Growing Pains Part 1

I am beginning a series on here called "Growing Pains." I will add a new part daily, (Lord willing), so be sure to check back often. Today I am stealing a post from my friend Caryn. She just said it so nicely, I decided to let you see for yourself!

The gospels contain several accounts of people leaving something behind for the sake of wholeheartedly following Jesus.

* Simon & Andrew "left their nets" (Matt. 4:18-20)
* James & John "left their boat and their father" (Matt. 4:21-22)
* The woman at the well "left her water jar" (John 4:28-30, 39-42)
* Matthew left his career (Matt 9:9)
* The grateful leper left the 9 others (Luke 17:11-19)

Basically, in order to fully follow Christ, we may have to leave behind possessions, earthly treasures, family, occupation, or the group (clique). Of course this is not always easy. For example, Matt. 19:16-22 gives account of a law-abiding rich young man who came to Jesus to inquire about following Him. When Jesus told the man to first sell what he possessed and give to the poor and then follow Him, the young man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

However, God promises that "everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life" (Matt 19:29).

So, what is God calling you to leave behind? Praise the Lord for what you have already left behind for the glorious gain of Christ.

The following parts to "Growing Pains," will be experiences from my own life of things God has called me to give up or to do for Him. (Some of this stuff you will know, some of it will be brand new information about me, so be sure to stay tuned)!

New ♥

You will see on the left that I added a new pic which is a link to our newest site! Seems fun... Also, be sure to check out Jersey's website! Click on the picture of him running in the back yard, (top right hand side)! :) Why have a site for him? Show it to your child and you'll see why I set it up!!! ;)

Also below are our new Bluebonnet shots, courtesy of Steven Leonard Photography! Like the new layout? :)

This was the first shot of the shoot, and my fav... except Jersey's ear was flipped...


So, this one is the favorite of all of us! :)

I liked this one, just not as much as the above one. This is the small one see on the top of my blog. :)

Free to be Me! ♥

I have been meaning to post this since New Years, but since I was without internet for over a month, this will have to do! :)

My entire life I struggled with my self image, especially my weight.
Here I am at 15, (I know, if I have self image issues, why would I dress like that? I don't know). I was a size 3, and I thought I as so fat! People said I was "fishing for compliments," but truly I hated my body. I truly thought I was fat, and Bulimia was never far from my mind. I never ever went without makeup because I was "so ugly."
Here I am at my high school graduation party, (17). I put on a little weight over the past 2 years, and I knew it! Bulimia was more and more tempting, but God helped me not succumb to that temptation. Over the next 3 years I would put on even more weight, and go up many dress sizes, until...
Here I am weeks before turning 22. I was at my heaviest, I stopped wearing makeup (a year prior), since my hair was brown I didn't pluck my eyebrows- but I looked fine, (now back blonde I have to because if not you can really tell), and do you know what? I was ok! God finally delivered me from my obsession with my body and self image. To this day, I rarely wear makeup, and it is so freeing! I only wear makeup when I want to, not to impress others, but just for fun! Because I loved myself inspite of my imperfections, God blessed me 2 months later...I started working out and eating healthier... not to lose weight this time, but to be healthy! Since I didn't have an idol about my self image, and since I was doing it for the right reasons, the weight just started falling off! This picture was taken about a week after I started working out and everyone could notice the results already, (very encouraging at the time)! :) I am now even thinner than in the picture when I was 17! I am soooo happy! My body is NO WHERE near perfect, but I am content with it, and that is all that matters!!! I suffered with terrible body image for over 20 years, and now I am free! Free to be me! :)

I felt convicted about coloring my hair, and that is why I kept it brown, (my natural color). God taught me yet another lesson in January. I decided to color my hair myself, and it wasn't perfect or anything, but $8 is better than $100! Since God had delivered me from my self image obsession, I was able to be content with what I thought was less than perfect hair. The above picture has my less than perfect hair color and my new less than perfect hair cut. The old me would be devastated if it wasn't perfect, but I learned it doesn't really matter! Also, when I was younger I felt defined by my hair color. I was born blonde, and when it started darkening, I started highlighting it. So after I went natural almost 2 years ago, I refused to frame pictures of me with my blonde hair, (except for wedding pics). :) I felt that the blonde me was one person,a and the brunette me was another. So when I colored it in January I realized that my hair color does not define me! I could change my hair color everyday if I wanted and I would still be me!

