Pumpkin Barn Fun

Fall. Its my favorite season of them all. Leaves changing color, cool weather, good food, decorations, bon fires, pumpkin spice lattes. Actually pumpkin anything and everything! Its not only fun eating them, its also fun picking them out. 

We chose a rather warm fall day to go to the Pumpkin Barn this year and it was Norah's first trip. I'm so glad that Aunt Erin and Harper were able to join us!

Meet Norah Rae

Its been a while...  But it has been good, real good. On April 22, 2014 we met our sweet girl. Weighing in at 9 lbs and 21inches long. It has been such a joy and honor to get to know my little girl these past 15 weeks. I LOVE being a Mommy!

 Here are just a couple pictures that I took of her on her 3month birthday.

We have one sweet, happy baby girl. She is full of smiles and we are starting to hear some giggles!

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who knows?

Guess what... it's Friday! And that means well, 1. its the weekend people! And secondly, its time for She Shares Truth! Also totally deserving of an exclamation point ;). If you didn't get a chance to read my post last Friday over Jonah 1&2 then check it out, here . I technically only touched on Jonah 1 but that is where my heart was at the time.

 This week is over Jonah 3&4.

In Jonah 3 the chapter begins with our Father directing Jonah to Nineveh once again. And this time Jonah is sure to listen. He goes in shouting 

"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

and the Ninevites believed God. God amazes me. A people that Jonah thought so undeserving and evil that he would literally run in the opposite direction and risk crossing a sea to avoid. They believed, and each of them from the greatest of them to the least of them (vs.5) put on sackcloth and fasted. Their eyes were opened to their own sin. They could see, and they mourned.  I love in vs. 9 - part of the kings proclamation - where he says, "who knows?" (hint hint at the title of this post). He wasn't sure that even after every man covering in sackcloth, fasting, and turning away from their sins that God would spare them then. He had already after all, sent Jonah to tell them that they would be overthrown. But God, gracious and mighty saw what they did. He saw their hearts. and he relented of the disaster he had said that he would do to them.

We then find Jonah angry and pouting in chapter 4. He did not want the Ninevites to be forgiven. He didn't think that they deserved it. He even says that He knew that is what would happen and that is why he tucked his tail and headed for Tarshish (vs.2).  He was so angry about this that he asked God to take his life (vs.3)! So Jonah decided he would go and sit outside of the city in order to see what happened. God then appoints a plant to come and shade Jonah- and boy, was Jonah happy. But when dawn comes the next day the plant gets eaten up by a worm (props to God - vs. 7). After sitting in the scorching heat Jonah tells God that it is better for him (Jonah) to die. And God's response? 

"Do you do well to be angry for the plant?... You pity

the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make

it grow, which came into being in a night and perished

in a night. 

And, should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which

there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their

right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"

(vs 9-11)

I see myself in this story. I think I have always looked at the Ninevites as violent and cruel, totally separate from myself. Yes, they were violent and cruel. And so am I. I may not physically be.. but this heart rages war. I am so thankful, that God in his grace has given me the eyes to see, and has spared me, just as He did the Ninevites. But not only did he just spare the Ninevites, as he tenderly parents Jonah in chapter 4, He reveals his love for them! 

I read Jonah 4 and it kind of flusters me. I can't help but to think "What the heck Jonah? How could you be so selfish?" Well, hello self! I'm pretty sure that is all I have to say. There are a number of times that I come angry and pouting to God. He tenderly (sometimes with a little harder of a pat on the behind) parents me, shows me my own heart,  and forgives. What a gracious, just, and loving God I have!

Check out my friend, Alexa's post on Jonah 3&4!

And more, from another sister at She Shares Truth. 

Live in Reverence: Jonah 1 - She Shares Truth

 Challenge.
 Have you had anything challenge you lately?
 Everyday (I should probably say most days), I join a group of women who are digging into the Word of God together. We have been challenged. We are to share what God has been teaching us every Friday based upon a scripture given to us to study and meditate upon throughout the week, and that scripture is given to us each Monday. Please join us at She Reads Truth ! And if you would also like to join in on the challenge just click on the picture below to find out more details.

