Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Byrd's!!!

Overwhelmed

I can tell how overwhelmed I am by how little I feel like writing on here. It's like, my brain doesn't even know where to begin so we just avoid. (The same goes for a messy kitchen!)

I'm in this strange place of loving life and having contentment in Christ, while also wrestling with issues of disappointment. I don't know how God wants me to deal or what He's going to teach me, but I do have total peace in His wisdom and ability to perform His will.

For now I'm quietly and internally letting my heart be molded and my ideals reformed.

Psalms 31:3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name, lead and guide me.

Belated Birthday Re-cap

My little baby is 2!!!

When did that happen?!

Parker's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving this year. On his birthday we decorated the house with streamers and Sherif Woody pictures for him to wake up to. Then we played outside for a while and visited with his Nana, Papa, and Great Nana. It was a really sweet day, just soaking up our family and being proud of our big man!

The next day we had a little brunch birthday party for him. We had egg casserole, fruit, bagels, and coffee - plus cherry bars for singing "happy birthday." It was just family: Nana, Papa, Great Nana, Great Grandma, Aunt Emy, & Uncle Bobby. Parker got spoiled with lots of football and Toy Story goodies & he loved ALL his gifts! It was a really fun time and the perfect amount of party for a 2 year old!



I am so incredibly thankful that God has let me be Parker's mom. He is the best, sweetest thing in the whole world and he teaches me so much about myself everyday! I can't wait to see him grow and continue to see his personality develop more and more.

Mommy and Daddy love you very much buddy, and we pray we will show you God's love your whole life! You are precious to us and to Him and we thank God for you!

Thanksgiving Alphabet

I've seen friends doing this on facebook, a list of things they're thankful for, for each letter of the alphabet. This would be a fun thing to do with older kids around Thanksgiving I think! So here's MY Thanksgiving Alphabet:

A - Our Apartment
B - Bosom Buddies near and far :)
C - Colorado beauty
D - This Day!
E - Encompass (http://encompassdenver.org/)
F - Beautiful Fall colors
G - Grace.
H - A funny, godly, hard working, handsome, wonderful Husband
I - The Ice cream sandwich waiting for me in the freezer
J - Jeans
K - Unexpected acts of Kindness
L - The Library
M - Mike's Hard Lemonades :)
N - That my God supplies all our Needs
O - Old photos
P -  A Peace that passes my understanding
Q - Quality time with Brent & Parker
R - That my Redeemer lives
S - My incredibly adorable and sweet Son
T - Celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends
U - Living in the USA
V - Vanilla candles
W - Nonfat, no whip, White chocolate mocha, with 2 pumps of peppermint
X - Xylophones?
Y - You! Thanks for reading!
Z - Living near the Denver Zoo :)

Cooking Day and a Birthday Shirt...

Today is cooking day! Well, pre-cooking day I guess.... We will be gone in the morning on Thanksgiving so I'm trying to get a bunch done so it won't be so daunting that day! Today I'm making: Garlic Dip, Oyster Snack Mix, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie, Caramel Apple Pie, Gravy, and whatever else my brain comes up with.

Also, I made Parker a little shirt to wear for his birthday. It wasn't at all what I was planning to do, but Hobby Lobby didn't have the right paint. It's nothing amazing, but he'll look pretty cute in it I think! I'm also going to put his name on the back at some point.

Cleaning out my junk...

Here is an incredibly heart challenging excerpt from the blog Passionate Homemaking:

Sometimes it’s ok to be angry.

Our issues, our junk, our baggage all drive a wedge between us and our children. Between us and God.

When we see our children in danger or afraid, we transform. We have no fear, no limits. We feel invincible and ready to crush anything that gets in our way. The love within us empowers us to fight what is in front of us. Without hesitation.

Part of our job as mothers is to train our children; to build their character. But the other part of our job is to train ourselves; to build our character. We must intentionally name, face, and take down those things in us that would pull us away from a life lived radically for God. We must tear down the idols.

Because there’s also good chance that our junk will be our kids junk. Our issues unresolved will trickle down into our children’s lives and hold them back from fully pursuing Him.

That makes me furious. Passionate.

So if I have to get up at 5:30am to fall at the feet of Jesus and let Him scrape off my rough edges, if I need to take the Light of His Word into my deepest darkest places, if I need to surrender my dreams for His, if I need to ask Him to use the hammer and chisel on my heart… bring it.

I will let nothing – not my past, not my failures, not my insecurity, not my pride, not my fears, not my ambition, not my condemnation, not my guilt – I will let nothing come between me and Him; between me and them. Between Him and them.

They are worth it. He is worth it.

What in your life that needs to go? Name it and take it down.

Toddlers are Hilarious!

Oh my. Parker will be 2 in a week. ONE WEEK! Wow. Where did the last 2 years go?

This age is so fun (and draining) but mostly fun. We really see his little brain and personality coming up with hilarious things so much now. The other day he had all his animals lined up on his window ledge, was telling them to go to sleep, then yelling "WAKE UP!" at them.

