Praying for Stellan

Let me start by saying the blog world is amazing. There are several christian women whose blog I follow and even though we have never met I feel a camaraderie with them as I watch them raise children and grow spiritually. One of these women's name is Jennifer and she has a wonderful blog over at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. I was heartbroken for her when I read yesterday that her baby Stellan was sick last night and that his condition had turned dire very quickly. Stellan, as some may know, is the baby that the doctors told Jennifer would never survive the womb. Jennifer and her husband decided to let God be the guide instead of the doctors and Stellan was born healthy last fall. He is 4 months old and until the last few days had shown none of the problems he had in the womb since his birth. If you are unfamiliar with their story I am providing a link to her blog and ask that you please say a little prayer for Stellan, Jennifer and her husband and the rest of their children today.

"Not Me!" Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

And so I bring "Not Me!" Mondays back to my blog! Here we go...

It was not me who let my sweet baby girls get their ears pierced this last weekend because they has been relentlessly asking for the last two weeks after a friend of theirs at school got her ears pierced. And I certainly did not shed a tear or two that night when I realized how big they are getting and how quickly it is all going. Not Me!

It was also certainly not me who explained to them before we ever got to the piercing place that "NO!" boys do not get their ears pierced only to have to re-explain later that yes the man that went before them did get his ears pierced but that Daddy and I still did not think it would be acceptable for Jack to get his pierced.

"When he is bigger?" Sarah asked.

"No Sarah, not while he lives under this roof!".

Surely my almost four year olds are not this quick to pick up that way of the world is not the same as the way of our house? Surely not!

Have a fabulous Monday!

Faith

I have a friend who has been weighing heavily on my mind and heart now for some time. In January I had an amazing opportunity sit down with this person and share my testimony of faith in Christ. I knew well before that time this friend has some serious questions about Christ and God and I had been waiting and praying for a while that the Lord would open a door for someone to share their faith. I was blessed one night to find myself given that opportunity and the conversation we had that night was both amazing and a little sad because I know there are so many questions that are still not answered for this dear friend of mine.

The neatest thing about this conversation was that it left me wanting to be able to answer all of those endless questions more academically. I talked to a family member who I often go to when I have faith based questions and she quickly gave me a reading list for the next year. What I have found is a piece of myself that yearns to study and understand not only Christ but the history, geography, etc that was surrounding him during his life. I had no idea how many secular references there were of Him, His birth, His death, His life from scholars and historians of His time. It simply amazes me and leaves me wanting more!

During the conversation my friend commented to me something to the effect that they hoped the question they were about to ask wouldn't shake my faith. I immediately responded to ask away. I remember stating that although I don't know the answer to every question I was alright with that. I admitted that when it came to Jesus I was secure in Him even if I didn't have all the answers. And though until that point I had hoped to give this friend a significant insight in to their own heart, I think instead they gave me one. They showed me more about my faith and encouraged to me to dig deeper in to my quest for Him, to understand and know Him, to love and honor Him, and to have a life and heart that chase after Him. I thank them and pray daily that Christ will reveal himself more thoroughly than I had ever prayed He would in their life!