Something about Mary

This blog was inspired by one of my good friends Amanda Pierce and a song that she sang at church last Sunday....I think the name of it was "Labor of Love"....don't quote me on that, I am probably wrong.

It really just got me thinking about Mary.....Jesus' mother. I had my first born this year and I cannot IMAGINE 1. having a baby when I was a teenager....out of wedlock or 2. having a baby in a barn.

I think people sometimes try to glamorize the story of Christ's birth. Even the song Away in a Manger....as beautiful as that song is....its a sloooooow, sooooooft, beautiful song about the night Christ was born.....apparently he didn't cry as a baby (I mean, I know we don't know this, but don't all babies cry...especially when they are first born...it clears the amniotic fluid out of their lungs).
I'm not really sure why we try to glamorize it, maybe to make it more appealing, or just because as humans we all like glamor. I don't know, but what I know is that Christ came to Earth to get messy.  Sin is ugly and    despicable in God's sight. Christ came to save us from our sin, to take on OUR sin, therefore He came to get messy FOR US because of His love.  I don't think it was at ALL like the beautiful picture we like to paint or the beautiful manger scenes we put on our mantles at Christmas to decorate our homes.

So, back to number 1. Having a baby when I was a teenager...out of wedlock.....
I saw something on the news last night about a show that is currently on MTV called "Teen Moms". It is about just what the title states, teenage girls that got pregnant by a high school boyfriend. It showed some of the clips from the show....basically all these girls were doing was struggling. Struggling to raise these babies with jobs that pay minimum wage, struggling to get support from their families and "baby daddy's", struggling to somehow finish high school and take care of their babies at the same time.....I mean can I say ROUGH!! I am married, have a job, have a wonderful family and support system and I will unashamedly admit that becoming a parent is the HARDEST job I have EVER tried to do (even though I LOVE Emory so much). At the end of the segment each one of the teen moms (including Bristol Palin) have started an advocacy group for abstinence....can you blame them? I am really proud that they are trying so hard to get their lives together and care for their babies. I really hope that teenagers will watch that show and decide NOT to have sex before they are married.

Back to Mary.... so there she was...a virgin....betrothed to Joseph...when the angel gives her the message that she is pregnant with a baby boy.....instead of acting like I probably would (what? why? how?), Mary simple states "If it is what the Lord wants."....that's AMAZING!!! She had so much faith!!
She trust God no matter what. It wasn't til later that Joseph had the dream and he believed her.
Flash forward to the LONG journey to Bethlehem....she probably felt 9 1/2 months pregnant if she is like most pregos I know...or anything like me in my last trimester. I don't know if Mary was anything like me, but anyone in my family will tell you that I am a planner...it's a blessing and a curse.  If it had been me I would have been like "Ok....we will go to Bethlehem, get a nice room so I can lay down, get some food, get some good rest in a cozy room" but OH NO....God had other plans (much like He does with me 99.9% of the time).  Instead, Mary has her first born in a dirty barn, no other family (like a mom) to hold her hand, pray for her, or just help her through labor. The smell of animal poop all around, blood from labor on the ground, no where to put her baby but in a food trough on some hay, wrapping him in scraps of cloth. I guarantee it wasn't pretty or glamorous. Praise God that from the beginning He has shown us that He came to get messy....to be involved in our crazy dramas of life...and to show us He is able to do anything!!!   PRAISE THE LORD!    It's Christmas!

Some things I love

These are some random things that I am thinking about this week that I love....

* That almost every ornament on our Christmas tree has a story...it's not a "designer" Christmas tree,  it's not perfect, but I LOVE the ornaments that sort of record our life's story for instance...the minnie and mickey mouse ornament that says "Just Married" that Jonathan and I got on our honeymoon, the North Augusta ornament that we got right before we moved to Tifton (North Augusta, our first home as a married couple), the one with the picture of Toby that reads "I've been good"....Toby..our first baby:), the fishing boat one that I got off of a spray of flowers at my granddaddy's funeral.....I miss him so much!,  the one of Santa riding on top of a crab that we got in Hilton Head this year when I was pregnant and we both ate our weight in crab meat....the laziest vacation we ever had, the one from NYC last year when we went with Jonathan's parents....we saw the Rockettes, Wicked, ate at Carmines, went to Times Square, the Statue of Liberty...all while freezing our booties off.....by the way...that trip almost didn't happen due to a "perfectly timed" snow storm...please catch the sarcasm here... that delayed our flights for almost two days. I especially love the latest edition to our Christmas tree...Baby's first Christmas ornament for our little Emory Faye..... yes, every ornament has a story.... a story that reminds us of God's healing, of God's goodness and mercy upon us, a story that shouts of how the Lord is able to take broken, sinful lives, and mend them together with His grace. Every time I look at my Christmas tree I can't help but thank God for His love. It is a constant reminder to me that Jesus did come so that we could indeed have a more abundant life. It is also a constant reminder for  me to put away selfishness and follow God wholeheartedly.

