and am a little anemic. So, I am on an iron supplement twice a day now. I have not been sleeping good at night, I can't get comfortable. That does not help my energy level throughout the day. I also had my glucose testing, that came back good. I had gained to much weight in the past month, so now I have to watch my portions and SWEETS. I am trying hard, but I have never been this hungry before. Also, another thing they had checked was if my placenta had lifted, it has, they are not worried about that anymore now. Praise the Lord.

Please pray for my energy level--- I am taking three classes this summer plus counseling 6 clients. By the time Abigail gets here I am going to be exhausted and I need all the energy I can get!

I have started to box up things, having hopes of moving next week. They gave us a date of May 16th, but it's not set in stone yet.

A couple fun things:

Abigail now can recognize my voice and can hear music. It is so cool that when I turn on the radio she gets really active, she is either going to be a dancer or a singer. :) She really gets her groove on, its so funny.

The other night, Justin and I were laying in bed watching my belly go every which direction. Justin pushed on my belly and all of a sudden Abigail skids across to the other side, it was crazy to see! I can find her and push on her, it is so cool feeling her. I can't wait to hold her in my arms.

Epidural or no epidural

2008-04-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

This is something I keep going back and forth on. I do not want to take an epidural from side effects that could occur, but at the same time I don't want to feel the excrusiating pain.

I simply write to get opinions and experiences from other ladies. Even if you have not given birth and have heard stories from friends and family I am open to hear why women take an epidural over not taking one. I do not want to take it just because it is available to take it, I want to take it for the right reasons.

Open discussion is wanted!!! :)

New Car

2008-04-17T08:50:00.001-07:00

Last week we sold my old red sunfire, and we bought us a new Honda Civic. It will be good on gas and more reliable than my old car. Justin is quite proud. The color is so pretty. We thought having a baby on the way, having two cars with four doors would be more convenient. This is the first brand new car we have bought together as a married couple. It was a big move on our part, we got a good deal, we got 0% interest.

Then ofcourse I had to upload an updated picture of the growing belly. I am FINALLY looking pregnant. :) She is getting sooo active, when I am counseling on Tuesday nights she likes to get her move on. It can be distracting, I guess she is trying to help out. :)

Joy of the Father

2008-04-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

Picking your child's name is no easy task. You have to think of what type of nicknames friends or bullies may give them, what their initials spell out, and will it be a mature adult name....
We have put a lot of hard thought into what our little girls name is going to be. We believe a name is very important, so we sought out a name that had significance.

Her name will be Abigail, which means, THE JOY OF THE FATHER. In Scripture she is known as wise and beautiful. We pray our daughter will live out her names meaning.

Her middle name will be taken from me, Elizabeth, which was my grandma's middle name also.

Her little kicks sure are getting strong, today when I was reading on the couch, I saw my book move. :)
Parenting is something that Justin and I plan to not take lightly. We have already discussed the importance of me being home with our child the first couple years. I do not plan to get a full time job right away, but more than likely a part-time counseling position.
We want to be the one that raises our children and to be there to see the first time they crawl, walk, talk, and the list goes on....

Easter

2008-04-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Justin and I were able to go home over Easter, which was a blessing. I wanted my family to be a part of me being pregnant. All they ever get to see is pictures of my belly growing, it's just not the same. I will be going home the last weekend of May for my baby shower. I should be much bigger by then. Then, the next time I go home, which I have no idea when that will be, I will have my daughter!

I didn't get any studying done, however I did attempt to. But, when your with family that you don't get to see very often you want to soak up every minute of it while you can.

We are having a sweet little girl!!

2008-03-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

The first buy, it has a cute hat to go with it too and ofcourse lacy socks!

Who has the bigger belly? :)

I don't have much time to write, but I wanted to post some pictures. Well...real quick...mom and I have already been shopping and have bought some CUTE dresses! I bought another one yesterady from baby gap, it was on sale for $8.00. Sale racks there are great! I can't wait to start dressing up our little girl. Once we move and start getting her room ready it's going to start feeling even more real. I just sit and hold her clothes and imagine what she will look like in them. We have a name, but I will wait another day to talk about it. Its very unique and different.

