Devotion

My husband and I have been going through a book called 100 Prayers of thanksgiving (does not give a specific author).  We read this together usually at breakfast and we don't get it done everyday but have enjoyed them.

Today's really hit me as it fits my blog very well, I feel.  So I am going to share it with you.

Growing in Christ

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJV

     Norman Vincent Peale had the following advice for believers of all ages:  "Ask the God who made you to keep remaking you."  That advice, of course, is perfectly sound, but often ignored.

The journey toward spiritual maturity lasts a lifetime.  As Christians, we can and should continue to grow in the love and the knowledge of our Savior as long as we live.

When we cease to grow, either emotionally or spiritually, we do ourselves a profound disservice.  But, if we study God's Word, if we obey His commandments, and if we live in the center of His will, we will not be "stagnant" believers; we will, instead, be growing Christians... and that's exactly what God wants for our lives.

"With God, it isn't who you were that matters; it's who you are becoming."  Liz Curtis Higgs

"Every great company, every great brand, and every great career has been built in exactly the same way:  bit by bit, step by step, little by little."   John Maxwell

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, I know that I still have so many things to learn.  I won't stop learning, I won't give up, and I won't stop growing.  Every day, I will do my best to become a little bit more like the person You intend for me to be.  Amen

I just really felt like this was one I needed to and wanted to share.  I know it really hit home with me.  Many have in this little book but I have been lazy about sharing.

Hope you enjoy this little tidbit for today.  

It's been a few months.....

OK, so I have not been good at blogging.  Today I will just give a quick update on the last few months.

May I started a 4 week exercise program.  I went from just exercising a bit to 6 days a week of intense.  My conclusion is exercise is EVIL!!  No, really it is not.  Exercise is good for both body and mind but when you are over 40 it is not good to go from 0-100 overnight. 

Exercising led to several (many) doctor visits and tests due to feeling like my entire body was falling apart.

NOTE TO SELF:  Start slow and build up.

So after the 4 weeks I did a little here and there and then have not really exercised in over 2 months.

I also worked on my diet and eating healthy.  I don't need to lose weight but just wanted  better/healthier eating.  This too led to my body saying "What the heck are you doing to me!!!".  I like eating healthy but again I did not go slow and my body did not adjust well so had to change that up.

In July had a party for our oldest son and his new bride.  That was fun. 

Then took a trip to see my grandparents house as my grandma sold it.  So happy she is now closer to us.

August started out with me being sick.  I have not been that sick in a long, long time and I did not like it at all.  This illness was weird and led me to the ER one night and Urgent care 2 days later.  Then there were follow up visits and more tests (which I am still working on).  It really drained me energy wise.

Then just about a week and a half after I got sick our daughter was running a 5k and had a very bad sudden headache.  Thinking it was just a migraine she treated it as such.  Later that evening we took her to the ER due to other signs that something was very wrong.  She was then admitted into the ICU due to an Internal Carotid Artery Dissection.  Yes, that sounds very bad and really could have been since most cases of that are not found until AFTER a stroke.  Thank God we all knew something was wrong and got her in.  She spend a few days in the hospital (as did I....did not want to leave her) and now is recovering with meds and will be rechecked in Nov. in hopes that it has completely healed. 

To sum this all up....life has been CRAZY!!!  I will admit that it has stressed me out quite a bit and I do know that I am dealing with a low grade depression as a result.  I am still not up to my "normal" weight since getting sick and still dealing with some issue from that.

So for now just taking one day at a time and trying to rest up when I can but still work and get things done that need to be done.  Oh and did I mention our 17 yr old cat that has kidney disease....add that stress in there also (with the other pets we have....UGH!!).

I want so bad to post happy, growing daily with God posts but the reality is I am struggling and I don't like it.

Hoping and praying that will change very soon.

Well on to the next thing I need to get done.....

Gone....

The nest is now empty as we got to watch the last 2 fly from the nest and hear mama calling them and they calling back.  WOW that was fast!!  Time to let go.

