Aurelia's first Christmas

Christmas Day has come and gone, and minus the crazy sickness I had and Aurelia's croup, I think it went pretty well! The great thing is that Aurelia is probably the most down to earth baby, even when she is sick, which made for easy traveling and such. At first, I felt like I shouldn't have been taking her outside when she was sick, but upon investigating croup, I found that the cold air probably helped her with the inflammation in her little lungs. So I didn't feel as bad :)

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas evening with the Hill family at the cottage this year. It was a good time just relaxing, eating, and catching up. This year we included Mom and Dad in the name draw pot, so money spent was less for everybody. I received a great gift from my new brother in law Alex: some slippers that I wanted and a beginner's painting set that includes some brushes, paint, and five canvases.... we'll see how that goes :P



Christmas Day we drove home for church, which was nice. After church, we came home and took a nap, which was much needed, since I was feeling not so great. (Turns out I had a bug that was going around... never would have guessed that heartburn/indigestion would be caused by a bug... but I am glad it was nothing more than that. The first 4 days of it weren't that bad, but the last 2 were pretty painful.) It was a lot of fun celebrating Christmas for the first time with Aurelia! She got very spoiled by all of her family members, and we ended up getting her some Mega Bloks. Oh, and her church family spoiled her quite a bit as well :P Here she is in her Christmas Dress :D

The Hill family has a small tradition of making egg rolls on Christmas Day, and since Josh and I were at home, we were going to miss it.... So, even though the cottage was almost two hours away, we decided that we really wanted egg rolls! We made the trip back and were glad that we did -- along with egg rolls, Amy made HotPot for us to enjoy :D Monday was spent in Owosso with more family for Christmas, and then we were finally home!

Today has been one of the first days that we actually had nothing work-related to do, and it has been so wonderful! We spent the day sleeping in, playing with Aurelia, and watching TV/reading. Tomorrow and Thursday will be just as nice, being able to hang out and relax (although I think laundry will have to be done eventually :P) until we head out to Clare either Thursday evening or Friday morning.

I am not really sure if you all wanted to hear what we have done for the last weekend, but thats what you got :) The main news is that I don't have something major going wrong with me and Aurelia is also on the road to health! Josh is doing well... enjoying his time off, and being a great dad and husband!!!

I also chose to start working out again today, because it makes me feel way better when I was this summer. I have a pair of 'goal jeans' and a nice 'goal sweater' hanging on my wall to motivate me when I feel like being lazy or when I feel like eating the whole jar of frosting in our fridge.... which would be a lot of points (I started counting those again too :P) I have been full of excuses about weight and eating and working out, and I am sick of not following through. It is probably the hardest thing I have had to do my entire life, and I have always failed at losing weight. I am ready to actually do it this time... I think that God really used this sickness to help me see that my body is His temple and that I need to be healthy in order to really serve Him and my family in the best way possible.

This is probably long enough. I don't think I have anything to add to it, so Good Night :)

Our Last Great Hope

"We don't have to be a generation of wasted potential. 'Our Last Great Hope' shows us how."

This is the quote from Steven Furtick, a lead pastor and author, that is on the front of the book entitled 'Our Last Great Hope' by Ronnie Floyd. I agree with Mr. Furtick: Ronnie Floyd does a nice job of taking every Christian's mission -- The Great Commission -- and breaking it down in a way that we can apply it to our everyday lives. Floyd helps us take steps toward "awakening the great commission" by stirring a passion in our hearts to change our ways to reflect Jesus' behaviors.

I found this book to be challenging, deep, and a good overall read. I gained not only a deeper understanding of the Great Commission, but also a new perspective of how I am called to see it through. I would recommend this book to any Christian looking to further understand what God has called His children to, as well as those looking for ideas on how to live out what they will learn.

I received this book for free from booksneeze.com

Christmas and Joy

As Christmas is only 11 days away, here is a little Christmas update, of sorts :)

First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Looking out the window right now, it doesn't look like the Christmas season: it is rainy and quite dreary. But I guess this time of year isn't all about snow, or presents or trees. Yep, you know what I am going to say.. Its ALL ABOUT JESUS :)

And He is always faithful. He always provides, and always shows up. He has been teaching me a lot this past few months, and I have been trying hard to be a good pupil....