I have started a registry at Pottery barn kids and babysrus. Babysrus has so much stuff, prepare yourself when you look at the registry. :)

Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

We just found out we are having a girl!!

fun times

2008-03-11T10:10:00.001-07:00

Fun times have been going on in the Pociask home this past week. This weekend I was able to hang out with a great friend from college. We pretty much just laughed about old times but then were able to catch up on new times.
This past week I have really started to show and baby is really starting to move!! Today it seriously has felt like he/she is doing flips in there. Just another reminder, we find out in less than a week what we are having. My mom is flying down Saturday and then we go to the doctor on Monday!! Yay!!
I have one more exam this week, which I should be studying for right now. But, I need a break! The semester is almost half over! My last full semester, I am so excited. After the summer, I will only have 12 hours left. I plan to split them up next fall and the followng spring. Do two and two, then stinkin graduate May of 09!!
Hubby is planning a get away trip for the two of us sometime or this summer before baby is here. We need some time to get away. We havn't done that since our one year anniversary, besides leaving to go see family.
Thats about it for now, next update will be the SEX OF THE BABY!!

Happy March 1st

2008-03-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

I love March and especially April. I like March because it is not to cold and not hot. It is perfect walking weather. I don't mind summer, but when thinking about carrying a child throughout the blazing hot summer that doesn't sound very exciting. Oh the sacrifices us mothers make. Wow, I am going to be a mommy! Yippeee!! I have been looking at bedding and decorations and I am always pulled toward the girly stuff, it is so dang cute! 3 weeks and we will know what we are having. I have another check up this week. The weeks are flying by. I love it. I am ready for this crazy semester to be over. I have two group presentations this semester, which I despise. However, I have good groups, so that makes a difference.
So, it doesn't look like we will be moving to another spot on campus until May. They have been putting in new carpet and other things, so it will take longer to get in. Thats exciting that everything will be new when we move in. Actually, it probably would be better to move once the semester is over. Its just one less thing for me to stress about.
I have two wonderful friends coming in this weekend, one will be staying with us. I am so excited to see them. They were two of my closest friends in college and two of my bridesmaids. I love seeing old friends.
Until next time.....enjoy this lovely weather!

Yard Sale

2008-02-23T10:02:00.001-08:00

Justin and I had our first yard sale today. It started off pretty slow and really cold! We had a few people come by and buy some clothes. I really was wanting people to buy our desk and keyboard. All of sudden two people came by and bought the desk and keyboard at the same time! After that, I told Justin I was satisfied with packing up and stopping right then. We made a little over $100. I was mainly wanting to get rid of the big stuff so we would have more room for when we move and more room for baby stuff. :)
We had some fun friends stop by that kept us company, and we even got some donuts from Mana Donuts. You should try them out, they are on McCart. Thanks Lauren and Alex, you made the yard sale fun.

simple update

2008-02-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

This semester has been rough-- usually I am so motivated and ahead of the game with classes. This semester all I can think about is being pregnant, what we will be having, wanting to sleep all the time, moving somewhere bigger, being a mom in August.... many other things that keep my mind occupied.
From the moment I woke up this morning I have been feeling a little bit of morning sickness. I am in my 16th week, I thought this was to be all over. It's kinda ironic because in my 1st trimester I rarely ever felt sick.... until I had to cook dinner. Oh the smells!!
I have two really boring classes this semester. I feel like all I am ever doing is reading and taking quizzes. Its not even midterm yet and I am ready for summer. Its not like this summer school work will end though. I will be doing an externship for counseling and also taking 2 classes.
I am just ready to be a mommy. I look at other friends with thier babys and I can't wait to start making my own memories.
4 weeks and we will know if we are having a boy or girl!!

