Some Thanksgiving Photos

Caleb right after his first thanksgiving meal! He had stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, a roll and some pie. Two days later, his first tooth popped through! 

My grandpa on the floor with Caleb

On Friday we celebrated Thanksgiving with Jon's side of the family. This is his mom making Leftsa (SP?) , a norweigian bread. 

Aunt Kim was mean. She kept putting Mr. Potato Head hates in Caleb's fro. Does it make me mean if I laughed, and took pictures? 

Uncle Joe and Caleb

Jon went to the Lions game on Thanksgiving with his dad and brother. Gramps was sure to buy a foam finger for Caleb. 

Family Photo

My cousin and Caleb

My sister thought it was fun to steal a pacifier from a baby...easy as 1..2..3..

When both dinners were over, Caleb gave everyone piano lessons.


Whew! What a great holiday weekend. Looking forward to many more great holidays!

Overwhelmed!

Nothing describes my feeling right now, except overwhelmed.

I was coming home from campus tonight and I was thinking, "Do I go straight to bed in order to ignore all that I have to do, or stay up late so that I can cross things off my to-do list?" The answer: I have done nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I feel too overwhelmed to even start.

-The house is such a mess! A total disaster. Where do I start? And by the time I make any headway, I will have to take a break or move my crawling baby from climbing on the tv, going up the stairs and knocking over the laundry baskets.

-Christmas decorations need to be put up. The thought of going to the basement to get everything, to put it all up, and then to put the totes back in the basement...not fun.

-Working out is hard. I can't convince myself that a little exercise is better than none. I think that if I can't put a few hours in, then I don't do it at all.

-Christmas presents! Seriously...who am I buying for? how much are we spending on each person? When will we see them to exchange gifts? Will I find the perfect gift? If I don't, will they think I didn't put much thought into it? If I spend time wrapping gifts, will caleb just unwrap them all under the tree? Do we have enough money to spend on Christmas gifts? Are Jon and I exchanging gifts? Are we getting anything for Caleb?

-In a few short days the semester will be over. I want to end well, and help students to end well. How do I do that?

I feel so lame for even posting this on a public blog. I know that you don't read this to hear about my complaining, but man oh man, have I been in a slump lately. My  depression and anxiety filled self has come back to our home. I am kicking butt with prayer and not allowing it to control me, but it.takes.so.much. out of me to fight.

For my friends who are facing very real struggles tonight, I am sorry you just wasted your time reading this.

I need your help!

In exactly one week....I am on Christmas BREAK! That's right. Now yes, I do have a lot of work that I have to get done BUT....I also have some good projects to get done around the house. 

So who wants to help....

-clean my house? 

-teach me how to use photoshop? 

-let me use you as a model so I can spend time taking pictures? 

-sew curtains? 

-cut vinyl (actually......I have Rachel's cricuit in mind:)) 

-Give me organization ideas as I make an office? 

-Watch Caleb? 

-Cook with me? 

-help me write, stuff, and send ministry update letters? 

-scrapbook with me? 

-wrap my Christmas presents? 

Basically, in 5 short days, I will have 6 weeks off of ministry work. I need a friend to keep me busy, y'all. 

Compelling Update

For those of you who care, pray and give to the ministry that I work with, I give you some great Compelling 2010 snapshots of what happened!

-Almost 600 students, staff and volunteers attending the conference! This is the largest we have had in the past 4 years that the conference has been in existence.
-We had to close registration a week and a half early because of the huge number of registrants
-We used all of our reserved rooms and had to move to another hotel
-We had to had an extra track (class) for students, so that they could come
-40 students made significant decisions for Christ

What happened at Compelling with Albion students?
-One girl in a sorority committed to starting a Bible Study in her sorority in January
-5 students committed to having regular quiet times with God each day
-One girl said, "Compelling was very compelling. I think I will become a christian soon." She is still working through what this would look like and what she believes about God and Jesus.
-Students caught a vision for campus ministry and want to be a part of it! Wahoo!!!!

