thursday thought

Colossians 2:6-7; 13-14

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Today is a special day for me and I am thankful for strengthened faith this past year. I have learned so much and feel like I am alive again. I can't help but be thankful for what was nailed to the cross that day.

Thursday Thought

1 John 4:9-10
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God,  but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Thank you, God for sending your Son to save us! Your love surely is enough for us!

books I'm reading

I recently joined a group of ladies from church for a small group. We all wanted some kind of group and it kind of just fell together and is working out very well so far. We are going through some books together and learning a lot. It is great to process things with other people and we are really challenging each other and holding each other accountable. It has been great to have a desire to read again because I really do love to read and lately it seems like I only read children's books (to the girls)!

The first book we went through was Victory Over the Darkness by Neil T. Anderson. I really learned a lot about some of the lies that satan puts in my path and learned some tips to believe God's truths in those times instead of letting satan get that area of my life in his grip. The biggest takeaway I found in this book is that God has created me to do exactly what I am doing and I am the only person that can do this job. That has helped me to find much more joy in what I do each day and also to be sure I am doing things that are pleasing to God.

The second book we went through was The Bondage Breaker also by Neil T. Anderson. This book is about "overcoming negative thoughts, irrational feelings and habitual sins." From the back cover, it "reveals the whys and hows of spiritual warfare and exposes satan's battle for your mind...shares the powerful truth that will break even the most stubborn habits or private sins." I enjoyed reading this book as well and it helped to understand some of the ways that we fall prey to satan's tricks and about how to be set free of those things.

We are just starting Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I am really looking forward to reading this book and processing it with my group.
I am also reading Holiness for Ordinary People by Keith Drury and so far I am loving it. I will share more thoughts when I finish it or get past the second chapter!
I have been reading the book of 1 John every day just to have a small section of Truth to focus on throughout the day.

Have a wonderful day!

1 John 2:17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Book Review

I recently read the book Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block. I really enjoyed reading the book. It was very helpful to read about people’s experiences and beliefs about childbirth but what I most enjoyed was the scientific data to back it all up.

From the very beginning both Josh and I have felt we would prefer a natural birth for our baby. Neither of us are big “medicine” people to begin with and it just seems that this is something that a woman’s body has been created to do. I know and love many women who have never had children and I don’t want anyone to think that I am saying a woman was made to have children but our God is an Awesome Creator. I believe that when woman was created God had in mind that she would have the ability to bear children and thus created her with that in mind. I am not saying there is anything wrong with a woman who does not bear children! Ok now that is out of the way…

I firmly believe there were many, many women before me who have given birth without even the assistance of a doctor let alone Pitocin, Oxytocin, Epidural, and what have you. And so I (for the time being) am holding firm that if God has created my body with the mind that I will someday bring a child into this world that has grown inside my body then I am going to let it happen as naturally as possible. I read somewhere once that God will not give us more than we can handle. I do know that sometimes things arise that require medical intervention and we will cross those roads if/when we come to them.

So back to this book, Pushed, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the experiences women have had with hospital births because that is what we will be going through. Thankfully our doctor is very supportive of natural childbirth as long as it is safe for the baby. There are many doctors who do not support this and the book brought to light many things I had never thought about. I don’t remember which blog first referred this book to me but when I first started reading it I had to stop for a while because I was getting so freaked out about what the birth was going to be like. Then I was able to step back and look at it from a learning standpoint and making myself educated about all the options and sometimes requirements that come with having your baby in a hospital. The book helped me to be able to say, “Ok, these are the options that I will be faced with and maybe the hospital staff will try to talk me into and these are the reasons why I will refuse these things.”

I think every person should be informed when they make decisions and it is so important to be educated on your options before you make a decision so I guess now I should read a book promoting the use of drugs during delivery! :) I do know that having read this book and talking through it with Josh will help us in the long run. If I feel like I cannot do this naturally we will have some reasons already set in our minds on why we are doing this and be able to remind each other of that.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you are expecting. Probably not a good idea to read it before otherwise you might not ever want to have a baby!! :)

I do owe you all another post because I recently made a bunch more diapers that I need to showcase, let me just say these ones are so tiny and cute I can hardly wait to put them on our little girl!!