A Happy Heart

The past few weeks have been busy but fun.

Just wanted to share a few pictures and little everyday memories.

I am so thankful for the life God has given me.

Every morning when I wake up, I'm truly thankful that he's given me another day; I'm very aware that each day is a gift, and not to be taken for granted.

And each morning when I've been downstairs reading my Bible, drinking coffee, and sending my husband off to work, and I hear Addison waking up, talking to herself or singing in her crib...I praise God for the gift of our little girl and thank him for another day with her.

It's going by too fast...again, I don't want to take any of it for granted.

Ok she doesn't usually get chocolate for breakfast, but we went on a little crepe kick after finding an amazing gluten free recipe, and we just had to get some nutella to make banana and nuttela crepes!

Ah-mazing! Addison obviously enjoyed this treat too:)

My little one turned three months old this week!! The fastest three months of my life.

She is growing and changing and I could just eat her up for all her cuteness!

I'm so in love with this baby!

Lily is the most easy going baby.

I don't do schedules. Schedules stress me out, whereas many moms I know would be stressed without a schedule for their baby.

Regardless of my lack of scheduling, Lily has set her own schedule and she's very predictable, like clockwork.

If she cries, I literally just look to see what time it is and can be 95% sure of what she is needing.

Easy going is an understatement.

Have I mentioned how much she likes to cuddle?

A whole lot. Love it!

Addison is going through a climbing phase...climbing on, over, and in anything and everything!

(It gets dangerous at times, but I try not to hover too much!)

This day in particular, she threw half the stuff from her toy box on the floor and climbed on in.

She then played happily for over an hour inside the box:)

I must say, this is one of my favorite parts of the day.

When Lily is awake and fed and happy, and we go get Addison up for the day.

They lay side by side on the floor giggling at each other while I change diapers and get them dressed.

I love this picture of them in their pjs. 2 happy girls = a perfect start to the day!

Awake...but not quite ready to get up!

My dad had to come to town for some work meetings, so I convinced my mom to come too.

Love this picture of Addison being silly and making Grandma laugh (we haven't established a name...not sure what Addison calls her yet)

And here's miss Lily, sleeping ever so peacefully in her daddy's arms last night.

Sooo sweet.

As I sit here writing, both girls are asleep, snow is falling softly outside, and I have a few more minutes before one of them wakes up and it's time for snacks and playing and getting started on dinner, maybe a  one-year-old meltdown or two, bedtime and time with the hubby.

I love quiet times like this...I love the noise and laughter and even the crying too, but quiet moments are where I recharge and regroup so that I can be a better mom as the day goes on and my girls get a bit crabby (they are both morning people, like me:) )

I know life will bring sadness and difficulty and heartache;

I've had some of those times and I know that there will be many more to come. That's just the nature of life on earth, and it can't be stopped until we reach Heaven.

But right now, I lead a blessed life and I know I say it a lot, but I'm just THANKFUL for it all.

For my babies and my husband and our health and most of all the hope we have regardless of what life brings, because we have hope in our savior, Jesus.

I'm learning not to dread what hard things might come, but instead to fully enjoy the present and not worry about the future.

And as I type my last sentence, Lily is crying, and so the day continues...

Have a blessed rest of the week!:)

What I Want

This morning I woke up with a heavy heart.

Not the kind of heavy heart that comes from sadness or despair, but the kind that invokes change.

The heavy heart that God lays on you and you can't not make a change.

I find that my life works in themes. I'll explain.

I'll have weeks or months (it's even come in years, if you check out the tab 'heavy on my heart', that has been a recurring theme of my life for years now) where every book I pick up, commercial I hear on the radio, new song I hear, and sermon I listen to deals with the same issue and speaks directly to my soul. Usually Brad has the same thing happen, and we won't even know that we're on the same page, until one day it is so heavy upon one of us that we share, and so often, the other one of us says "ME TOO!!!"

God seems to work in us together, which strengthens our marriage and helps us to set common goals and encourage each other as we walk out our faith on a daily basis.

Anyway...there is a common theme going on in my life, and as I shared it with Brad last night, he said the Lord had been speaking to him in the same area recently.

It's an uncomfortable topic, something that makes me excited one second and nervous the next.

It makes me squirm a bit, thinking about what the implications of living it out might look like for me and for us as a family.

But regardless of all this, I can't ignore when God moves.

I promise, I'm getting to the point! I know that was a long intro and I haven't got to the point yet.

Here it is.

We are called to be radically different from the world.

To be in the world but not of it...our citizenship is not here...this is a temporary home for us but something so much greater awaits us for eternity.

We are called to live radically.

Really, that just means to LOVE radically, with the same love that Christ has shown to us.

We live in a hurting, broken, fallen world, but all to often, I know I find myself seeking out the next pleasure rather than thinking of how I could be a hand in stopping someone else's pain.

I know it's not a bad thing to have fun and enjoy life, but the weights on the balance are way off.

Too much of my time is spent on thinking about me and my blessed little life;

Not enough time is spent serving those in need.

I do some, but some is not enough. I want to serve and love in a way that stretches me and makes me sacrifice and makes me uncomfortable. Not just do enough to feel less guilty and call it a day.

I know to some this seems extreme.

That's the point! I don't want to be lukewarm. Jesus says in Revelation that he will 'spit out' those Christians who are lukewarm. It disgusts him. That's just honest Bible.

Ok, here it is broken down so simply.

We are told in the Bible to do the following:

Value others above ourselves and look to their interests first (Philippians 2)

Look after orphans and widows (James 1)

Feed the hungry and thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned (Matt 25)

Set the oppressed free; provide shelter to the poor; clothe and feed those in need (Isaiah 58)

There are treasures stored up in heaven for those who actually do these things,

plus, Jesus tells us to do them. Why is it we skip over it?