His most recent little discovery is making things up. Like he has these pretend "owies" now. And if he's fussing for no reason and you ask him to tell you what he needs he thinks for a minute then goes through his little wishlist to see if we'll give him anything from it. It usually goes something like this:

Parker: "Boo-hoo. Whine. Fuss. Whine...."
Me: "Parker, what's wrong? Do you need something?"

Parker: Thinking..."Um Nack?"
Me: "No, you just had a snack. No snack."

Parker: Looks away scowling. "Hmmm...Wig-goes?"
Me: "No, we aren't going to watch Wiggles right now. No Wiggles. How about we go play?"

Parker: Looks away scowling. "Hmm...Eh-mo?"
Me: "No, we aren't watching Elmo either."

Parker: Looks away scowling. "Hmmm...Cuh-kie?"
Me: "No sweetie, no cookies."
Parker: "Cuuuuh-kie!"
Me: "Ok, time for a nap."

Haha! I sure do love that little stinker!!!!

What are the chances I could become a Rockette?

Haha...don't answer that! Just let me dream :)

I snuck in a couple pictures even though we weren't supposed to heehee!

So.VERY.Excited!!!

Today Brent and I are going to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Pepsi Center!!!

I am SO beyond excited!!! We saw a billboard a while back and I told Brent I wanted to go :) Well, this kind of stuff is not exactly his most favorite thing in the world so I knew he wouldn't REALLY want to. Plus tickets are expensive to shows and you end up sitting really really squished for 2 hours, so you have to really want to be there. Needless to say it was more like a hypothetical, "hey that would be fun..." type thing.

Well in the building where his Starbucks is there's alot of different businesses, and this one particular company has a suite for all the Pepsi Center events. After work yesterday, a co-worker called and said they were giving away tickets and parking passes to their suite if we wanted to go. Um, YES PLEASE!

I can't wait! I'll try to take a couple of pictures without being obnoxious haha! :)

Change is really really good!

I've hesitated to put all this info out there because to me, I feel like it sounds negative when it's actually really positive. But as anyone who was at PBC on Sunday know, we're dealing with our idols around here folks, and caring what people think about me happens to be one! So, if God is in control and pleased with the circumstances that is the only thing I need to be worried about. Right? Right.

When we came down to Denver in May the "plan" (haha PLAN why do we even bother right?!) was to learn Providence and the community for a while, and maybe jump into a youth program in the fall sometime. Well, that changed and we were asked to start with the teens right away. It went ok. We had 2 or 3 great people who were committed to being there each week and getting to know the kids, all that good stuff. But it just wasn't clicking. It wasn't working. We couldn't quite put our finger on why though, because we were doing things the way we had before. The way we grew up with; the way every church we've ever seen does things. But it was not working.

After a few months of sticking with it, Brent and the elders met and came to the same conclusion that we needed to step back. A "program oriented youth group" wasn't going to be the thing that worked in an inner city community. We all agreed that we wanted a more "missional outreach" approach. Everyone kind of came to the same place that it was better to slow down and do it right rather than rush into it and keep pushing at something that clearly was not working.

Right now we have no idea what a "youth program" at Providence will look like. We have alot of thoughts bouncing around of what we think might work or could work, but right now they are just ideas that God will have to develop and show us more about as we keep learning. Each place has it's own unique culture, and we are really excited to be able to just jump in and see how God leads. Our short term goals right now are: for Brent, he is going to try to get into at least one of the schools around here and just be around in some volunteer capacity. Interject himself in the lives of these kids and let God do the rest. Of course he loves sports, so if he can use that as an avenue to build relationships that would be right up his alley, so we'll see what he's able to do. My short term goal is to be matched up with a child or teen through a mentor program here downtown.

We are so SO excited about how God is working in our lives and how we know He will lead us to the families we are supposed to know. There is this freedom now that comes from letting go of forcing our understanding and methods into this neighborhood, and instead living intentionally with the people God has led us to be near and living out the gospel in those relationships. Something that was really encouraging was, on Sunday I was talking to a woman whose family just returned from serving in the Dominincan Republic for four years. We began talking about what we've learned this summer and the questions we still have and how much we still want and need to learn. And she told me that everything I was saying was exactly what they went through in the DR! It really is an interesting thing to learn the culture of where you are, and practically each city has it's own!

I will be sure to keep this updated on how things are going and what doors are opening. I should be doing a mentor interview here in the next couple weeks and get matched up with someone after that. I am EXTREMELY excited about that! It's amazing to think that God already knows who it is!

Thank you for all the continued prayer and support! We truly appreciate it :)

"Sniff this, it smells like Christmas!"

I say this to Brent alot around the holidays. (Well, when he used to go into those smelly stores with me...he usually finds a sports store now haha!) I get very excited when I find something that "smells like Christmas." And it's not always everything that SAYS it smells like evergreen, or holiday warmth, and all those other supposedly festive scents.

