Something that occured to me....

This truth, that I have known for a long time, presented itself in a very practical way recently. There are people out here who are blatantly against God. Satan has a hold on them and does his dirty work through them...specifically I am thinking about abortionists right now. Here's the thing, Satan doesn't care about them at all, even though they are doing his work. Satan instead tempts other people who are prolife to do bad things like bomb clinics and try to hurt these abortionists, which is just has wrong as abortion. He wants to kill Chrisitians so they can't serve the Lord and continue spreading the gospel and he wants to kill the lost before they get saved so they spend eternity being as tortured and miserable as he is. Satan is out for blood. He doesn't care if you are doing his dirty deeds or not. Now here is God who loves us so much that He sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. That's amazing love! He doesn't want any of us to die without knowing him as our personal savior. Salvation is a free gift He offers to anyone and everyone who will just accept it. No strings attached. "Amazing love, how can it be, that you my king would die for me? Amazing love I know it's true, and it's my joy to honor you, in all I do, I honor you."

Me: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I am a complex person, always have been. I remember when I was first getting to my husband he told me that he is able to figure out people pretty easily but after 6 years of being together he now tells me that in some ways he still doesn't have me figured out. Oh don't get me wrong, he definitely knows me like nobody else does and there isn't a thing about myself and my life that he doesn't know well. He just can't figure out my moods! I'm very moody and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just don't fit into any prefabricated mold this world tries to put people into. For instance some have classified me as shy or quiet, but if you get me with people that I am comfortable with I'm not at all shy. Put me in a group of people that I am not comfortable with or a group of complete strangers and yes I tend to go into my shell of quietness. Some people have classified me as a county girl because I grew up in the country and don't have much big city experience. While I am not in love with big metropolises and when in one feel very out of place and lost, I do NOT enjoy camping and hunting and am quite fearful of bugs and all the creepy crawlies the county has to offer. I love to shop and go to restaurants and plays and ballets so in that way I prefer the city, but I also love to be outside on a spring or fall day and hear the birds chirping, see the brilliant blue sky and be "a million miles" away from any traffic or modern noises, so in that way I prefer the country. I hate apartment or townhouse living. Give me a home on some substantial acreage any day of the week! So I see myself as someone who definitely enjoys visiting the city but I always want my home to be in the country! I adore cooking and baking! It is therapeutic and rewarding for me to spend time in the kitchen making delicious meals. I wish I had more friends who were daring and would come to dinner parties and try new different dishes. Alas, most of my friends and family like tried and true meals. At least I have a husband who enjoys trying new things and loves for me to test out new recipes on him. I would love to write my own cookbook one day. Along those same lines, I have always had a passion for writing. I can best express myself through written or typed words. People can best get to know me, the real me, through what I write. This is why I prefer email or snail mail to phone calls! I dream of having some of my writings published one day. I think I have a knack for decorating. If I had finished college I would have gotten my degree in interior decorating, but my deepest desire and dream was always to be a wife and stay at home mom, it was NEVER to go to college. (And of course my teachers and principle in high school thought I was nuts, because I was a straight A 4.0 student my whole life. While in college I was on the presidents list with a 4.0. Learning has never been difficult for me but has also never been my passion.) I get the redecorating bug at least twice a year and think of all the ways I would love to redecorate my home. I hate and love parties. I hate parties where I don't know everyone and I do mean everyone. I LOVE parties with my friends or family and would love to entertain in our home about once a month if it were possible. I love love love my friends. I am an only child and therefore don't have siblings, so my closest friends are like siblings to me. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for them and I always worry that they don't know what they truly mean to me. I put alot of importance on quality friendships, not quantity. I've always been that way, that is why my best friend in the whole world and I have been friends since we were in 6th grade. Except for that one year, we have always lived 2-3 hours apart, but that has never hindered our friendship. I love snow! I'm like a little child whenever winter comes and hope for snow every single day. I love the sound of peace that snows brings with it and the beauty of snow blanketed scenery. We do not get nearly enough snow in Virginia anymore which makes me very sad. I love my children with a love that can't be described. It must be the closest thing to the love God has for us that I have ever experienced. So unconditional and accepting and protective. My husband is my dream come true, literally and figuratively. I have known since a young age, around 10, that God had a very special man out there for picked out just for me. I knew he was incredible and amazing and my whole teen years were spent looking forward to the day i would meet him. (I met him at 18 and married him at 19.) There aren't enough words or time to express how much I love this man. When I was 16 I had a dream that I recorded in my journal...my dream was that I the man I was meant to marry was named Jonathan...I married Jonathan Melton! (I didn't remember this dream or writing it down until 2 years after we were married when I stumbled across the old journal!) I like simplicity. I crave it actually. I hate this hurried paper plate society we live in today. We are constantly discarding the old for something new and "improved". I want my kids to be kids...to enjoy their childhood without being so involved and busy with "things" that they miss out on the freedom and carefree days of childhood. I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 5 years old. I remember the day very clearly! Since then I have strived to live a life that is honoring to Him. My relationship with the Lord is what keeps me going. I pray that my kids will accept Him at an early age and build their own personal relationship with HIm too! I could go on forever, but my baby girl is awake now so I must wrap this up. I hope this gave you a little insight into who I am and what i am about!

