First Sickness

On Saturday morning, Thomas woke up not feeling too well. He had slept restlessly and seemed to be a little congested. We bundled him up and took him to the Easter egg hunt at church, but he didn't seem to care too much. He certainly wasn't our normal, happy baby. On Saturday evening, he seemed to feel really bad and after giving him some Motrin and a bottle, I put him to bed. He didn't sleep too well Saturday night, and when I got up at 5:30am yesterday morning, my sweet boy was really sick. He was wheezing and he had a barking cough. Poor Thomas was just miserable and poor mama was scared! I held him and rocked him for a few minutes and then decided to call his pediatrician.

A pediatric nurse called me back and as I was explaining Thomas' symptoms, she heard him breathe and cough and knew right away that he had croup. She told me it wasn't in his chest, but on his larynx. The congestion is just a side effect of croup. The best treatment is to go into the bathroom, turn the shower on hot, and sit in the bathroom for 20 minutes. Apparently, the humidity helps to clear him up. She also recommended that we use a humidifier in his room and to sleep in his room at night to listen to him breathe. We did all those things yesterday, and he is much better this morning.

Nothing has ever frightened me more than my baby being sick. Josh and I both were in tears yesterday morning as we called the doctor. At that moment, I just wanted to do whatever it took to get him well. Everyone told me before I had Thomas that I had no idea what a special love you could have for a child, and I understand now. It also gives me a glimpse of how much our Heavenly Father loves us and cares about us. If Josh and I, utterly sinful parents, are willing to do whatever it takes to make our child well, how much more will our perfect Father do for us. And He did... for that is what we celebrated yesterday.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11

7 Months and Counting!

Today my beautiful baby boy is 7 months old! It is hard to believe that 7 months ago he was just a few minutes old. He has grown and changed so much in 7 months and looks so different from his first pictures. I am thrilled that he is healthy and hitting all the milestones at just the right time, but there is also a little bit of sadness that he isn't my tiny baby anymore. When I try to cradle him in my arms he squirms and wants to sit up. It is as if he is saying, "Mom, I'm too big to be held like a baby!" I thought today I would share some of his milestones with you.

1. Sitting up like a big boy! The first time he did this was March 1st, so this is a new accomplishment.

2. The first tooth has arrived! About two weeks ago we were out to eat with some friends and Thomas was inconsolable (which is very rare for him). Josh was holding him and put his finger in Thomas' mouth and there was something sharp - the top of a tooth! We immediately excused his fussiness and as soon as we got home gave him some Tylenol. Thankfully, even though he has been teething, he still sleeps through the night.

3. Thomas is experimenting with a sippy cup. He still isn't so sure how to use it, but we are trying some apple juice every couple of days.

4. The kitty is his best friend! He absolutely loves the kitty and his face lights up when he sees Calvin. Unfortunately, Calvin doesn't like Thomas too much. He runs away from Thomas - Calvin better watch out, Thomas will be mobile soon enough!

5. Just like Josh. Thomas is distracted VERY easily and his daddy is the same way. When we are out, Thomas is constantly looking around and isn't interested in eating or anything that we are doing. Thomas also loves the piano and gets very excited when Josh plays. He is even more excited if Josh lets him play too!

6. Discipline is on the horizon. We aren't actively disciplining yet, but we can tell that he is starting to get angry when he doesn't get what he wants. Mostly, it is with food, but as of yesterday he got upset when Josh took a toy away from him. We excuse the fussing with his food, because we still think he is trying to communicate he is hungry.

7. Finally, our sweet boy is getting tall! As of 6 months, he was 28 inches, but I think he may have grown another inch. He is taller now than his friend Ava, who is 10 months old. We are still wondering where he is getting his height!

He isn't crawling yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. I'm actually okay with him still being immobile - less he can get into for now.

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This is my sweet boy just a few minutes ago.

Come As A Child

This morning as I was reading Luke 18:15-17, the Lord once again reminded me how precious children are and how much they have to teach us. We do have a great responsibility to train our children in righteousness, but so often I forget that the Lord has placed my sweet baby in my life to remind me how to completely depend on Him. In this passage, the disciples rebuke the parents for bringing the children to Jesus, but Jesus in return corrects the disciples. He tells them two things: that children belong to the kingdom and they should receive the kingdom as a child. My sweet boy completely depends on me for every need that he has and he completely trusts that I will provide for all of his needs. This is how I am to approach God, but often I try to merit favor with God by good deeds and I try to "help" God meet my needs. How foolish am I!

