This is a treat for me! Our dear friends are in the middle of adopting their daughter from Africa! We have had the privilege to watch them walk through this and the process that is involved. Their hearts are overflowing with love for this little girl and can’t wait to bring her home! Read what she has to say about it and watch their AWESOME video! Continue reading “Adoption – A Guest Post!”
I’ve had this topic on my ‘to blog about’ list for a long time. I just keep putting it off because there is so much to say that I have no idea where to start! 😉 I think a lot of my followers and readers already know a lot about this subject, but it is definitely something I feel passionate about. That is in part due to the fact that my husbands health has seen a dramatic change since the change in our diets! Continue reading “Sugar Substitutes”
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m not one for complex side dishes unless the main dish is something like hamburgers or fish on the grill. I only like a max of 1 labor intensive (30 minutes or less of prep work) portion to a meal. As it is I feel like I live in the kitchen and I definitely don’t need to add to that! Thankfully my family doesn’t mind! Continue reading “Roasted Garlic Lemon Broccoli”
Each year I feel like Easter comes and goes without have many traditions or memories except a large meal with family. That is special, but there is so much more to Easter than just that. The essential truth to our Salvation occurred! This should be more celebrated that Christmas and yet it isn’t… even in the lives of many Christians it isn’t. Continue reading “Easter Preparations”
As I’m pregnant for the 5th time and expecting baby #4 in July I hadn’t really thought much about how I was going to prepare for this birth. With Tonchi (the first) I read lots of books, went to childbirth classes, watched videos and read anything I could get my hands on. I reviewed a few books and the childbirth classes with Koa (#2) and with Aisling I didn’t do much at all.
Each of these births were at home, some in the water, and some not, but all with an awesome midwife who has served our family in amazing ways! Her faith in Christ encourages us and her prayers for me while in the throes of labor was so encouraging and what I needed to hear! I never could have had three home births with out firstly, my amazing hubby or without her and her team.
So this time around I hadn’t given it much though as to what preparation I needed to do… then I entered a drawing for a book called[amazon_link id=”1462723756″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] Redeeming Childbirth[/amazon_link]. It looked interesting and looked like it covered some topics I thought I would be interested in. I didn’t think much of it, when I didn’t hear back that I’d won… but I was super excited when Angie (the author) contacted me and asked if I would read the book and write a review for the blog!
I was ecstatic! I was going to get to read it after all and what more of a perfect time as I’m preparing for the birth of another precious baby! Boy was I in for a surprise… this is no ordinary book on birthing babies! This is an amazing life changing book on childbirth and how we as woman can glorify God in all areas of our lives, even in each part of childbirth!
She starts off talking about how there is so much disunity among women on the topic of childbirth. There are basically two camps… those who go all natural and others who opt for all that medicine can offer to dull the pain and minimize the hard part of labor. AND…. we as women have STRONG opinions about each camp.
We are usually in one or the other and act very judgmentally towards the others. That is not God’s desire for us. He desires unity especially among mothers desiring to start and raise families to be heirs of Christ and arrows of light into the world. Angie calls us to drop it, reconcile and become one in Christ. With this calling and encouragement and conviction she starts off this amazing work! What a great way to filter all that she says knowing that her one desire is to bring God glory in her writing and draw women together in a desire to birth their babies and start families that glorify Him!
This quote from page 18 is long, but it voices exactly what I was trying to describe and which is why she is the writer of the book and I’m not! I found this so convicting… I see the judgement towards others in my own heart…
“In the spirit of unity, let us come together under one head- which is Christ-to be a better example of Christ’s love for the world. Let’s approach birth from a different perspective. Let’s rise up, Church, unified, and seek to embrace God’s design of “womb-man.” Let’s surrender to the Lord and receive His blessing that is found in the mission of birth and the gift of children. Let’s uplift one another, not judge. Let’s pray together for the Lord to convict our hearts in areas where we have been judgmental and ugly. Let’s ask God to help us trust that He made our bodies for the purpose of bringing forth life, and ask Him to renew our minds and our perspectives on pregnancy, birth, pain, and the gift of motherhood. Let’s rise up and make a difference in this next generation together. Let’s lead together, in love and unity, toward a movement of women in the church proposing to invite Jesus into all areas, events, and experiences in our lives. We are all sisters in this body. Let’s work together and embrace that we share this amazing blessing that is the gift of childbirth.” page 18
Another of my favorite portions of the book was the chapter/section on the pain of childbirth whether you choose to have a medicated or natural birth there is still some pain involved. I must say that with my 2nd and 3rd born and with this pregnancy when I first found out, I was super excited, but then my second thought is “Oh no! I have to go through labor again”.