Tired of being tired

Have you ever heard the saying "Sick and tired of being sick and tired"? Well that is how I feel! We managed to make it through the holidays without anyone in this house getting sick and for that I am so thankful. Now, though, someone in this house has been sick for 2 weeks. It started with Emma getting a tummy bug and fever. As soon as she gets over that Aden gets a really bad cold with a fever and it's been a week since he came down with it and he still has a runny nose and cough. Tuesday I came down with an intestinal virus and felt horrible all day. Let me tell you, taking care of two little ones while you are sick is extremely difficult and exhausting. I am over that bug, but still feel weak, exhausted and nauseated off and on. Well to top it off yesterday Emma came down with that bad cold Aden has been suffering with:( Poor little girl has been running a fever of 100-101 and just looks plain miserable. Adens' birthday party is this weekend and I am just praying we all get better by then. I just want to have some energy and feel good again!

Lessons I've Learned From My Kids

I never thought, before becoming a parent, that my children would teach me as many things as they already have. Children have a way of unknowingly showing us some of life's most valuable lessons.

I remember one time when Aden was 2 years old and I was pregnant with Emma, we were headed into town and Aden was screaming about wanting to go to Chick Fil A. We had already explained to him that we were going to go there after we stopped at a few other places. He refused hear us beyond the fact that we weren't going to Chick Fil A at that exact moment. Well suddenly it was like God has smacked me in the face with a realization...How often do we "scream" at God because we aren't getting what we want when we want it, when all along God has something that we will truly be blessed with in store, but we have to go through the trials to get there? It was like God was telling me, "You know what you have planned for Aden, you know it's good, but he just isn't listening. You just wish he would quiet down and listen to you and trust that you are going to do what you told him you would do. Well that's how I feel when you are too busy worrying about this and that and not trusting me to always take care of you. I am your Heavenly Father and I always have what's best for you planned out, in my time. All you need to do is trust me."

My children have taught me that the things that are most precious and important in life aren't things you can buy. They are things such as taking my kids to the park when my house is in disarray, taking the extra time to let Emma help me unload the dishwasher while we sing songs together, letting Aden help me bake cookies then not getting upset with him when he sneaks 7 of them while i am rocking Emma! It's letting my kids make messes and not getting upset when they spill or break something. It's reading Aden one more book at bedtime just because. It's rocking Emma to sleep before nap time even though it might spoil her. It's turning off my music and singing kids songs all the way to town and back. It's big hugs from Aden and open mouth kisses from Emma. It's Jon taking time to slip his fingers in mine while we hurry on our way somewhere. It's taking time to say I Love You and MEAN IT! It's taking time to laugh at myself. It's making those memories that will last forever and can never be taken away!

