Tis the Season

I love Christmas for so many reasons, but since becoming a mama, the magnitude of this precious holiday has sunk in. I get to instill in my two precious girls a love for Jesus Christ, the little baby who came to this world, innocent and yet knowing what his cup held. And he would have come, even if it were only to save me. This is not new news, but awesome and amazing every time I think about it. Thank you, Jesus!


This year my girls are 2 and 4. Old enough to get involved! So, we have made a list of different activities that we are going to do this year. Some are service activities. We are going to make cookies and write a note to our grumpy postman. We have gone through the toys and picked several that are in hardly used (or never used) condition and are bringing them to the local Santa Shop, along with a few new toys that we picked out. We have already donated food items to a family in need, and will continue to pray for that family.

We are also doing the fun stuff. You guessed it - we'll be making Christmas cookies, decorating the tree making a paper chain, building gingerbread houses, watching all the Christmas movies on TV, reading the countless Christmas books that I collected from my years of teaching, writing Santa a letter, and getting our fill of hot chocolate and egg nog!


But this year, more than in years past, we are going to be making Jesus the main focus of our holiday. I will be working with my oldest daughter talking about what it means to celebrate Jesus' birthday. My friend Traci wrote about this a few days ago, and I loved the idea. We get gifts for his birthday, and He is the ultimate gift, but what can we give Him? What does Jesus want for his birthday? Then we'll make these our goals for 2012.

I am also using our Advent Box again this year, but adding a little twist to it. We will continue to open one box a day and place the ornament on the two little trees, but we will talk about what the ornament is and what it means, and then we're going to pray using the ornament as the prayer focus. Even if it's just a little snowflake, we'll thank God for the purity and cleansing that the snow brings. We have an entire tiny nativity that takes up about 12 days, so it will be fun explaining to the girls what each figure is and what it means!


The last thing that I'm super excited about will be our weekly family Advent dinners. My friend Emily does this every year, and I wanted to try it last year, but didn't. Each week we will set the table with my "fancy" Christmas dishes and enjoy a yummy meal by candlelight and treelight. Each week we'll light a new candle and read the Scriptures. The breakdown looks like this:
Week One: Luke 1:26-38 ~Gabriel tells Mary that she has been chosen to be the Messiah's mother~
Week Two: Luke 2:1-7 ~Jesus is born in a manger~
Week Three: Luke 2:8-20 ~The angels visit the shepherds and the shepherds visit Jesus~
Week Four: Matthew 2:1-12 ~The Wisemen visit Jesus bringing gifts~

On Christmas Eve our plan is to attend an early Christmas Eve service in the afternoon and then hunker down at home. We'll put on our new Christmas jammies that were delivered earlier that day by one of Santa's faithful elves (probably Buddy the Elf), eat potato soup and homemade bread, and then cuddle up with our hot chocolate to watch the Polar Express. We will read the whole Christmas story from Luke, which will be even more real to the girls since we'll have been talking about it all month, and then let the Sugar Plums dance in our heads!

Here's to an awesome CHRISTmas season. What are you up to?

"Did You Hear...?"

...A woman's three favorite words.

Who doesn't love the latest and "greatest" juicy news? We, especially women, are, I would venture to say, slightly addicted to gossip.

But we're not really gossips, right? We're just "talking through things," or "sharing a prayer request."

What is gossip? And how do we stop it?

I was once told that gossip is anything that you would not say in front of the person that you are "discussing". This little nugget has stuck with me for a long time. How much of what I say would I want someone else to hear? I try to keep this in mind when I am in the middle of conversations, but it's tough. It is so easy to get sucked into a super juicy conversation. And if you think you're only guilty of gossip if you spread it, I think you're wrong. If you sit and listen, you are just as guilty as if the words were spewing from your mouth.

Do I have your attention now?

Think for a minute, how many times in the past week have you either shared or heard some form of gossip? That's what I thought.

So, what can we do?

This is definitely the hard part, and people will probably talk about it! But, it's so important to take a stand. If you are addicted to being the gossiper - the one who can't help but share information as soon as you hear it - STOP IT! Be in prayer about the words that come out of your mouth. Pray that they will be encouraging. Pray that you will be strong and that God will use your mouth for good and not bad. Our tongues are vicious, and once words are said, that's it. They're out there, and no matter what, you can't take them back. Plus, people will always wonder what you say about them behind their backs.

If you are the silent listener, you also need to take a stand. I don't know what that looks like for you, but perhaps you can start with letting your close friends know that you don't want to hear the latest news. You can walk away from an awkward conversation that you can tell is heading into an ugly direction. You could really be bold and stop the conversation before it begins.

