No Land, No Animals, Just God...

I recently did a study on the book of Joshua with my quad & now I'm doing it again on my own (along with a study on Ephesians) but today I read Joshua 13 and it really hit home. There's no sense in me writing about it though, my friend Tasha (also in my quad) already wrote about it and she did a far better job writing about it than I would, so check it out here: http://tashavia.blogspot.com/2012/10/no-land-no-animalsjust-god.html

Friday Flashback #3...on Monday: A Picture

It was a busy week last week and when Friday got here, I was just ready to spend time with my family so my blog got neglected. For my Friday Flashback, I wanted to share a picture of one of my favorite things I did with Laney this summer:

Yep, play in her kiddie pool. Almost every Friday Matt & I didn't have something going on (because Friday is family day and we tried to plan fun things to do with Laney) we filled up her pool and spent most of the day in the backyard. As I write this on such a dreary & cold Monday...I'm missing that pool time. It's going to be a great fall/winter, but I am looking forward to those warm spring & summer days that we can put Benjamin & Laney in their kiddie pool and let them splash around. :)


ps- Look how little she looks! She has grown so much in just 4 months...time flies WAY too fast!

Do I Really Love and Serve That Way?

One of my favorite ways to worship the Lord is through music...unfortunately, I am a terrible singer. My family swears I'm tone deaf, although I'm not THAT bad but I'm definitely not gifted in that way. God often teaches me things through listening to worship music.

This past week I heard Chris Tomlin's song..."I Will Follow." I have heard this song a million times and I actually wrote a blog post about it about 2 years ago. It's one of my favorite worship songs, but when I heard it this past week God really spoke to me on one particular part of the song.

Part of the chorus says "Who You love, I'll love and who You serve, I'll serve and if this life I lose, I will follow You" When I heard that, I began asking myself "Do you really LOVE the way God loves, do you really SERVE the way He serves?"Over and over, I felt like God was saying "Magan evaluate yourself...you do a great job of acting like you really LOVE people and serve them, but do an attitude check. Do you really LOVE people who hurt you, or do you act like you do, but "secretly" have an attitude about it. Do you SERVE people even when they do nothing for you? It's not about getting something in return...its about glorifying MY name and making me famous." Wow! He's right...my attitude towards people who don't necessarily do me the way I think they should is not always great. I do like to serve people, but do I always do it with a grateful and cheerful heart? I was really convicted.

His word says "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and a servant of ALL" (Mark 9:35) and "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." (1 Peter 4:10) It also says to "serve the Lord with gladness." (Psalm 100:2) This means with a happy heart & with love. Speaking of love, He does not call us to love only those who treat us right, or those who we choose to love. In fact, one of His greatest commands is to "LOVE one another" (John 15:12 Matthew 22:39, & 1 John 4:11) This seems so simple, yet it's not. It's one of the hardest things. Sometimes I don't understand why I have to LOVE people who hurt me or treat me the way I think I should be treated. Well, it's because HE loves ME and I don't deserve it. He died on the cross for MY sins. He calls us to take up our cross daily and FOLLOW him. Not when it's easy, not when we want to, but daily...and this means showing people love and grace, just like He did for us when he died on the cross. This is something I know I struggle with. It's easy to serve and love people I don't know...but what about people who I do know. It's not about what I want or what I can get out of something....it's about a LOVE far greater that I will ever comprehend. Jesus gave his life for ME so I could LIVE for him...and this means sucking up my pride and my selfishness to LOVE and SERVE like he does, even when "I" don't want to. 

We all have those people in our lives. Who is that difficult person to love and serve? WHO will YOU LOVE and SERVE today? That's the question I'm asking myself today, ask yourself the same.

Currently...2 Months Later

3 months ago I got the idea from my friend Sara to write about what was going on in our lives "currently." I thought it would be fun to write the same post and compare what was going on in our lives 3 months ago to now...since SO much has changed for us. You can check out the original post here.

loving: life, we're still crazy busy but in a different way. Our sweet little Ben is my main focus during the day right now but I've also taken on all of our day to day responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, etc.) for the most part since I'm home all day.

reading: I am reading this time! I'm rereading the book of Joshua & Ephesians and I'm also reading (slowly, but I'm doing it!) a leadership book called "Developing the Leader Within You," by John Maxwell. I am such a slow reader, but I am determined to do it while I'm on maternity leave.

waiting for: not much...I'm trying to enjoy these 8 weeks off and take it all in. I guess if I'm waiting for anything I'm waiting the 2nd weekend in November. We're going to Boone for an Appalachian football game.

excited about: Getting our new routine established...we're HUGE on having a consistent schedule for our kids. It also helps Matt & I not forget things. 

