Time for an Update

It's been awhile since I blogged...prob should do an updated post! Since I last posted we now have a Toddler! Our baby girl is now 13 months old! Time is going way too fast...people told us it would. I just want her to stay little. I love the baby/toddler stage! Not only am I certain that I will have Empty Nest Syndrome one day...I think I will be lost if I don't have little ones in the house. And let me clarify...there is not any plans of having another biological child in the near future! I would however take a baby/toddler/child from many countries if God would let me! Not sure my hubby is okay with that many children but I AM! ;) He says one more (adopted), so I say two more (adopted)! ;) Then, he gives me a look! ;) ANYWAYS- Miss princess has started walking-takes 4 or 5 steps then crawls bc she knows she can get to where she is going  a lot faster! She likes people..some people at a distance and some are allowed up in her face! She has 2 cute besties that come to our home for daycare and the cutest little redheaded boyfriend...She is in love! ;) But he has lots of girls who are crazy about him...He is the Daycare Prince Charming! Princess enjoys going to church on Friday nights...YES  I said Friday nights.. UNCONVENTIONAL right??? We have been attending a church plant in the city park lead by some of my favs from my home church. They are truly taking the Truth to places where some are unwilling to go! And guess what??? The Unconventional is reaching people for Christ that probably would be frowned upon in many churches! Praise God for Churches who are able to do church the conventional way and yet be Christ-like!  Princess also likes going to my home church on Sunday mornings...she loves the nursery! She gets to spend time with Mamaw and Mami and all the other sweeties that love on the babies! On Wed. nights she attends the best Prayer group ever...and I mean ever!!!..with mommy and daddy led by Dr.Bob! She is the youngest one there. We are thankful that the older people love having her in there and don't fret when she acts like the toddler that she is!! Princess has lots of family and friends who love on her, and mommy and daddy are thankful for that!!! For the last several months my Man and I have been praying, thinking, praying, talking with the godly people in our lives! We have been seeking the Creator of the Universe, our Father- looking to Him to show us what is next! For months He kept saying "Be Still"... the spaz that I am kept saying... what do you mean "Be Still"?!?! and He kept saying it again and again, "Be Still"...But GOD???... "Be Still" "Let Go, Brooke!" For those of you who are spazzzzy, control freaks like me get how hard it  is to really "Be Still" and "LET GO"! Eventually I gave up the wrestling match with the I AM! Yes...I am the stupid sheep who tries to wrestle with the I AM!!!!! Can we say ignorant!!!! Thankfully His grace is enough...for real!!! Thankful that God sees me as who I will be one day not as I am!  Recently we have had God nudging us, pointing us to what He has instore for our family next! We asked Him to speak through our godly mentors in our lives, we prayed that He would speak to us through the scriptures, prayer etc! The Bible says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5   I can't hardly wait to tell you what the King of KINGS, Lord of LORDS has been showing us...what He has planned!!! But for now it will have to wait until another post in the future!!! :) For now it is a secret!!!  Please be praying for our family and praying for others who may end up joining us in this WiLd rIde of a FAITH journey!!!!

"Kaeley-Belle Squarepants"

It has been a long time since I blogged...the schedule of this new mom...well to be honest the word schedule isn't even in our vocabulary these days much less our daily life. I can say the word "SLEEP" comes up frequently! ANYWAYS... we have a new, precious gift that has been added into our lives!!! DELIGHTED is an understatement as to how we feel about our daughter Kaeley-Belle! She is absolutely amazing! We simply adore her!!! She is truly an example of the power of prayer! In the beginning of our pregnancy we had a pregnancy scare...and this was very scary to us bc we had already lost one baby prior and took awhile to get pregnant again! (or it sure felt like it anyways!) This child had ppl all over prayin for her! I had a ruff pregnancy in the first half..I couldn't take ANY vitamins the entire pregnancy w/o gettin sick and for those of you who know my diet of french fries and mac & cheese are def. not the healthiest!!! So Kaeley-Belle has God's autograh written all over her! God is so good bc when I was worried about her due to the lack of vitamins,this sweet n precious pastor's wife from another church in the community we were minstering in, who brought her oldest child to the preschool I worked in, Just SO happened to tell me with her newest baby she couldn't take ANY vitamins either and he did just as well as her 1st child on the testing they do in the hospitals when they are born! Only GOD knew I needed to hear that story to ease my mind! I love when God Just SO happens to put the right person in your path for the day especially to help drown out the lies that the enemy loves to tell. Today I have another example of this Just SO happens stuff...Kaeley-Belle is sometimes known as Kaeley-Belle Squarepants in our household, and another one 'My Man' started to call her is Kaeley-Belle stinkypants! He even in the appropriate times likes to make up different lyrics everytime he changes her to the tune of the spongebob song! (Are you starting to get a visual as to why the word schedule isn't a part of the vocabulary in our house?!) If you can't tell we run a tight ship and everything is Oh SO serious!! Kaeley-Belle has been teething since we moved back to Indiana 3 weeks ago..Me being the typical "New Mom" that I am has been observing other babies around K's age! I have been noticing how opposite of a "self-soothed" baby K is! She is def a HIGH NEEDY baby! She is a spaz and sassy just like.... ME! = / In the midst of my observations, I started to do the "New Mom thing" where I started thinkin that perhaps I was doing something wrong and thinking what a lousy job I was doin as a mother! And you bet the enemy ran with it! So on top of the teething and me wallowing in the FUNK, these last few weeks have been a lil crazy! The last few nights..."SLEEP" has once again been on our dream list! SO you bet, during the days I am in mommy-zombie mode! As I was wallowing in the FUNK in mommy-zombie mode, GOD Just SO happens to have me run across Dr.Sears' website. As He highlighted characteristics of a high needy baby for me...I realized that Kaeley-Belle has every characteristic! ;) As God began to have me read more into it...the goosebumps ran from my head down to my toes! Here is my notes I took:

1. Intense babies feel deeply and react mightily...have a DRIVEN personality

2. Hyperactive babies, (in our world-a baby gymnast) as Dr. Sears puts it, "Some highly

creative, world changing people were at one time or another labeled hyperactive as a child."

