Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Prayer…

I desire to have a deeper, fuller understanding of what it means to be a Biblical Woman.

This society screams to do, be, dress, act… the opposite of the Word, 24-7.

I found this list today… if you ever want to know how to pray for me, or any other Christian Woman. Pray we would be these things:

A Challenge to Women

Love,

~H~

Monday, June 27, 2011

Blessed by Friends…

Last night… I was overwhelmed… we had worked all weekend.

No time to clean my house. Which led to more frustrations. And I still had a b-day party to go to.

 

I was having a BAD attitude

and a PITY Party!

 

A friend saw that something was wrong, so I shared my heart… which helped me realize (oncee again) I was being ridiculous!

Later they kidnapped me {to my own house, HA!}

 

And helped my house go from an OVERWHELMING mess back to a place of rest.

 

Later, my heart was singing and rejoicing with gratefulness to God, for the wonderful blessings He has given me, in the form of 3 beautiful women with gorgeous, humble, and REAL, servants hearts.

6212_1070430212088_1566104527_30158918_3133018_nWe seriously need more pics (Perspective… the little boy in this pic is now 1 1/2 yrs old!… )

… but here we are on my first trip to MA.. before Mike and I were even courting. Flo, Brittany, and Me…. Tammy isn’t pictured.

This is TRUE friendship and Sisterly Love.

.I am Blessed.

Love,

~H~

Monday, June 20, 2011

Worship…

I have been **wrestling** big time lately…

Something I love:piano1

 

 

 

Combined with something else I love:
woman-singing-microphone-vintage-525
                                                      {When NO ONE else is around}

Sometimes, I just want to tell the Lord …

“Did you catch that last part?  It’s IMPORTANT. To me...sigh.. at least.”

Yet, here I am, part of a little, home church that I love and hold SO close to my heart.  They love to worship with their whole lives…including music… yet no one has stepped up to lead in that way.

I’ve been wrestling for .MONTHS.

Yesterday, my husband spoke up…lovingly… but I’m pretty sure his “major” hat was on.

By not being faithful with this talent … I was being…

Selfish

Self Centered

And Prideful

Yes… it’s true.

*Ouch* *Wince*
{Honestly, I started laughing.. laughing!. Hearing him say it helped me realize how REDICULIOUS I was being!}

AND yesterday in his sermon, my pastor reminded us of this {or something close}…

“You have a Truth that’s bigger than the truth of your fears, hurts, and trails! It’s not that those things aren’t true…they’re VERY real... yet Christ’s Truth is bigger!!”

AMEN!

So, I’m still wrestling and the fear {of man} is still very real, but my heart is in a more peaceful place,in the hands of Christ. I’m listening for what the Lord wants in this situation, instead of letting fear rule.

It’s a daily battle! And I’m thankful H'e’s still working on me!

~H~

Friday, June 17, 2011

SO Blessed … by my sister…

The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful sister.

     She encourages my walk with the Lord…

                My physical fitness…

                             My fashion sense…

                                              And now… in being a wife!

She recently started a blog… check it out here!  We both have jobs that have slow times and busy times, and during the slow times we get to talk.  This has been SO {refreshing} to me…it makes the miles seem not so far away!

{and a post is not complete with out pics… so here’s some of our favorite memories!}

n500976540_2155174_7936700
{At the tea garden… a wonderful year in MN!}

23636_335509566540_500976540_4202167_1966421_n
{At one of our favorite coffee shops… sister weekend in Cedar Rapids!}

207930_10150143965581541_500976540_7150937_5018140_n227846_10150164167926541_500976540_7351916_4507736_n
{At our bachelorette parties}

76939_448085046540_500976540_6103378_4294280_ni-jVPNmDT-M
{Putting necklaces on for our Wedding Days!}

 

Love you Sis and I can’t wait to see you… whenever the Lord allows!

~H~

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I want to impact …

 

Here’s the raw part of my heart today.

.I.want.to.impact.the.World.with.the.gospel.

But some days I feel stuck, weighted down with cement on my feet.

I see others out there, traveling the world and having great adventures.

I sit here feeling jealous

& sorry for myself.

This is not right or Godly… I want to be TOTALLY satisfied with what the Lord has and content with His will… while still being willing to move or change at any moment.

.I’m tired.

*of looking back, wishing I could go back*

*of looking forward and rushing to get there*

*of looking at others and wishing I was them*

So here I am… as me… blogging as me… changing my blog to something I like in this season of life.  The theme is “coffee shop”…

Let’s have coffee together.

Gossip Time

Love,

~H~

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Fighting Wife…

It’s a long story, but today I really feel the need to fight for my husband…

This way…

prayer

And this way…

computer

It’s been a rough “business” day {and it’s only 11:22 AM} and people are just frustrating…

I hate seeing things bother and/or hurt him.

