Church

     Hm what can I say...I know I haven't done the best at blogging lately, but this certain topic has been so heavy on my heart lately.... So here goes (side note- I am not posting this as a bashing of any sort this is my thoughts on this thing and please do not get offended because I in no way intend for this to be offensive)  Zach and I have been visiting churches off and on for the past year and a half in search of a place we can call our home church.  Since that time we have probably visited 5 to 7 churches, a couple of them we visited more than once thinking we had found some potential only to realize it wasn't the right fit after all.  I have to say though the absolutely most heart breaking thing about visiting all of those churches was only 1,  can I say that again ONE,  at some point during the service offered salvation!!!  A lot of the services ended in a prayer, but not even a  "if you felt Jesus pulling you during the service maybe now is the time to let Him in"....NOTHING!  I am on the road to getting my relationship back on track with God and I'm not one to say oh this is how things should be, but if we are the body of Christ and our mission while on this earth is to reach out to the unbeliever, shouldn't we be offering this one simple part of a service to the possible unbeliever sitting in the midst?  I am not placing all the blame on the church because we as believers should be prepared to share the good news whenever asked or if someone just wants to know why we are so happy!  It's just really been hitting me the great impact we can have on people in the smallest of ways and I want to be sure my life is reflecting a humble believer who has the joy of the Lord!
        Which brings me to the next point on church..I believe having this joy and being able to spread it, is being washed in the WORD!!!  Out of all the churches, 3 read from the Bible, yes my friends at church sometimes they don't read from the Bible! If they did have the Bible in the sermon it was a quick reference to the "series" they were currently in.  I am currently doing the Breaking Free bible study and I feel like I have dove deeper in the Word and have the yearning to read beyond what is in the study... Not very often do churches inspire me to do such a thing anymore. Having the knowledge of the Bible is so important to be able to share to the unbeliever... If we are going to church and not hearing it and knowing what it says is true how are we suppose to spread that good news?  I have to say one of the most enjoyable sermons I have heard recently was at my sisters church where the pastor not only read from the bible he made it applicable to my life!  Wait isn't that what its suppose to be?
   What happened to sermons like that?  What happened to reading the Word?  What happened to being the church God called us to be??  Not sweeping sins under the rug for fear of losing members, not speaking the truth in fear of stepping on toes, making the worship more about the lights and the sound instead of the beautiful words of praise to offer up to Him, not making church just a routine to make sure people know we are "christians" and that we went to church, treating church with the respect of what it is a HOLY PLACE,  and not a social club or  HIGH SCHOOL with cliques?  I am pretty sure Jesus didn't mind stepping on toes to make sure people knew He was there and the reason why He was there! I'm sorry if the offends anyone, but I am HIGHLY OFFENDED that church is no longer what it use to be... a place for a sinner to find repentance, a place for the down in out to find joy unspeakable, a place for the sick to be made whole, a place to pray and worship with fellow believers.. I firmly believe that my God is the same yesterday, today, and forever!  I have made it my souls prayer to be the mighty woman of God, that I reflect Christ's love in everyone I come in contact with....I pray God leads me and my family to the right church so we can be useful instruments in the God's kingdom!
    I know this is a little all over the place, but I can't tell you how renewed, convicted, and free  I feel just spending sometime with My God!

The Chandelier revealed!

And here is the picture of the chandelier in our bedroom!  Like I said before there is still some more work to be done in the bedroom, but it is coming along just fine!! :)

GAHH!  I'm in love!  :)

My DIY projects and Things I am working on!

  
 I thought I would write a short blog and show some various DIY project I have done over the past year!  I love DIY something about the look for less gives me and adrenaline rush! :)  There is also that feeling of pride when someone says they love this or that and you can say oh I made that ;)  Enjoy!

My Goodwill find!!  $5.00 for 5 8x10              A coat of black paint and black and white photos!      
frames!                                                              Printed BW photos from Walmart $15.00!

$.99 Wood Boards black paint, mod podge,  yellow ribbon, and photos!

So sad I didn't take a before picture, but this was a silver chandelier we got at The Boneyard on Raymond Hill for $34.00!  I can't wait to hang this in the bedroom!

Our master bedroom coming together!  I need to raise the curtain rods, add pillows to the bed, paint the tray ceiling....and the list could keep going!  Hoping to post with the chandelier tomorrow!

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Mommyhood!!

Wow I never thought motherhood would be as challenging as it is!!  Well I knew it was going to be the hardest thing I ever experienced, but its nothing like you think, you really can't prepare for it haha!   I have enjoyed every minute of it though!  Baylor is definitely a handful and he loves constant attention on him!   He is growing sooo fast I really can't believe my eyes!  Here are a few pictures of him from the past couple of months!

