Still small voice (& kicks in the bladder)

"behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him..." 

1 King 19:11-13

So often we only expect God to be present in big dramatic ways, and I'm afraid this causes us to miss out on so many opportunities to hear that still small voice.  For me anyways, I find myself not seeking Him often enough.  More like just waiting on Him to show up in an earthquake like moment.

The most recent reminder of this came when I was beginning to get anxious/worried/upset when I was nearing 20 weeks and still had not felt the baby move.  When we went for our ultrasound, and we could see little Squishy kicking those feet around, I realized that I HAD been feeling movement for the last couple weeks, I just wasn't aware of what it was.  And in the following weeks in the few moments that I was completely still, I was much more in tune to the movement of those little feet.

I have also been the same way with God, He gently shows me His presence everyday, but unfortunately, all too often it takes a much bigger moment for me to "see" Him move, then I realize He has been right here all along, I just haven't been quiet and still enough to notice Him!

As busy as life is, I believe that it still holds far more quiet moments than it does "obvious" ones.  I pray that I can become much more aware of His voice and grow all the more closer to Him.

Flashback Friday...

Flashback to one of my first posts on this blog

What Inspires Me?

The original post can be found here

What Inspires you?

I shall call him my squishy...

This week we reached the half way point in the wait to meet our little miracle.  We had to go for a level 2 ultrasound due to some health history, however little M looked as healthy as can be. 

However, already taking after daddy, getting pictures was a little difficult.  We are choosing to wait on knowing the gender.  We are praying for a healthy baby above all!!! (but we both think its a boy)

Some think we are just keeping it from everyone else, #1 because I usually call it "he,"  I just can't bring myself to call it "It."

However, I have occasionally called him "Squishy."  The story behind that is that when a friend of mine first found out we were pregnant again following the miscarriage  she would always say "just keep swimming" to the baby when I saw her.

This is the best profile she was able to get!  Like daddy much!?

We you join us is praying for a healthy baby!?

Life vs Living

Are we allowing life to get in the way of Living?

Our lives are so packed with work, and tasks, and to do lists, and must haves, that I am afraid it is taking the place of truly Living our lives on God's time.  What if instead of fitting our "God tasks" into a schedule already full of "life." we choose to make our schedule on God's time.

I know that the main point of this is not a new lesson, it is one that has been addressed by many before, but maybe its time we all look at it again.  Maybe instead of looking at it all as life, we start discerning the difference in life and truly Living for Christ.

I'm not going to set forth a list of this is just life... and this is how we should be Living... because first, I certainly don't have this all figured out, and most importantly, that "list" would look different for everybody.

I'm not suggesting we all quit our jobs, throw out our calendars, cancel all appointments, and wait on a daily auditory to-do list from the heavens.

But rather, taking time to truly listen to our Father, the one who cares for us, the one who has our absolute best interest in mind...and the hard part... when He is speaking to our hearts, instead of pulling out our calendars to see if/when we have time...MAKE TIME.  Truth after Truth tells us that if He has something for us that interferes with our "lives," it is because He knows we are missing out on Living and He is directing us to a much more fruitful path.

For some of us this is SCARY stuff, He may potentially asking us to change jobs, give up pay, give up our homes, give up material possessions, replace activities we enjoy.  However, no matter how important we think these things are, or how much we think we must do these things, whatever He has planned, will be FAR GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE!!!

Trust His plan, Trust His love, Answer the call, Make the Time to LIVE!!!

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What in your life is in the way of you doing something for God?

Solar Sconces

I shared with you some of my spring-time happenings, including some solar sconces I had made to go over a "welcome garden" at the top of our drive way.  I thought I would also share HOW I made those!

Last year my mom gave me some cute little metal candlestick sconces.

At Home Depot I found these solar lights, (the kind you stick in the ground) and they fit into the candlestick hole perfectly.

* I had to cut about half of the "stick" or base off of them, but I didn't take a picture before I chopped them up.

I just stuck the shortened solar light down into the sconce and boom, done!

 Hopefully I get some Purple Hyacinth growing again soon over the "trellis."

I think they ad a little something to our "entry" in the dark when my flowers aren't as visible!

DIY Glass Etching Gift

My little brother is getting married!!!

Today was the bridal shower and I was excited to dig out my Cricut for another project! 

For me, one of the exciting moments of marriage was seeing my new last name on my things! 

I used my cricut to cut out my letters.  I have a stash of sticky vinyl, but this can be bought at Walmart or any craft store. (If you use it often hit any local vinyl sign businesses and ask for their scraps!) 

Place the vinyl outline down smoothly on your surface and ad masking tape around any edges that are close.

I added tape to the top of the black, but it's not seen above.  

Using a paint brush or cotton swab, apply etching cream following the directions. 

*use gloves if you think you will get it on your skin.

**I have heard many say (including a disclaimer on the bottle) that it may not work on some Pyrex.  Both baking dishes I have etched were Pyrex and it worked both times.  I did leave it on for a few minutes verses just one minute per instructions, I am not sure if this is what made the difference.

Tip: the smoother, more even you can apply the cream the smother your "etch" will look.  

If you look too closely you can see a few blemishes, that part of a handmade gift right!?

No body will care when there is a sweet aroma coming from a baked yummy inside!

Spring fever!!!

It's the first day of spring! I have been hit with spring fever soooo bad!   I know I'm going to be somewhat miserable when the summer heat hits and I have been soaking up every minute outside possible!  

I had some old pallets piled up and made some quick&easy flower boxes...

I also made some solar sconces to go over a "welcoming garden" at the top of our driveway!

We finally got a new frame built for our greenhouse after it was destroyed by a storm last year.  Can't wait to get some seeds started this week.  

We already have a few potted tomatoes that we will keep here close to the house for easy pre-dinner access!

Our temporary strawberry bed is looking so good and I can't wait to see sweet red berries growing!  Next year I plan to have a more permanent bed set up for them.

I'm trying something new, a Pinterest find, and started some potatoes in a tall trash bin.  We will see how this goes the next couple months.  They first sprouted about a month after I started them.  They aren't tall enough to add the next layer of dirt yet.

We have definitely had some spring-teasing weather lately, with some days in the 80's!  The critters around the farmyard have been feeling it and I believe they to are ready for spring!