2008 Years End

This year started out with Jonathan and I deciding to get our house ready to put on the market. So in March Jon took some time off and painted the whole exterior of the house. We put in some new appliances and cleaned and decluttered this house from top to bottom. During the process of finding a Realtor we found the house of our (realistic) dreams. We both "fell hard" for this house and could just picture ourselves in by Christmas of this year. Alas, this was not God's plan for us. That house sold rather quickly and then the economy really started falling apart and we decided due to impending recession and house prices dropping quickly we would not try to sell the house this year. I can't say that I wasn't very disappointed that our plan was not God's plan. So we are still in the same house that we purchased in July 2004. We both try very hard to be content with where we are because it is a nice home and has served all of our needs wonderfully. We're just ready for something that will give us some elbow room because we always feel cramped in our current home. We are praying 2009 will be the year God decides to move us!

This summer Aden took swimming lessons for the first time and although he didn't learn to swim, he did learn how to hold his breath under water, which is a big plus! Also this summer Jonathan turned the big 30! It's weird to think that I am now the age he was (24) when we met and started dating and he has officially left his 20's. I have been dealing with mortality and the process of life a lot this year. It's weird for me to think that this upcoming year I will be the age my mom was when she had me. It's weird for me to think that Aden is almost 4 and Emma is 14 months already and that we are celebrating our 5th anniversary on January 3rd. It's all so strange to me because it literally feels like yesterday that I was 18 and meeting Jon for the first time. It really makes me appreciate the simple things in life and it is helping me learn to let go of the things that are not truly important. These young years with my children are so fleeting and I want to savor each day to the fullest!

A good friend of mine, Shelly, and I prayed about starting up a mom's Bible study this year. I have always had a passion for helping other women and sharing God's Word with them, so I knew this was clearly an opportunity from the Lord. In September we started "A Moment For Mom's" Bible study with 6 women. It has been such a blessing to me, to fellowship with these women, study the scriptures in order to prepare the lessons and really feel like God has been using me for a purpose I have felt called to since I was a young teenager! I pray God will continue to use me in 2009!

Our baby girl Emma turned 1 on October 4th this year. We celebrated with a big cookout party with all the people who had been apart of her first 12 months of life. I realized at this gathering that God has blessed us with some very good Christian friends, all of whom I am very grateful. Now Emma is walking, saying a few words and getting into everything she possibly can! It's definitely been a year of firsts, as we watched her roll over in February, sit up soon there after, pull up and crawl in the summer, go from formula, to baby food,to table food, and walk in October. That first year of life hold so much change and growth and if you blink it's over...Also in October we went to the Outer Banks for 4 days. The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. The kids, especially Aden, were overly excited and energized the whole time but they both did wonderfully. We can't wait go back in 2009!

In November my best friend since 6th grade, Julianna, got married! Since I am an only child it was the first time I had really experienced the closest thing to what it would be like to have a sibling get married. Honestly it was hard for me because i had to face that things would change in our friendship and I am not too good at change. She and I have always had a 2-3 hour distance between us but have always been able to get together 6+ times a year because one or both of us weren't tied down with responsibilities. Even after I got married and had kids, I was a stay at home mom and she only worked part time so on some of her week days off she would drive down and spend the day with me. I have always loved her visits and our times together. I realized when she got married that, first off she would be moving to Maryland, which would make it a 3-4 hour distance between us, second she would be working full time, and third she had a husband to spend her free time with! It wasn't like she could just take off on the weekends to come see me, because married couples usually have stuff going on during the weekends. And to top it off, I knew she would have a new best friend, Jason, her husband, the man with whom she would share the rest of her life. I've come to realize that even though our friendship went through a change, it doesn't mean we wont' still be close friends. We just have to do things differently:)

Christmas was a whirlwind this year! We did our traditional things, having a Christmas party with friends, building a gingerbread house, driving around to see lights, taking the kids to see Santa, going to my parents for Christmas Eve and Jon's family for Christmas afternoon and evening. I was very excited and surprised when Jon presented me with the journey diamond necklace I have been wanting for awhile now! The kids got tons of new fun toys and we spent a whole day getting their things organized and put away. All in all it was a very good Christmas, just went by too fast.

My hopes for this upcoming year is that God would move us into a new bigger house, Jon will do well at going back to college (he's going back for his Bachelors!!), that Jon's current job will continue to provide for us and that Jon will continue to do well at it and enjoy it, that God will use both Jon and I in many ways throughout the year, that I will be a more patient mom, and a more doting wife, and that I will really enjoy each moment of 2009!