* I love watching Emory grow and discover something new every day. I am so honored to be her mother. She has started to roll over this week...PRECIOUS!! I love watching her reach for toys or my cell phone. I love how intently she studies everything. I LOVE all of her baby noises!!! I guess I just never imagined that I would experience this much Joy in my lifetime her on Earth. Family is truly a little piece of Heaven. Thank you Lord for every day that I get to spend with them.

*I am hopelessly in love with my husband.....Oh my goodness.....how in the world did I get so so blessed? He is WONDERFUL! There are just too many ways to count how wonderful He is. He shows me every single day a way that God loves me. He is so patient with me, so gentle, so loving, so very serving. I am so blessed to have such a handsome and amazing "other half"

*Our community group.....another way that I am blessed beyond words....Each week I look forward to the laughter that we share. I look forward to hearing about how their weeks have been and how we can lift one another up or minister to others.  They are an awesome group! I am looking forward to the next time we meet....they are the bomb!!!

*My Mama......where do I strart? It's my mom. My mom and I have DEFINITELY had our ups and downs...by no means do we have a perfect relationship, but over the past year I have just come to appreciate her so much. There is no doubt in my mind that she LOVES her children and grandchildren...so much that she is super sensitive about it...if she has a passion in life....family is it. She will drop anything and every thing to help one of us, she is always willing to answer the phone...no matter what time of the night it is. I just love my mama....there is no one like her

more things I love to come.......gotta run go take care of my sweet girl!

Random thoughts

Why do I blog?
1. Because I have got to do something with all the thoughts in my head
2. because I want to look back and remember these moments
3. Because I want my children, maybe even grandchildren to know me.

People that I wish would blog so I could read it:
1. My grandmother -she is in heaven now, but I wish she would have journaled or scrapbooked or something for herself. She made a baby book for me that I can look back on to remember how I was when I was little. I wish that she would have took time to write about herself. I have wondered so many times in life "What would Grandma say? What would Grandma do?" or "I wonder what she would think about this?"
2. Sometimes I wish my husband would blog...sure we live together, but sometimes we get so busy and so tired that we don't have time to talk.
3. Pop-Jonathan's grandfather: he is such an interesting man, a true man of God and it would be nice to read what he writes
4. Pastor Mckinley- I look up to him so much. It would be cool to know what he thinks about...not just sermons.....I think I am going to read his book...maybe that will be cool

I would like to shake the hand of the inventors of the following foods:
cheese, meatballs, pretty much anything Italian....I will add more to this later

Thoughts today: If someone were to sneak into my house while I am not at home, what would they think  that I think is important?
Hopefully they would know that
1. I love and am a servant of Christ
2. That my number one joy in life is loving God and caring for my family
3. That I strive to be a generous giver and love to care for the needy
This is a process that God is still working in me to accomplish

I hate to get on my soapbox here, but this morning I saw a story on TV about a girl who sustained a C6 spinal cord injury while she was horsing around at her bachelorette party. It was really sad, but she seems to be recovering well.  It showed that she is using adaptive equipment for eating and is able to do alot of things for herself. Meredith on the Today show asked her how her "Physical Therapy" was going.....thats when I got mad!! I thought...UGH!!!! why do PTs get all the credit when more than likely an OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST is busting their butt to help this girl. It ticked me off. I mean, I know that it really doesn't matter who gets the credit I guess, but sometimes it would be nice to know that my profession is recognized for the great things it helps people do. Ok, on to something else...

I LOVE going home for the holidays. I have been spending the whole morning packing up to head to Tifton...then to Macon for Thanksgiving. I have been singing "Oh there's no place like home for the holidays" to Emory all morning (she is probably sick of it). I just get so excited about seeing family, eating good food, and getting to relax with everyone for a couple days. It is going to be so fun!!

HS at work

Ok not much time to chat today...cleaning house, doing laundry, taking care of baby Emory (joy of my life:))
So I was getting Emory settled in for a nap this morning and we always read a Bible story before I put her down. She has a little storybook Bible that is PRECIOUS!! It shows how every story in the Old Testament points to Jesus, I LOVE IT!!
So we read a story every day and today's story was about Moses...ordinary...speech impediment Moses.
He's out there minding his own business, tending sheep or farming (I can't remember his occupation) when out of nowhere he sees this bush that is burning but not consumed ( weird right?). Moses walks over to the bush...gets a message from God and BAM!! Just like that his life is transformed. If you want to know the rest, just read Exodus.
It really got me thinking about what happened yesterday. I thought it was crazy, but I really think that it is just how our God works. I mean we have enough examples of it in scripture. If it was all news headlines, it would probably read like this (humor me here)......Virgin Gives Birth to Son......Nobody(Gideon) Wins the Battle......Midget Taxcollector (Zaccheus) Returns the Funds....and so forth and so on. It really makes me wonder....why do I deny the power of the holy spirit (HS) in my life? How come every time I feel like God is speaking to me I brush it off as "I must just be crazy"?  I decided that I am resolving to stand firm. I am going to go forth in full confidence that God is able to speak in and through me to reach the lost for Him. Sure..., most days I feel like a nobody. Like, why would such a wonderful, infinite God choose to use someone like me? But ya know what.....I AM HIS!! PRAISE GOD I AM HIS!!!...and when He speaks to me, I pray for the courage to walk in obedience.
So Tony....I am praying for your salvation daily and I think I am suppose to give you a copy of Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.

