Pondering on a Monday

I just love being a momma. Honestly, I don’t know a soul who doesn’t. Sometimes I cannot get enough of the coos…the “hmmms” Micah dishes out over & over again. Other times, like just a moment ago, I pray that he’ll nap ten minutes more so that I can eat my lunch in the quiet and gather my thoughts again. Then, just as lunch is done…there I am again longing that he would wake up so we can play. It’s funny being a momma, but it’s a joy & one wild ride if there ever was one. It’s tied right up there with being a wife in my world!

The Lord is so kind to teach us in the midst of life, you know. I am so thankful for that! I know I have said perhaps a thousand times on this blog, but it is so true. I don’t just let the words rattle off my tongue or casually appear on the screen as I type, I take what I’m about to say to heart nearly everyday. I am astounded at His lovingkindness and grace. When I consider who I am, where I’ve come from, who Christ is making me by His grace the only word describe what’s taken place in my life (and yours too I’d venture to say) is…miraculous. I am telling you I could not live a day without the truth of the Gospel actively at work in my life. When I consider all that the Lord has called me to: a wife & a mom, a Bible teacher, a friend & a daughter, a mentor to young women & sharer to those who need Christ…I am acutely aware that I cannot accomplish all of this nor should I try to do it on my own. By the power of the Holy Spirit, by His cleansing, by His grace we live. Many of you know this to be true but are you living the reality today…with consistency…is it becoming normal to live dependent on God & His resources or are you still trying to go at this thing on your own? By your own “wisdom,” “ability,” “merit?” If you’re going at it solo I beg you to call to remembrance the fact that that will never work.

As the pages of our lives turn in perfect rhythm day after day…will its glorious ending be a culmination of what Christ intended to do in & through us or will it be discovered that we attempted to live as Christ without Him…an oxymoron to be sure. Even in all of the “mundane” and “ordinary”- spending time with Jesus in the Word (which I personally consider extraordinary), eating breakfast, working out (wow, Jillians 30 Day Shred, level 3. potentially as difficult as an hour long jazzercise class and those are nothing to laugh at), cooking (I’m thinking homemade macaroni & cheese), cleaning, changing diapers, writing, reading, writing some more, talking, on & on the list goes- I want it all to be done for HIS GLORY…with the fullness of the Spirit at work in me & I desire the same for you. My desire is to receive the maximum amount of fruitfulness than can be gathered from in my life in whatever given day. How can this be accomplished without the manifestation of Christ in me.

Today I’ve got a baby boy to tend to, laundry to fold, some yummy dinner to cook, people to call & minister to, stuff to write, & people who need me to step it up and share the fullness of the Gospel & today I don’t want to attempt this thing on my own…no, no, no…I don’t want dead/empty works…I want to go at this thing with Jesus…holding His hand and yes that’s Biblical (see Psalm 37 all).

I hope you’re a bit encouraged. You see it doesn’t really matter who we are…from the richest to the poorest, from the oldest to the youngest, praised by the world or not…life is meant to be used for His glory. There is no God but Him & there is no one worthy of esteem besides Him!

A Little of This & That

Our Thanksgiving Day celebration was AMAZING…I cooked my first turkey, soaked in brine, prepared homemade gravy from the drippings, & pulled out our gorgeous china to serve the fam again this year. We laughed so hard we may have cried, I can’t remember! It was a blast. My dad is hilarious…He loves his grandson to pieces. The first time he held Micah dad looked scared because Micah had very little control of his head. And though he’s only three months old (four months on the tenth of Dec Lord willing) he is very strong, 18 pounds strong as a matter of fact. He can very much control his head now. Therefore, his Papa held him up proud & tall without an ounce of fear, so precious! Thanksgiving weekend the in-laws came in for the gifting…Christmas gifts that is. We had another Thanksgiving meal Friday evening, shopped til we dropped literally on Saturday & worshiped with our Long Hollow fam on Sunday. We were full up on food, love, & encouragement by Sunday. I was ready for jazzercise by Monday…our classes are intense enough to kill the Thanksgiving meal we ate entirely. I love it!