After reading this passage this morning, my prayer is that I will depend on God and trust him as Thomas depends on me and trusts me. My hope for Thomas is one day he will put His child-like trust in the One who can make his guilty soul white as snow.

Upstate Moms

For the past couple of days, I have been logging onto Upstate Moms quite frequently because of a great contest going on. Upstate Moms is a forum for moms in the upstate of SC to talk about different issues. I have been a member since October. Normally, I look at the site every couple of days. When I happened to check it out on Monday, I noticed there was a contest. Basically, any registered member would have a chance to win. The moderator of the site (sponsored by the Greenville News) draws a name 3 times a day, posts it, and the person has 30 minutes to respond. The prize is a $50 gift card to the mall. However, if the person does not respond within 30 minutes, the next name that is picked gets 2 gift cards. On Monday, 3 names were picked and no one responded, so on Tuesday morning the amount of gift cards was worth $200(4 cards worth $50 each). No one won on Tuesday either, so this morning the cards were worth $350 (7 cards worth $50 each).

I was anxiously awaiting a name to be picked this morning. Since I was on the computer balancing our check book, I decided to look. Josh was telling me something about this time, and as I looked and saw MY name I shouted out, "I WON!! I WON!!" I couldn't believe my eyes. I was so excited that I had a hard time sending a message to the moderator. Thankfully, I got my response to her in time and I now have $350 in gift cards to the mall!

Tomorrow I will go pick them up and then decide what I'm going to buy. How exciting to be able to shop and it isn't our money! Needless to say, my Wednesday has been wonderful thus far!

True Woman 2008

You may have noticed one of the websites I look at is True Woman 2008. This is a women's conference in Chicago this October. I am VERY excited about this conference because of the wonderful speakers, but most of all because of the topic. The theme of the conference is "women return[ing] to God’s purpose for their lives, and express[ing] the beauty and wonder of true womanhood." Wow - just reading that gets me excited! Why does that excite you, you might ask? For many reasons, but I'll just give you a couple.

In January, I went to a women's conference in SC hosted by the South Carolina Women's Missionary Union (WMU). It was held at a very large church in the Upstate and was an all day event. They had several speakers, some singers, and a comedian. I was looking forward to going to learn something new from God's Word and to enjoy being with other ladies in my church. While I had a great time with the other women, I was very disappointed in the conference. As we were getting ready to leave that morning, I had my bible and a notebook in hand, and another lady said, "You won't be needing that at this conference." I knew right then that this wasn't a conference I wanted to attend. I'm sad to say, that she was correct. Oh, people talked about God, but they never opened God's Word. And because they failed to use the Bible, their theology was weak, and even wrong. It was very disheartening to me and my husband was very disappointed as well.

After that experience, I began looking for a biblical conference the women could attend. That is when I found the True Woman Conference and I was so excited! A biblical conference with John Piper, Nancy Lee DeMoss, and the Getty's leading worship - too good to be true! The only problem for me was the conference was in Chicago. I dismissed it for a few days, but the Lord kept bringing it back to my mind, and so I decided to mention it to the ladies in our church and to pray that the Lord would provide a way. And you know what? There are at least 10 ladies who want to go! One of the ladies has some great ideas to fundraise most of the trip and we are working on the details now. My sweet husband is even giving the money the church allots for him to go to the SBC conference to this trip.

My prayer is the Lord would provide all the money and get these ladies hearts ready to hear his truth in October. I encourage you to check out the website, http://www.truewoman.com/, and ask the Lord if He would have you to go.

New To Blogging

This is certainly a new adventure for me, but I finally decided to start a blog. There have been a couple of friends who have suggested that I begin a blog, but I always declined. However, I have had a change of heart. I plan to share about family life and my thoughts about biblical womanhood through the blog.

Currently, I am a stay-at-home mom and a pastor's wife. My son, Thomas, is six months old and a joy to me. My husband, Josh, and I have been married for a year-and-a-half. I am from Georgia and Josh is from South Carolina. We hope to stay in South Carolina and at our current church for a long time. Our desire is to see men and women living biblically in every area of their lives.

My prayer is that others will be encouraged through this blog, and that my home would be joyful, not only to my family, but to all who walk through these doors.