Thanks Ashley!

Thanks to Ashley over at For The Love Of Shoes ... and A Baby, Too! for this award! Thanks Ashley!

The rules of this award are as follows:
1. Thank and link the person that sent it to you

2. Present this award to at least five people and explain why you chose them for this award

3. Copy and past the award on your blog

I check these blogs often and think they are amazing women!

Molly at Stilettos and Diapers

Rebecca at Hmmm

Jami at Confessions Of A Stay At Home Mom

Alicia at A Life Defined

My Blessed Life

My Thirties

Well, I have arrived at my thirties.

The weeks leading up to my 30th birthday were pretty weird.

I started questioning whether I’ll be able to wear my Hollister jeans.

Whether I’ll be able to wear my sundresses and leggings.

Will my stilettos still be appropriate?

Will our students think I’m “old” now?

My back hurts … is that because I’m thirty?

I noticed I have more gray hairs than ever before.

I got nervous and bought some night wrinkle cream.

Cory laughed when he saw me putting it on, and I tried to convince him it was just a lotion I needed,

that happened to have anti-aging stuff in it :)

And yet over the past few weeks, my perspective has changed.

I realized that I have not only arrived safely at my thirties ….

I arrived healthy … at my thirties.

I arrived with a husband who loves me … at my thirties.

I arrived with a husband who loves Jesus … at my thirties.

I arrived with a daughter who walks like me and talks like me … at my thirties.

I arrived with a son who daily plays with my hair … at my thirties.

I arrived with a home to retreat to … at my thirties.

I arrived with parents who visit us often … at my thirties.

I arrived with six grandparents still living … at my thirties.

I arrived with a youth group full of students striving to reach God … at my thirties.

I arrived with a handful of friends who will lift my hands when I’m weak …. at my thirties.

I have arrived … safely …. healthy …. And full of more love and blessings than I know I deserve.

So instead of looking at growing older as a bad thing.

Instead of fretting and worrying over the negatives, I will choose to find the positives.

I will be thankful for the life God has granted me.
I will consider it an honor.

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 91:14-16

Wordless Wednesday

Packages Make Me Happy

Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

 

Look at this cool package that just arrived at my door.

 

 Our "Audacious Expectation" (thanks Holly Furtick)

this year is to have a set time of family devotion. Life gets busy, but that is no longer an accepable excuse around the Henderson house.

 

Here's to a great year of learning, leading, loving and a little more structure!

So Long, Old Friends

This month I vowed to deep clean every nook & cranny of the house.

Today was our master closet.

I'll spare you what the entire closet looked like.

It was atrocious a pretty easy job.

During the cleaning process I had a decision to make.

Do I take up space I can use for other things ... or say goodbye?

Tear. Tear. I chose to say goodbye.

This was my first pair of Madden Girl shoes.

These shoes and I have had a good ride.

Tonight they  found a new home.

They will go on a journey ... wherever Nates Sanitation chooses to take them.

Don't judge me for the holes worn spots.

It just means I got really good use out of them.

And as we say goodbye to old friends, we say hello to new ones ...

"Out with the old and in with the new" .... that's how the saying goes, right?!

You see, my problem is "out with the old".

I like to have the new, yet keep the old!

But, It's a new year.

So, I'm willing to try.

So long, old Friends.

This Kid Has More Cars Than Jay Leno

 

Transparency

Our church is currently doing an annual church-wide Daniel Fast.

In addition to the reasons of denying your flesh in order to glorify God, Cory and I have always chosen a specific prayer to focus on during our time of lengthened fasting.

In Isaiah 58  it talks about God bringing about healing and bringing it about quickly through prayer and fasting. I strongly believe in this. I've seen it happen!

Some of you who are close to us may know this specific request that I am focusing on during this fast.

Others of you probably don't have any idea what I'm talking about.

I'd like to share it with you so that you will lift this need up while you are fasting and praying.

Everyone knows we have our miracle boy who is now 28 months old.

Most of you just see his cute little blonde head running around and full of energy.What you may not know is that Easton had severe ear infections as a baby.He had tubes put in both ears at 18 months.

Around that time we noticed that Easton was not talking as much as Autumn was when she was that age. I chalked it up to the fact he's a boy and boys are sometimes slower at milestones than girls.

At his check up from his tubes, I mentioned to Eastons pediatrician that he wasn't talking much. He could say mum, ball, da. And a few others small things. The pediatrician reccomended speech therapy.

We had his hearing checked twice from the ENT, and his hearing loss was signifigant before the tubes were put in, but his hearing loss is now in the 1 - 10 range since the tubes are in.

Long story short, Easton still only says a handful of words.Over Thanksgiving he began putting two words together. Today he said for the first time "A, B Ceeee". He won't stop saying it now (probably because we all got so excited)!! If you have toddlers, you know that their speech is normally more progressed by this age.

The pediatrician, ENT, and speech specialists all agree that it is just a speech problem and nothing more. He listens to commands. He understands what you are saying. His development is fine. It is a complete speech issue. They all tell me that it will work itself out and that a lot of kids don't talk until they are 3 or 4.

I can handle all of that. But at this point, Easton is getting frustrated because he tries so very hard to talk to us. He will repeat the same phrase over and over and over. We just can't understand what he is saying. You can see defeat on his face. We say "what?" to him a lot, so we are working on our responses to him.

So, through being transparent, a lot of people don't know that Easton has a speech problem. But now you do :)

Before anyone offers diagnoses ... he has been tested for autism. We have done "Your Baby Can Read." We've had a specialist come to the house to work with him. I've made flash cards. We've done all that the experts say to do .... so now we are leaving it up to the real physician. That's where we need your help. When you think of my handsome little mancub, offer up a prayer for us. Then look forward to the days soon to come when I'll be posting of things he is saying and the milestones he's overcoming! And by your fervent prayers, be assured that you will have a part in Eastons healing!