Chris & I kept with Gibson family tradition and put up our tree & decorations Sunday evening after Thanksgiving. I’ve never been so thrilled to let Christmas music fill up our home. Love having surround sound. My fav is Charlie Brown’s Christmas CD…I love instrumental music. You can drink in the sound of the piano, violin, guitar, etc. Hearing each one is such a wonder to me. There’s so much beauty hidden within each, so I’ve loved listening to pandora.com non-stop…I set my station for the music style of Charlie Brown Christmas.

The Lord is full of grace. It’s a wonder to me. When I meet with Him each morning, I am awed that He allows me in His presence. Heart so wrecked & at times blinded to sin. I’m in need of a good washing everyday. Mind so anxious & concerned. I’m in need of casting my anxieties on Him always. Soul so thirsty, so famished. I am always in need of His filling. On this the Lord’s Day…around Christmas time too…His grace astounds me. I hope it astounds you too!

The last taste of fall….

My Thanksgiving menu is well underway. I am going to hit the grocery store to gather all my ingredients in lieu of cooking it up tomorrow Lord willing! I am NOT couponing on this journey…it’s Thanksgiving…come on! But I will still attempt to be as frugal as I can. After seeing “The Dr.’s” yesterday (a show I catch once in a while) I might have to invest in an organic turkey. You should be thankful for what you don’t know sometimes, j/k!

Well, before we say goodbye to one of my favorite seasons I thought I’d finally share my personal fav fall decorations. I hope you enjoy the last taste of fall this week. I for one am ready to welcome Charlie Brown Christmas music into my home & put up the tree…self- control…self-control is a fruit of the Spirit…yes I think I can wait a few more days!

I scored these little leaves for cheap at the ol' World Market, add yummy coffee beans, & a candle...perfect mood lighting over dinner!

My husband bought me two baskets of beautiful big white mums & pumpkins to go with them...I loved it!

My husband spoils me...I resisted buying this wreath for weeks...& he bought it for me after all! YAY!

I love the leaves on our mantle!

This sits as the centerpiece for our table in the kitchen....

Another table shot...can you tell its one of my favs!

Micah & I got out in the yard & this is what we found! A homemade decoration...gotta love it!

Well…I hope you enjoyed a peek at our homes fun fall decor…maybe there’s an idea or two for you to put in your pocket for next season Lord willing! Regardless, I loved sharing it…so much fun! As you gear up for decorating for another exciting season don’t forget to adorn your heart with Jesus…there’s no beauty like that! Now, it’s nearly time for sugar cookie candles….ornaments….Christmas trees…& the like! Woo-hoo!

Micah’s Newest Tricks

I’m so in love with our precious baby boy. He is an absolute joy! Today on the way to worship Jesus on the Lord’s day Ashley commented something to the effect of “Micah hardly ever cries…on the movies you always see the momma portrayed as running around with a screaming baby that she’s never able to console.” I informed her with a smile that some babies are quite fussy & rather demanding but Micah is just a happy little man, & I like it that way! He really is so good, seriously, I’m spoiled!

So Micah’s been learning new tricks & when I learn the new trick of uploading video to the blog I’ll show you what he’s been doing. Right now he loves watching his mobile while smiling, cooing, & squealing. The mobile was the first toy he’s ever showed a real interest in. He has much preferred our faces, singing, reading & bright colors to all the stuffed animals in his navy blue and green bins. Well now he’s beginning to enjoy batting things. I think he gets that his hands can grab things, hit things, pull things, & stick everything in his mouth! He’s the perfect three month old I am completely partial too & he’s handsome to boot!

My favorite thing right now is all the squealing and cooing…he loves to see how loud he can get & how long he can go. It’s hilarious & I can’t wait for you to hear it.

Well, off to spend more family time with the men in my life…loving this restful Sunday evening…hope you are too! Chat soon friends. Tune in for more fun this week & I sure do hope you’ll seek our Lord Jesus this week thanking Him for all that he’s blessed you with & rejoicing in His presence always.

Crowning Not Shaming

“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.” Proverbs 12:4

Now if you’re a wife like me you’re very interested in having a most excellent marriage. In our culture divorce is the norm, but we know that God did not intend it to be this way. In order to avoid such a tragedy we must recognize that we are not immune to or above the common ailments of most marriages. Without proper guarding, fortifying our marriages will be subject to cracking at its foundation. I certainly don’t pretend to have figured all of this marriage stuff out yet, but I do know that I have been afforded a healthy, vibrant, albeit young marriage. And I’ll happily share with you what we’re learning & how God has granted success to us amid our failures. This is relevant whether you’re married, engaged, dating, talking (whatever that means hehehe), or any step in between. It is the norm for God to call women to be wives. Singleness while a gift for sure (1 Cor 7) would be the exception rather than the rule so to speak. So, here’s our first lesson if you will. We will call it: A Gentle Tongue.