missing: Same as last time, my best gal friends AND sister time (who is a best gal friend)

 

Sorry ladies...this it the ONLY picture I have of all of us

 

trying to: Soak in my maternity leave & enjoy rest. I'm not one to sit and do nothing...watch tv, read, BLOG more...but I am enjoying it!

working on: ME...God is teaching me a lot about myself & trusting him MORE in this season of life.

enjoying: Fall, this weather is AMAZING!

using: My fall candles...I love the smells of pumpkin and apple pie that fill my house during the fall.

wearing: Normal jeans!!! Yes, I am! I'll be working on getting back into all of my clothes once I've had my 6 week check up...but for now, I am slowly returning back to my normal clothes. SO LONG maternity clothes. Anyone need them? ;)

planning: Meals for the week...it's a busy week!

singing: Yeah, I don't sing...but I've been enjoying some Fernando Ortega on Pandora lately.

needing: A normal routine...we're working on it, but Ben doesn't love to nap during the day but I'm determined his schedule will work out. Laney was a piece of cake, but Ben seems to be a little more stubborn.

learning: I'm RELEARNING that I am a DAUGHTER of THE King. Learning to love myself again & see myself as HE sees me.

listening: Rascal Flatts on my pandora.

wishing: I was back at the beach...yep, same as 3 months ago. I sure do love that place!

doing: Enjoying a little "Magan" time to write a few blog posts while Ben sleeps. 

praying for: My family, as God teaches us how to be a family of 4!

dreaming of: Christmas...I LOVE Christmas & all it brings.

So, what are you currently up to???

-Magan

Happy 1 Month Birthday Benjamin!

Ben is 1 month old today! My sweet little boy is growing SO much faster than his sister did. Like I said in yesterday's post...time flies by so fast! I'm enjoying being a mom of 2 and we're adjusting just fine. Laney doesn't seem to jealous..she hasn't reverted back to any "baby" tendencies...in fact, she rocks his swing when he cries or runs over to where we are when we're holding him just to kiss him. When she wakes up in the morning she has to give mom, dad, AND Benjamin a kiss.

He's sweet & snuggly, loves his momma to hold him (yep, I got my momma's boy!) and he is such a handsome little man. More than anything, he's healthy!  Benjamin Scott Keith, you are a HUGE blessing to our family..mommy & daddy love you more than you will ever know little buddy!

Friday Flashback: Vacation 2012, Part 2

Today's Friday Flashback takes us back to the summer...toes in the sand, not a worry in the world, ferry rides & Laney's 1st birthday!

By the way, before I get started I must apologize to my friend Whitney...I didn't realize her Friday posts were Friday Flashbacks too. Sorry girl, wasn't trying to be a copycat.

While we were on vacation, I wrote a post entitled "Vacation 2012" but I didn't finish it. I said there would be a 2nd post with more pictures and I never wrote it. You can read about our trip in that 1st post, below are the pictures I promised...

We really did have a great vacation, I can't wait to go again in 2013. Oh, how I love the BEACH! 

It Won't Be Like This for Long

I'm not a sentimental person, in fact, I don't usually cry about stuff. I don't cry during movies, at weddings (normally), and I just don't usually get emotional about stuff. However, there are a few songs that really get to me...like I usually don't make it through the song & I have to turn it off. One of which is "It Won't be Like This for Long," by Darius Rucker. It used to make me think of my mom and how it kills her that I'm so far away (ok...2 hours, but to her I live a planet away). Now it makes me think of my own children. I remember the 1st time it hit me that this song was going to be my story...I was driving home from Wendell Middle one afternoon (when I was teaching) and I was about 7 months pregnant with Laney. I called Matt on the phone and just broke down...poor Matt.


Anyways...I recently wrote a post about how Matt reminded me in the middle of the night that Ben's sleeplessness in the middle of the night was only a season, that it wouldn't be like this forever. Since then, as I wrote about, I've really tried to embrace every moment...no matter how tired or frustrated I get. Today, I was getting ready and Ben had just started screaming (because right now he won't sleep for more than 45 minutes during the day and I can't figure it out) and THE song came on my pandora station. Ugh, really? I just wanted to be in a bad mood because he wouldn't sleep and I am tired and seriously?!?! Ok God, I got ya...I'm changing my mood to a "happy heart" right now.

My Benjamin is a month old tomorrow...it's already flying by!

And my Laney...she's 15 months old!!! What in the world?

You know people always tell you, it won't be like this for long...yeah, they're right...so to all my other mom friends...lets embrace this time! They grow up WAY too fast!

ps- If you aren't a Darius Rucker fan or you don't know the song...here's a link