Contentment

I have been reading in the Old Testament as part of my morning time with the Lord. I am always struck with how easily the Israelites turned away from God to worship other gods. It always makes me wonder how the Israelites could forsake the God who rescued them out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, gave them manna from heaven to eat, etc. I have realized in my own life that I do the very same thing. I allow myself to let the things of the world invade my heart and become my idol instead of God.
One thing I have always struggled with is contentment. I am not a person who enjoys just being home all day all the time, and I am a stay-at-home mom. I like to be able to take Karis to lunch, go shopping (which most of the time I don't buy anything, I just like to look), work out, and many other things. It just always seems that the things I like to do cost money. The way I spend money sometimes is selfish and not pleasing to God.
In Hebrews 13:5: Paul writes,"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."" God has promised to never leave or forsake me, WOW! Just that sentence should be enough to make me content daily in what I have and don't have. I need to be reminded daily of what a great sinner I am. One thing I have taught Karis to say after she is disciplined is, "I am a sinner, and I need a Savior." It is so good to be reminded that I too am a sinner, and I need a Savior. Christ is all we need to be content, I am thankful that the Lord has reminded me of this by convicting me of my sin of discontentment.
I hope this wasn't confusing, just a little look into my personal heart with all God is teaching me this week.

We are still alive!

Karis and I got to experience her first time of throwing up. Karis got to experience the nature of the beast, and I got to watch her plead with me "no more Mommy." She woke up from her nap on Saturday with throw up all over her, the bed, the floor, etc. Thank goodness Justin was home to clean it up, I don't do well with throw up. For the next four hours Karis threw up about every 30 minutes. Poor thing, it was so sad watching her sad little face. We spent most of the night awake trying to stay as far away from Justin as possible, since he had to preach on Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon, Karis was feeling much more like herself. I was glad to have my girl back. It is hard to watch your two year old be sick and not really be able to do anything but hold them.
On Monday night, I started feeling bad and all day yesterday I was sick. I am praying that Justin doesn't get the stomach bug. Hopefully I kept him away from Karis and I enough that he won't get it. We are fortunate that it only lasted about 6 hours each. Being pregnant and sick, you forget how much you just want to take an Advil!
Thank you Carol for bringing dinner and Gatorade for us. Thank you Denise for coming and getting Karis yesterday so I could rest. Our church family is such a blessing to us. We love you all very much.

Books, Books, & More Books

A few Mondays' ago, on Justin's day off, we took Karis to the library. I have taken her a few times before, but since Justin loves books so much, he wanted to take her. Her is a picture chronicle of our experience.

Karis is checking out the books deciding which one she wants.

She picks a Curious George book. We sometimes watch Curious George on TV in the mornings. By the way, the watch that she is wearing is her "super, spy watch" from Arby's. It came with her food. She wears it just about everywhere.

Karis and Mommy are reading Clifford books.

Karis found the felt board. She was waiting to see if it was okay to put the pictures on the felt board.

She is putting the farm on the felt board. Karis doesn't realize that the animals are in the air, she really thinks that "pigs can fly!"

We had a wonderful trip to the library. Karis loves to read books just as much as her daddy does. I am thankful for that.

Justified by Faith: Galatians 2:11-16

Justin is preaching through the book of Galatians. I will try to post notes every week, but I am training Karis to sit in church, so we will see if I can take notes.

1. The conflict b/t Paul & Peter wasn't permanent.
2. If an apostle like Peter can fall into sin by distorting the gospel, so can we.

5 steps that led to the rebuke of Peter from Paul:
1. Peter comes to Antioch & eats with Gentiles.
(strict Jews don't eat with Gentiles or what Gentiles eat)
2. Some men came from Jerusalem claiming to be from James.
3. In fear, Peter withdraws from fellowship with the Gentiles.
(By withdrawing Peter's implying Gentiles need something else, he's undermining the gospel.
4. Many others including Barnabas followed Peter into this sin.
(ours sins can lead others astray)
5. Paul rebukes Peter publicly.

Application:
I. It is not enough to believe the gospel, we must also live in sync with the gospel.
(Fearing man, hypocrisy, and legalism are out of step with the gospel.)
II. We must confront gospel destroying behavior.

4 Reflections on confronting:
1. It is not our preference to confront.
2. Where the gospel is at stake nothing is more important.
3. Not every dispute over doctrine or preferences warrants a rebuke.
4. Standing for the gospel can be lonely business.

Is there anything in my life that is out of sync with the gospel?

Take me out to the Ballgame!

Friday night, Justin, Karis, and I went to a minor league game. We took Karis for to her first baseball game to watch the Carolina Mudcats. It was a lot of fun, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Karis got to eat her first hot dog with a bun. She was very excited about eating a hot dog like this until the bread started getting stuck in the roof of her mouth. After a few bites, she was on to my food, chicken tenders and fries. I then had to eat the rest of her hot dog, which I might add was pretty good.

Justin enjoyed his hot dog and teaching Karis about his favorite sport to play and watch. What a face, the bread is probably stuck in her teeth!

We made it to five innings before Karis started getting restless. I think it was hard for her to follow the ball. Mommy was also getting tired because the game didn't start until 7:15.

It was a very fun family night. We can't wait to take her again with some of our friends and their children.

Baby Update: 12 weeks

Karis and I went to my 12 week dr. appointment yesterday. It was a new experience for her. She had to do everything that mommy did, including listening to her belly. We heard the heart beat and it was very strong. I lost 2 pounds since my last visit, but my blood pressure was much better. Everything else was fine, and we go back in five weeks to have an ultrasound. We will hopefully get to see what we are having.