BUT, at the same time, if this is what the Lord uses to make Him more like Christ… I pray that He {and I} would take full advantage of this trial.

Love,

~H~

Thursday, June 9, 2011

It’s the little things that count!

My hubby made me breakfast this morning, while I took a shower, when we first woke up… so that we would be more awake when spending our time with God and in the Word, instead of being the zombies we are when we first wake up… I LOVE his heart!!

He was so proud of the tomatoes {a surprise to me}… he knows I love veggies… such a blessing!

Breakfast{Our plates were my great-grandma’s…I inherited them… they’re original retro! But who can say no to free, when you’re newly weds, right?!?}

And sense I was more awake as I was learning about my loving, precious savior, I picked up a book that I haven’t picked up in too long.  It’s deep, but blesses me EVERY time I read it…. “The Studies on the Sermon on the Mount” by Martin Lloyd-Jones.

Studies on Sermon on the Mount

This was the chapter on “Blessed are the peacemakers…”

A peacemaker is … “a man who is ready to humble himself, and he is ready to do anything and everything in order that the glory of God may be promoted.”

AMEN!

Love,

~H~

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Tenant Laws…

So, I’m thinking about starting a blog specifically for our “Land Lording” adventures…

BUT for the time being, I’ll put it on here, because it’s a HUGE part of my life right now!!

This morning I was reading over the laws in MA of Tenant/LandLord. {check it out if you dare!}  PHEW! There’s a lot!

It makes my eyes want to do this…

I won’t bore you with all the interesting things I found… most of them make me wonder who did what to cause this law?  But they are what they are for a reason, and I am called to abide by the laws of the land, so I better get studying!

Love,

~H~

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

We’re Landlords!

So, on top of the house that we are looking at buying, the Lord totally provided another opportunity for us to “manage” a 6 family home, all 1 bed/1 bath apartments. 

Honestly, it’s a very exciting and yet scary opportunity.  

We know the Lord is in control of everything… but there are Worldly people out there that have no problem lying, being deceitful, and cheating you out of money.  It’s “the nature of the beast” as many people would say. However, we praise God that we are not walking into this blindly expecting every person to keep their word, but not fearful of being burned either.

We took the house on with both first floor apartments being vacant on Saturday, put an Ad on Craigslist yesterday, and already have one *most likely* rented out…praise the Lord!  We were there cleaning the carpets last night…Fall_River-20110606-00173

Together, we conquered the carpets and they look great!

I’m sooo proud of my hubby for leading us through this new adventure. He’s compassionate and understanding, yet firm and not afraid to kick someone out… I couldn’t do the second.  Property management and investing has been on his heart for a LONG time and he’s finally stepping out in doing it.  The Lord has truly provided for us to do this in some low-risk type ways, which is rare for investing… We just want to be faithful with what the Lord has blessed us with!

Please pray that we would use what the Lord has blessed us with to bless others and not be greedy, have the boldness to share the gospel with our tenants, have discernment on who to allow in, how to set the rental prices, etc.  We GREATLY value your prayers!

Love,

~H~

Saturday, June 4, 2011

A Laid-back, yet full Saturday…

Today promises to be full and fun!

  • Getting my car fixed
  • Meeting with contractors
  • Looking at new work vans for my hubby
  • Looking at more appliances
  • AND then… who knows! I’m sure we’ll find something fun and exciting! 

I know some of these things might sound boring to come of you, but it means we’re moving forward on our house… which is exciting to me! Pictures to come!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

My Heart…

This is the way my heart feels this morning…

Over the years, I have learned to praise God, even in the dry seasons… as they are what makes the rain so refreshing! 

Lord, reveal Your Character, Goodness, and Love, so that I might glorify You more!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Our Memorial Day Weekend… part 2

Sunday – we got up, went to church, had YUMMY Chicken Taco salads for lunch… and then when to the Park!  The guys played ball and the girls walked around and watched the kids… so fun!

Nathan
Nathan learning to play baseball for the first time!

Noah
Hi Noah!!

Ra Ra
Ezra really likes his baseballs!

Monday – we got up, helped Jeff and Flo put in their front door, went to lunch, showed them our new house… and then picked up our niece and nephew and took them to the park!  It was a beautiful night!  Frisbees, kites, Subway, ice cream… and kids who just need lovin’.

Book found!
Flo found this on a shelf in our basement…iiiiinteresting huh??

Three at the Park
Eating with their Uncle…

Me and Brittany

Brittany wanted to take a pic with my phone… sorry it’s blurry!

 

And that was pretty much our weekend… along with a lot of great conversation about the Lord. Some I didn’t want to hear, but I know that I needed to. God is good!

Love,

~H~