“We need to be careful not to make an idol out of natural childbirth or being strong enough to endure the pain, but rather only seek to praise Him, glorify Him, magnify Him, and allow the
work of the Holy Spirit to be done in our lives and those who witness our births. Our lives are not just about us, they are about Him.” page 147
I just love how this book is Gospel infused and is so encouraging and convicting at the same time.
After reading this book I didn’t leaving feeling guilty, but inspired, encouraged and hopeful that this birth can be different and more honoring to God! I’m so excited to have a refreshing perspective to alter the course of this season of my life!
This post has already gotten long, but just one last comment. God has been convicting me more and more of the need for “praying continually” (I Thessalonians 5:17 ), and this book only encouraged this and spurred me on all the more. Angie spends about 20 pages towards the end of the book focusing on the importance of prayer, through the pregnancy, during the birth and for the rest of our lives!
“Prayerlessness means you are either depending on yourself (Genesis 4:25-26), you don’t have the conviction that God is worthy of your time, or you just don’t know how to pray. I realized that by not praying, I was subconsciously and arrogantly acting in my own sufficiency and not recognizing my deep need to call upon the Lord and follow His will. I was relying on my own wisdom to make the right decisions and my strength to have control over circumstances.” page 227
This portion was so encouraging to me to press on and to press into God. Yes in the pregnancy, but there is so much more. Praying for this little one yet to be met, prayers for their growth and safety, salvation, prayers for the labor, for those who will be involved, for my husband, that it would be a witness for Christ, any fears that may arise, complications that are concerning and so much more.
This portion is such a treasure and so convicting. Prayer is a discipline, but it becomes a treasure!
I can’t say enough about this book! I definitely recommend it to ALL who are pregnant, hope to get pregnant soon, or recently were pregnant. I hope one day to be able to give this as shower gifts to friends and family. This is truly a treasure! Thanks, Angie, for the opportunity to read this book and to God be the glory!
Also as an end note Angie has a lot of GREAT information and resources on her website and you can also follow her or contact her on Pintrest, Facebook, or Twitter. Check it out!
Here is another non-paleo meal because of the diary. We do enjoy our fair share of raw dairy! All of us are lovers of all things made from milk! Cream cheese, any cheese, yogurt, milk kefir, cottage cheese, you name it we probably eat it! 😉 Continue reading “Baked Reuben Dip”
This is a case that has been ongoing, but that I was just made aware of today… There is a family in Germany who was homeschooling their children when the government told them they weren’t allowed to continue. They were fined, their children were going to be taken away and they were facing possible imprisonment. The family fled here in 2010 and are seeking asylum in the USA. Continue reading “Help our International Homeschooling Brothers and Sisters”
Koa had the longest drawn out birthday! And of course he milked every minute! 😉 The actual day of his birthday was March 6th when the east coast was supposed to get a tremendous snow storm that, as per usual, was quite disappointing and all the snow was gone by the next day…. but with the knowledge that it was supposed to snow we started his celebrations the day before.
I took the kids to Claude Moore Park and they had a great time in the visitor’s center that has a great educational area for kids. It really was fantastic and they didn’t want to leave! The day was so nice they left their jackets in the car and we enjoyed a picnic lunch.
We even had extra time to run around outside and enjoy the bright sunshine!
The next day, it did snow all day, but didn’t stick much since it started with rain, but it was very beautiful to watch! We stayed in and had some hot chocolate and Koa helped bake his birthday cupcakes.
And… he got to decorate them himself!
The evening of his birthday we were supposed to meet friends and family at Chick-fil-A (per Koa’s request) for dinner and cupcakes. Due to the snow we had to postpone it for the following week.
It was still a great turnout and lots of fun! Koa had requested monster cupcakes and that is exactly what we did! We were all tickled with out they turned out and they were a big hit!
Of course our diet and allergies didn’t completely fly out the window, but we certainly did have an overdose of sugar. In fact… ALL of us had some tummy discomfort that evening and I think it was the overload of sugar!
The recipe I used for the chocolate allergy friendly cupcakes was from Real Sustinance and I LOVE her recipes. ALL of the ones I’ve tried have turned out and have been delicious. So… for his birthday we had the grain free, vegan, soy free, chocolate cupcakes and they were loved by all!
He really had a great week and is so proud he just turned 4! So if you see him, ask his age and he will be super excited to tell you!
Granted I haven’t been to PF Chang’s in a few years probably, but if I remember correctly, this recipe tastes pretty authentic. I found a recipe in a magazine somewhere that had an imitation recipe, but it had lots of ingredients that were taboo … like sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and a few others. Continue reading “Chicken Lettuce Wraps a la PF Chang’s”
One of the super mommies in my Holistic Mom’s Group sent out an email a few days ago about needing “mommy time” or “me time”. She asked the group what that looked like for each of us and how we made it happen. She also brought up finances and affording that time and how to make that work. Continue reading “Mommy Time”
Home of the Hymn of the Month Community
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Green & Grateful 