So very sad....

Since when is a baby "punishment"? How ridiculous! Its disgusting to me that people view their choices as "ok" until it somehow inconveniences their life. Somehow an innocent life that has been given no choice has become a "punishment." Who determines which babies are punshiments and which babies are not? So, I guess Obama believes that he is not a punishment? So, only if you are not wanted are you a punishment...and those babies who are wanted are blessings? How ignorant to stand in front of PEOPLE, who were all babies at one point, and say that some of us are "punishments." Obviously, he is NOT a grandparent yet because he would never say that one of his grandbabies was a punishment...at least, I hope not. But, one day me might say the opposite about unwanted babies being punishments...which wouldn't surprise me b/c he can't seem to have a consistent opinion on ANYTHING!!! And the fact that he defends infanticide is MURDER!!! Its the killing of FULLY BORN INFANTS that have survived abortions! Its disgusting!!!! Please be praying for our country!!!! We have less than a week left....and I so pray that people will truly see what kind of man Obama truly is! Its a very scary thought to see this man leading our country!

Please watch BOTH videos below! Please be educated and PLEASE go vote!

http://www.americaschoicenow.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIdbYjmbFzo

CORRECTION!!!!

OK...so I had a little bit of my story mixed up on Finley's name. I corrected it in the original post, but wanted to make sure everyone knew the correct story....

Eddie Finley had an idea of promoting school spirit the "cowboy way," on horseback. Finley was a professor in the department of agricultural education, communications, and 4-H youth development. He wanted the OSU Spirit Rider to be outfitted as a working ranch cowboy.

That is the CORRECT story of the man behind Miss Finley's name! Sorry!!!!

Oh, For the Love of BOWS!!!!

Here is little Finley about 1.5 days old. I called Michelle the day after Fin was born and heard her screaming! I was surprised b/c the whole time I was there the day she was born, she never made a sound! I asked what was wrong and Michelle said that Daddy had left and couldn't protect her from Mommy trying on all the bows and taking pictures! :)

Finley Ela Curran

My best friend...I claim her as my sister...had her baby yesterday! YAY!!! :) It was the most wonderful thing! Its still hard for me to believe that their family of two is now three. Its hard to comprehend that she is now a mother and will have a child at all times. Little Finley is beautiful! I was able to be there for the entire delivery and it was so awesome to see how God creates us and the process of bringing another person into this world. I left them all around 10am yesterday and went home to crash....at that point I had only had 1.5 hours of sleep in the last 27 hours. I slept until about 4:30pm and then realized how much I missed Finley! Even today, I am so sad that I am not there enjoying and taking in every minute of her life. Its unbelievable how you can miss someone so much that you have know for 3 hours! She hasn't revealed that much of her personality (if any) at that point, but I miss her more than I ever thought I could. I can't wait to see her again!!!!

She was born on October 23rd at 7:13 am. She weighed 6lbs and 10oz (her daddy, Devin, guessed her weight PERFECTLY). She was 20 inches long.

Michelle and Devin met at an OSU football game and their first REAL date was at an OSU Basketball game. Devin proposed to Michelle at the Spirit Rider in front of Gallagher-Iba Arena and had their wedding reception on campus at the OSU Alumni Center. So, they wanted to find a name that had some tie to OSU. She and Devin had seen this name on a little girl's backpack and really liked it....as they were researching into OSU names, they found Eddie Finley. He had an idea of promoting school spirit the "cowboy way," on horseback. Finley was a professor in the department of agricultural education, communications, and 4-H youth development. He wanted the OSU Spirit Rider to be outfitted as a working ranch cowboy. Ela (pronounced "ella") is the last three letters of Michelle's mom's name, "Pamela."

Everyone is great and healthy!!! Michelle and Devin get to take Finley home on Saturday morning! :)

BurnOut!!!

