baby lee update and jason upton

We went to the doc today and heard baby lee's heartbeat...everything is going great! On May 27th we will (Lord willing) find out if our sweet one is a boy or girl! So fun!

And I just wanted to add that I am such a fan of Jason Upton...there are lots of reasons why he is one of my favorite worship leaders, but tonight I was reminded of something he says in one of his songs "There's a new generation arising, A nameless, faceless, placeless tribe, All they fear is the fear of the Lord, All they hear is the Lion of Judah"...the phrase about the only thing I fear being the Lord...I want to live that way.
I want to watch, hear, listen, communicate and be in the kind of relationship with Christ that I am free from all fears of trying to please anyone, including myself, and simply long to please Him.

vet school and the petting zoo...

There are definitely perks to living in Aggieland. One of them, the A&M Vet School does a yearly open house and our friends, the Peebles, always make sure we know about it. Jada LOVES it! Last year we were able to go with the Peebles and the Cavins...but this year we went solo. Jada had a blast.

Jada doesn't give kisses or hugs very freely to people...but she will hug and kiss all sorts of animals. She was loving the petting zoo today. We walked in and she immediately walked to the sheep and gave him a huge hug with her head laying on his back...this continued through many different animals. Some she would hold their faces and talk to them in a really sweet voice and say what a "good goat" he is. It was so fun. So here are some shots of her enjoying herself fully! Thanks, Peebles!

happy to go and happy to be back...

New York was fabulous. In a nutshell: The dancers from our studio are precious girls with genuine hearts to worship in honest ways! They beautifully displayed God's heart as they danced and I was so happy to be a part of them.

There were a few things that I experienced on a personal level as I left the normalcy of "home." On the plane I was weepy about how happy I was to be traveling with my sweet baby Lee. I was able to really think and pray in undistracted ways. I am so grateful.

Also, in the undistracted moments I was brought to a fresh place of sadness missing Mia. This was sparked on Friday evening when the "project dance" organization put on a really powerful worship meeting through live music and dancing. I have LOVED this meeting in the past and was super excited about all that God had in store for the girls and for me. And God truly did not disappoint.

As the meeting began, more than anything, I was convinced that I was supposed to sit and watch the other dancers worship, rather than dance. And as I did, something began stirring in me about the condition of my heart still being sad and I was able to simply weep. As I watched an older woman freely dance through song after song, I truly felt released to see the Lord through older women who have been seasoned through good and bad times and love God deeply b/c of it. I have this new fire to know older women's stories...so Brian encouraged me to read women's biographies. I will and I totally expect to be challenged, comforted and continually freed to trust God more. If any of you have any biographies that you want to suggest I would love to know!

And so...it was a great and there are so many more stories and things that God did...and I am really happy to be back in good ol' BCS with my wonderful husband and sweet Jada girl (who is potty trained now:) YAY!

whew...

lots of really good stuff over the past couple of weeks...here goes!

• We went to the doc and baby Lee has a strong heartbeat and looks great! Praise God...we go back May 4th!



• Jada's sleep has gotten SO MUCH better. We have changed nap time to "rest-time" (thanks Amanda :)) and she can rest with her door open if she doesn't fuss or get out of her bed.



• It has been a really good thing for me and Jada to have a break of sorts from the cell phone...she has been much more peaceful and less needy.



• We had a surprise 30th birthday party for Brian that was such a blessings, truly, he was really encouraged and thankful. It was fun for me too. When we walked into our house with lots of friends and little people running around, I think Jada thought it was her party! She had a blast!



• Brian's family visited and we celebrated Easter at my mom and Mike's new house! It was great...Jada loves her cousin Madyson!






• We took Jada to the Circus...she had a good time. She said her favorite thing was the music and the popcorn, but later said the elephant that wore the dress was her favorite. It was a fun family experience, but I have to say that I was pretty sad for those animals. So sad...it made me want to be some sort of animal rights activist...but then I remembered that I am pretty tired and busy. :) so I said a quick prayer about the Lord coming soon so that we can dwell with animals like it was in the garden! That is going to be great!





• The Coles came through this weekend and Jada just loves Toby and Elli...
  
  
  
• I leave Wednesday for NY! The dance studio that I worked at for many years is going to dance at Project Dance. I have been twice before and the Lord really moved in some really sweet ways. Suzanne- my friend, the owner of the studio, bought my ticket to go and I literally get to go to support and pray!!! Please pray for the trip and for the power of the Lord to move in the many nations that are represented walking through Time Square! And pray for Brian and my mom as they get to be with Jada all week :)


• I think that is all for now...Love you all!

the important stuff...

I have a lot of random thoughts, so I will try to make this as clear as possible. This week has been unique for a few reasons:

1. Jada has entered into this really strange stage of resisting sleep in a big way
2. Jada started saying "no mommy" when the phone rings
3. Brian is on a coaching trip to Florida
4. I was hit with the REALLY TIRED part of this pregnancy :)
5. Kari Breed and her family were in a very serious car wreck and were all spared any serious injuries
   

So...in light of these things I have been thinking about lots of different things like "what happened to my good sleeper," thanking the Lord for giving my friends another day, and taking deep breaths in the midst all sorts of different sleepy moments.

I have been thinking for a little while about how totally crazy life is and how it seems that real moments of stillness and quiet are rare. I have really been taking Jada in and enjoying moments with her and desperately not wanting to have anything to "have" to do so that we can just be.

Kari and I were talking after her wreck yesterday and she said one of the first questions she was asked was "were you on your cell phone?" She was not. So, in light of Jada's response to the phone ringing, the fact that I always feel indebted to the phone and Kari's experience...I am taking a break from my cell phone.

What does that mean? I will probably keep my phone ringer off most of the time. I will check my messages at night and I WILL NOT feel guilty about it. People that work full time jobs outside of the home are not expected to answer their cell phones all of the time, but somehow full time mommies are totally expected to be on call all day and evening. So...I think I will try to do most of my correspondence through e-mail for a little while to try and regain time. You know, I want to be more open to actually HEAR the Lord and be more available for God to have my daily moments.

So...I love you and truly treasure your friendships and want to be a good friend...and will be a better friend when life is a little more settled w/o so much phone stuff :)...Jada will be happier too!

And, Jada's daddy got her a pink guitar to play like him. She is really cute and serious about it. Her em mo is "Mary had a little lamb"...who knows, we may have a little musician on our hands!