He seriously he cracks me up daily with all the silly things he does! He just turned 3 months on the 10th and currently just rolled over 2 times last week but hasn't since then!  He also loves his hands and feet and putting them in his mouth!!!! He has also really found his voice lately and the coos have definitely become babbles!  I think he also might me teething since the drool has literally tripled and I have noticed on the bottom right side it looks a little inflamed!  Here are his stats for the past couple of months:

Birth: 8lbs 11oz 20" long

11 days old: 9lbs 1 oz 20 1/2" long

1 month: 11lbs 6 oz 22" long

2 months: 14lbs 1 oz 24 1/2" long

I haven't taken him for a weight check this month yet so I will probably just wait til his 4 month appointment!   I think for a exclusively breastfed baby that is dang good!  He obviously loves to eat

In other things Zach and I just bought a new car a 2012 Hyundai Sonata!  We love it!! Especially all the gas that we are saving!!  We are also currently looking for a church and I am so ready to find one to get plugged into!!  I miss being a part of the Body of Christ!  I want to know God on a deeper level that where I am now and I am super excited to be starting a online bible study with my friend Jamie!  She and my sister have been such a blessing to me lately and keeping me uplifted!  I have been struggling with being sad about living in Newnan lately and missing my family and friends so much and I think thats were I am needing to be apart of a church again so I can meet new friends and of course be closer to my Saviour!!  Ok I think that is all for today Baylor is needing some love :)  

Baylors Birth Story

While my sweet baby is sleeping I am going to try to write his birth story cause I never want to forget the memory of having my sweet son!  Ok so it all began when I hit my due date and was only feeling sporadic contractions and nothing significant... I went to the doctor and they checked me and said I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced, but the baby was nice and low and I was favorable for an induction. My favorite midwife at Greystone Stephanie was the one who I was hoping would deliver the baby said she was on call and she could do it the next day if I wanted.  So I instantly was like ok!! So I called Zach after my appointment and told him the news that we would be having a baby tomorrow (May 10).  I feel like that is when things got really real! So when we got home we just relaxed and enjoyed our last night as a couple, got Olive Garden to go and went to bed really early since we had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am!  I wasn't nervous til we went to bed and I could not sleep to save my life!  I think I finally dosed off around 12:30, but woke up at 3:30am got on facebook and finally just got up at 4:30 to take a shower and get ready to head to the hospital. 

When we got all checked into the hospital and got me in the bed it was 8:00 am and time to get things started.  Stephanie checked me and said I had dilated to a 3 over night and about 80%  which was good so now it was time to break my water and start the pitocin in my IV, and holy S that stuff made the contractions start coming!  Well I was soooo nervous about everything that was about to happen I was shaking because I just do not deal well with pain at all.... So they offered me some medicine to take the edge off and would make me really sleepy... my parents and brother were in the room and I remember as my nurse was saying now some people this makes them laugh as soon as she said these the giggles would not stop!  I mean I thought everything was hilarious and it was making the water come out of me so I kept feeling like I was peeing on myself which made everything that much more funny!  Well about this time they said they were not able to pick up my contractions very well on the moniter so they were going to have to put in a internal moniter....AHHH this hurt so bad!!! I literally thought I was going to die at that moment cause it was just torture!  The only good thing that came out of that was I dilated to a 4 and I was now ready to get the epidural!!  EPIDURAL=HEAVEN!!  I don't know how people go natural with child birth!  It was about 11:30 after they got the epidural in and checked me again at a 5.  My dad came back in and was like I leave and you are about to cry you are in so much pain, I come back you are relaxed and texting lol!  Not much was really going on now so everyone decided to go get lunch and bring Zach something back...well from the time they left at 1 to 1:45 I had gone from a 5 to fully thinned out and a 9 with the babys head "right there"  Zach called everyone and to come back!  She said they would wait a few minutes and come back to check so my parents come in while Zach went and ate real quick the midwife comes back in and says time to check ya...everyone says ok see ya in a few minutes...she checks and says Im a 9 1/2 during a contraction if I want to take some practice pushes just to see what happens..Apparently I was good at pushing cause they said lets do this!  So I started pushing which was so weird cause I couldn't feel anything thanks to that handy epidural, they tell me to wait for a minute so they can get their masks and stuff on and all I wanted to do was push!  The next thing I knew I was pushing and the midwife was telling Zach to look at the head cause his eyes and nose were out and then VOILA out came the baby at 2:27pm!! 

8lbs 11 oz and 20" long with a 14" head!  I remember saying Oh my that just happened! I was crying and Zach was crying and all I knew was this instant love I had for him!  Gah makes me wanna cry now!  I have to say as scared as I was that by far was the most amazing experience of my life!  :) 

Excuse the legs!  ;)