Willing

by Amy Davis
c 2005

If you are willing to drink from the cup of this world,
Be willing to drink of its pain.
Those who live outside of Christ have much to give,
But their gift is not your gain.

If you are willing to work and strive on your own,
Be willing to live with second best.
For without His power pushing you through,
Your mind will never rest.

If you are willing to be all He created you for,
Be willing to open your heart.
He will fill it up with loving-kindness and truth,
And then your real life can start.

If you are willing to learn and live by His word,
Be willing to never look back.
For when we choose to trust in Him,
Our lives will never lack.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:12(NASB)

More of a Spring in My Step

I think losing an hour of sleep (every hour counts!) and being awakened by a certain young gentleman in the middle of the night is still keeping me sleep deprived, but...but...BUT... my girls are up between 7 and 7:30 now! Now this does require me to put them to bed later than I'd really like, but it's a good trade off. And extra light in the evenings to boot! So there's my update.
And now for a picture that I must entitle:

It Just Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

Off to bed for me. I have some catching up to do. (This is an early bedtime for me!)

I Am Springing Forward!

My Baby J, (who incidentally needs a new "blog-name" now that she's three) was a champion sleeper from the time she was about 6 months old. She began sleeping 12 hours then, and honestly didn't have but about five night wakings until...big-girl bed, in January of this year. (Two months after her 3rd birthday.)

Oh man.

She did all right at first, which is due in part to her sharing a room with her big sister. I thought things would progressively get better, but they haven't. So in between her starting to wake up some nights for no other reason than to check and see if I'm awake, and Little Guy waking on random nights at random times, I'm getting way less sleep than I expected at this stage of motherhood.

But that's beside the point. Back to Baby J. She has consistently awakened at 6:15 every morning for weeks upon weeks. I put her back in bed, but just that bit of noise at that "late" of time in the morning, wakes Little M up, and then it's all over. Both girls up before 6:30 a.m. Did I ever mention that I'm not a morning person? (I do have them stay in their room to play until 7 - but still. It would be much better if they were sleeping until then.)

Enter spring.

Nobody likes losing an hour of the day, for me - the night. But this year, I cannot wait. I cannot wait for my children to shift from arising at 6:15 to arising at 7 something!!! Thank you, God! I hope it lasts. I'll keep you posted.

No Phone Zone

Read a few of the posts from this young widow's blog, and let it help you decide if your car should be a "No Phone Zone". I think it just sealed the deal for me. I have been using my phone in the car less and less anyway, so I think this is just the encouragement I needed to stop. Texting is something I've never done while driving, and I really can't believe anyone would think they could do it safely! She and her baby daughter just lost their husband and daddy at the end of December 2009. So very sad! Go here.

Roadblock

Have you gotten the book yet? :) Yes, yes I'm running it into the ground.

Though it may seem like I am making too big of a deal about copyright infringement, I do believe it's important. Who knows, one day I may have something I wouldn't want others infringing on, like a CD of me singing opera or something. ;)

Anyway one of my "things" I deal with is idealism. I used to think it was perfectionism, but I now realize it must be idealism. I get something in my head, and if the final product or outcome doesn't match that picture - FAILURE. Of course when I do this I am believing a lie, but like I said, I'm dealin' with it. So for me to blog about going through the whole book and taking notes and all that, and then not to do it, I almost can't stand it. But, even more so, I can't spend time following copyright laws. So project "Out of Control and Loving It!" has been suspended.

But I do have a wonderful alternative!!! I've been pushing this book to anyone who will listen, so my mom was at the top of the list, of course. Known to use a malapropism here and there, she referred to it the other day as "Out of My Mind and Loving It!" We were cracking up! Well, she got on http://www.amazon.com/ to consider buying it. She discovered the feature they have where you can read portions of the book before you buy. Ever done that? You just click on the words "Look Inside!" and you are able to read part of the book! So she did it. She said she just had a mini-Bible study sitting there at her computer reading excerpts from the book. So I want to encourage you to do the same.

Hopefully my blogging won't go to the wayside again. Now I need to think of something else to write about...