Sick

2008-02-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

Not morning sickness, but achy, runny nose, and being fatigue sickness. Last Monday I was running a temperature, then I thought I was over everything. Today, I woke up and feel the same as I did last week. I need to get over all this junk so I can concentrate on studying! Please be praying for my health. Thanks.

Doctor appointment

2008-02-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had another check up. I was able to hear my precious bundle of joys heartbeat. I wish they would let me listen longer. :( All my blood work came back good and other tests they ran. Which is a relief! In 6 weeks we will find out what we are having. Justin still would rather wait till the day of birth, but, I just can't wait that long! My mom is flying down for the sonogram, then we are going shopping!! Yay!
So many of my friends have been having babies, it is getting me anxious and excited for my day to show off our child. It will be so amazing the day I get to hold our child in my arms. Then, look at all its characteristics and figure out who he/she looks like. However, Murphy genes are pretty strong. :)
Justin and I may make a trip to Missouri in March. I want to see people and go out with girlfriends. This is an exciting time of life, and I want to share it with many people. So, when I know for sure, I will have my mom spread the word and we will have a ladies day somewhere.... obviously including FOOD. I am definately getting an appetite! Sometimes I think a little to much of one.
Thats all whats new for now. Besides me studying non-stop. Pray for my energy to motivation. It is so easy to get distracted while being pregnant! All I can think about is my baby and the changes she/he will bring.

Last week of my first trimester

2008-01-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

I am in my last days of my first trimester! Yay! I am moving right along. This is my first maternity top purchase. It is way comfortable, from Target! I will admit I was pushing hard to get my belly out there, and may have strained a muscle in my stomach while doing it! My stomach muscles just are not the same. It's crazy! Pregnant ladies can you relate? Anyways, this picture was mainly taken for my mom in Missouri. She has to have updated pictures.

Baby is growing, because mommy has a belly that is growing!

2008-01-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

I am back in the swing of school, and loving every bit of it. I love reading and being challenged with new theories. I also like the fact school will make time go by fast and then our little bundle of joy will be here!! Yay!
I have been wearing my dress pants because there is more room to grow, and they are just comfortable versus jeans in my opinion. I am in my last week of my first trimester! I seriously cannot believe it. Anyone I know that is pregnant or has been pregnant keeps telling me, "just wait one morning your going to wake up and your belly will have popped out there"! Well ladies I believe this morning was the big POP. :)
There still is no word on moving arrangements. Please be praying for us in that. I really would like to be moved in by May. I need to start decorating! :) If you know of any good places to shop for decorative items, give me a shout. My mind has been going crazy with ideas, and I can't wait to start putting them together.
We just found out some good friends of ours here in Fort Worth are having a boy. They are only 6 weeks in front of me. Ashley the mom told me, now we have to have a girl so they can grow up together and get married! haha...I thought that was so cute. Well, I guess you never know!
Justin is convinced we are having a boy, I am still staying strong that we are having a girl.
What do you think? Do you think we are having a boy or a girl?

Do not worry about tomorrow

2008-01-15T10:34:00.000-08:00

This morning during my quiet time the overall theme had to do with trusting the Lord this day and not worrying about tomorrow. I will admit this is hard for me. I like to plan and know what the future entails. God wastes no time with testing.
Today I called the housing office to see where Justin and I are on the list to move to another apartment on campus. We have 5 people in front of us and as of right now there are no open apartments. I would prefer to be moved in before May, but its possible we may have to wait till this summer to move.
I do not know the plans, but I do know I need to take this and trust the Lord this day and not worry about tomorrow.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34

News to the family!

2008-01-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

Before Justin and I went home for Christmas I wanted to do something fun in the way we would tell my family we were pregnant. I had Justin take a picture of my belly (the one at the top right, with the pink text and me pointing at my belly) Then I had it put into a puzzle. They had a lot of fun, look below.

