Counting My Blessings - Days 3 & 4

These next two blessings have a lot to do with one another... 

First of all, I am so blessed by my church family.  October was Pastor Appreciation Month, and we were overwhelmed by the outpouring of gifts throughout the month.  Despite both my husband and myself growing up with in families in full-time ministry, the transition from attending our church as congregants to leadership was not easy (especially for me).  At 25 years old, becoming a pastor's wife was very intimidating - but we knew God was leading us here.  We are blessed with a loving and supportive church family that I am reminded of every week.  

The second blessing is our home.  It's the parsonage, so without our church... well, I'm not sure where we would live!  The first 3 years of our marriage we lived in a one bedroom, basement apartment that... had its quirks.  Without going into the details of that, I can say that moving into this 3 bedroom house with fresh paint felt like we'd won the lottery.  Although that feeling has subsided in the last few years, the feeling of gratitude that I (we) have for the home we live in has not.  We are so thankful that God has provided us with a more than adequate home to raise our family in.  

~ Carrie ~

Counting My Blessings - Day 2

Yesterday I counted my most recent "little blessing".  Today I'm counting my first, Jadon.  He was a surprise, in that we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl.  Ever since he was born, he's been surprising us - always keeping us on our toes.  My labor with him was a grand total of 5 hours (which I thought was really fast... until I had Madelynn, who came in 2.5!).  He came so quickly that the midwife was not even ready to "catch" him, so she scooped him up off the end of the hospital bed, only having one glove on.  He's been difficult to "catch" ever since... the fastest crawler that I had ever seen and, once walking, always on the run.  

It's been such a privilege to be Jadon's mommy.  He's an extremely independent little boy, which has definitely brought it's challenges in parenting.  Some day I will need to remember to apologize to him because, as the firstborn, we're figuring everything out with him.  (I'd like the think that as Madelynn grows, we'll have a better grasp on this whole parenting thing.)  At 3 years old, we're facing that power struggle that I recognize is part of his growing up.  We've had our challenges over the last few months, but I can't help but see how God is changing his heart, and using those qualities that can sometimes be frustrating, to glorify Him and encourage others - his incessant talking to speak the gospel, his stubbornness to stand up for his convictions, his unending imagination to remind me that there's more to life than what you can see with your eyes, his ability to make friends with anyone to remind me that we need to surround ourselves with people to encourage and to be encouraged by.  

So today and everyday, I am thankful for my son.  I'm thankful for his smile, his laugh, his wow-ser kisses, his tenderness, his tackles, his creativity, his thoughtfulness, his love for his baby sister, his ability to make people feel loved and special, his singing, his mischievous nature, and so much more.  

 

~ Carrie ~

Counting My Blessings - Day 1

It's a rare quiet Thursday morning.  Andy took Jadon with him to the church for a bit this morning, and Madelynn is down for her morning nap.  Everyone is "hungover" from a night of candy, costumes, candy, trick or treating, candy, visiting with friends, and more candy... So, here I am still in pajamas at almost 10 a.m. (a rare occurrence) with the some Christian music playing, and my mind goes back to a year ago.  

Last night, in the midst of all the festivities of Halloween, my mind went back to October 31st 2011 when I discovered that I was pregnant with Little Miss Maddie.  What an overwhelming day that was - Andy coming home around 4, friends for dinner at 5, trick or treating at 6, and then finally having the opportunity to share with Andy something that we'd been praying about for the past year and a half!  (See An Expected Blessing to read about this journey in our life.)  

The past year has been a whirlwind of blessings and challenges.  God has continued to be our Constant Provider, even during difficult times.  He's brought more joy to our life through the life of our precious little girl.  He's taught us new lessons with each day.  He's been our Faithful One.  

As I held my baby this morning before laying her down for her nap, I was overwhelmed with God's goodness - even in the midst of such a busy time for our family.  I am so grateful for this blessing that I've anticipated and enjoyed over the last year!

~ Carrie ~