a very special Valentine

Ella Claire has an announcement to make.....

We have been busy lately, making a very special Valentine.  We made them for our grandmothers, Jeremy's mom, dad, brother and sister, and my mom, dad and brothers and sisters.

(Do you see my baby's left cheek? She got bit in the nursery yesterday. Thankfully I was there when it happened and saw the whole thing. I know how fast those things happen! She still has a bruise this morning. I think it's going to be there a while. You might also notice I edited it out in the 1st and last picture. :)

That's right! Ella Claire is going to be a big sister! We are so excited about our family expanding! For the last few weeks, the morning sickness that lasts all day, not just in the morning, has not been very kind to me. I have been going days without even looking in my computer's direction. That means no blog post and my google reader is overflowing with unread subscriptions. I know this won't last forever (I pray it doesn't anyway) and hopefully, we will be back to our regular schedule soon; until our little world is rocked again in September!

SSMT verse 3

Greetings!! Just thought I would check in and give my 3rd verse for the SSMT (since it's almost time for number 4!). I hope you are doing well and had a splendid week. :)

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)

I absolutely love these verses! I always try to quote this scripture in my mind and can't seem to remember it word for word. Not any more! :) These powerful words are a reminder to me of the warfare going on around us and how we can not face it with our own strength. Sometimes, life in general seems just too big to handle on our own, and it is. Somethings, we can't see, and we have to trust God; knowing that he knows the "big picture". He sees things differently than we do, and the closer we get to Him, the more we see like Him. The more battles we can fight, the more strongholds we can demolish.

As I qoute this scripture over and over, I am going to be encouraged about taking every thought captive, and making it obedient to Christ!! For the last few weeks, the devil has been trying to distract me with a fearful thought. Fear is not of the Lord. I know, if I allow fear to consume my thoughts, I am putting that above God. This is something that I will always have to work on. The devil has always tried to distract me by fear, but I am acknowledging that as a weakness and will surrender it daily. I refuse to let the devil win and every time he tries to bring a fearful thought into my mind, I will take captive that thought and make it obedient to Christ!

Okay friends, I am heading to bed. I hope these words have been encouraging. See you soon!