I hope all this encourages you if you have similar struggles! Let me leave you with this song by Francesca Batistelli, "Free to be Me"

‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender,
Got a couple rips in my jeans,
Try to fit the pieces together,
But perfection is my enemy!
On my own I'm so clumsy,
But on Your shoulders I can see:
I'm free to be me!

The Jerz

Today we took family pictures in Bluebonnets, and I will post them on Tuesday! I am soooo excited!

I am a little concerned about my little boy. He is 2 1/2 and has a very good amount of energy. Since Friday he has either matured or became ill. He still has his really playful moments, but he is spending way more time lounging around at my feet than usual. I don't know. I just pray that he matured, (cause that would be nice), and I would totally prefer that over him being sick. :)

The way he usually is... running at top speed towards Mommy... I always said if you had a steak and I left the room, he would ignore the steak and follow me... well, last week we tried it and sure enough he followed me... ahh, love! :)

My Little Ladies' Man

My little man is a Ladies' Man for sure!!! Just call him, Hef- he has so many girlfriends! However, he is still heart broken over his recent loss of his girlfriend, Moo.

Here are two of his other girlfriends...
Our next door neighbor is a 2 year old Great Dane named Daphne... see her looking over at Jersey... L♥VE! ;)

Jersey's newest girlfriend... Bella! They spent the day frolicking in the park, gazing into each others' eyes, and sniffing each others' butts! (ha, what else would they do, whisper sweet nothings? lol)!!!

He misses Moo so much, and he can't wait for the day Moo's Mommy is ready to bring home his newest girlfriend! :)

Practice Makes Perfect, Right? ;)

Ok, I have been ready to be a mom since, well, forever! I just love kids, and while I am waiting for my kids, I spend a lot of my free time with them. When I was growing up I babysat all the time, I still baby sit, my degree is in child development, and I used to work at an elementary school. So, yeah, I have spent a lot of time with kids. If I am with you, I will probably ask advice on a parenting subject, cause I am always taking notes in that area! :) Ju Ju had a stomach bug, so yesterday, her sister Gloria, (Glo Glo), got to come to my house for a special day! We ahd a blast! However, today Ju Ju is still sick, Glo is now sick too as well as their daddy, Bryan. Please pray for the Glass family to get better, and especially pray for Kristin, (mommy), to not get sick, and to have the strength and patience to be able to take care of all of them. I can only imagine how hard it must be right now... :(


UMMM, yeah... cutest thing in the world, right? This picture is soooo cute!! Glo looks so beautiful, and little Jerz cracks me up! (We were hanging out in the drive way in the back of the car.. she wanted to ride her bike and I was gonna sit there and watch, but she thought sitting in the back looked more fun! lol)
Our first attempt at a pic of them. We both thought his tongue out was pretty cute! The first picture puts this one to shame though! BIG TIME! :)

Did I ever mention that I have about 200 or so Beanie Babies for sale? Well, I do. Every time Paul sees this pile he says how he wants to just jump in it, so since Glo is little I said she could...


No Beanie Babies were harmed while taking this picture! ;)

Gloria wanted to take a pic of me and Jerz... not the best I have ever looked, but it is not everyday that we get a pic together, so it will have to do... he sure looks cute though! :)

Little Things

Little things can brighten our whole day, right? Well, imagine my excitement when I found out that our bank allows us to customize our debit cards! I was sooo jealous of the capital one commercials that allowed this, and little did I know that my bank did too! It is almost scary posting them, but I photo shopped the important info out. If for any reason you think this is still dangerous then let me know and I will delete this post. There is no way that I know of for someone to read through the photo shop... right?


Mine is on top, Paul's below...

Close up of mine... I love it... had to have The Jerz in there too, (our fav pic of him)!