I hate feeling "burnout"!!! Its frustrating to me! I feel like that in almost every area of life right now. I think I just have so much going on that when I start thinking about all of it, it wears me out. Then my solution is to be lazy....or apathetic. I just want one evening to sit at home and do nothing. However, if and when I do get that I still don't get to start doing "nothing" until close to 7pm! Thats what time it is when I finally get off work, get home, decide what to do for dinner, have dinner, either come back home or clean the kitchen....and then I can sit down. At 7pm, I onlt have a few hours to relax...and who can relax with all things that didn't get done during the day because I had to work? Then I start thinking that one evening of doing absolutely nothing isn't enough! I need a week!!! And then I get carried away in my thought life and want a week where I don't have to work AT ALL! Then my thought life completely takes a turn for the worst and I complain and become very irritable....and who wants to be around me then?

Today I am tired of working 8-5; I'm tired of thinking about, having the desire, and taking action on being healthy (what I eat and working out); I'm tired of being at church 3+ times a week; I'm tired of my Intro to Theology class where the teacher thinks I really want to sit and listen to him ramble for 6+ hours worth of video; I'm tired of my 2nd job because its a 3 hour waste of time; I'm tired of constant laundry; I'm tired of home repair; I'm tired of not being able to see Kenny whenever I want b/c we both have things that need to be done; I'm tired of not taking spur of the moment trips; I'm tired of not seeing my family as often as I used to...and as often as I want.

This is the part of being fallen that I hate so much! These are the days that more than ever I can't wait to be with our Lord! To not feel pulled in 50 million directions. To spend our days glorigying Him! To not worry about tomorrow. And, at the same time, I feel so selfish because most of the reason that I listed above come down to selfishness....that I'm not getting my way...or doing what I want, when I want. I'm just tired!

I got this quote from my friend Judith's blog..."do not let blessings turn into burdens." I think on that often! While I'm tired of working 8-5, what a blessing to have a job AND one that is flexible AND that I will have 12 days off at Christmas; While I'm tired of working out and thinking about being healthy, I'm blessed to have a body that functions and that I am healthy!; While I'm tired of being at church 3+ days a week, what a blessing to have a wonderful, loving church family...a church who teaching scripture accurately...and that God allows me to serve Him there!; While I get tired of aspects of school, what a blessing that I am even able to go!!! What a blessing that God is graciously allowing me to learn there; While I'm tired of my 2nd job, what a blessing it is when we are obedient to God and He shows us where we can let go (I just turned in my 2 week notice last night); While I get tired of laundry and home repair, what a blessing that I have a beautiful home and so many clothes....they supersede just necessity! :); While I'm tired of not being able to see Kenny and my family as much as I want, what a blessing it is to have people in my life that love me! What a blessing to know that they are there!

Sometimes I get so worked up over the negative side of life that I forget to look at the blessings that each "negative" has with it!!! I am working on not letting the blessings God has given me become burdens! What a major testimony and its so humbling for me at the same time! Its easy to complain, but I want to be joyful for what God has given me and what He is doing in my life. That is how I will reveal Him to others. What is different about me if I sit and complain about life with everyone else?