Sometimes it's random things...I think the Yankee candle "Home Sweet Home" smells like Christmas because I had a car freshener that scent one year. Certain perfumes I've recieved as Christmas presents smell like Christmas to me. Snickerdoodles....totally! This little recipe for sure smells like Christmas...and it's wonderful!

I know it's early, but it's so nice to enjoy I wanted to share it now!

Christmas Scent:

3 cinnamon sticks

3 bay leaves

1 T whole cloves

1/2 lemon

1/2 orange

1 quart water

- Place all ingredients in tea kettle and bring to a boil. (Also works in saucepan)

- Reduce heat & simmer as long as desire. Check often to replace water as needed.

- Mixture may be stored in the refrigerator for several days and reused.

Back to Menu Shopping!

I've realized I really need to get back to menu planning...but the really important part for me is menu shopping. Making a menu before I go get groceries allows me to buy things for a list of dinners so I don't have to stand in front of the cupboard wondering why I have no useful ingredients!

There's not really a particular order I'll make these in. Wednesday is crockpot day since we have small group and our evening gets chaotic fast, but other than that I just decide each morning. So here's the recipes I'm shopping for this week: (Most of these link to the recipe)

Chicken and Black Bean Burritos


Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls


Baked Potato Soup


Skillet Chicken, Rice, and Green Beans

 Chicken and Avocado Quesadillas

Spinach Lasagna

Other things I may make:

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Casserole
Batch of Dinner Rolls to bag and freeze
Snickerdoodles (this will be on my "want to make" list until it happens!)

"Is She Real?"

I babysit a little 6 year old girl in the afternoons, and tonight we were taking her to her mom's office since we have small group, and I put in one of Parker's cd's. When "Jesus Loves the Little Children" came on, Nikki had lots of questions, and it was a blessing to talk about it with her. And the conversation was pretty cute, so I thought I'd share it:

Nikki: Is she real?

Me: Who? The person who's singing?

Nikki: No, the name they are saying.

Me: Oh, Jesus? Yes he's real, and it's a he not a she. He lived a really long time ago
.
Nikki: And he loves the children? And saved them? So he knows when all the kids are in trouble?

Me: Yes, he does!

Nikki: Oh, well that must be how I got saved from the airplane :)

Randomness!

So here are some random things from our week :)

1. Parker moved to a big boy bed!
 We tried once before with just his crib mattress on the floor & it was a disaster. So we went to the pack-n-play for a while & decided it was time to try again. He's done pretty well adjusting, gets up a little earlier than he should and naps are tough to get him to settle down for, but night time is great!

2. Parker got a table for his birthday!

Even though his bday isn't until next month, I won a gift card from another blog so I decided to us it on this. I'd been wanting one for a while. He loves it and uses it for just about everything. He also loves to push it around the apartment, which is just GREAT! (ha!)

3. Adorable-ness!

All day Parker has been saying "Annie" and I could not figure out what the heck he was talking about. Well....we finally figured out it's "Anthony" from the Wiggles. :) This kid adores those stinkin guys!!!

4. My Dry Skin Remedy!
Well, it's more of a treatment than a remedy, as it does not cure dry skin - it just temporarily relieves it I guess. But Parker's arms and legs get SO dry and lotion does absolutely nothing, so this is what I've been doing and it really really helps!
- A few pumps of Curel
- A glob of Cetaphil (or generic equivalent)
- Baby oil gel
So I put some Curel & Cetaphil in my hands and rub it on his skin. You have to rub it in really well, and then I follow it up by rubbing on some Baby Oil gel. Regular baby oil might work too, but it's alot messier! I haven't tried it for myself yet, but it has been great for Parker. He gets greased up after bath time at night, and then a little extra oil or lotion in the morning if he needs it.



Obedience

I get a devotional type email from a church in Texas, and am always SO challenged by it! Here's a little excerpt that I'm sure I'll be mulling over for a while:

"Though it was for the joy set before Him that Jesus endured the cross (Heb 12:2), His steps toward that cruel cross were not in a lighthearted frame. Furthermore, though He walked resolutely in`to His passion, it was not without the experience of profound and agonizing ambivalence, which He enunciated at Gethsemane. So we say Jesus' obedience was radical in its character because He committed Himself to what He knew
was His Father's will despite His own significant misgivings. He did not insist that His heart be entirely without wistfulness for some other alternative before He would do what was right.

...We also tell it to you to ask a straightforward question: what implications does the radical character of Jesus' obedience have for an issue in your life where your ambivalent feelings might be overshadowing the righteousness of the choice?"

Locked Out

Soooo.... We spent the last hour (and a half?!) in our neighbor across the hall's apartment. Brent was leaving with Parker to take out the trash. Parker started doing these crazy antics in the hall, so I stood in the doorway watching them and when I took a step into the hall and the door closed behind me, I thought, "I sure hope that wasn't locked." And, sure enough....

I SO did not want to tell Brent what I had done! Thankfully we have a friendly lady that lives across the hall who happened to be home tonight. We don't know her very well, but had stopped to chat a few times in the hall. She let us hang out while we tried to get a hold of property management and ultimately the locksmith.