I would also encourage you to go directly to a person instead of listening to the idle chatter to get the real story. This way you know what really has happened, straight from her mouth, and won't get caught up believing the lies that have passed through the rumor mill.

I would encourage each one of you to get a friend and work through this together, in prayer and by holding one another accountable.

Let's be God Chicks together!

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue."
~Proverbs 31:26

"...their (deacons) wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything."
~1 Timothy 3:11

"Turn away from godless chatter..."
~1 Timothy 6:20

He IS

It's the week of Thanksgiving, which is always a time to reflect on what we are thankful for, and there are many things that I am thankful for. But, for the rest of my life, I know that I will always reflect on my experience right after my youngest daughter was born. I’m sure many of you have heard this story so many times that you could give an accurate account, but on this particular night I saw God move in ways I had only ever dreamed.

So humor me once again as I share what I am truly thankful for, and bear with me, this is a little long, but written from my heart.

I was sound asleep in my hospital bed, which is almost unheard of. My one day-old baby was safe in the nursery, and would be brought to me shortly. When the door opened, I was not at all surprised, but I was shocked when the nurse who came in was the NICU nurse, and came without my baby.

She began to talk to me about routine blood pressure monitoring and that our baby girl was showing some irregularities that were now being monitored in the NICU. She talked about something being wrong with her heart, the cardiologist would take scans in the morning, and that she might need heart surgery.

I wish I could tell you everything she said, but at that moment all I could do was fight back the tears. My heart was breaking for a little girl who I had only known for a little over a day, but had loved for almost a year.

When the nurse left, I broke down. My husband did his best to hold it together, but even his voice began to shake. We called our parents and some of our friends, and knew that prayers were being prayed for our baby girl. And then my husband prayed while I cried and agreed with him.

Walking to the NICU to see her was surreal. I remembered a comment that I had made a few months ago when we had attended a funeral for a baby girl who died of a heart condition. It was something along the lines of hoping that we would never have to be NICU parents. And here we were, washing our hands and walking over to see our little girl with all kinds of wires and machines all over her.

I held her and rocked her and prayed for her. While we were with her, there were no blood pressure discrepancies. We left her and tried to sleep. But I could not. And all I could focus on were these words that kept repeating in my head:

He is
He was
He always will be

Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
He is

This is the song “He Is” by Mark Schultz. It was almost as if the Lord was whispering to me, “I am here, I have been here, and I will always be here.”

A few hours later we made our way to the NICU again. But this time we walked with an amazing sense of peace. Once again, her blood pressures were matching up. They had not seen any discrepancies since she had been in the NICU, which was a good sign.

I did fall asleep, and slept peacefully. And then some nurses came in the room. I was groggy and my eyes were swollen from crying so hard, but I could hear one of them saying, “We have someone here, and she’s a hungry girl.” My eyes welled up once again and I thought to myself, “You’re in the wrong room. My baby’s sick and she can’t come to me.” But then I looked over, and there she was. No wires, no machines. Just my wide-eyed baby girl.

The nurse explained that every single time they checked her blood pressures, they matched “too perfectly”. I don’t know about you, but those in the medical profession rarely use the term “perfect”. Chills went down my spine and the tears spilled over. The cardiologist would no longer be consulted, and we were all three going home in a few hours.

I wish I could say that this was the only time God healed this little girl, but I would be lying. He has touched her so many times it’s amazing!

She turned two this past week. I continue to be in awe and so thankful. We knew she would be our Thanksgiving baby, but we had no idea that she would be our miracle.

Who Do You Dress For?

When I was in elementary, middle, and high school, there were certain dress guidelines that were not only in place, but were also enforced. The girls’ shorts and skirts could not be more than 3 inches above one’s knees (when kneeling). I know in elementary school, our shirts had to have sleeves (no strapless or tank tops) and they also had to cover our tummies. I think this was also part of the middle and high school dress code, but I’m not sure it was enforced. The crazy thing is that I think the dress code is still the same, but not enforced at all!

Don’t misunderstand me. I certainly do not believe it is the school’s job to train our daughters up as far as what is and is not appropriate, but I do wonder what happened! Especially when the teachers may or may not follow the dress code themselves.

Modesty is something that I am becoming more and more passionate about. As a wife of a man and a mother of two little girls, I definitely notice what other ladies are wearing (or not wearing, as is sometimes the case). I know that going back into history, what is deemed “sexy” has shifted from ankles, to big thighs (ah, the good old days), to bottoms, and now bosoms. I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said, “Boobies make me smile.” And, I have a feeling that’s one happy man, because bosoms are on display!

When I get dressed I definitely want to feel good about what I am wearing. However, I am now much more aware of what others can see. I toe a fine line between wanting to dress sexy for my husband and still dress appropriately for my friends’ husbands. We can not be naïve and think they won’t notice, because they do. Granted, men must take responsibility for their own actions, but we don’t need to put them to the test!