This challenge started two weeks ago and I am just joining in. So really... don't feel like its to late to start!

Jonah 1

I think most of us have heard this story. You know, the story of Jonah and the big fish. But what I love about God's Word is that it is not just a book of true stories or a book about who we are. It is a book written about Jesus Christ. You can see where these events parallel. Jonah, in the belly of a fish for 3 days and then the fish spits him out. Jesus in the tomb for 3 days and then raised back to life.

But two places in Jonah 1 that really stick out to me are Jonah 1:10 & Jonah 1:16
         

Jonah 1:10

"Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said 

to him, 'What is this that you have done!' For the men 

knew that he was fleeing from the presence 

of the Lord, because he had told them."

Jonah 1:16

"Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and

they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows."

(emphasis mine)

When we hear this story, this true event. It is easy to be taken away by this amazing and mind blowing event in history. But for some reason these two verses have stuck out to me this week. This wasn't a fear of being harmed or a fear of their state. After all by Jonah 1:16 these men have already thrown Jonah into the sea, and it has calmed. This fear is a reverence for God Almighty!
Let me give you Merriam-Webster's definition of reverence.
1. honor or respect felt or shown; deference; especially: profound adoring awed respect.

I am ashamed to say that I don't find myself often enough in reverence of my Almighty God. The same God who calmed those seas, had a giant fish swallow Jonah, and who also raised Jesus from the dead. I think I get distracted by things of this world, daily things that I need to do or things that are going on around me.
My challenge for you today, for myself, is this: live in the moment.  Be aware of the gifts that God is giving you today and be in reverence of who He is! And then... start again tomorrow.

Baby Bedding

    When I first started looking into baby bedding for our little Norah, I found a lot of cute things. I also noticed the price tag on that really cute room decor. My favorites of course were in the $350.00 range. Ouch!  I don't know if $350.00 for baby bedding sounds like a lot of money to you (and no judgement if you spent that on your baby's bedding). But this is our first little one and I was a little bit surprised at such a large price tag for such little things. So, I decided that I (with the help of my Grandmother) could make Norah's bedding. 

Let's be honest here, my Grandmother did everything. If you can sew a straight stitch, you can make this skirt. My Grandmother has many more years experience at her sewing machine than I do mine and her straight stitch is much straighter than mine. I followed her around that entire afternoon, told her how I wanted the skirt made and told her measurements that I had gathered before heading to her house,  and watched, and obviously took pictures. 

 I looked at a lot of tutorials to see how I wanted to make Norah's bedding and decided on a straight bed skirt. I also wanted something that would adjust easily for when we move her bed to a lower position. This is the link for the tutorial that I used to make her bed skirt.

I decided to make Norah's sheets and cover for her changing pad as well. I used the same material from the bed skirt for the changing pad cover, and obviously a yellow fabric for the sheets. You can go here for the changing pad tutorial, and you can go here for the tutorial to make a fitted sheet. They are very close to being the exact same just with different measurements. 

We are pretty much baby ready! I'm not going to show you pictures of her entire room, at least not right now. We do have a few finishing touches to add. But we will see if I get around to showing you the rest :).

I love that I was able to make Norah's bedding with my Grandmother - Norah's great Grandmother. She is such a blessed girl to have not 1 but 6 of her great-grandparents. That seems such a rare gift these days. And we are so thankful for that gift!

Sweet Cheeks

              Time has flown. I can not believe it is March. My daughters due date is next month. I anxiously await her arrival and yet I am also thankful for the time I have before she gets here. Time to  be pregnant, to have baby showers, to finish getting her room together, have a car seat installed, and to enjoy this time that I have with my husband. Just the two of us, after all this will be the last time it is just the two of us. 
             However, on the anxious side I am ready to see that sweet face! Technology is amazing these days (yes, I do realize I just sounded 80). I am so thankful we were able to get a little preview of what she looks like. Just let me show you how sweet she is...

This little girl loves to have her hands in her face, and was sucking the entire time we had the ultrasound. I can't wait to kiss those sweet cheeks! What a blessing she is already. 

"Behold, children are a heritage from The Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate." - Psalm 127:3-5