What a year it has been.

Does it feel different? 

Sure doesn't. It is official now, in the eyes of the state, but I became a mother in January. Officially, the adoption was finalized on November 15, 2010, and boy oh boy was that a great day!

But it doesn't feel different.

During an ordinary meal, making ordinary conversation, Jon asked me a question that made me what to punch him, run away, hide and cry. Instead I ignored it (my defense mechanism of choice).

The question: "Do you think it is a coincidence that the adoption was finalized the same week that Noelle was born?"

Do I think its a coincidence? Hec no I don't!! I know that God is sovereign, I know that He has been planning  all along that Caleb would be a part of our family.

I can't believe the ways that this year is different. In so many ways it is different and I am so glad. Today I sat up in my bed and thanks God for the crying baby and the sound of my husband tying to console him. Music to my ears. Yes, the year is quite different.

I never did answer that question that Jon asked. I can't quite go back to last year. Because it. was. hard. My instincts are to run.

I Should Have Listened

This past weekend, 600 college students and staff gathered for our annual fall conference. It was an amazing time where God met each and every one of us. I wonder why I didn't have faith that God could move in such a way. I will share later about what God did at Compelling2010: Strong and Courageous. It is all whole other post. And it will be awesome.

When we finished the conference we had a staff meeting. In that staff meeting we were talking about how the Spirit was at work in crazy ways, in ways that some of us have never seen, or did not expect. We talked about sealing what happened in prayer and fighting the temptation that Satan will throw at us. Surely he did not want to see that work happen, so we needed to be aware that he was going to mess it up, tempt us to fall into sin, etc.

I didn't listen. I thought, "yah, I should pray for that, but...."

And sure enough, come Sunday afternoon I was angry, tired, mad at my husband, a grump, worried, not a good daughter/sister/mother/wife/friend/staff worker.

Bright and early Monday morning we had our finalization hearing, ending the adoption process!!! It seemed like everything that could wrong did....even though I know that is an exaggeration.
-my house was a mess
-I had no sleep
-I was upset in my marriage
-I couldn't find clothes to wear
-we had wrong directions, and everyone in our party was late
-We had wrong directions to the courts, to the place where we were going to take pictures, and then to the restaurant.
-I was TIRED. Really tired.
-Our photographer got lost and I had to take our family pictures
-The pictures were not good, not bad, but not what I would have done
-I was TIRED

And in the end, I took a nap.

And now, I am on my knees, shaking the gates, knowing that God has started a great work.

Today is National Call-In Day to Stop Human Slavery.

Did you know that every year, more than two million children are trafficked for forced labor or sexual exploitation?


Many countries have passed laws to combat this modern-day slave trade but lack the means to enforce the laws and adequately protect children. The Child Protection Compact Act (S. 3184) would help enforce anti-trafficking laws by providing technical assistance and training to several countries that have shown the political will to fight human trafficking and exploitation, but lack the resources, know-how, and capacity to follow up with survivors.


Take action with me today! Call your senators and ask them to co-sponsor the Child Protection Compact Act.

I just got off the phone with the senator's offices in Michigan. It literally took 3 minutes of my time. Please take time to call today.

Don't know who call? World Vision offers a step by step plan giving you numbers and a script. Go here for info.

Leave me a comment to let me know that you called and we will fight together to end human slavery!

Simple Woman's Daybook 11-09-10

Outside my window
As I sit on my couch and look outside my window I see little hand prints all over them. Earlier today Caleb and I were outside playing in the leaves. It was beautiful today!!! I am not ready for winter to arrive.

I am thinking
about a lot. A lot a lot. I am prepping for a conference this weekend. I am excited for students to come to this conference. I am frustrated that students want to back out of the conference, because I know that they would love it and it would be beneficial for them. I am thinking about how I should go to bed soon, but how I would rather load pictures from today on to my computer, but I know that would lead to editing and I don't have time to do that right now, so instead....wasting time blogging.