Busyness, selfishness, unawareness...these are all reasons (I'm preaching to myself) we don't actively do what the Bible says to do.

I want to find more ways to live out these things; 

to love radically and be Christ to the world until he returns.

I want it to be ingrained in our family. I want our kids to grow up wanting to do for others before doing for themselves, even though this goes against human nature. I pray God instills in them a real love for the least of these.

I truly truly believe that God has a plan, a will for every person's life...I want to surrender all to that plan and die someday with no regrets.

I know I posted something similar months ago, but this is so much on my heart.

If it's at all on your heart too, 

I highly recommend the books Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and my other favorite, Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker. These are two of the most life changing, inspiring books I've ever read! Read with expectation; let God light a fire in you; and then act before other things snuff out the fire!

Joy

No, this is not a recent picture. It snowed again this weekend. This is my favorite picture of a lovely spring day last year. I am beyond ready for spring and warmer temps, but for now, looking at pretty pictures and pretending it's warm will have to do!:)

Another weekend has come and gone, a very full and fun weekend, but also a restful two days, and I am ready for a new week. I love weekends most because it’s just nice that my best friend is with me all day instead of just the evening. But I am not one of those people who hate Monday either. To me Monday is a fresh start, a new week with new activities and goals. And maybe I like Monday because I always feel so refreshed from the weekend. Anyway, happy Monday!

I don’t have a lot of time this morning, so I am actually posting something I wrote as a guest post for The Vanilla Tulip blog a month or so ago. It’s just a short, and hopefully encouraging little piece about a Bible verse I try to always meditate on and live out…I pray that whoever needs this encouragement will read on and be blessed, and that this can be a good start to a new week!

Have you ever known somebody who you could just feel the joy of the Lord radiating from within? Have you wished for that? I have!! I wanted to be that person so bad that I went about it the wrong way, with the ‘fake it till I make it’ mentality. Like faking being happy in the presence of others, but deep down, not necessarily joyful. I was missing the point…that joy is not the same as happiness, and more importantly, that I can’t just wish to be happy or joyful; rather, I have to pray for it and meditate on scripture! The Lord has done a huge work in my heart over the past months in this area, but I’ve prayed consistently and meditated on the following (which has become my favorite verse!)

 1 Thess. 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I’ve always been a generally happy person, however, I have a propensity to let unfavorable circumstances drag me into a funk, which I sometimes take it out on my lovely husband (who takes it with much patience, and manages to still love me!) Unfavorable circumstances for me include the weather being miserable, a baby who has cried the majority of the day, being busy too many nights in a row and not getting quality time with my hubby, or lack of sleep several nights running. They might look completely different for you, but we all have things that can send us into the blues, should we let our emotions rule—and dare I say, it’s easy for us women to let emotions get the best of us!

By the way, I’m not talking about having a big fake smile on your face 24/7, I’m talking about deep joy…the kind the Bible is talking about when it refers to ‘sorrowful, yet always rejoicing’.

As the second part of the verse above says, “pray continually…” All to often, I start each day with prayer but as the day unfolds into busyness, I let my focus stray from God. I want to come to God in prayer in every circumstance…not just asking, but thanking and praising him, both for the good and for what he’s teaching me through the bad.

I want to encourage you, as well as myself, that we can have joy even on the worst day. I believe it’s the devil who seeks to steal our joy, so we have to fight back! Pray, meditate on scripture, count your blessings, and in the midst of a hard day, ask the Lord to teach you and grow you through the trial, and rejoice that he is doing a work in you to make you more like him!

Last little thing that came to me as I was thinking about all this…I know that when I decide I want to grow in an area of my life, that is when things get tough.  But I can either be willing to settle for mediocrity in that area, or I can fight the battle and come out victorious. I don’t know about you, but I intend to fight for joy each and every day...regardless of what the day brings with it!

Nehemiah 8:10

“…the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Romans 15:13

 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Proverbs 10:28  

“The hope of the righteous brings joy…”

Blessings to you this week!

Love, Crystal

 

Warm(ish) Winter Days

Today I braved the double stroller! I don't know why it intimidated me so much, but it did.

Lots of parts and pieces I didn't think I would know what to do with, but it was just fine.

Twice the work to get out the door;

Twice the work to push two instead of one.

Going for a walk is no longer a walk in the park...no pun intended!

The weather was so nice for February (42 or something) and the sidewalks are finally clear of ice and snow, so we just had to take advantage.

Just getting sun on my sun-deprived face and breathing fresh air was worth any effort!!

So I bundled the girls and myself up and off we went up the giant hill towards the mountains.

It may have been in the 40s, but the wind turned out to be frigid!! I was glad I had overdressed us all a bit...it turned out to be just right. Lily loves the stroller. She doesn't have a choice...I loooove going for walks, so my kids have to like it!

Here we are at the top of the hill. Beautiful view and a great workout all in one!

Last week, I finally got to take Addison out in the snow. First time all winter, sadly. 

Everyone's either been sick, or it's been way too cold.

She didn't know what to think at first, but after about 20 minutes, she didn't want to come back inside.

Ever since, 'outside' is her new and favorite word. Comes out 'Outsies'. So stinkin' cute!

Yes, I've turned into one of those people who thinks absolutely every single detail of their child's existence is 'so adorable'. 

Stop judging. If you have kids, you know you do the same thing.

If you don't have kids, you'll do it someday if you do have them.

Well I had something I really wanted to write about today, but the day got away (imagine that!),

so I posted pictures with captions instead. It's quicker and takes very little brain power, which I don't have a lot left at the moment.

Maybe tomorrow I'll write about what's really on my heart.

But for today, just fun memories of my kiddos, which isn't a bad thing to blog about!

I'm rambling.

Goodnight!