Resting and Abiding

If there's a brand new day, I fill it. Up. I'm not sure that I really KNOW how to simply rest in the midst of what I'm doing. I received a sweet word from the Lord last night about this, that He's going to show me and teach me more about this simple little word that's packed with SO much necessity. Rest.

Funny how just last week I unearthed a book an elderly friend gave me about three years ago. It's called Sabbath Rest. She's now with Jesus, but she wanted me to have this book.

For me, REST can't always look like sipping green tea with my latest subscription of Real Simple (Thanks, Jenn!), but it can look like something in the midst of my hurry-flurry of meeting people's needs and demands. And that's just in my household on any given day.

Throw in actually leaving my front door and stepping out into the world, and rest hops away like that bunny in Alice in Wonderland who's always watching that watch. Did he have a name? It's been a long time since I've seen that.

Psalm 15 was pressed upon my heart last night when David asks the Lord a question.

"Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?"

I have a hard time with abiding, and the Lord is checking my heart and challenging me on this. So what does it mean to abide?

1)to remain; continue; stay. 2)to have one's abode; dwell; reside. 3)to continue in a particular attitude, relationship.

Number 3 hit home with me. I flounder in and out of continuing in a particular attitude/relationship with Him.

It's a heart attitude for me in the midst of my circumstances, because goodness knows, I'm not always going to have a perfect restful response to whatever's going on around me. I live in the world, and that's bound to bring a host of trials and tribulations and trouble.

So, I'm on a quest this year to learn more about abiding in the Lord. He who promised is faithful to keep me in a continual state of learning and growing along this journey, this walk together. Abiding in Him means relying on him for all of the strength and the fruit that is needed for those around me.

It's His deal. I don't have to do all or be all. My responsibility is to keep my eyes fixed on Him and let him replenish the fruit that gets used up, eaten or trampled on any given day in any given moment.

He stocks the fruit in my heart, and He knows when I'm running out of one or several or all!

"Now the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, patience and self-control." There are constantly people around me that require these of me each and every day.

If I had to restock my shelves with these fruits, it just wouldn't get done in my own strength. Likely, if I had to restock, I'd grab quick little fruit cups because I honestly don't have the time, strength or energy to unpeel and offer a fresh fruit to every person that I encounter.

But, He does. He's all about whole food.

Now, that's nutritious and nourishing food for my weary soul.

And I hope yours, too. You don't have to muster up these in your own strength.

Today, I'm asking to be restocked. I have to leave my front door in about an hour.

Oh, and Mr. Alice in Wonderland bunny? You're NOT accompanying me today.

Blessings,

Emily

Peekaboo . Peep Eye

Good morning, everyone,

I have a few minutes and thought I'd post a quick update and a video. Ava is doing much better with her teething, and fortunately, that one night was the worst night. Now, she's got a little virus and is running a fever of about 100.4, but she's still very much on the go and animated as you're going to see in this next video.

I've found it difficult to post this week due to several factors. There just hasn't been that much down time apart from my "duties and responsibilities." More on that later...

I hope you're having a warm day and that this new video makes you smile.

Ava playing peekaboo "Peep Eye" with Saki. Um, Saki lost patience toward the end of this... She's such a good kitty.

Seven

The video is up! Scroll down this post to view...oh, and don't forget to pause the playlist music.

Happy camper in the morning...





Unhappy camper in the night...

Seven. That's the number of times Ava woke up screaming last night. About every two hours or so, Ben and I would awaken not to whimpering (I'm a light sleeper and usually hear that) but to wailing and screaming. One of us would go in and check the normal stuff like diaper or fever and then put her purple blanket back on her and say shhh...go back to sleep, and she would, only to wake up screaming again a few hours later. I prayed over her at about 3:00 a.m. thinking she was afraid. This morning, the canines coming in dawned on me.

Ava's not had a difficult time with teething so far, one reason I don't automatically think that's the culprit, but I think the canines cutting are causing some real pain. So, I gave her a littel Tylenol for her nap today and a cold teether, and we're doing better. Poor little thing. You can see how sharp they are coming in.

Ben took this video the other night of Ava walking in his shoes...

Special Friends

Hi, everyone,

Be sure and pause the playlist music before you watch the video. :)

If there's one thing that Ava LOVES to do, it's play with our 13 pound cat, Saki. They are best buddies, and Saki will actually approach Ava and nuzzle up against her and want to be petted. I have no idea why, because normally Ava ends up smacking her, picking her up very awkwardly or throwing something at her. This morning, I was teaching Ava about different fruits. I let her hold a grapefruit, and the next thing I know, she threw it at Saki. It missed her by a hair. After that, we stuck to small fruits like cranberries and raisins. :)

Here is a great video that shows their special relationship. Notice Saki at the end! Poor thing, she didn't quite understand how to give Ava five. Way to go, Mommy!

Hope all is well with everyone this week. We took a field trip to PetSmart today and had some fun. Ava, of course, LOVED the cats. There is a huge Main Coonx (sp) there that I almost brought home! Ben would have killed me. Enjoy the video!

Background Bloopers and the Quiver

Ok. I'm in the process of changing my backgrounds and tried about 14 today! I apologize if you landed on my site when some of the really strange ones were there! It looks entirely different in full format! I had to laugh out loud at some I had chosen. I finally landed on this one, after like, 30.

