Slow and Fast....

The title of this blog is how I feel life is going right now. Each day seems slow, and if I think too much, I feel like I still have a long way to go until the birth of our baby. But at the same time I look back and feel like time has gone by fast and Linnea will be here before we know it!! I have a feeling I am going to get a lot bigger, but trying not to dread it as I already feel so uncomfortable and exhausted!! Praise the Lord this is temporary...and I know it will be totally worth it (as I have heard from EVERY mommy I know!).

Just to catch you up a little, we had a fun fourth of July with our family and another couple from church. We played some games, had some yummy food, and ended it with some pretty good fireworks!

Linnea still LOVES to move and exercise (Aaron can tell you she was probably doing jumping jacks inside earlier today!! She must have been so excited today was Sunday!

Monday night was my baby shower, which was an incredibly sweet blessing from the Lord. The ladies that threw it did a beautiful job, and my sister-in-law put some hard work into making YUMMY cakes that were beautiful. Thanks Kimiko! And I have to tell you an example of a servant in the body of Christ...a woman who just became a member of our church who I hadn't really even met made TONS of beautiful tarts for my shower! She also made Linnea a huge beautiful baby blanket!! All this from a woman who I officially met AT my shower! What a blessing and an example of love and service in the body of Christ. I'm looking forward to getting to know her more! :)

I was greatly encouraged by the many women who came to shower their love and gifts upon our family. The living room was packed and there was plenty of laughter and fun!
I can't say enough how blessed I felt and thankful to the Lord for the body of Christ!

I put some pictures below which were taken with our new camera! It was our "baby" gift from Aaron's parents so we send lots of pictures and videos to them!!! And boy are we grateful! Thanks mom and dad!!

It's funny talking so much about gifts and things after hearing our sermon tonight about materialism. It was a GREAT reminder of where material things should fall on the importance list, and it's pretty much at the bottom. Material things should never move our heart away from the Lord...they should be used for the Lord since they are from the Lord. Material things...whether it be an abundance or lack of...should never determine our contentment. Our contentment lies in the Lord, who is ALWAYS good and never changing...therefore we have reason to always be content! It is my prayer that I never get caught up in worldly possessions, but seek to serve the Lord with what he has given me by serving others.

" Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."
1 Timothy 6:6-8

Aaron and I at the beach!

A checkup...and a place I am all too familiar with! :) At least I always get to hear my daughter's heartbeat. That is my favorite part!!

The 4th of July. Yes...I think it's a little awkward to be holding my stomach :P

The beautiful dessert table at my shower
This one is blurry, but it gives you an idea of the full house! All those kids on the floor are from one family who also brought friends!! haha.
Count your many blessings!!....and blankets....
Kimiko and Hannah...too cute to pass up!

Apparently she likes to stick the body of her ducky in her mouth when she takes a bath!
Also, I want to say that God is SO good and for those of you who don't know (which is probably only a couple of you)...we officially have two beautiful new nephews!! My sister and her husband just arrived home on Friday from Ethiopia with the newest additions to the family. We are overjoyed at the AMAZING work God has done and can't wait to meet these precious boys!! Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and GREAT goodness!! If you want to see some pics, just click on the blog "A New State of Mind" at the top right of this page, or to my sister's blog, "Just the Clay".

In This You GREATLY Rejoice

Well...I promised I would post a picture of Linnea inside my tummy and outside my tummy, so here they are! Sorry about the magnets...I took a picture of the ultrasound picture while it was on the fridge :) As you can see, that is her blurry face (I think she looks like a Parker :)...well, ok...I guess you can't really tell) and her foot is covering her mouth and nose. If you look closely, you can see what I think are three of her fingers below what I think is the umbilical cord.

32 Weeks Old!

This was taken in March...lol, and I thought I had a belly THEN!

Now THIS is a belly! :) 7 more weeks (give or take some) to go!

God has been SO gracious in sustaining me! I don't usually sleep well, so it's quite easy to start my day off somewhat depressed after a long night of tossing and turning...BUT, I know that is NOT how I am to start my days nor continue in them. I decided to take a little detour from Romans yesterday morning, and read in 1 Peter. This is what the Lord reminded me of!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

Should the salvation of my soul not cause me to rejoice EVERY morning!? And even every moment I lie awake at night?? He saved ME according to his great mercy, and I have so much hope! Who am I to wake up and start complaining?...about anything! So...as you can see God graciously gave me a little kick in the pants and a great encouragement that could not have come at a more appropriate time. The cross of Christ and the hope of seeing Him some day gives us so much to rejoice in, and I am ashamed at how often I live in a "me" world and forget this GREAT truth and His GREAT love!

May we never stop rejoicing!