As we sat there and talked, she opened up about some things she's going through, like a divorce and coming out of the military and some issues associated with that and just life pains. Ten seconds and $55 after the locksmith came we came home, and walked across the hall with a new friend and a new perspective.

I'm ashamed to say it took this situation to really get to know this person who lives 4 feet from our front door. I really am. I wonder if God had anything to do with it.... :) It's also kind of funny that Brent did great in tips at work today, $50 to be exact.

Pray BIG!

A lovely blogger named Becca who I love to read, recently made a comment about how when we pray and dream about what God can do, sometimes we do it in a small way. Read it here.

And so that started a sequence of things that has led to God really growing me in the area of prayer. And I love it when that happens! Someone challenges me and then God's uses scripture or circumstances to keep pushing me in a certain area.

Prayer is something I've always had a hard time with in my Christian life. Even to say that or think it or type it sounds weird, because I KNOW how amazing and powerful it is, but I've had a hard time consistently making it a real and intricate part of my life. However, I am beyond thrilled and rejoicing that my Father is growing me in this area!!!!

Now, back to the "Pray BIG!" part.... We have been praying for something in our lives, but it's been in our understanding. And in case you didn't know, our God is able to do exceeding above what we ask or think! Now it's looking like He may be answering our prayers so FAR beyond what we could have thought of on our own or expected. Nothing is for sure, and even if the whole situation falls apart, I've learned that nothing is too big for my God and He loves us and desires to give us even more than we could think to ask.

I didn't take this photo, but it's just too precious not to share!

First Official Act of Fall!

I've decided it can now be fall :) Not only is it October, and the weather is finally starting to cool down, but today we went to the Pumpkin Harvest Festival! I loved spending the morning with my boys in our gorgeous Colorado weather!

It was at Four Mile Historic Park, which we had never been to. It was a really cool place that has Denver's oldest standing structure! There were hay rides, stagecoach rides, a blacksmith, scarecrow making, and all kinds of fun stuff! We didn't feel like standing in line or paying for most of the stuff, but Parker did go in the pumpkin patch.

He's still not 100% since having the stomach flu this week, but he really loved trying to pick up all the big pumpkins and seeing the carriages. The holidays are going to be SO fun with this cute kid this year :)

One Year

It hit me today that our family photos, including the one in the banner above, were taken almost exactly a year ago. Alot has changed in a year....especially my little boy. (The fact that I even call him a "little boy" now is new!)

Tonight I held Parker while he slept, which doesn't happen very often anymore. He's always been the type who falls asleep best in his bed, and now if we try to lay down with him to get him to go to sleep, he wants to have these whispering conversations. Which is very adorable, but not in place of a nap! :)

But tonight he's sick and all the rules go out the window. When he was a newborn, I remember holding him and specifically thinking, "I can't believe someday when I'm holding him, his feet will hang way off my lap!" It seemed so far away, and we're there already. We've been there for a while.

Parker, I'm sorry you're sick buddy. You are the best boy a mommy and daddy could ask for, and you are more loved than you'll ever know!

I just can't believe God gave me such an incredible family. I truly know the meaning of BLESSED!

Processing

Hi :0) Remember me?

Probably not....this blog has been a ghost town! Summer wound down in a busy way and along with some personal growth and things to deal with, I feel like I"m still processing these last several weeks of life.

I hope and plan to be back up here posting ASAP. And maybe thinking out loud (or at least via typing) will help me get my head in focus!

Heartbreaking

*I wanted to edit my previous post after I found out some more (small) details of the situation.*

There's a parking lot behind our building, and in the corner of the parking lot is a run down looking small apartment building. Our windows and balcony look out over it all. Yesterday several police cars and an ambulance were pulled up to the building and were there quite a while before someone was brought out and put into the backseat in handcuffs.

When I looked out a little while later there were two small children, a boy and a girl maybe 2 and 3, standing by the police officers and their cars. For a minute I hoped they were just kids from the building interested in all the excitement. But when I saw the officers trying to keep them in one spot and asking them to sit down, I knew they were with the officers because whoever they had been with at home was now going to jail.

The officers and the kids were out there for a really long time just waiting. My heart absolutely broke with this helpless feeling of sadness for them. After a while the Lord laid it on my heart to see about taking them some snacks. I threw a bunch of food into two bags, grabbed 2 water bottles, grabbed Parker and headed down to the parking lot. I asked the police officers if the kids could have some snacks, and after wondering out loud if they were allergic to anything they said yes. One officer said thanks and told me their mom was just taken to jail, and they were waiting for social services.

I thanked the police officers for doing what they do and turned around to head back towards our building. The second I turned from the officer the tears were streaming down my face. What were a few snacks compared to being taken from their home? I'm sure the people in the elevator with me thought I was crazy, but I didn't care. The experience confirmed in my heart the desire to be involved in foster care and adoption someday.

I hope you'll say a prayer for the broken and hurting families today.