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

~~~~~

2 Corinthians 10:5

casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Today I Didn't...

I'm not a mom yet, but ran across this on someone else's blog and I thought it was encouraging to all my mom friends (and to singles and married non-moms...as a reminder that our perfectionist areas need to not control us everyday)! You are all so very special! God designed you to be a mom to YOUR SPECIFIC children! No one is perfect and if we were, our children wouldn't need God, a Savior, and a relationship with Him. He alone is sufficient! Ravi Zacharias has said, "The primary purpose of a home is to reflect and to distribute the love of Christ. Anything that usurps that is idolatrous." We can't let the little things of life get in the way of doing ministry! That includes any area of our life that we don't give to the Lord...our perfection areas that we don't seem to want to let go of because no one else can do it like we can, right? ;)

TODAY I Didn't..

Today I didn't say the right things.

I didn't give enough hugs.

I didn't listen to all of their imaginary stories.

Today I hurried through what could have been very special moments, to achieve my binding agenda.

Today my prayers were too short and my lectures too long.

My smiles, I'm sure, didn't hide my fatigue.

Today I didn't heal any wounds; in fact, I'm sure I caused some.

Their tears fell and I felt too lifeless to wipe them away.

Today I felt completely defeated and totally inadequate for thisposition called mom.

But as I kneel in prayer to confess my failures, I am reminded:

I am not their hope.

I am not their total joy.

I am not their salvation.

JESUS CHRIST IS!

And they are His children even more than they are mine.

I am reminded:

He always listens,

always guides,

always touches,

and always loves perfectly.

I can rest now, Lord, remembering that I am not alone.

Hope Now

Hope Now by Addison Road

If everything comes down to love

Then just what am I afraid of?

When I call out your name something inside awakes in my soul

How quickly I forget I’m yours

I’m not my own

I’ve been carried by you all my life

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down

Your love sets me free

When my life is like a storm

Rising waters all I want is the shore

You say I’ll be ok and make it through the rain

You are my shelter from the storm

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down

Your love sets me free

I’m not my own

I’ve been carried by you all my life

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down

Your love sets me free

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down

Your love sets me free

You’ve become my heart’s desire

And I will sing your praises higher

Your love sets me free

Your love sets me free

Your love sets me free

This song has really spoken to me the last few days. Everything comes down to God loving us. He sent His only Son b/c he loved us so much. So if everything comes down to Him loving us, doesn’t that mean that He will always take of us and everything He does, He does in LOVE. So what are we so afraid of? Why do we think that He will just “forget” us? Why do we think He will just leave us to fend for ourselves? Why do we think He will just, all of the sudden, stop guiding us? We have nothing to fear since He is on our side! He is ALWAYS there for us to call upon! Just like the song says, “How quickly I forget I’m yours.” I’m not my own and I have been bought with a price…He has carried me the moment I believed! We have hope in Him that no one else and nothing else can give! We can step out in faith and trust Him! Trust that He has our best interest at hand. Trust that He is working EVERYTHING for His glory!!! Even when we can’t see it; even if its not the “perfect” circumstances; even if it comes in a completely different package than you expected…we can trust that He knows EXACTLY what He is doing. We just have to trust Him. I recently told my best friend that I wish she could see into my future (and I into hers), so she could tell me that everything is going to be ok. She looked right at me and said that she CAN tell me that everything is going to be ok b/c God is in control. The funny thing is, that I thought about that statement later….why do I need HER to look into my future? God knows EVERY single step I take and He is there! That is enough to know that everything is going to be ok. I would trust her to tell me the truth….If He’s my best friend, can’t I trust Him to tell me the truth? He is TRUTH! He is completely sufficient. If I (or anyone else) could see the future, we wouldn’t need to trust Him.

I love the line that says, “When the world has broken me down, Your love sets me free.” The world breaks us down all the time. Unmet expectations. Fallen, sinful friends and family. Jobs. Being busy. It tears us down, but He sets us free from the world and all the bondage of it. His love sets us free to live beyond the unmet expectations; to love others through grace…letting them be exactly who God created them to be; to do our jobs unto the Lord; and to glorify Him in our busy lives. We are FREE! We do not live by the “rules” of this world…we are not bound to it! We don’t live by it! We belong to Him! I am not my own! I am here to do what He has called me to do, whether it seems easy or hard…whether I think I can do it, or not. He didn’t ask….He called me to be obedient. So when unexpected turns in life occur, I have to trust that He will never leave or forsake me. Not only will He not leave us, He is our Shelter! He is our Protector, our Provider! He takes care of His children in the good times and the bad! He wants and desires for us to grow…and we grow the most in trials. He wants us to build character and become more like Him. If we go through a trial, and at the end are no more like Him, we went through it for nothing!

He is my heart’s desire! Sometime I get so worried about being obedient that I miss exactly what He is doing. As long as He is the center of my life, He will guide me where I need to be. He has a plan for my life…a plan to touch others lives for Him. It may not be where I expected to go, but its where He’s called me to be FOR HIM!

We have HOPE in Him! We have to trust that He is in control…even when everything around us is falling apart or everything is amazing or something is just in a different package than expected…He is there! His love sets us free to walk with Him and to love others!

Thanks to my cousin Trav (and his band, Addison Road) for being obedient to where God has called them!!! Your music is already impacting lives! :)