Why Looneykris?

Ok so this is pretty out of character for me. Even though I am an extrovert, I still consider myself a pretty private person. My oldest sister encouraged me to start a blog, and like most of her advice, I am doing it. She is older and wiser than I am so I figured...what the hey? Sounds fun...so here it goes

Why Looneykris?
So I had to go to Athens GA this morning for a class that I was registered for with Summit Professional Education Services. I have to get twelve credits a year to keep my Occupational Therapy license. I already have 6 and this class I was going to was going to give me the rest of the credits I need before the year has ended. So, I got up at 4am, left the house at 5:30 and headed to Athens. I got there at 7:30 and went to the course. I was there for about 15 minutes when this lady came in and told us that the instructor was not able to make it today so the course is going to be rescheduled....BUMMER right? "Ok" I thought..."How can I make the most of this? My husband is at home with my 4 month old and I am hungry." Then I remembered that my sweet husband told me about this really good restaurant called Five Star Day in downtown Athens. I had also passed this restaurant on the way into town. So, I decided to go. I took my prayer journal and Bible in so that as I ate, hopefully I would get some reading done...."Finally some alone time" I thought.
I placed my order, a to go order for my husband, and sat at the table nearest to the window.  As I was waiting for my order, I began to write in my prayer journal..praying for my relationship with my parents (it was a crazy weekend), praying for my sweet baby girl to feel better (she has a right ear infection), and just praying in general for God's will to be done in our lives, for His leadership, His guidance etc.  I had to stop when my food came. Oh man!!! Those were the best scrambled eggs EVER!!! Spinach, bacon, and goat cheese...what more could I ask for? At this point I looked around and noticed I was the only person in the restaurant. The owner (and cook) for the restaurant was standing at the counter so I decided to complement her on the food. "These eggs are awesome." I said. Ok...I am going to get to the point here and shorten this up a bit...To make a long story short, the owner and I ended up getting into a normal conversation about different chefs. I got the recipe for the eggs I had eaten and thanked her for giving it to me. She was a nice girl.. I finished up my meal and continued to write in my journal. Just then I got the overwhelming feeling that I was suppose to pray with this chick. "What God?" I was thinking.."That is just crazy. No way man. Sorry." I then got my dirty dishes off the table, took them to the owner, thanked her for the meal, said "God bless You," turned around and walked out the door.  Then it hit me again...."Pray with her" is what I felt like God was saying in my heart. So, I swallowed my pride and went back into the restaurant. At this point I was still the only customer in there and the owner was wiping down the table where I had sat. "I know this may sound crazy," I said, "but I feel like I am suppose to pray with you." she looked at me like I was crazy (which is totally understandable). I continued anyway..."Is it ok if I pray with you?" She sighed and then told me that she doesn't believe like that...basically she was saying (no you crazy person). I then said "Ok that is ok...God bless you any way" and then I left...for good this time.  As I walked out I got so so mad!!! "Thanks God." I thought. "Now I look like a complete looney toon!" I felt like one of those crazy people you see standing on the sidewalk preaching to themselves. "UGH!!!" I told God. " I can't believe you made me do that!!" Then is hit me....she (Tony) has rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is my job as a servant of Christ to share Him with her...even if I look like a complete idiot. "Ok Lord.....I am sorry for my pride....you humbled yourself, came down to Earth, died for us (essentially made yourself look like a lunatic) and here I am complaining. God please forgive me of my pride, of my selfishness, of my ignorance. I live for you now and that means that I will walk in obedience to you even if it makes me look crazy."
So there you have it....why Looneykris (sort of like Ludakris the rapper)...I thought it was catchy....corny  I know, but it's ok....I'm crazy anyway right?
 So I am going to start praying for Tony...I think God is drawing her to himself... I pray that God would send someone into her life to share the gospel with her...someone that she will listen to. I pray that God would break down and destroy whatever it is that is making her reject him i.e...doubt, pride..etc.
I have to go back to Athens in a couple weeks....I am going to pray and see if God wants me to go back there.....It will be such a shame if He says no because those eggs were so incredibly delicious!!!