3. Draining days should be called "giving" days

4. Feeds Frequently.. Rigid Schedule isn't even in high needy babies vocabulary! (sounds

familar!!!)

5. Demanding babies are DETERMINED.. determined babies often develop into leaders

who will not just take the easy, popular route!

6. Awakens Frequently... "Needs everything BUT sleep!"

7. Unsatisfied: what works this time might not work the next!

8. Unpredictable =Never boring; No middle emotion-(extreme mood swings); TRANSPARENCY

9. Super Sensitive- "Easily bothered" Doesn't accept substitute caregivers- They are

"tuned-in" to surroundings. They become kids who care/ sensitive towards others needs.

They develop great discernment. The ability to think through choices.

10. "Can't put baby down"- they love touch and physical contact.

11. "Not a Self-Soother"- they want interactaction with ppl not things.

12. "Seperation Sensitive"- they have great discernment; can form deep attatchments;

they fuss loudly bc they care deeply.

*www.askdrsears.com

Talk about Psalm 139:13-16!! And let me tell you not only do I pray those scripture verses over Miss Kaeley-Belle Squarepants but I also now pray God would use those "HIGH NEEDY" characteristics for the One whose ways are HIGHer!


"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. You eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16

DETOUR....

Our Faith Journey has been far from boring...and I can't honestly say I'd want it any other way! It certainly has had its share of up's and down's, high times and low times...but following God's call has truly been the greatest adventure of my life! Detours, a.k.a different plans than mine, in this adventurous Faith Journey are starting to be anticipated! You'd thought a LONG time ago that I would have just EXPECTED the detours as a given!!

A recent detour is one that I'm absolutely thrilled to share... I get to be a stay-at-home wife/mom! Honestly, this is something that I never thought I would do full-time. Part-time has crossed my mind, but full-time was just something I had not really given much thought to! Over the past few months God has been pressing it on my heart to stay-at-home and to get back to the BASICS! Sadly to admit, I kept ignoring Him!! To begin with, Brad being at the time, bivocational, financially it was not even a possiblity! Needless to say over and over again, God kept telling me I needed to stay home and be more of a help to my husband and also to his ministry. And for starters, my own ministry starts in the HOME!!! God began to make our household so chaotic; Our house has been a disaster, I have had tons of laundry I can't get caught up on, the dishes have been piled high (it just so happens that our dishwasher broke in the midst of God trying to get my attention!), I still have boxes that are sitting in my downstairs closet that need unpacked, I haven't went to the grocery store to stock up in months...you get the picture! Our household has had VERY little organization and been far from a serene environment! Those of you who know me, know how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE organization!!! Saying that I LOVE having a clean house would be an understatement! God, used the fact that I have been working and going to school full-time, being a wife and a pastor's wife, and being in the last months of my pregnancy to get my attention! Did I mention that on top of my husband working over full-time in ministry every week, and working at the hotel, that he was picking up MY slack, all the while I thought I was "JuGgLiNg"!!! Talk about a "BoZo on this bus"!!! God was yelling loudly that I can't juggle it all no matter how hard I kept trying!!

During this time, I also did NOT have peace about sending our baby to daycare (even though she would have went to work with me and where I work is the TOP childcare center in this area)! The baby would have been in GREAT hands, but 'My Man' and I felt TONS of conviction about having someone else raise our child throughout the day, which ultimately would mean they would be a primary influence spiritually in our child's life! That just seems so BACKWARDS to us!! 'My Man' and I want to be the primary influence in our child's life, and felt God telling us, "When it is all said and done-you both will be held accountable for how faithful you are even with this child!!!" Believe me, in all areas of our life, we want God to be able to say, "Well done, my good and faithful servants!"

After God having to use all of these things together as a megaphone to get my attention, I finally fell on my face before Him! It was obvious I had to rid things out of my life and get back to the basics!! With-in a week of 'My Man' and I praying that God would make a way for me to be able to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, God opened up a door which would allow 'My Man' to be full-time at the church without having to continue to work at the hotel- which would also allow me to stay at home! God kept giving me signs all around that it was the right choice to stay at home! Satan of course kept trying to put doubts in my mind... even to the point of trying to use christians who would ask me how we would be able to make it! Satan tried to use any possible way to make us question God...me mostly!!! I kept praying and praying, and God kept reaffirming over-and-over again!!! Yes, we will have to live tightly, but we both know it is the right thing for us to do!!! This detour will force us to trust God even more, that we wont be able to rely on secular checks to provide! I'm excited to see how God moves and makes a way! This detour is one that surely came by suprise, but it is one scenic route I don't want to miss!!