I am thankful for
RESTORATION! REDEMPTION! God has done a great work in my life, and I am so thankful for what He is doing.

From the kitchen
a win and a lose. Win= a great beef vegetable soup. Very good! Lose= Pumpkin cornbread. I have made this before and LOVE LOVE LOVE it, so I made it again. The problem was....I was out of eggs, so I read that you could replace eggs with bananas. NOT TRUE. Don't let anyone fool you. The bread did not turn out as planned.

I am going 
to lose weight

I am reading
a book on Esther

I am hoping 
to learn how to use photoshop

I am hearing 
commericals

Around the house
It's a mess and needs to be cleaned. Needs to be cleaned because it is driving me crazy and I now I have a crawler in my house and he is EVERYWHERE!

One of my favorite things 
talking photography with friends

A few plans for the rest of the week 
Cleaning the house, making some meals, preparing for the conference, traveling to the conference, working out, taking pictures, spending time with my boys

I don't feel like it

I am so glad that God has taught me a lesson on emotions on the past year. Mind you, I would NEVER EVER WILLINGLY relive the circumstances that brought the lessons, but I did learn...a lot.

I learned that my emotions lie. I cannot base my decisions on my emotions. I am grateful that God uses my emotions to fuel passions and excitement but it is only part. Sometimes there are things that I simply have to do, even when I don't feel like it.

This seems to be the attitude of my life lately, "but I don't feel like it." I don't feel like getting up in the middle of the night when Caleb loses his pacifier. I don't feel like waking up early to spend time with my Savior. I don't feel like cleaning the house. I don't feel like making dinner for my husband. I don't feel like working out. I don't feel like working. I don't feel like being fully engaged in conversation. I don't feel like being a part of a church where I don't feel like I don't connect. I don't feel like being on a tight budget. I don't feel like being a good friend right now.   I don't feel happy all the time. I don't feel like it.....AH! So now you have been inside my head this morning. Scary place, isn't it?

I am so glad that God has taught me that it is not all about what I feel. A lot of it is about what I know. What I know to be true about Him and about myself. I cannot rely on emotion, especially as a self proclaimed "feeler"  on the MBTI test.

Today I rise on what I know, even when I don't feel like it.

That being said....there is work to be done that I don't feel like doing.

bullets

-I need NEED NEED NEED to learn photoshop.

-I am soooooo excited for the women's retreat at church this weekend, even if it does mean that I need to wear a swim suit 

-I have not cooked at all this week 

-I have done a lot of laundry

-My hand hurts, my wrist hurts...a lot. I am going to the doctor tomorrow and am nervous. My husband doesn't help  my nerves. When I ask him what he thinks it is, he says, "Cancer." Wow, thanks. or "Surgery." Great. So I am nervous. 

-I am LOVING my job. 

-Today, for the hec of it I let Caleb take a nap in my arms. Why not? He is only a baby once, I had time, we had not done it in a long time....and I love snuggling my boy. 

-I need the retreat this weekend. Badly. 

Scrumptious Saturdays and Sundays

This is not an excuse, but due to me forgetting   crazy halloween festivites, Scrumptious Saturdays and Sundays is on Monday today. Forgive me.

The goal is that a) each week I will try something new to make and b) I hear from you, hear what you are making in your kitchen. 

I wish I would have taken pictures, next time. We will try it this week, ok? 

Just a few favorites this week: (Click on the link for recipes) 

-Pumpkin Cornbread

-Chicken and Dumplings 

-I also made spaghetti squash for the first time, and it was obvious that I was a spaghetti squash virgin. I have no idea how to make it, it did NOT turn out well. If you have any good ideas, let me know. 

This week should be interesting to see what we make. Aside from birthdays and holidays, Jon and I are doing "no carb November." We are trying to jump start our weight loss again. So my meals will look far healthier than this week's chicken and dumplings:)