My Men

It hit me today that I have two men in my life to share Valentines Day with! 

Man #1)

The man I married. The man I said forever to. The man I can't imagine my life without. 

Words cannot express how thankful I am for my husband, Britt. He is by far the best husband out there and I am not saying that out of obligation or for the sake of just saying it. I truly believe it with all my heart. I have never been so loved by anyone in my life and we are talking about the good and the bad days here. He is so consistent in the way that he loves, respects and cherishes me. His love is unconditional and he continually challenges me, and causes me to want to be a better wife for him. Happy Valentines Day baby! I love you!

Man # 2 (a.k.a. Little Man)

My little man. The guy whose face I have not even really seen has captured my heart completely. You never understand the type of love a parent has until you experience it. Even though he has yet to make his "official" appearance into this world he is very much so already a part of my life and I cannot imagine life without him. I cannot wait to see him, hold him and kiss his little cheeks. He has stolen my heart in every sense of the word. Happy Valentines Day Brightson James!

Signing off, 

One extremely blessed woman. 

Retreat

We had a retreat with our Leadership Team this past weekend. It was a great time to relax, fellowship, and get to know each other better!

 A Group Picture is always a must!        

                                    

  We did a low ropes course. The students really had a great time!

Most of the girls. They didn't want to hide the baby! haha

 Loved this picture!

 We did so man fun things that weekend! We truly love the students that we work with and feel so blessed to be able to invest in their lives!

On the way home we made a stop at Pops on Rt. 66! It was the perfect way to end a great weekend! 

Baby News

This week my baby is about 10 1/2 inches long. That is almost a foot people! He weighs about 1 pound. In the height to weight ratio I would say that seems a little off but I know they grow long before the bulk up. *fingers crossed, praying for a chubby baby* I LOVE chubby babies!

I have felt baby move on and off for the past 5 or 6 weeks. In the past 3 weeks I have felt consistent movement. It is more like flipping and tumbling. But in the last few says I have felt full on kicks! It has been so much fun! I can't really feel the kicks with my hand yet, only once, and of course anytime I try to let Britt feel baby boy stops kicking instantly. Already so stubborn. Like his father I am sure. ;) hehe...

I hit 21 weeks this past Saturday. Britt and I were commenting on how 21 seems like so much more than 20. It is past the halfway mark and 6 weeks away form the third trimester. (or 7 depending on how you calculate but I am going with 6.)

It continually amazes me how in love I am with this little man and I can hardly imagine the love I will feel when he is actually here.

Some more crazy things/milestones include:

* I love, and when I say love I mean I would truly marry, 7-11 Icees. *heaven*
* Call me crazy but I think that I am going to use cloth diapers. Fuzzibunz looks like it may be the brand. It will be a $200-$300 investment but they are a one size diaper I can use on multiple kids. The savings will be in the thousands!! And the more I read about them the less time consuming and gross it is. Cloth has come a long way!
* I look pregnant. It is so much fun! I need to post a pic!
* I registered. Everyone goes crazy over little girl clothes but let me just say there is some stinkin' cute little boy things out there!
* Note: While registering I had a bonding moment with another mom. Pregnant women get emotional over silly things like clothes. It was cute.

So, is it June 16th yet? :)

My Week

So many things have gone on in this past week I am not even sure where to start. My head is a mess with a brain just swishing around. Do you ever feel that way?

Friday the 27th - Britt and I are in staff meeting when we get a call - we thought Britt's dad was calling to tell us his grandfather passed away. We were surprised to hear that Britt's mom was in the Heart Hospital. We spend the rest of the day at the hospital. Britt's brother stays the night with us.

Saturday the 28th - We find out that it was not heart trouble. Praise the Lord! She goes home that afternoon. Britt's brother stays one more night. That evening through a serious of events and craziness (being up till 12am) the Lord begins to do a real work in Britt's brothers life. He is 13.

Sunday the 29th - We get a call at 6am. Britt's grandfather passed away. We go to church and pastor gives a great message. Britt's younger brother goes forward and gives his life to the Lord. An emotional day for sure. We spend a lot of the day with Britt's family and then we stay the night with my family.

Monday the 30th - Dr. Appointment for me. Shopping with my parent's, my Maw'Maw and Britt. Sometimes escaping it all is not a bad thing. Found out that Britt's other grandfather is having emergency heart surgery to put a pace make in Tuesday morning.

Tuesday the 31st - Work. Why can't you escape work on crazy weeks like this? Surgery goes well. We go to my older brothers house with several other couples to listen to a speaker talk about raising children. Home late. Bed.

Wednesday the 1st - Work. Clean house. Grocery shop. Britt's sisters come into town. One of them and her husband are staying with us. We actually go to bed a a decent time although I can't sleep. I am starving so I eat a bowl of cereal at 11. Bed.

Thursday today - Work till noon. Go grocery shopping for a retreat Britt and I are in charge of this weekend. Go see Britt's family. Go to a viewing of his grandfather.