Oops

I realized last night that including material directly from Out of Control... may not be allowed. So I thought I better find out for sure. Yep - right there in the front of the book was the disclaimer you see in every book. Unless I get permission, I won't be able to keep my notes from the book on my blog. Hmmm - what to do? If I am granted permission, this will continue, if not, I guess I'll just have to start posting pictures of my children. :) So until then, once again I say, GET THE BOOK.

Be free!!!

UPDATE:

Hi Amy! Your blog is great! Copyright laws allow quoting up to 250 words--as long as credit is given to the book (title, author, publisher, copyright date, and page numbers). If you're wanting to use an excerpt of more than 250 words, you would need to get permission from the publisher (for this book, it's Thomas Nelson). We don't publish our own books, so we unfortunately can't give permission to quote them. Hope this helps. Thank you for asking; we appreciate your integrity! Keep blogging! Sheila Seier, MI Correspondence

Here We Go

Every now and then, I hold my breath, and as fast I can possibly get it out I say, "God-do-whatever-it-takes-to-make-me-who-you-want-me-to-be." And then next thing you know, the hard times come. As in all things God, it's a paradox. The bad in our life brings the good. And in my case, it's usually just my perception that things are bad. But thankfully, God prepares us even when we don't know He's doing it. That's why He led me to this book. I read it and two days later, I crashed. It was a hormonal mess that I won't bore you with, but strangely through it, I felt God's peace. So onto my notes...

Chapter One

Awake, Daughter of Zion

Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion" (Isaiah 52:1-2)

It is a contradiction for a daughter of Zion to be captive.

Tired of constant disappointment I resigned myself to my condition. I decided it was better not to hope than to hope and only be disappointed again. So I concealed my chains and quietly moved within the confines of my restrictions.

I was tired of acting free when I was not, tired of acting strong when I was in fact weak. (I can SO attest to the last half of that sentence. - AD)

Heirs - yet captive. Free - yet bound.

From Out of Control and Loving It! by Lisa Bevere

As you read my notes on this book, and as you hopefully read the book, I would love for you to share anything God is teaching you with these truths.

Why I Bought the Book

Ever since I became a mom, the control I have felt over my life has little by little slipped away. The type of control I'm talking about is the ability to decide what I want to do and when I want to do it. Like - "I want to stay asleep all night." Nope, sorry. You have to feed the baby. Or, "I want to watch my show." Nope, sorry. The baby isn't asleep yet. Or, "Hey Babe, let's go eat somewhere." Nope, sorry. It's the baby's naptime. Any parent can relate to this.

I am a very scheduled, time-oriented person. I like to make lists and check them off. This can be good. But it can also drive me crazy, as well as those around me, I'm sure. I guess I should say, I was this way. God has used parenthood to totally obliterate this aspect of my personality. Oops, I mean He has caused it to be more balanced in my life. :)

So just a few weeks ago, in my thoughts I was surveying my daily life and the condition of my house. I felt so out of control. I thought, "I am so out of control. It's like everyone else, and every circumstance dictates how I spend my time." I had thoughts like, "Why can't I keep my house neater? Why don't I get out of my pajamas in the morning instead of the afternoon? Will I ever get to be involved in anything outside of my home again?" These combined with some serious post-partum hormonal issues were really weighing on me. While still reading my Bible for answers, I decided I needed a book. So one night while the girls were at AWANA and Honeybees, I went to our church library. I loaded up on books. I put some back. I chose some more. Then I came across a book called, Out of Control and Loving It! by Lisa Bevere. It's about giving God complete control of your life. While I have always set out to live my life like that, I guess I've just never really known how. So I checked it out and devoured it. And then I ordered my own copy so I could write in it. And now I must share. I hope to do this on a regular basis. I also hope you will get your own copy because I will only be highlighting things that stood out to me. If you don't read the text in full, you'll miss so much! Keep checking back. I'll get started soon.

So to close I'll share a picture of Little Guy. I stopped blogging when he was just weeks old, and my how he's grown! He just hit the 7 month mark a couple of days ago. He is a joy to our family!!! Sweet, sweet, sweet!