I also want my daughters to know what is and is not appropriate. At one and three, I want them to dress like they are one and three. I want my girls to remain innocent for as long as possible. When I taught I was often times appalled at what some of my sweet little first and fifth graders would come to school in.

So, ladies, wives, and mamas, be aware of what you’re wearing and who is watching what you wear.

Responding to the "F" Word

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. ~ Psalm 9:9 – 10 (NIV)

Fear. It’s a stronghold that I battle with more than I’d like to admit. My imagination has an ugly way of running away with my thoughts, and before I know it, fear has its foot in my heart. Often times I don’t even realize that I’m afraid of something until I feel its paralyzing effects.

If I’m not careful, I could spend my life in constant fear. All we have to do is turn on the news to see that this world is full of things to dread. Whether its something far away or close to home; fear and worry are real.

But I have hope, peace, and comfort. This Psalm that King David wrote thousands of years ago continues to bring solace to me today. Regardless of what is happening around me, these words of promise and hope can come to my mind and remind me that I am not alone.

The key words that stick out to me are: refuge – protection, security; oppressed – abused, crushed; stronghold – fort, castle; trouble – trial, suffering; trust – believe, hope; forsaken – desert, leave; and seek – look for, try to find.

We can’t change the fact that life can be scary. What we can control, however, is how we respond. We can live in fear and never really live. Or, we can find comfort in the fact that our Lord will never leave us. He will always be our fortress and will protect us. All we have to do is look for Him.

Where Has the Time Gone?

I cannot believe it has been almost 2 years since I have posted here. Two Years! I know that not only because my last post was dated in January of 2010, but also because my little miracle baby who I posted about will be turning 2 on Friday. I can guarantee you that there is very little baby left, and lots of toddler, and all the joys and such that come with the toddler years! My little girl who was 2 the last time I posted is now 4. She is in preschool, writing letters, knows her numbers, and has become quite independent and sassy! In a few short months, she will head to kindergarten! When I started God's Chicks, that little chickie was only a few months old! The saying is quite true: Time Flies By!

If there are any readers left, please know that I have sincerely missed you. I have kept up with a few of you through Facebook, but for the most part, I have been absent from the Blog World.

What has brought me back, you may be wondering? It's just time. I'm at a new place, and feel like it's time to recommit myself to this blog and this ministry.

I am so excited to jump back in, and can't wait to hear from you and catch up. My love to you all!

Do You Believe in Miracles - Part Two

If you want to read the first part of this story, click here.

Several months before Baby Chick was due to arrive, the Lord spoke to me during worship. We were singing the song, "Healer" by Hillsong. The chorus of this song says:

I believe you're my healer, I believe you are all I need, I believe you're my portion, I believe you're more than enough for me. Jesus you're all I need.

It goes on to say:

Nothing is impossible for you, Nothing is impossible for you, Nothing is impossible for you, You hold my world in your hands.

God spoke so clearly, saying that I was going to need this kind of faith to make it through a trial that was coming. Immediately I began crying out to God, "Not my children. Anything but my children!"

Miracle Number Three:
Shock and Awe!

My birth story is relatively uneventful. I was induced, and it went a lot faster than anyone expected, and my husband almost missed it because he thought he had time to get a bagel, as well as my doctor who came in after the pushing began, but after only two pushes, out she came. A perfectly healthy Baby Chick.

Both my husband and I were excited that our hospital now offers a nursery where the babes can go at night. When our first daughter was born, the hospital did not offer this feature, and we were left with a screamer and got no sleep, going home exhausted and scared. This time, however, would be different.

The first night was great! The nurses brought her in a few times to eat, and then back to the nursery she went, and back to sleep I went. We woke up in the morning, ready for a new day of visitors and baby bonding.

The second night is where the tide turns, and God's faithfulness, grace, and mercy become evident.

Around 12:30 am on November 20th, 2009, the NICU nurse came in, with no baby. She began to explain that during a routine blood pressure check, Baby Chick's numbers were not matching like they should. Babies have their blood pressure checked on their arms and legs, and the two pressures should be close. Baby Chick's leg pressures were much lower than her arms, which could indicate a possible heart condition that would require surgery. The nurse explained that although Baby Chick had been monitored for a heart condition in utero, this condition would not have been caught because this particular valve, that pumps blood from the upper half of the body to the lower half does not close until after birth. If this valve does not close after birth, however, no blood is being pumped to her lower extremities, and can be fatal. A call had already been placed with the Pediatric Cardiologist who would run tests in the morning. Until then, Baby Chick would remain in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) where she had been moved, for constant monitoring.

