Update: Awaiting Trinity!

Good morning! I just wanted to post something while we await Trinity's arrival! I'm going to take a break writing "blog posts" as there is still much to get ready for her big debut! Not to mention, just doing a bit of relaxing until my baby girl changes our lives. :)

I thought I would include some pictures we took over the weekend! Granted, we waited a bit long to take "prego" pictures. I was 38 weeks and 5 days when we took them on Saturday. I took some when we were pregnant with Tyler Jr, so I didn't want to regret not taking them. Anyways... I think we got a few shots that really made it worth it (and I edited them over the weekend). Big brother with his little sister! I'm so excited to see how he is with his little sister. :)

After Trinity does arrive I will take a few weeks off I'm sure.... looks like October may be the month for me to adjust to being a mother of two AND we will be moving into a house that we are building not far from where we live now. Keep checking back periodically. I have not left you! :) Most likely I will have at least started back by the beginning of November. :)

Be blessed! Enjoy some apple cider or something yummy that has to do with fall!! :)

#192 - Focus on Obedience

Good morning! :) It's a beautiful day out here in Columbia! Birds chirping, a cool breeze and blue skies. Let's get started in the Word because Junior will be getting up soon! :)

Proverbs 31:29 - Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all.

Matthew 6:27,31 - And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life. Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? 

This morning I had a some questions for the Holy Spirit... primarily on specific direction. I sat, in my mind I felt a little bit scattered, like I was just saying, "Well, what about this? What about that? Should I do this?" It was as if my thoughts were running out ahead of me to try to answer the questions. My thoughts were hurried and seemed chaotic. I slowed down enough to listen, and from that comes today's main theme, "Focus on Obedience."


The root of my 'firing of questions' to the Holy Spirit stemmed from anxiety or worry, but it was as if He had to slow me down. Re-focus me. Re-ground me. Remind me of my current tasks at hand, projects He's told me to work on. As I hurriedly listed off all the things that I had questions on and seemed to feel a bit of stress rising up on the inside, I just heard that still small Voice say, "Just focus on obedience." An area, where just two days ago, I had to ask forgiveness.

Columbia summers are hot, humid. Sometimes just walking out of the house or car, it feels as if the air is sucked out of you for a split second until you get acclimated to the heat & humidity. Once you adjust, it's usually OK... but a summer without a pool would be tough down here. Our development has a pool conveniently about 100 yards from our house. It's very nice to just be a short walk away. Well... we had not paid for our pool pass for the summer yet. We still had our key-fob that would allow us to get in, but just hadn't paid or gotten the newly issued ID cards with our picture on it. Not really thinking about Proverbs 31:29, and her "strength of character," I proceeded to periodically scope out the pool to see if the "pool man" sat checking ID's. I found that there was normally no one there in the morning. Confession time. So, a few times Junior and I rode our bike by the pool, seeing no guard, rushed back home, got on our swimsuits and headed to the pool for a few hours of refreshing, cool swimming.

I know, I know. Some of you may be laughing and my deceitfulness... some of you may have gotten your stones out already! Well... let me tell you the rest of the story. No, I did not get caught. No, I did not get in trouble. Honestly, if I weren't telling YOU publicly right now, I don't think really anyone would have known. I reasoned that, we were going to buy our pool pass soon, we just hadn't yet. Once we did buy it, it wasn't even going to be pro-rated, we'd pay the same price as everyone else. We just hadn't paid it yet. I reasoned that it was OK for now. I didn't really like having to sneak. It felt dishonest, which isn't typically a quality I hold. Tyler and I joked about me "not being a rule follower" because he has always been pretty straight and narrow... I have usually been the "spontaneous" or "adventurous" one of the two of us. I'd joke about "not following the rules" and getting in to the pool, he would chuckle a little, but shake his head. Monday after dinner, Honest Abe Tyler, Tyler Jr, and I played outside in the backyard in the sprinklers. We did have a blast. Tyler Jr was loving it! He just ran around laughing, getting soaked, it was definite entertainment! Before bed I was reading and that's when the conviction began. I couldn't shake that what I was doing was wrong. We hadn't paid for the pool, so I shouldn't be going. Tuesday morning I made up my mind. Tuesday at lunch, I told Tyler I wasn't going to the pool anymore until we paid. Junior and I would just play out in the sprinklers or the hose, or stay inside where it was cool. And... I had to obviously ask for forgiveness from my Father. Tyler was surprised about my newly-found "pool honesty" and our day continued.