If you’re like me it’s easy to talk too much, and when we do Proverbs assures us that we can’t avoid sin. It takes an insane amount of discipline to reign that tongue in…in fact I am reminded even as I type…that no man can tame the tongue…it is a restless evil full of deadly poison (James 3), just as Proverbs teaches death & life are in the power of the tongue…. We have few more powerful weapons or tools at our disposal than our tongue. We can either use the tongue in our marriages as a weapon to destroyer we can use it as a tool to build up. I prefer the latter, but I am prone to falling into the former if I’m not mindful and alert.

A harsh tongue. How does it happen? Usually when we’re off guard. We don’t see a situation coming. We are not expecting a temptation to sin. We are not mindful. I’ll use a story from my own life. Micah’s first cold. Be forewarned future momma’s that the first time that little one has the sniffles you may be tempted to lose your head with worry and undue concern.

When your little pumpkin catches the sniffles it might send you into a frenzy but be encouraged they will make it thru!

So I found myself in that very situation one Sunday morning 4 hours away from home with my husband & little one. I asked Chris what he thought we should do. I am grinning now because of course what that question really meant was, “I know exactly what we should do. Now, you say precisely what I’m thinking and we’ll be good!” I am a passionate person & in my flesh I boss with the best of em’! This can be a dangerous combination unchecked. Chris is a steady man, a quality I both admire & love….he’s level headed and thinking versus feeling. Chris knew Micah did NOT have a fever & was not having trouble breathing which meant he did NOT need a doctor’s visit. (And yes we called the pediatrician to verify) Chris knew that Micah would have the sniffles whether we rushed home or not. Chris used wisdom & said we should stay right where we were, visiting with family. My tongue was undisciplined in response to this…I just insisted on my way at first. However, after MORE prayer time in the Word that morning, I was able to see the harshness of my own tongue and the wisdom in my husband’s decision.

“By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue breaks the bone.” Proverbs 25:15

A gentle tongue prevails. Thankfully when we ask the Lord to give us opportunities to be gracious, He will. I think the scenario above likely came as a result of this very request….but God is so gracious, so redeeming, He loves giving His children multiple chances, usually does so until we get it right consistently in my experience. On Thursday afternoons Chris & I have about an hour or a little more to spend together before we host couples’ Bible study & dinner in our home. On these afternoons I love to curl up on the couch and talk our heads off until company arrives. It’s just good practice to reconnect with your man at the end of a long day, no matter what’s on the agenda. Chris decided to play Warcraft this particular afternoon. He intended to finish up in time to chat a bit but only left a few minutes before our friends arrived. I could have responded with anger, annoyance, irritation, you know the list. BUT instead I responded with grace. In fact, I said NOTHING at all about it, except I mentioned to Chris that I missed our time together…not attacking, not blaming, not condemning, not whining (they hate that by the way ) After Bible study Chris came to me later & said something to the effect of, “I never want to do that again. I want to make sure we always have our family time.” And he hasn’t done it again…we have that precious time everyday as I said before.

Here’s the thing wives & wives to be: sometimes we think we must speak, we must lecture, we must let our opinion be known…when in truth we mustn’t do anything at all. Let the Holy Spirit that lives inside of your husband if he’s a believer lead & guide him. Lest you find yourself trying to play God in his life and that you well know will never work. Instead resign yourself to pray & when you do speak, speak gently, with kindness. Let there be no tearing down, no damage, no sin coming out of your mouth from your tongue. You may not be able to tame the tongue, no man can, but there is a Spirit greater than us and He is able to produce in you the FRUIT that belongs to HIM! Let God do His good work in you & let your tongue speak gently like you have self-control because you in Christ you do!