My heart stopped. I listened to every word and shook my head, confirming that I heard what the nurse was saying. It was surreal. My husband woke up after she had been talking for awhile, and asked some questions. Both of us were stunned. The nurse told us to come to the NICU in a few minutes to feed our baby.

As soon as she left, I began crying. My husband prayed, as he was struggling to be strong for me. We called our families and some friends that we knew would pray. All we wanted was this little girl to be covered in prayer.

We pulled ourselves together and walked down to the NICU. Walking into that nursery was like having an out of body experience. This is what happens to other people, but not to us. We had a healthy baby. The nurses welcomed us with those "I'm so sorry" smiles and showed us where Baby Chick was. I gasped, looking at my tiny 6 pound baby hooked up to many monitors. She had wires all over her body, and blood pressure cuffs on her arm and leg. The nurse explained that those were the numbers they would be monitoring every hour.

She pushed the button for the blood pressure cuffs, and my husband and I held our breaths. The arm and leg pressures were nearly the same. The nurse said that is what the numbers should look like, but had not, which is why we were all where we were. My husband asked if this was common. When the nurse paused, we both knew that it was not. She said that this is pretty rare.

As I was nursing my baby girl, I prayed. The Lord placed these lyrics in my heart:

He is, He was, He always will be. Even when it feels like there is no one holding me. Be still, my soul. He is.

I didn't know the rest of the song, but I just kept singing these words over and over.

Leaving Baby Chick in the NICU was really hard to do, but we headed back to our room. My husband fell asleep, but I just lay there, with those words still in my head. I felt God's presences and peace, but I couldn't sleep. I got up to find out how the rest of the song went.

He Is
by Mark Schultz

Father, let the world just fade away
Let me feel your presence in this place
Lord, I’ve never been so weary
How I need to know you’re near me
Father, let the world just fade away

Till I’m on my knees
Till my heart can sing

He is
He was
He always will be

Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
He is

Father, let your Holy Spirit sing
Let it calm the storm inside of me
As I stand amazed
Lift my hands and say

He is
He was
He always will be

He lives
He loves
He’s always with me

Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
Through every fear
And every doubt
And every tear I shed
Down every road
I’m not alone
No matter where I am

He is
He was
And He always will be

He lives
He loves
He’s always with me
Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still, my soul
Be still, and know
Be still, my soul
He is

I just sat there, taking in every word and bawling. I was crying for my new baby and I was crying in awe of how great my God is (and was). I read the words over and over, spilling tears on the computer, and praising God. My mind wandered to a Beth Moore Bible Study I was doing. In the Daniel study she talks about 3 Scenarios. The first one is the easiest. You are faced with a difficult situation and God saves you from any harm before stepping in the fire. The second one, you have to step in the fire, but He saves you. The third scenario means that you step in the fire, and He saves you, but you are saved through death.

I prayed that we wouldn't suffer through the third scenario. I could handle surgery and recovery, but I did not want to face death. I just got her. How could I let her go already?

At some point I got in bed, but never really slept.

When the phone rang I knew it was the NICU nurse. It was time to feed the baby. On our way down the hall, both my husband and I were struck by the peace that was overwhelming us.

We weren't too surprised when the nurse shared that all of the blood pressure checks had come back with normal numbers that were matching. Praise God!

I nursed her and walked away from her again, back to our room. I slept.

The next thing I remember is a nurse walking in, telling me that someone was hungry. I didn't have my glasses on, but I could see a bassinet being wheeled in. My heart broke. "You're in the wrong room. My baby's sick and is in the NICU." These are the words I was about to utter, when I realized it was the NICU nurse with my baby.

"Her results are too perfect to have anything wrong with her. We've canceled the cardiologist, the EKG, and the echocardiogram. This little girl is going home with you today."

Who knows that medical professionals never use the words TOO PERFECT unless God has shown up? AMEN!!!

The tears came - again! But this time I was crying tears of happiness, joy, and thanks. I praised God and thanked Him for healing Baby Chick's heart. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving that hospital without a baby, and now I wouldn't have to.

It had been a long night, and I couldn't put this little miracle down. My husband's mother came early that morning, and some of my wonderful friends came as well. We all marveled at God's miracle! We all reveled in the peace He had provided all of us with. And we all cried. We were overwhelmed by God's mercy.

Our pediatrician wanted us to go to Children's Hospital to make sure everything was fine. We knew it would be, but for peace of mind, we went. They did an EKG and an echocardiogram. When we met with the cardiologist, she looked at us and said, "Why are you here? Your baby is completely healthy." We knew this already.

We give all of the praise and glory to our Savior. He is so good and so faithful. I thank God everyday for my daughters, and continue to praise Him for this miracle. She is a daily reminder that our God hears our prayers.