Pictures, Pictures, and MORE Pictures!

Thanks to my friend Cary for lending her skills & taking some great pictures!

Crazy Love

Read it.

That is all.

It's Raining Cheescake!

Well, we may be broke, but God is definitely blessing us in the cheesecake department! (haha! joking!)

Since we've moved to Denver we have received two $25 gift cards to The Cheesecake Factory. And we've been rationing them out by getting slices of cheesecake to go every few weeks. So, last night after I picked Brent up from work we decided to swing by and grab a piece to share after the little guy went to bed. There was about $9 on one of the cards and the piece was $8.25 - awesome right?! Then when they went to give Brent his receipt he also got a code to do a survey and receive a $10 Cheesecake Factory gift card! Ha ha - so we've got $10 more dollars from TCF coming to us!

What do you do when nothing goes right?

This is what we're trying to figure out. It's been a tiring and discouraging couple weeks - especially for Brent. The weight of looking for a job is really heavy on him right now, along with some things just going plain WRONG with the kids etc.

We're where God has us, doing what He's leading us to do. And growing in our faith and amazement of His love all along the way. I guess what you do is, just keep on going.

The rest of it is in God's hands. We can't make things or people be the way we want them to or think they should be. Pray for us that we'd keep leaning on God for His strength and guidance, and that we'd be uplifted and encouraged by His love and wisdom in EVERY circumstance!

Silent Night

For about the last month I've changed Parker's bedtime routine. Well, I guess it's more like we started a bedtime routine. He was throwing these huge tantrums when it was time for bed, so now when I lay him down I rub his forhead and sing 'Silent Night.'

So, this evening Brent & I were sitting in the family room while Parker ran around playing. He was getting to that point where he's wild, but we could see that he was getting sleepy and needed to settle down. So I just started singing 'Silent Night' to see what he'd do.

I barely got to "all is calm..." when he dropped to the floor right where he was standing and laid down! It was the funniest thing. Just - boom! laid right down! Of course, he didn't stay there long, but it was just this hilarious knee jerk reaction to hearing that song.

I wonder if he'll be sleepy all December?! :0)

So Long Insecurity

I'm a little late on the bandwagon but this book was so good and helpful! It struck a chord in me on issues that I'd either become very good at ignoring or had just accepted as part of my personality and nothing I could do anything about.

I would highly recommend every woman read this book! I checked it out at the library after putting it on hold a few weeks before. Most of that you can do online, so it's really convenient!

The biggest thing I walked away with was a renewed sense of God's love (which seems to be a theme lately in my life!) And how ridiculous it is to put any value or strength (by way of insecurity) in our shortcomings, or what other people think of us. Also the realization that we can be free from the chains of insecurity that limit us in life, that is something God wants for us and He can and will help me find my security and worth in Him alone.

Still Here!

Why is it so hard to be productive during the summer? Maybe it's the years of summer breaks during childhood. Can I blame it on that?

Well, we're still here! Youth group is going well. It could be going better and it could be going worse so I just figure it's right where it needs to be at the moment. The biggest need regarding that is just wisdom in HOW to reach out to the kids in the community and opportunities to do so. We're taking a few to a Rockies game next week & I promise to return with pictures!

Parker's been in swimming lessons for a couple weeks. We missed last week because he was sick, but we were back Tuesday and today. He even went under the water 3 times today! His face when he comes up is hilarious! I wish Brent could be there to snap a picture for me!

Mostly he just whines and tries to get away from me though. He likes the swim part, just not the lesson part. Hmm a child who doesn't want any help or direction, just wants to do everything on their own....NO IDEA where he gets that! :)

The next few weeks will be CA-RAZY but fun! We've got a wedding this weekend, CA, baby shower, and a wedding in like 2 weeks, then another wedding a few weeks after that. There will be no shortage of things to post about, maybe just a little short on time to do them!

Water Night!

Last Wednesday we had water night with the teens. We had 3 kids plus the other youth volunteers, and we had a blast! I didn't get too many pictures because I had Parker with me and he was desperately trying to help and participate at every opportunity! :0)

We played the "Ummm" game where you sit in a circle and if the topic is Colors everyone has to go around and say a color if you say "umm" (or pause or repeat) then you get a water balloon popped over your head. And the water was COLD!

Then we played a few games on the slippery tarp which was entertaining to watch & hard to do! There was lots of sabotage going on, and everyone got pretty creative when it came to being competitive. Brent closed with a lesson and we cleaned up our giant mess in the park. In a few weeks we'll do Food Fight Night....can you say MEH-SSEE?!

Please keep praying that God will bless and grow our group!

Amazing Love - Part 2

I Can Do It Myself!
Not only do I see a picture of God's love in my love as a mom, but I also see myself as the defiant stubborn child more often than I'd care to admit. So many times Parker struggles and works himself into a frenzy by trying to do something he can't do alone. He doesn't quite know how to ask for help yet other than to be upset, but even if he did, I'm not sure he always would.
I can be such a frustrated "toddler" sometimes! Instead of coming to my Heavenly Father, who can and wants to help me, I flounder in my own feeble attempts. All the while, a willing helping hand is just a whisper away! God desires that we come to Him with all our cares and problems, and he knows what we need before we even ask.