Wouldn't you know it, Tuesday afternoon, Tyler told me that he was going to surprise me but that I could go down and pay for the pool passes and get my picture taken! I was so excited! Yippee!!! Would it have happened if I had continued in deceit? Or would it have been another few weeks?

So, this morning when I was reading about the Proverbs 31 woman, and read about her "strength of character," I couldn't help but think about my temporary relapse. It's hard to be blessed when walking in disobedience or walking in a lie, even if it seems like a little one. A lie is a lie. I thought about her. Her strength of character stems out to even her honesty. Someone with a strong character is honest, trustworthy, they do the right thing.

"Just focus on obedience," I'm reminded of the Holy Spirit's words this morning. I don't know what it is for you. Maybe it's something like my "confession" above. For me, this morning, it was about being obedient to the things that Holy Spirit has directed me to work on. It was about being obedient to the current tasks He has me working on, not trying to bring on other things to do, but just focusing on the few things HE has directed me to do. Spending my time doing those things. If I do that, my daily accomplishments will not be in vain, they will actually be fruitful and purposeful.

What was the last thing the Holy Spirit told you to do? Are you working on it? Are you working towards completion? Have you gotten distracted with other things that seemed good to you? Have you forgotten what the last thing the Holy Spirit directed you to do? Maybe it's time to re-visit. Maybe it's time to check again, are we on the right track? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I being diligent? Am I focusing on obedience?

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Here's Tyler Junior and I at the pool yesterday! GUILT FREE! Having a great time! Look at how brave he is!!! Tyler said, "Maybe an Olympic diver?".... any cheerleaders out there know that it actually is a pretty good extension! :) (Though, I'm not speaking my son is going to be a cheerleader! HA!)

#81 - What Sin?

Good morning! Well... I thought I'd share a couple pictures of "THE BOY" in case we aren't pals on Facebook! This was the other night at dinner!! WHOA! I know! IT WAS ALL DAD!!!! I just am not a fan of the gross mess, but dad said, "Let him be! Let him do it! He can feed himself." AHHHH! So, reluctantly I held in my urge to help. I warned Tyler up front that if Tyler Jr was going to feed himself that I was not going to do the "clean-up" OR "bath time!" Sianara! No way Jose! So, Tyler Sr agreed and here is the fruit of that decision! One word: MESS!!!

For real, this is the happiest baby!! He is such a joy and blessing!
He will be a great big brother when that time comes! 

This shows a little bit of his personality! Tyler Jr is SOOO funny!
We just laugh all the time at our house!

OK... well, we have MyGym today, so let's get rolling! I'm still getting used to "remembering" that whole "MyGym" thing! You'd think it would be well implanted in my mind! Anyone that sees me Tuesday nights, feel free to REMIND ME about it!!! HA! :) 

Check the reading schedule for what we read today. And let's do this! It's some GOOD STUFF today!! I'm excited to see how the Holy Spirit brings it all together. I was just jammin out while I read! I was saying, "WOW! For real! This is all so good!!" Isn't it fun when you are in the Word and you have times like that?! When you are just like, "FOR REAL GOD!??!! This is some good stuff!" It's like, "Duh. Of course it is!" lol! Ok... I'm going to quit humoring myself and get started! Oh... one more thing.... a "PS" if you will.... a shout out to Danielle H! She is the one who said, "Amy, I like it when you put pictures up." So, the pictures are for you Danielle! :) Have a great day at work! hehe!

Psalm 6:6 - I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping. 

Psalms 36:1-2 - TRANSGRESSION [like an oracle] speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. There is no fear or dread of God before his eyes. For he flatters and deceives himself in his own eyes that his iniquity will not be found out and be hated.  

Psalm 66:18 - If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.  

