the joy of serving...

 I woke up this morning, and started about my day. Jeremy was off at work and I had the morning to myself. So I spent it with a cup of tea and a great time with the Lord. And I decided in that moment, " I want everything I do today to be from a heart of serving you, Lord. In serving my husband, in serving our baby, in serving those around me...it is all for you." As I was scraping gross leftover goop off from the night before's dishes, I had a smile on my face because it was such a joy to serve my husband in that. In choosing how I ate and whether or not to have that one cup of coffee (which you are allowed while pregnant), I chose "how would I best be serving my daughter in how I eat?". In putting some love into homemade Christmas presents, I wanted to serve and bless my family. It was quite extraordinary how God could take what could seem like "requirements" or "just what I'm supposed to do", and turn my heart towards a heart of longing to serve others and ultimately Him through it all, and it honestly gave me so much joy! I was excited to do each thing, as mundane as they seemed, because today, that's how I ministered. And it blessed my heart so much to bless God's, and glorify Him through it. 


I pray that God continues to turn my heart away from my selfishness, and start my day off with a heart to glorify Him, in the big and small things. But, I also realize that it's a choice. And what I love, is that the more I choose a heart of servanthood, the more fulfilled I feel... and to be honest, the way better my day goes! I've been praying about what other areas, even in my pregnancy and delivery, I can glorify God. Like how I can glorify God while I'm in labor, even if no one else sees my heart, I can still choose to glorify Him through it. I can glorify Him by not letting my human want for a "perfectly comfortable, no pain" birth to become an idol, and instead trust Him to get me through it beautifully and serve Him and my daughter through my labor. I can glorify Him in treating my body well to honor what He's given me, and also to honor my baby who depends on my body. 


Those are a just a few of the areas I want to have a heart of servanthood in, and I long for God to show me more. 


'Where you invest your love, you invest your life' -Mumford

twenty two weeks...

twist and shout...

Tonight, Jeremy felt Elsie move for the first time! There's this amazing connection that happens when you feel your baby moving inside of your womb. Every little movement is a reminder that our little one is growing and she'll be coming to meet us soon. I've been feeling her movement for weeks now, but it was still almost impossible to feel from the outside. Once I started noticing that I could feel it from the outside, I would yell for Jeremy from the next room to come and try to feel it.... but of course, as soon as he would put his hand over my belly, she would completely stop moving. Well tonight, he finally felt our little peanut moving! I love that he can feel her now too, and connect with her even more.

How we found out you were coming...

The two lines that changed our lives...

How I told Jeremy I was pregnant. Story to come...

First picture after we found out we were having you! (I was making a pretend belly at that point....it's definitely not pretend anymore).

Your excited Dad-to-be's face

That weekend your Auntie Kim, Uncle Jon, Papa Ray, and cousin Nathan came to visit us... we made this shirt for Nathan saying "I'm going to have a baby cousin", and slipped it on him when no one was looking. It took a while for everyone to notice what was on the shirt, but there was lots of hugs and excitement once everyone caught on. You're going to love your big cousin Nathan!

twenty one weeks...