Daniel 3:17

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand O king.

Forgetfulness & Impatience.
Any parent can identify with this: it's mealtime and kiddo is hungry NOW. You're cutting off crusts or peeling that last piece of orange...lunch is just moments away. Is kiddo waiting patiently, trusting you to feed them? Remembering all the times you've fed them before, how they've never gone a day starving? Um, no. They are standing at your feet, red in the face, tears streaming, whining, fussing, crying, begging....you get the picture.
As mom or dad you see the big picture. You know they aren't going to starve, and that the solution to their stress and worry is just around the corner. They have no real reason to be so worried, but still they are. How often are we this way with God? For me, it's alot. The words "Just trust in God, have faith" are so easy to say...to someone else. They are much harder to say, and mean when you're in that total meltdown moment. Outside of God's help we can't do it. Our flesh and our nature is to worry and doubt, and that's why it's so important to ask God for His strength to wait in His timing and trust that He will come through. Just like He always has & always will.

Psalms 86:15

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

I'm so thankful for lessons I've learned as a mom. And there's more to be learned just about every day! When I think about God's endless love, patience, and forgiveness for me, it challenges me to love in that way. And I'm amazed to think that in spite of how incredibly much I love Parker, God's love for him is even greater! God tells us in our imperfect and sin tainted love, if we love are children and want good things for them, how much MORE in God's ability of PERFECT love does He love and want good things for His children?!

Luke 11:13

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

I Won Earings!

I won some earrings this week! Aren't they CUTE?! It's very exciting for me, because I don't win stuff alot. haha!

Check out my friend Christy's Etsy store Wired Whimsy, she's got some seriously pretty stuff! Her 9 year old son made these earrings. (Can you believe that?!) So obviously the jewelry making talent runs in the family! Thank you James (and Christy) for the awesome earrings!

Amazing Love - Part I

God calls Himself our Father and us His children.

I John 3:1

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God;

and so we are."

As a Christian, it's such a common reference. I'm sure there are probably many who've never stepped foot in a church who've heard phrases like "God the Father" or "God's children" before. But when I stop to think about what it really means to be a child of God, I am overwhelmed and humbled. I think being a mom helps me to understand it even further. And even though the parent/child relationship is only a very small picture of what God's love for His children is, I can't help but look to it and marvel that a perfect God could love such imperfect people. Here's some ways I try to better grasp God's amazing love:

Unconditional Love.
Parker doesn't have to do anything for me to love him, and there's nothing he could do to make me not love him. I love him for the simple fact that he is. Because he's my son. I love him before myself and there's nothing I wouldn't do for his best interest.

Can you believe God loves you like that? More than that! His ability to love far surpasses what we could ever imagine, and it can withstand anything.

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Discipline and Direction.
I can't let Parker do whatever he wants. He thinks he knows what he's doing when he takes silverware out of the dishwasher, but he doesn't know what I know. He doesn't know that there's a sharp knife that will cut him and hurt him. When I tell him no, he doesn't like me, and he probably thinks I'm pretty mean. Often he doesn't listen the first time and my warnings to stop have to become firmer and tougher at times.

God does the same thing with us. Whether we are in a state outside of God's will, or He's simply keeping us on His path, there are times when God has to get our attention. We might think we know what's best, but we don't know what God knows. He wants the best for us even when we don't understand why He's allowing the things He allows or withholding the things He withholds. The fact that God cares about our choices tells me what a loving Father he is!

Hebrews 12:5-6

"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the ones he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."

I'm so thankful that being a mom has allowed me to better understand God as my Heavenly Father! I know I still only have a microscopic vision of what His love is, but as I grow more as a Christian, I see how unworthy I am of that love and I'm so humbled by it.

Part II is seeing myself as a child of the Father.

(This would have been just waaay to long to do in one post haha!)

Toddler Activities

I've found that it can be kind of tough to come up with activities for a 1-2 year old. One year olds are ready to experience new things and get into everything, but they aren't quite ready for alot of the neat crafts & activities you see for older kids. This week "Show Us Your Life" at Kelly's Korner is about Kid's Activities, so I thought I'd share a few that this boy likes!

1.) Craft Pom-Poms

This is one of those "get out occasionally" toys! I have a plastic Tupperware and that jar with all the pom-poms and Parker just loves to dump & sort. You have to watch because they do fit in little mouths so nicely, in fact, I'm pretty sure Parker swallowed one at one point...It's great as a beginning to counting & colors too.

 2.) Water Play

Anything water related is great for us! Yes, it occasionally requires me to reluctantly put on a swimsuit, but it's worth it for pictures and memories like this one. Since we can't have a pool now that we're in an apartment, we got Parker one of those water tables for the balcony. Works great for a little splashing around on a hot day. Of course you could always improvise with a bowl or plastic tote and some cups for scooping.