As a mama of 4 little (well grown) birdies myself this has been a wonderful but somewhat bittersweet experience.  I too have watched as 3 of my 4 birdies have flown the nest.  My one that is home is married and they lead their own life just under our roof for a time.

It is so fun to watch them grow and then to watch as they are young adults flying the nest.  It is also a bit sad to see the empty "nest" or rooms....which I have already filled with my stuff so I guess it didn't take long to grieve. 

Just like the mama bird I am here for my kids.  They can call out to me and I will be there for them.  I am thankful that it took 18 years for my kids to grow and not just the 2 weeks it does for a robin. 

More on the babies....

Well the time has come for our baby robin's to leave the nest.

Yesterday their nest was overflowing.

When arriving home from the store we found one had "dropped" out of the nest.

On to the bricks under the nest.  I did not think this was the safest place for this little one so I read up and decided to put it back for now knowing that most likely it would be out by the next day or so.  I didn't want to just put it on the ground for animals to eat.

A little closer....so cute!!  We know where all their poop has gone...haha.

This morning I go out to check and this is what I see....

One was standing proud or scared ready to fly if I got too close.  Plus I only could see 3 in there and looked around on the ground to see if I could see #4 but my guess is that one took off.  Hopefully it is safe.

Well I did freak the little one out enough that it flew over to a near-by bush (better than the ground to me).

Of course it should have known that it would have to be photographed.  It was cool to see this little one fly after seeing it nearly hairless and so small just less than 2 weeks ago.

Then there were 2!!

My guess is this nest will be completely empty before the end of this week. 

Maybe we will get lucky and mama will decide to use this nest again in the near future but next time I will try and leave them alone.....I said TRY!!

It has been a great joy to watch these birds go from eggs to "teen" birds and flying the nest.

What a difference a week makes!!

Just a week later and look how much they have changed....

Won't be long now until they are leaving the nest.  Mama has done a really good job taking care of her babies.

Update.....

Well the robin eggs all hatched.  Not sure exactly when as I was out-of-town and asking my husband to check on them.  On the 9th he did not look but didn't hear anything so assumed they were still eggs.

I returned late on the 11th so the next morning I check and there were 4 little babies in the nest.

By the looks and what I have read they were probably a day or 2 old at this point.

They are growing fast.  In my reading I learned they usually leave the nest about 2 weeks after hatching.  I can see why as they are starting to get to big for the nest. 

They are funny because when I go to look at them they stick their heads and mouths up like this (above picture).   I am sure they are expecting mom to feed them.

We also have a nest in the back which we cannot see into but can hear the little ones.

This morning I went to check on them and they filled the nest, have feathers starting and mama came up right  above my head to let me know I better leave her babies alone.

From now on I might just have to watch at a distance knowing that in about a week those little ones will be taking flight and leaving the nest.

I am very happy mama robin decided to build her nest right at my front door.

Guest at the front door

Okay so I just posted an update but I felt this needed to have its own post.  We have a robin's next right out our front door.  It is so close to the door.  Here is mama (or daddy, can't tell which one since they look alike and both take care of the nest) sitting on the nest....

See it is right next to our front door so every time someone goes in or out mom/dad leave the nest.  I had to go from the back to get these pictures.

I got a little closer and got this right before she/he took off.  They don't go far and will scream at us when we get close.

They did a really good job and it is protected by weather.  Just a bad place right by the front door.  I am guessing that mama is saying "next time we will find a place with less people coming in and out all the time".  Just my thoughts.  There is also one in the back but I can't get to it to see if there are any eggs in there.

And here are the eggs!!  I am really hoping that at least 2 or 3 hatch and we get to hear them and see them.  What I read was they should hatch between 14-16 days.  We saw the first egg on 4/24 so sometime this weekend there should be babies!!!

Hopefully I can report, with pictures sometime next week.

Spring has sprung....

It has been almost 3 months since I last blogged so I will try and catch you up.....busy/lazy.  Well that should do it.........
 
I have been busy.  My coworker had surgery so I worked to pick up her part on top of mine (which they overlap a lot being we are both Medical Assistants) but I do more front office stuff on top of the back office so it was a bit stressful but looking back it was good for me and I liked the challenge.  Glad she is doing better and back to work.