Fall Time Fun

Hey Friends-

I can’t believe that November will be half over by week’s end. Time gets on down the road! I thought it was high time to give you a little life update (later this week I’ll give you the Wiser Still 3 & 4 update. Great family time in the book of Proverbs). Chris & I and baby Micah are enjoying God’s goodness and sheer graciousness to us. This weekend we attended the Long Hollow marriage retreat in the gorgeous Opryland Hotel. Our room reminded me of our honeymoon. It was an encouraging time reviewing the disciplines of marriage, being reminded that our marriages need strengthening & fortifying in the Lord! I love it that I am married to a man intent on excelling in our union in Christ! It is a blessing that I am thankful for each day.

Little Micah is cooing, smiling, laughing, grabbing, pulling, and kicking up a storm these days. Being a momma is such a complete joy. I am addicted to that little man! BUT we do not have a child centered home, that’s for sure. He’s just a perfect addition to our family, and I love him more than you ever knew a heart could. Chris & I are loving it! Thanks to Micah’s Nana (Chris’ mom) he was a little pumpkin this fall!

Isn't he the cutest pumkin you've ever seen?!

It’s a full November! I am hopeful in the Lord that he will put wisdom in my heart so I can discern the proper timing of all things (channeling Ecclesiastes here). There’s tons of fun things this week: Tuesdays are family evenings (we have family time every evening…thanks to my man’s intentionality, but Tuesdays are special & loads of fun). Wednesday is iMom (intentional Moms) at Long Hollow, YAY! We get to hear from the author of Raising Kids With No Regrets. This Thursday begins the LifeWay Women’s Forum. I’m so excited to be with women who spend their lives ministering God’s Word & grace to other women. If you think of me you can pray that the Lord will speak boldly through me concerning how to reach young women in the church! It’s a full week for sure, but it’s good…prayed over & committed to Jesus! If you haven’t taken the time to surrender to HIM this week, it’s not too late! Commit your plans to the Lord, so that they may succeed!

As always, it’s a privilege doing life with you!

Wiser Still 2

As we studied Proverbs (Just in case you missed the first Proverbs update you can find it here: Wiser Still ) this past week it occurred to me once again that though this book of wisdom was written to a young man, it has much to say also to a young woman. Here’s a sampling of the verses my meditation revolved around:

“A gracious woman attains honor, and ruthless men attain riches.” 11:16
“As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.” 11:22
“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.” 12:4
“The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.” 14:1

These verses, as all others, force us to ask question of ourselves. Hard questions. It is relatively easy to read a verse and agree with it and move on, but to put that same concept into practice, now that’s altogether different! That’s why we can look at ourselves, so many times, amazed that we just read that (whatever “that” is) and yet in the next beat of life we acted contrary to what we just read. We want His commandments to abide deep in us and to act on them accordingly, it just doesn’t come easily does it?! Yet, as we learn day by day to walk in the Spirit and to talk in the Spirit…graciousness, discretion, wisdom become ours. For those of us blessed to be wives we even become to our husband a crown rather than rottenness. I’m sure our husbands are for that. Some time in the near future I hope to help with a little “class” called “Submission 101″ solving common marriage dilemmas…crowning instead of shaming….

So this week our family study in Proverbs led me to consider how I can grace Chris & Micah & others…how can I build my house up and not find myself tearing it down with my own hands. Perhaps you’ll ask yourself the same thing and move toward Jesus just a little more today! I sure am looking forward to our family study tonight…perhaps we’ll drink some hot chocolate since it’s cool outside today.

Other Happenings:

Micah Thomas just fell into his third short nap of the day. I love watching him. He looks perfect to me. I love that little boy more than words could express.

My happy little boy!

Yesterday Micah & I were sitting on the deck enjoying the beauty of the fall in the sunshine…Micah was captivated by the bright colors on the trees….brilliant corals and yellows and oranges…so I quoted Psalm 19 to my little man. Truly day to day pours forth speech. I want to be found listening! Today it’s rainy in TN and while most find that yucky I am finding particular enjoyment in watching the tear like drops fall off the leaves of our oak tree outside the window. The brilliant colors on our other trees out back beat every fall decoration I have going on in the house…we can’t out decorate our God! Wow he put up some marvelous display of colors and beauty this fall…perhaps it is His birthday present to me Tonight we will be having some family fun…a little Changy Chicken & Rice and crescent rolls, a little Proverbs study, The Biggest Loser, just enjoying family! I trust that the rest of your day will be blessed by our Lord Jesus as you consider Him. Hope you’ll be enjoying your precious family today!