3.) Coloring/Drawing

This Parker's latest obsession. Sometimes he colors in his high chair & other times we set up a little station at the kitchen table. He usually gets very messy & we've started just taking off his shirt when he's coloring since he ends up coloring his belly. Coloring times are most often followed by a bath!

4.) Other

Some other things we do are, Parker handing us silverware out of the dishwasher to put away, letting him help load the washing machine, playing with pots & pans, hide & go seek, stacking blocks or cups, and reading and spelling.

Elevator Mishap...

Sooooo....

We had a little "oopsie" moment with the elevator today.

Parker is a toddler, and as such, he tends to be slow and stubborn about 90% of the time. When we're heading down the hallway toward the elevator he's usually doddling behind staring at his sandals or reading everyones door numbers. It's very normal for Brent or I to reach the elevators before him, push the buttons, and have the doors held open waiting for him to mosey on in.

Today, Parker and I were headed up to the roof for some sunshine and fresh air and the basic scenario I played out above was taking place. So I get in the elevator and push 8 (we live on 3) and stick my leg against the door to keep it open for Mr. Parker. Well about as soon as he gets to the elevator doors, they just close! With my leg there and everything! I mean, obviously I was able to pull my leg through, but they so weren't opening back up.

So there is left my 19 month old son crying at the elevator doors, thinking I ditched him, as I PANICKED ride up 5 floors! I get to the 8th floor, close the elevator doors, ride back down to 3 (jumping, thinking this speeds it up apparently?) and Parker is still right at the doors crying. (It had only been a grand total of maybe 45 seconds, but still.) So after a million "I'm so sorry bubba"s we were both fine.

So yeah, I'm sure that won't be happening again. We've had other close calls where as we're getting off the elevator Parker turns around and tries to bolt back on as the doors are closing & that would be WAY worse. But this was still a little nerve wracking for sure!

Yeah, this has nothing to do with anything. I just like this show & there happens to be an elevator in the picture so BAM! visual aid.

It's Dad's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Mother's Day sort of came & went around here without much notice, since that's the weekend we were moving. Brent does so much for me, helps out so much, and makes sure I get time to recharge all throughout the year so, I really don't feel like he needs to do anything more on Mother's Day. But I always try to make sure Brent knows how much he's appreciated as a dad on Father's Day. He rarely does something just for himself so it's one time where he can just really take time to know how loved he is and recharge a little bit with something fun. I think this year I'm just sending him golfing whenever he can fit it into his week. He loves it, and hasn't been in a long time. I think he may even try to go with his dad when he's down here later this week.

I'm blessed to not only have a wonderful father for my son, but I have a great father myself! I'm so thankful for a dad that I always knew loved me and worked so hard to provide for us. I'm not sure what it would be like to be the only male in a house of 3 females, but I'm sure it wasn't always easy & he probably got sucked into far more fights over the bathroom than he'd care to remember. My dad set the bar high as an example of what a dad and husband should be, and I count myself & my sister very lucky for that! My dad is one of our biggest encouragers and always tells Brent and I how supportive and proud he & my mom are of us. That is more of a blessing to us than they could ever know.

I'm also thankful for a great father-in-law. I truly believe a big part of why Brent is such a great husband and dad because he had a great example to learn from. I know Brent also learned an incredible work ethic from his dad as well. Earl has probably helped his kids move more in the last 4 years than he ever helped anyone move in all the previous years combined! haha! He is always there to help the girls out with a (another) car problem, or move something heavy with Brent. He's there physically for his kids, but he's also there as loving support. He's been a wonderful father-in-law to me, and Parker is just his little buddy!

I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful, godly, caring, supportive, men in my life. I know not everyone has those people to lean on. I hope everyone has a great Father's Day, and takes time to remember we also have a Heavenly Father who loves us more than any person ever could.

Thank you Lord for being our Father, our Dad - who we can come to with any problem or fear and You promised You'd be there to see us through. Thank you for providing earthly fathers as a picture of Your love to Your children.

1st Night of Youth Group at PBC!

So tonight was the 1st ever night of youth group for Providence Bible church! Woohoo - that's exciting stuff right there! And because I'm a Dork with a capital 'd' I, of course, did not take any pictures. Oops. Please forgive me. I'll take many more throughout the coming weeks. Part of the issue was I had a certain toddler with me, who was supposed to be home with our lovely gracious babysitter. But she was sick so the little dude came to youth group. And he did great (especially considering his too early/too short nap.) I was certain he'd melt down, but nope he did great! All that to say, I forgot lots of things including the camera.

Brent and I (and Parker) went early to set up. It officially started at 6:00 and it was just us workers for a little while (Brent, me, Sarah, Greg, & Keaton) then a couple kids, Hudson & Isaiah showed up and played pool with Brent. Another kid, Isaiah #2 lol, came in a little bit later. It was great hanging out, eating, and getting to know them.