Psalms 66:9-10, 12b - Who put and kept us among the living, and has not allowed our feet to slip. For You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified.... we went through fire and through water, BUT You brought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air]. 

Psalm 66:16, 96:3 - Come and hear, all you who reverently and worshipfully fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me! Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples.

Psalm 126:5 - They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing. 

OK... WOW! This is some good stuff! Brace yourself! A quick synopsis before we start. SIN. VICTORY. ACTION. Hopefully you are reading a "color-coated" computer or SmartPhone. So we are visiting SIN, then the experience of VICTORY, and then the ACTION we are called to take here. This is good stuff. 


Psalm 6... as I read the amplified and I read that David here was weeping in his PILLOW, a soft spot touched me. Weeping in his PILLOW?! I mean... for real?! If you think about someone weeping in a pillow, who comes to mind? A big military leader? A king? Yah, I didn't think so! That didn't come to my mind either. What came to my mind was a young girl, crying over a boyfriend, or some gossip going around at school. I didn't picture this "Man after God's Own Heart", not just crying, but WEEPING into a pillow. Weeping. Remorse. Guilt. Sorrow. 


Psalm 36 carries us into our sometimes naivety in the area of sin. Our naivety when we think that our sin will not be found out! It says that this person who is holding in this sin deceives himself. To think our SIN won't be found out? To be pious enough to think that we can RUN from our sin? That we can hide? Where can we go to hide? When I think about hiding, I think about running down to the playground down the road from where we live. To hide there. Or... like a child, to hide under my covers. To do what I have often done, and pulled the covers up over my head and just stay in bed. I will hide in my sleep. If I sleep, I can hide. My sin won't be found out. But the reality of it all is, we can continue to run or we can continue to try to hide, but in God's omnipotence, he knows all along where we are. As we run, it is as if he watches his favorite child running away. He sees the back of us as we are running down the sidewalk. Our Father, stands back at our house, His face just longing for us to come back. His face, filled with sorrow, hurt and pain. He understands the guilt we are feeling, our hurt. And His greatest desire as we come running back repenting and asking for forgiveness is to tell us, "My child, what sin? My child, I love you. What sin? Your sin is as far as the east is from the west. All I see is my child, white as snow. Unblemished. Darling, what sin?"


When we hold that sin in, the longer we keep it close to our hearts, the colder we become. The more callous our heart becomes, our spirit, our outlook on life. We begin to build sin upon sin. Lie upon lie. We continue to just cover up our sin. And until we come to repentance, the Lord will not hear our cries. 


God wants us to know the outcome. "Child! Please just come to Me! My Child, come! Come! Draw near to Me! In this place, with Me is abundance Child. In this place is wholeness. In this place you don't have to run. In this place you are safe. In this place (your name), I have EVERY good gift for you! Everything that you have been praying for, it is here. Everything you have been longing for, it is here. The secret desires that you have just kept in your head, Darling, even those are here. I have those! Don't run. It just takes you humbling yourself, laying it down. Don't keep carrying that sin. Don't keep carrying that care. Lay it down here. Lay it down at my feet. Lay it down at the alter. My Child, my desire is for you to have abundance. I want to bless you. If your heart is cold and turned from me, I can't hear you. Through the tears you have cried, joy and singing will come. Morning will come. Draw near to Me."


What sin? What sin? When we humble ourself before our Almighty Father, shame, guilt, sorrow, torment..... when we take that step, often such a hard step, to repent his comment to us is, "What Sin?" As far as the east is from the west, when we repent, He has already forgotten it. Praise the Lord. We no longer have to carry around the shame or the guilt. The actions, the things that we have done that we feel shame about, dirty, disappointed, those things are literally cast into a SEA of FORGETFULNESS! They are GONE! So lay down your burdens once and for all. Lay down the sins that have been so easily entangling you. Lay them down at the feet of Jesus so they can be forgotten and you can walk into a world of freedom and abundance. Declare HIS faithfulness! Declare what He has done for you! Declare His freedom!


You can be forgiven. Nothing is to bad. And your Father will literally forgive and forget! His desire is to say, "Child, What sin?"