Support and Excitement from friends and family

2008-01-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

Receiving so many congratulations has been so fun and refreshing. It is great knowing so many people are just as excited with us and for us. Thanks!
Justin and I are in the process of moving somewhere different on SWBTS campus. Carrol Park is cute, but it is not going to be big enough. I will miss the wood floors, but I will NOT miss the tiny kitchen! Whenever a place comes open in Garrett Manor, we will probably move on over ASAP. I like to be settled in and I want to start getting the babies room ready. However, I don't know the sex of the baby, so...that could make it a little hard right now. :)
We do plan to find out the sex of the baby. Justin would rather wait till the day of birth, but I am a planner and it would drive me crazy to wait!
There has been so much change and exciting news going on, it has been hard for me to fall asleep at night. I usually am really tired too! I lay there thinking about being a mother, and all the responsibilities that will come with it. But, then I think of the gift God has given to us to raise up a child that fears the Lord and respects others... I am excited for those things.
Being away from famiy will be hard, considering this will be our first baby. But, it is comforting that we have made some solid friendships here that I know will be there for us in a heartbeat.

Announcement of Baby Pociask

2008-01-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

We ask if you join us in prayer as we begin our journey in parenthood. If you know of any good books, feel free to pass them along. Also, we ask for your prayers as our little one grows inside of me. Thanks-- and we look forward to sharing this journey with you. I am getting a little belly already! It is so exciting! For once in my life, I am excited about having a belly. :)

Today we had our first doctor visit. We were able to see our little ones heart beat!! It truly was amazing. This makes God so much bigger to me. We measure at 9 weeks, and my due date in August 6, 2008. If you look really close, you can see the little nose, an arm and an eye. (Considering you can only see one side of the little stinker) Baby looks quite content.

Hell

2007-06-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

I am almost speechless of what to say because of what I read on one of my friends profile from myspace. It simply said, "I hope they serve beer in hell" That may not strike you as disturbing but it breaks my heart because why would someone tamper with wanting to go to hell. He was simply saying he believed in hell, but why in any ones right mind would want to live there? Here are some basic points I was given in class on hell from Dr. Forshee.

1. Hell is an actual place
2. Hell is an awful place
3. Hell is an always place
4. Hell is an avoidable place

This has made me want to do research on hell. I believe in it and know its a place you are separated from God for eternity but I want to get more details. Even though those two factors are enough for me to want to stay away.
Let our hearts join together today and pray for the lost who want to have nothing to do with living for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Crazy night with Rent-A-Frog

2007-06-23T13:52:00.001-07:00

I had a serving job last night in Dallas. I did not know much about the event until I arrived with my great pal Kara Jones. The party was held at the same residence as Dr. Phil....should I say more. :) They were throwing a party for their boss who had just moved into this place. They had a psychic reader and a butt sketcher...yes a butt sketcher. He draws the back side of you. Yep..thats my butt. Ha!

It was actually pretty cool. Overall, the best part of the evening was my 5 witnessing opportunities. I also prayed with two women in the midst of the craziness of drinking, butt sketches, and psychic reading. It's great working a job like this because it gets me out in the world and away from the comfort zone of Seminary. They already asked for us to come back for their Halloween party. That should be fun. But, its great knowing seeds have been planted and I will get to encounter another time with them. We worked hard last night and earned us $115 toward tips. I guess dancing with the boss may have helped..she was quite funny. That was my crazy night!

How innocent are we?

2007-06-22T06:10:00.000-07:00

I want to challenge myself and anyone who reads this. I have been reading through Acts and I keep going over and over Acts 20. There are few verses that keep piercing me, but verse 26 is what really gets me,

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of everyone's blood...then Paul goes on to say in verse 27....for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole plan of God.

How many times have we felt The Spirit leading us to go talk with a person and ignore it? I know I am guilty of this WAY to many times. I will strive each day to make Christs name known. Dr. Foshee said in his Contemporary Evangelism class, "faithfulness to share is our measure of success. God holds us accountable for obedience not perfection." We are not going to have success every time, we are going to be rejected, but atleast we know we are innocent of that persons blood. May I never hold back the whole plan of God.