We played Indoor Marco Polo & Whack-Em. (Well the boys played, me and Sarah cleaned up the other room and kept Parker from getting trampled. Totally a 2 person job let me tell ya!) Then we went upstairs for prayer and a devotion. This first night was a little different just getting to know the kids and letting them know what youth group will look like this summer. But we were all so excited afterward & just know that God can do something great!

I'm sure I'll post tons more about the kids and youth group in the future. But tonight was just to great not to share!

One Month Later...What's Happening?

We've been here one month. A whole month!.......Is that all? haha It sure seems like alot longer than that!

It's been a very busy month! A few weeks ago we took the new members class at Providence which is about an 8 hour class I think. I can't remember exactly. It's a few hours on a Friday night and then a few hours that Saturday morning. We got babysitters for Parker and Brent and I did that. It's different than how alot of churches do membership, but we do alot of things differently than most churches. A fact I LOVE!

We hadn't planned on kicking off a youth program until the fall, but those plans changed a little bit & now we're starting next week! I'm really excited to see how God is going to take nothing & turn it into something. We already have 4 people committed to helping with the teens, which is such a HUGE blessing! And I think I found someone to watch Parker every Wednesday night, so that will free me up to help alot more too!

We're still praying and looking for a better paying job for Brent. The hours & pay at Starbucks just aren't gonna cut it for very long. It's hard not to worry about the things God tells us not to worry about. But if the lilies and birds have shelter and food I KNOW I don't need to worry one bit about how all that stuff will get taken care of for us. (Not that we're struggling with food or anything like that, we're not - wanted to clarify.)

Hopefully this week I'll be able to start helping out a little bit with Encompass, which is a nonprofit ministry set up by PBC to help mentor and support single moms, widows, and orphans. It's really in it's baby steps right now, but I'm hoping I can help out a little bit!

Besides all that, we've enjoyed lots of fun stuff too! We live close to Civic Park which hosts alot of the festivals that go on during the summer. We also discovered a fun play place at Cherry Creek Mall which Parker adores & I don't mind taking him to an air conditioned play ground one bit! And Parker and I made some friends at the park the other day who we're hoping to meet up with for lunch this week.

Slowly but surely Denver is beginning to feel like home. There are still moments I get totally lost or feel a little lonely, but God is working in me to not focus on the things that don't matter. I love that He's teaching me that, even though it's an uncomfortable thing sometimes. Brent has been such a blessing to me with his great attitude and excitement for what he does. He hasn't uttered one word of complaint or discouragement about anything since we've been here and that is just a huge encourager to me. I'm so thankful Parker has such a great dad to look up to!

I suppose that's plenty long enough for now! If our neighbor would kindly turn down his music I would love to go to sleep. :0) Oh, and a new blog header coming soon thanks to my friend Karen!

I love this age!

I have to say that one & a half is SUCH a fun age. Officially, Parker won't be 18 months for another week, but close enough! ha! I love seeing his little personality come out more and more; even if that means more fits and defiance. That's ok - we're working on it!

He just thinks he such a little man, and that anywhere we go he's the big man in charge. People always comment everywhere we go about how he just walks around with such confidence, like he owns the place. It's quite a sight.

Parker loves to help. And yeah, a toddler's "help" isn't always in line with the traditional definition of help lol, but his heart is in the right place. Lately he finds (or creates) trash to throw in the trashcan. So far he's limited it to actual garbage, but I'm sure we'll find a shoe in there at some point!

His new favorite game is "unlocking" the baby gate with dad's keys.

Don't you love his face of concentration?!

A couple days ago when we got home from someplace, Brent & I hung our coats up in the coat closet. I took Parker's coat off & set it on the counter to take to his room at some point. Well, he was just so offended that his coat wouldn't be treated like our coats & hung in the right closet. So, we put it in there with ours & life went on!

Helping Daddy eat his cereal

One not so cute thing that he's up to is thinking it's funny to run from me. Ohhhh so not cute. I know all, or most, kids do that at some point, but yeesh - it's super annoying. The bad thing is, sometimes it is a teeny bit funny & he's just so hilarious about it that I'm trying not to laugh & encourage it.

Starbucks Hubby

On Saturday, Brent got hired at Starbucks - woo hoo! He goes in tomorrow to sign papers etc. but probably won't start regular hours until next week. It's so great because some income is better than no income, but it really doesn't pay very much. Not enough actually. I think there's a difference between not paying very much & not paying enough. Therein lies our dilemma.

So for now it works, but he's going to keep looking & applying other places. He's really hoping to hear back on one that he put in for a non-profit downtown. The job is totally right up his alley & seems like it would be a good fit. So, pray for that if you think of us!

And how could I forget to mention the free coffee every week in this deal!? Brent gets to bring home a pound of coffee every week from Starbucks! We go through a tiny bag like once a month at home because I'm the only one that drinks plain drip coffee, and even then it's maybe twice a week. So I'm sure we'll be giving away lots!

So God is still providing! It would be so ridiculous for us to worry or question the way things work out at this point. God has proven Himself faithful again and again and we know He's got everything under control!