Josh and Aurelia and I have been busy nonstop pretty much since school started, and I will admit that it has been trying. Quality time in a marriage is crucial, and we weren't getting much of it, which was leading to stress at home. Add to that Aurelia getting pneumonia, two weddings, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and we have a full on panic attack.. :P

But, thankfully, God is good, and He has everything under control when we give it all to Him and try not to control the situation. God has proven faithful in not just most situations, but ALL situations, and the more I give to Him, the more peace I feel.

I pray that this Christmas, we can all remember Christ, and the sacrifice He made for us. He's always got your back :)

Also, I want to thank everyone who has been praying for us and who has helped us out in the last couple years... You have no idea what a blessing you are to us, and we are so thankful for your faithfulness to God! I especially want to thank the Lighthouse Assembly of God church for all that they have done for us -- From the moment I walked into that building, I felt like I was a part of your family :) Thanks for loving Josh and his family and he has added to it over the years :) We love you!



May God bless you this Christmas season :)

Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom

Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom is written by Stovall Weems, and is a very inspiring book. Awakening is all about how to 'un-gunk' our spiritual life so that we can walk more closely with God every day. Weems writes about why we should strive for such a passionate with relationship with God, and he also includes a 21 day Plan to help you "activate the principles that ensure a lasting, vital relationship with God". Also included is a guide to fasting and a small group study guide.

The contents of this book challenged me to re-evaluate what it means to be a Christian, and what a relationship with God should really be like. It also helped me to understand more about fasting, how we should/can do it, and why we do it. I would recommend this book to people who feel as if they have strained their relationship with God and want to come back to Him. It is an encouraging, challenging, and insightful read.

I received this book for free from www.bloggingforbooks.com

A few of Aurelia's Firsts

So, we have been keeping quite busy lately, but we have tried to take a few moments and enjoy some of Aurelia's many firsts with her. Last week, when we had some snow, we decided to bundle Aurelia up and go play outside! It was great packing snow, so Daddy made her a big snowman (Those pictures are on a different camera, which I have currently misplaced, so hopefully I will find it soon to post those). Aurelia wasn't really sure what to do with the snow, but I think she had fun.

Here is a view of the beautiful day it was after it snowed!





This is the apple tree in our neighbor's yard.
Yes, we all have sock monkey hats :)

We also put up our Christmas tree, and Aurelia as well as Marvin enjoyed 'helping' us!
Aurelia got to help Daddy put the star on top!



So we have had some fun times enjoying our family this winter, and I hope that you have as well. Don't forget to make time for the little moments!

Update

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you."
-- Titus 2:11-15

This was part of my devotions today, and it just really struck me as awesome, and packed full of good things :)

On another note, Josh and I have stayed pretty busy lately, with weddings and family time and work and everything else going on. Joe and Kelsey's wedding was very nice, and we enjoyed our time in Midland. This weekend, we ended up in Mt. Pleasant by ourselves, even though we were planning on making it a teen trip with our youth group juniors and seniors. We were planning on taking them to the His House Christmas program, to La Seniorita for some burgers, and then taking them on a tour on Friday of campus. But all of them bailed Thursday afternoon. So we prayed about it, and decided to go ourselves :) It was a good time to just relax and enjoy each others' company. We had some friends who were kind enough to set up an air mattress at their house for us to sleep on (We slept in Shepherd at the Shephard's house :P). Friday we got some shopping done (We really miss having a Meijer close to us, as well as Aunt Millie's!) and then decided to hit up Sam's Club for lunch (SAMPLE TIME!!!) Then we had a coupon for a free slushie at SpeedWay, so got that and just drove around for a while. It's crazy how just driving around becomes so enjoyable after you have a baby and they aren't with you :P

Next weekend, we are looking forward to a weekend in Chicago to see my sister-in-law Amy get married to Alex, and then after that, who knows what is going on!

Thats an update on our lives right now. God has really been moving through us, and we feel like big changes are coming sometime in this next year, but we aren't sure what. We are just trying to keep our focus on God, and not let anything disrupt His plan, including ourselves and our wants :P

Oh, and Aurelia is doing wonderfully after her run in with Pneumonia; she is completely off of her oral antibiotics/steroid and is only doing breathing treatments a couple times a day. We will probably continue the treatments at least once a day throughout the winter, but she is doing great and she is enjoying life :) She now her two bottom teeth and is really wanting to get walking, though Mommy and Daddy are hoping that won't happen for at least a couple more months ;)