Be My Guest

Hey Friends-

I just wanted to let you know that I am a weekly guest blogger on Jaye Martin’s blog. Jaye is a godly woman infused with a passion for Christ…it spills out in her desire to encourage every believer to share Christ’s message of hope in the Gospel. If you’re in need of some daily encouragement to tell of His goodness, like I am, check it out each day Jaye Martin & Leaders. I blog on Saturdays. My prayer is that such little reminders may trigger your heart to tell your mouth to SPEAK boldly as we ought to speak! Hope you’re having an awesome Lord’s Day. The sunshine is brilliant here in Tennessee and the trees beautiful to take in, wow! It’s a gorgeous fall! Enjoy it!

With love in Christ,

Regina-

Pumpkin Cake Roll

Don’t know about you, but I love it when my home is consumed by smells of the fall! Like yesterday we pulled the window up and enjoyed the smell of crisp fall air and sunshine. Some of my fav smells of the fall though are food related, so as promised the first of many delicious fall treats I’ll share with you. Definitely worth the effort!

A yummy delish fall treat!

Compliments of Better Homes & Garden

prep time about 70 minutes bake 15 minutes on 375 cool 1 hour chill 2 hours makes 8 servings.

3 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (take or leave)
sifted powdered sugar
1 recipe cream cheese filling

let eggs stand at room temp for 30 mins. grease a 15×10x1 inch baking pan. Line bottom of pan with waxed paper or parchment paper grease paper. set aside in bowl combine flour cinnamon baking powder ginger salt nutmeg set aside

preheat oven 375 in large ixing bowl beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed about 5 mins or until thick and lemon colored gradually beat in sugar stir in pumpkin and lemon juice fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture spread batter evenly in prepared pan sprinkle with walnuts

bake 15 mins or until the top springs bakc when lightly touched immediately loosen edges of cake from pan and turn cake out onto a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar remove waxed paper roll towel and cake into a spiral starting from a short side of the cake cool on wire rack

(make icing)

beat 2 3oz packages of softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla with an electirc mixer on medium speed add 1 cup powdered sugar gradually beating after each addition until smooth

unroll cake remove towel. spread cake cream cheese filling to within 1 inch of edges roll up cake trim ends cover and chill for 2 to 48 hours

If you give it a whirl, do let me know how you like it! It is a crowd pleaser Happy fall baking!

Wiser Still

Are you wise? If not the Scripture has a remedy for that, “Ask God…” James 1- King Solomon did just that in 1 Kings and it pleased God so much that he prospered Solomon in almost every conceivable way. By & large we live a society that heeds the calling of the Woman Folly rather than the call of wisdom. The world says it this way: “Just living for The American Dream,” “I just don’t love you anymore…I’m not happy,” “I’m not thin enough…My house isn’t big enough…” On and on the sayings of foolishness go. There is not one who reads this blog who is not in need of what Solomon asked for and received in spades. Just as the Scripture says a wise man who reads Proverbs will hear and increase in learning. For those of you who have some measure of wisdom there’s a call set forth to INCREASE! Last week I mentioned that I would be sharing from a new Bible study that Chris & I are hosting in our home Godly Pursuits: Proverbs As Chris led us in pouring over the text of Proverbs 1-8 as a family one thing became abundantly clear to us wisdom is a person, a man! Chris is presently teaching 1 Corinthians right from the start of 1 Corinthians we learn something about Christ…the fact that He was sent to us as wisdom from God. If we desire more wisdom it means we need to desire Christ. He is the wisdom of God. In Him the Father clearly expresses His desire (as set forth in 1 Corinthians 1) to shame the wisdom of the world by operating in a different and higher way. The passage below shares this truth and while it appears lengthy, trust me, it’s worth the read!

“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor 1:21-30)

Enough said huh?! We can never lose sight of who wisdom truly is…you can easily get lost in the prose of Proverbs in the “pithy statements” as they are called. The way we achieve the wisdom expressed therein…in every aspect of life (as Proverbs hits them all just about doesn’t it?!) is through Christ Jesus! Chris & I and the other couples in our study are hopeful to receive this wisdom from above and are seeking to let it be expressed in our everyday lives. Let’s make it our prayer…for God gives generously to all who ASK!