Friday tomorrow - Go see the family, go to a lunch for the family, go to the funeral and graveside, jump in the car and leave for our retreat until Sunday afternoon.

Notes to self for today/this weekend:
- Take lots of deep breaths.
- Rely on the Lord knowing that His grace is sufficient and His joy is my strength.
- Remember what it means to celebrate a life well lived and that it is not goodbye.
- Be a support to my husband.
- Find the energy to give and invest where needed this weekend.
- Take more deep breaths and lean on my constant-one, Jesus Christ.

It's A..........

If you didn't know.... It's a boy!!!

Brightson James Clay. Due to arrive June 16th.

Pictures form the party coming soon *cough, cough* Aunt Rachael *cough cough*. :)

In other news I am dead tired and going home early to take a nap.

Happy Tuesday!

God's Leading in Our Life

‎‎"To change the world we must first change the way we see it; we must see it from a different perspective. A cultivated mind can see the universe in a falling leaf, an orchard in a seed, an ocean in a drop of water, eternity in a grain of sand. A cultivated mind produces more insight, possesses a richer sense of the world and enjoys a more attractive experience of reality." - Scripture By Heart - Joshua Choonmin Kang

Perspective.  Seeing things differently.

God has brought Britt and I on an incredible journey over the last 2 ½ years that we have been married. He has taken us places and we have looked around saying “God, why here?” only to see His perfect plan unfold, to see how he uses where we are to take us where He wants us. He is still doing that in our life and I don’t anticipate it stopping anytime soon.

Faithfulness.  Seeing God work through any circumstance.

The place God has brought us to for now is different than what I would have ever expected. If you asked me a year ago if we would be here I would look at you like you are crazy.

We are still, and continuing to, be at the OU BSU. That is a HUGE part of our life, and ministry. The biggest part in fact. But even through the big picture there are little details, circumstance, experience that truly make up the big picture. Without them the picture would be lacking.

Of course an obvious change to our BIG picture is parenthood. Wow! Will that change our lives? Truly I believe it will be only for the better. I cannot WAIT to hold my little man, my sweet Brightson James. A little guy that already amazes me and I have never even looked into his eyes. I cannot wait to look into those eye. Are they blue, brown, green, gray? I know they are beautiful.

Another change that many people don’t know about is our church. The body of saints that we are a part of. The place we go to be filled and to give equally.  God brought Britt and I to River Church when we were a little less than 2 months away from marriage. We joined right after we were married and we have loved it ever since. The people, the vision, the purpose of that church are incredible. God used River to bring us on staff at the BSU, He used River to give us dear friends for life, He used River to help us grow.

Over the past few months God has strongly laid on our heart the possibility of going somewhere else. We didn’t know why God was calling us here. In fact, we did not even anticipate it. But He was without a doubt calling and we could not ignore it. I love that we were able to leave River just as encouraged as when we came and just as much, if not more, in support of what they do. No hard feelings. No hurt. Just gratitude.

God has brought us to Western Hills Church. I grew up there. I honestly never thought I would go back. We hesitated as God was leading. Wondering if we were thinking these things just because our families go there. We were able to answer that our reason for going, although it is a perk, was not our families. Why then? Why would God lead us there?

In short, you should read the quote at the top of this page again. Over the last three years the way I see the world has changed. The way that this church, this body of beliers, sees the world has truly changed. People are coming to know the Lord, lives are forever being changed, discipleship is key.

 Those of you who are familiar with this church may know that at one time it was not always the most comfortable welcoming place. Now, I believe that anyone who walks through those doors is loved and not rejected. I brought a little girl from my neighborhood there last Sunday, she has hardly ever been in church, and she felt comfortable and loved. She was also taught truth. Truth from God’s word that I truly believe will not return void.  I anticipate what God will do in her life.

So now, we find ourselves in a place we did not think we would be, excited to be there and anticipating how God will use us. It has taught me to not quit. Don’t stop praying for the lost yes, but to not stop praying that we, the body of Christ, will truly catch the vision of disciple making and make it happen. Although in most cases it does not, it CAN happen in the local church.

River has this vision. Western Hills has this vision. I have this vision.

Do you?

Are you willing to change the way that you see the world? To see it the way that Jesus does? 

Cast Your Vote

Britt and I will be going to the doctor tomorrow morning to find out if we are having a little boy or a little girl. The thing is that we won't actually find out then because the ultrasound technician will be writing it on a piece of paper and sealing it away in an envelope. We will then take said paper to my sister-in-love Rachael's house where she will make a cake. The inside will either be pink or blue depending on the result and we will cut into the cake Tuesday night with friends and family present to find out the gender!

The friends and family attending will come wearing pink or blue to cast their "vote" for the gender. Since all of the blogging world cannot come what is your vote?

The prize for guessing correctly? The pride of being right and my congratulations. :)

Happy voting!