Ava's fever is normal today, and we're in on this rainy day just being. I feel projects and to do lists poking and prodding, but I'm going to take some time today - just to simply be aware of the moment and be intentional about being grateful.

I just changed a lot of my playlist music around. For those of you who listen to the songs, I just added a new one by Starfield that's really awesome. Starfield rocks.

My Streams in the Desert devotional this morning revealed that I am in the shadow of the Lord's hand, that He's making me into a polished arrow and is concealing me in His quiver to be used at His discretion and His timing.

Following the Lord and hanging out in His quiver often means resting and waiting. He has already prepared good works for me to do in advance. I just have to be ready to leave the quiver when He wants me to. To be prepared and ready. I can ready myself for dinner tonight and prepare healthy food, and I can ready Ava by buidling her vocabulary and on and on and on. But at the end of the day, the beginning of the day, my heart has to prepared and ready - ready to love, to fight (spiritually) and to be counter-cultural.

May I never just keep quiet about how much Jesus had changed my life and stop bringing the glad tidings of that good news to those around me.

This Valentines Day and everyday, he is the Lover of my soul.

My soul.

I can count on that when I'm not at my best, when my mascara has run, when I'm having one of those bad hair, bad attitude days and being less than loving to those around me because of my many failings and issues. Yep. I have several.

His love never changes. It's always there, steadfast and sure and certain and trustworthy.

He's the grand Date of my past, present and future.

Nothing I desire here on this Earth, no matter how good it is, compares to Him.

Strip me bear of the world and my possessions and what will be left is my soul. Beaten, broken, with battle wounds along this journey, but fully intact and upheld by the Almighty.

Now, that's good news.

Glad tidings, everyone,

Emily

Snowy Catch-Up Pace

Hey, everybody,

I'm back after a few slow, snowy, icy days of radar watching,finger crossing, hot chocolate making, and scarf and earmuff wearing. East Tennessee did get some snow and freezing rain over the weekend, and we've been out enjoying it as much as we can with Ava. She has another fever so we're back inside today catching up on photos and laundry- both of which never end! Our little family was hoping for a good sledding snow down our big hill, but it didn't come this time. We settled for a wagon ride and a few ice snowballs. :)

I thought I'd go back into the 2009 picture archives and reflect on what Ava was doing this time last year and see how much she's grown and changed! I'll post a few comparison pictures today for fun. These are a few from this time last January/February. She was content to just look at Saki last January. Not so anymore!













Today is the last day of January, and I'm quietly observing her today as she goes about her 17-month old activities. I marvel at how quickly she's learning new things and how quickly time has flown by. She keeps us guessing with what she'll try next.

Last night, I was cutting a raw red pepper to put in our omelets and I wondered what Ava would do if I gave her a tiny piece. She ended up eating 1/4 of the pepper and kept saying, "more." She loves them! I just started eating them in whatever form at 35. The two veggies she doesn't like right now that we've tried are green beans and broccoli. I keep re-introducing them and disguising them, but she can pick them out even under things, in things and covered with cheese.

Here are a few recent pics.










I have really enjoyed sharing this blog with everyone, and it is my hope that I'll continue to be diligent in sharing life with Ava and the journey to Maia with you. There's never a dull moment around here!

On another note, I really need a word from the Lord today. I feel off-kilter, and I know why. I haven't spent time with Him today or the last few days to be completely honest. I sense Him calling, so I'm going to go.

No where in the Bible does it say to seek first doing loads of laundry and organizing my photos, but somehow I end up there. UGH.

Blessings, rest and peace to everyone,

Emily

Welcoming 2010!

Ava laid down for a long winter's nap today, and I told her that when she woke up, it would likely be snowing! Blount County is waiting to see how much we get, and I've been checking radar every hour or so. All I can see is blue! We're crossing our fingers for a good sledding snow! A Radio Flyer kind!

I realize that it's almost February, but I wanted to go back into January and catch up on what we've been up to. I'm really behind because of illnesses! When we got home from spending Christmas in Maryland, we headed to my Aunt Jill and Uncle Rick's house for our annual family tradition of celebrating New Year's Day with an awesome meal! Black-eyed peas are a traditon for us as with many families, and we all get our fill. This meal is especially delicious because it's different from the holiday casseroles and turkey and dressing. We have a delicious ham, Mexican cornbread, maccaroni and cheese, asian slaw, black-eyed peas and banana pudding. We all say that we love this meal as much or more than all the other holiday meals.

Here are a few pictures from our time together. My cousin, Lacy, wasn't able to be there, and my cousin, Wes, had to leave early for a wedding. We had a great time ushering in 2010! It still seems so strange to write that!

Enjoying the meal - Mom, Aunt Syd, cousin, Katie, and Aunt Jill. The men-folk were in anothe room while we ladies had girl time. This kitchen holds so many family memories. It remains one of our most special gathering places. This house was originally built by my great-grandparents long ago. You can imagine how much cooking has taken place here!



Someone gave Ava a cell phone to play with much to her delight!



Hello?



Happy New Year, Mimi and Papa!



Hugs with Aunt Syd and Aunt Jill



Fun with Uncle Lonnie and Aunt Syd



Uncle Rick, Aunt Jill and Katie time



We were there, too, but didn't get pictures of us with our camera! I'll have to get those from Mom.

Here comes the snow! Whoohoo!