Grumbling in the Wilderness

God takes grumbling and complaining seriously, it makes him angry. As I am reading through Numbers, I'm reminded how much I can resemble the ancient Israelites. They wandered through the desert guided by a cloud during the day and fire at night (a visual representation of God). They followed a God who brought them out of slavery and promised them a land flowing with milk and honey.

In Numbers 11 the Israelites complained because they had no meat and in Numbers 14 the people rebelled because they are scared of the nations surrounding Canaan. Sometimes their grumblings seemed petty and sometimes they felt justified.

The Israelites were not trusting that what He had in store for them would be good. They wanted to return to Egypt into slavery. They must have forgotten what they had been saved from. Doesn't that sound like us sometimes. I often forget the despair that God saved me from when I was 13. A life without faith in Jesus would have led me down some terrible paths. But somehow I neglect to trust that the circumstances that God has brought into my life are good. I am quick to complain and make plans to get out of them. In my head, I create scenes where life looks different, perfect even. 

God has put so many amazing blessings in my life and my grumbling devalues all that God has done for me. I am chosen by God to be his child and the last thing I want to be is an ungrateful daughter to the one who gave me life. It's so easy to look at the Israelites and think about what a messed up people they were to want to go back to slavery. But those are my people, and I'm not that different from them when discontentment starts to creep into my heart and thoughts.

photo found here

Make Me Brave

I am a timid and often fearful person, but I think that God wants to make me brave. He wants me to step out and be bold and confident in him. I want to get swept away in all that God has for my life and not be stuck holding onto things that make me feel comfortable. My heart can just imagine all the joy that comes from a life lived in complete abandon to God. I want that. My prayer today is that God would make me brave and call me out to himself!

Life at 111 Updates

It's been forever. Let's hang out over a cup of coffee this morning.

This blog is like an old friend that I think about often but forget to call. Life the past few months has been full of changes. Mike is off for the summer and we are expecting another baby in late October. Really the second part of that is the super duper exciting part - not that I don't love having my husband around more. We found out that I was pregnant in February and just last week learned that this little baby is a boy! I can't wait to see Miles as a big brother. It's hard to picture how he will be with a newborn since he seems like such a baby still. Miles will be 22 months when baby number two arrives.

I've been feeling pretty good but these high temperature days are getting to me. Believe me, being pregnant in the fall and winter trumps summer for sure!

How have you been friend?

A Little Blogging Hiatus

Hey, it's been a long few months. Life was getting hectic between work and family life, and I had little drive to write. But we've been busy with good things. Work exploded, Mike finished his year teaching (yay for having him home now) and I took a calligraphy class. Beyond that, I've been having a blast with Miles. He's 16 months now and this is the best age to date. He's loving the nice weather and playing outside on the sidewalk. I've never seen a child so in love with chalk. He always has one piece in each hand and tries to give them to anyone who walks by. I love watching him grow and develop his own little personality and interests.

I'm hoping to blog more now that some balance has been restored to our house. I've missed writing and spending time on here.

Blessings!

Processing

I need to process things. Things like my relationships, purpose, time commitments and spiritual growth. If I'm not processing, I'm not being intentional. Lately life has been blowing by me without me taking any time to reflect.

That needs to change.

Snow Days

This winter has been cold and snowy in Pennsylvania. Around here we used to hate snow - like dread it when we heard it in the forecast. To us it meant shoveling the sidewalk, cleaning out our parking spots just to have someone else take them and slipping and sliding on the way to work.

Let me tell you that everything changed once Mike got a job as a teacher and I started working from home. Now we act like little kids when we see the snow start to fall. Mike has had about six snow days this school year and it's awesome. It's so nice to not have to worry about getting to work safely. I almost feel guilty for wishing this treacherous white stuff on others who have to go out in it - almost guilty, but I'm too busy hanging out all day with my husband and baby.

There is another winter storm coming our way over the weekend and I say bring it on! 

Miles The Lumberjack

Miles was a lumberjack for his first birthday. After having to cancel our big party because the three of us were sick, we hosted two small family parties a few weeks ago. It was great to have our families in our little home. We don't often have family gatherings here because of space issues, so it was special to actually be hosting our loved ones.

I had a lot of fun putting together the menu to match the lumberjack theme. The menu included a flapjack bar with toppings, snickerdoodle cupcakes, acorns of Hershey kisses and nilla wafers, smore marshmallow pops, fruit, chex mix and pretzels.

Party Resources:
Party Hat: Oh Happy Day template
Miles Cake: Oh Everything Handmade
Snickerdoodle Cupcakes: Mom Advice
Paper Products: Oneleven Creative (all designed by me, of course!)

Coffee Date 1.23.14

Haha, these so-called weekly coffee dates have been a joke, huh? Life has been going so quickly, I'm having a hard time holding on. Between my responsibilities at home, with Miles, with Mike and working, sometimes my head barely feels above water. But I'm wanting to get some balance back in my life. This might mean saying no to projects, using my time more wisely while Miles sleeps and staying up later. 

Let's get this hanging out thing back in order too! I really enjoy blogging but it's not a "necessity" and is one of the last things that gets attention. 

If we were meeting for coffee on this snowy morning, we might get to sit at my dining room table while Miles naps and catch up. I'd tell you how weird it feels to be the mother of a one year old and that thoughts of wanting to be pregnant again are circling around my mind. We had planned one big first birthday party for Miles with all of this favorite people, both family and friends. But two days before our little family came down with a yucky case of the sickies, so we had to cancel the party. I was super bummed because I had put so much time and effort into planning the menu, theme and of course paper products. We ended up rescheduling the party and just ended up doing two smaller family parties at our house last weekend. I can't wait to comb through the photos and share them on the blog next week. It was awesome to celebrate my Miles being around for an entire year. 

I'd tell you how lucky I feel that Mike is a teacher, especially since he had off work from Monday through Wednesday because of the holiday and snow. It feels weird for him to be back at work this morning, but the end of May is coming quickly, then I'll get him home with me all the time! Yay for summers off! 

I'm always amazed at how pretty the snow is as it falls. It seriously snowed from 7am to 7pm on Tuesday and it was so peaceful. But in the city, it so quickly gets gross. The once clean, smooth white snow turns into dirty piles that line the street. I'm sure there is some metaphor to how quickly sin stains our righteousness, but my mind is not there quite yet this morning. 

I'd ask you how your new year has started. Have you made any exciting resolutions, and have you been sticking to them? Mike and I have decided that we are going to read through the Bible together in one year chronologically. For two people who never have been good about reading the Bible together, the past few weeks have been awesome. We've had days where we skipped reading or life felt just too busy to sit down together, but for the most part we've been dedicated. I can only thank the Holy Spirit for that miracle. 

Welp, Miles is stirring in his crib so I suppose it's time to end our time together this morning. Until next week, really! 

A New Year, A Fresh Start

I love starting a new year. There is something exciting about starting fresh and looking forward to the next 12 months. I love to set goals and make plans, even though I'm not crazy about actually committing to them. I've dubbed 2014, the year of Freedom. So often I feel burdened by stress and worry. If things aren't going my way, I tense up. Even when Miles refuses to take his morning nap - like is happening right now in his crib - I feel my body tighten and my heart pound. I'm not a go-with-the-flow type of person, and that doesn't help make our house a relaxed place to live. I know that with the help of the Holy Spirit and the accountability of my husband, I can change that. I know that I don't have to try to control everything.

Choosing a theme for the year is much more attainable than setting six goals with monthly check ins.

2014 is the year I embrace living free.