I say spring is here but we never really did have a winter here in our neck of the woods.  I like it that way but know it will not always be that way.  The only bad thing.....allergies!!  With no deep freeze we have a lot of people with major allergy issues.

I would love to report that I am enjoying my Joy devotional but the truth is....I stopped doing it when I started working more.  I can always pick it back up.  I still have JOY!! and that is more important than making sure I do that devotional everyday.  

I am exercising and loving it.  Love going for walks with my wonderful hubby, doing Pilate's and a few different things.  Just want to stay active. 

I love spending time with my kids (which now I have 5....my oldest son got married!!).  Very blessed with a wonderful, beautiful daughter-in-law.

My husband and I are now in a place to really have time for each other.  We have so much fun together.  We have to work to make time for each other but that is part of being intentional with our time.  It is like being newlyweds (except we had 2 babies when we got married) but with the life experience that comes with age.  So for me I think it is way better than the newlywed phase.....Just my opinion.

I am learning Japanese.  My daughter-in-law is Japanese and we hope to take a trip to Japan sometime in the near future.  I am older so this is a challenge but fun.  Good for the brain.  Japanese is not easy and I am not that great with English which is the only language I know.....for now!! 

So busy...yes, but not to busy to blog (which I have not done), email (which I do if it is personal...don't really mess with forwards) or take time for family & friends (well work schedule can dictate some of that).  Lazy in the fact that I get home from work and just want to do nothing but watch TV or take a nap.  I am working on that now that my hours are back to normal.

There is always going to be things to take up our time and energy but I am learning that it is important to stop and look at what is taking that time and energy.  Is is productive?  Does it help others?  Is it to much to the point of taking away from what really is important in our lives?

I want to be the woman God wants me to be and that is my prayer for myself.  I am in a new season of my life and I am very young to be in this place but I have found that it is a good place.  A blessed place.  A place I am enjoying and want to keep enjoying everyday.

Hopefully it won't be another 3 months until my next blog.......

Thanks...

Thanks to Melanie for making me my One Word.  She has a wonderful blog http://www.onlyabreath.com/.  Here is what she made for me to put on my blog.

JOY

I find it funny how things happen sometimes.  The last couple weeks of 2011 I felt like I was starting a new journey but the only thing "new" that I knew was coming up was the New Year. 

I kept coming across the word JOY and so decided to make 2012 my year of JOY.  To seek JOY.  To be more JOYful.  To be more JOY-filled. 

I found a 52 week devotional on JOY without even looking for one.  It is called Choosing Joy:  A 52-week Devotional for Discovering True Happiness by Angela Thomas.

I have only done the first week but would highly recommend it.  The days are short but leave one thinking.  I like this since I also have a couple other devotionals I like to read. 

At the end of week one I had to write out a mission statement.  I have to admit I had no idea how to write a personal mission statement.  So I googled it like I do lots of things and came up with a short personal JOY mission statement for 2012.

So.....

Today I left church with a paper that lists the upcoming ladies Bible Studies.  I did what I usually do and looked up the one I was interested in to read about it.  I am a bit of an information junkie...weird I know but it is who I am. 

Somehow I ended up on a website about resolutions.  Don't ask me how but I do that a lot.  I start on one thing and before I know it I have been to several sites, blogs, etc... reading what others have to say about many different things.  That is how I end up spending way too much time on the computer when there are other things to do (resolution...spend less time on the computer...working on it!!).

Seriously, I came upon this site called "myoneword.org" and it talks about what I did without even knowing there was a website and others doing the same thing.  Here is the site if anyone is interested in knowing more about it:

It makes so much more sense then all the resolutions made and usually go by the wayside in a month or so.  I still plan to exercise, eat healthy (those 2+ donuts this morning don't count), have a better sleep schedule (don't work tomorrow so the fact that it is almost midnight does not count)....but those are just things I need to do all the time anyway.  My one word--JOY is more of who I want to be and how I want to live from the inside out.

So those are my plugs for today...the book and the website. 

"Be Joyful always."  1 Thessalonians 5:16