With Rain It Pours

It has been since I started this blog in 2010 that I have shared about our Tokens of God's Love. Well, I have one to share real quick about our little Rain.

We named our sons with meanings, hopeful and prayerful that they would grow into them. Our first son has names that are both spiritual and earthly (Rock... is earth... ha). Our second we named fire and water (Rain). Both boys have first names that are basically opposed to the middle name but work together just the same. I mentioned in a previous post why we chose 'Rock.' Now, 'Rain' we chose because of the meaning "abundant blessings from above". No other reason like when we Chose Rock's name. However, we have been showered with God's love since his birth ... pun intended ;D

 Rain has seen rain three of the four times that he has been out of the house, the first three in fact. On the way home from the hospital and both doctors appointments he has had. The most recent time we went out I was thankful for the beautiful weather because it was just a leisurely day out... but how is that for God showing a token of love for us? Also, Rain has bright blue eyes right now; I don't know if they will remain this way, but still. So just these couple of items show how God has blessed us and honored the name we chose. Small things to most people have such an awesome impact on our lives.

I pray you will be able to see the blessings God has put in your life this new year!

I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. 

And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. 

There will be showers of blessing.

Ezekiel 34:26 (NLT)

Blessings

We are getting ready to move again so I haven't done much blogging, picture taking, or creative tasks (like sewing)... primarily I have been packing and cleaning. And looking for a place to move. We know the city but the finding a place has been rough. My husband already has a job there and is enrolled for school this fall so he has been commuting and it has been tough on our family.
Prayers have been very important to our family this month and signs of answered prayer and God's favor have been evident. Even in the small things. I was craving diet caffeine free dr pepper yesterday and it just "happened to be" on sale. and the week before my husband was really wanting coke.... and it was on sale that day. We went grocery shopping a couple days ago and all the lines were super long so we chose one to wait in... just as we did the person in front of us decided they needed something else and got out of line. Also we had a super fast cashier who rang up everything and bagged it neatly all quickly. How amazing is that? Prayers have been a major part of our lives, in all things!
Ah yes... one more thing...
Rock is going to be a big brother before the year is up. I am over the halfway mark so it seems so close. I am due the beginning of December though hubby thinks it will probably be the end of November. Other things hubby and I have discussed about this pregnancy: the gender. With Rock we decided not to find out and we are going to do the same with this baby. I am thinking we are going to have another boy and originally hubby thought it was going to be a girl because of dreams he had been having, but now he isnt sure because he has had a dream with two boys also (Rock and baby #2).

You are my refuge and my shield; 

your word is my source of hope.

Psalm 119:114 (NLT)

The Paper Mama Photo Challenge: Blessings

The Paper Mama Photo Challenge this week is Blessings.The challenge is supposed to be a photo from your holiday meal or a photo of you and your loved ones together. A photo of your blessings.


Just one picture that displays my blessings is very difficult. We didn't have a holiday meal as a family (hubby had to work the day I had the camera) and we dont have a family photo that i really like. But I did take a photo shoot with Rock not too long ago that definitely shows the blessings of family:

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful and easy going son. I am also blessed to have a loving and caring husband. I am entering this last photo of Rock (because it is my personal favorite) into The Paper Mama Photo Challenge


And here is another of our blessings (Who used to not be allowed on the furniture!)

Shadow is a fantastic dog. He is very gentle around Rock (though he was curious and excited when we first brought Rock home) And we are blessed to have him. I will have to add a post on how we were blessed with such an amazing dog sometime soon because he is another Token of the Lord's provision when we have faith.

If you want to know some more about the many things I have been blessed with check out our Token of God's Love, My pregnancy with Rock, and my Thankful List.

Surely you have granted him unending blessings

and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

Psalm 21:6 (NIV)

We Fell In Love

I was thinking earlier today about how thankful I am for my husband and my son. In fact, I was specifically thinking about when we met and how things didn't quite go as anyone expected.

Hubby and I met one day when I went to a friends house to play video games. This friend happened to live at the same house as my husband.... therefore, I met my husband at his house :)

We were both dating someone else and had no intentions of ever being together (at least not at that point.) It was probably a year later before we actually started to get to know each other better. Hubby had started having ideas of becoming greater closer friends (or more) but I was dating someone else still. So he settled for just friends. But in the process of becoming friends more developed and my relationship with the guy I was dating faded.

There was only about a month between relationships for me.... then hubby and I only dated for a couple months before we knew we were going to be together as one. We had a lot of fun on dates and other activities. Such as: going to the YMCA before classes, getting lost in a nearby city together (I thought he knew where we were going), going for walks, hacky sack, painting, and volunteering at an afterschool program together. Oh, and I almost forgot.... playing video games :)

Many things have changed since then. We got married, I graduated from college, we moved from the town in which we met (and moved again, and again, and again), and had our son. I wouldn't change it, any of it, for the world.

So while thinking of all this I thought of a song: Two People Fell In Love by Brad Paisley... and then I took some pictures...

Sure, we have had some hard times and there are bound to be more. But we have One who knows what is next guiding us through. We wouldn't be where we are today without Him. (and Rock wouldn't be here at all) It may not have been our plan to be together or to have ended up here... but He knows better than us anyway :)

The LORD knows all human plans;

he knows that they are futile.

Psalm 94:11(NIV)

I won!

In the past several months I have been entering giveaways like crazy: on blogs and facebook. So for all my hard work I have won several items that I would like to share with you. I haven't received some of them (recent wins) but here is a photo of some of what I have won and a list of where I won each item:

At 1+1+1=1 I won 2 cds from Songs for Saplings (originally only for one cd)

Dibs! I won a prize pack including: VeryChicBaby bamboo wipes, BabyEcoMart- Happy Heiny's training pant, and RubyMoon Cloth diaper detergent sample (already used up of course)

From Confessions of a Trophy Wife 3 sets of Mason's Eco Mom cloth nursing pads (not pictured because one set is dirty and I misplaced the other two sets)

At The Cloth Diaper Report  I received a Pooter's Hemp/Cotton OS Fitted Diaper (which I still haven't tried... maybe i will later today)

At Mama to 3 (now 4) Blessings I won twice! Once for The Eli Monster Cowboy Diaper Cover; then again for a Sprout Change reversible One Size in Chili Pepper... yay for fluffy wins!

Frugality is Free sent me a Baby Balboa shopping cart cover... which I love to use when we go shopping. It is pictured folded up purse size which makes it so easy to carry.

At A Mom's Take I received a 4moms cleanwater bath (i didn't keep this item because we wouldn't use it- Rock likes the regular tub - so I gave it away, too)

3 am Cloth Diapers had a WAHM event in which I won a Cow Patties Cloth Diapers Famous Pocket Fitted  "Mellow Out"- I love the absorbency of this diaper and it fits well under the Eli Monster cover :)  I also have some AI2 and Pocket camo diapers from Cow Patties (Meg has great customer service!)

From Arizona Mama I got a Pump It Up Party bag (not pictured - will more than likely give away the items - toys and parts for bigger, non-baby, kids)

I won a White Elephant photo contest for most creative "beg" for a wool cover :)

I've entered many giveaways at Biehl Adventures  and won one sponsored by Top to Bottom Baby Boutique for a $20 GC to http://www.ttbbb.com/ (still waiting for the system to work correctly for the GC though)

At Go Shop Momma I won a Bum Genius 4.0 sponsored by Teeny Tiny Tot Shop (still in the mail)

Cici's Customz had a fan drawing and drew my name so I received a cute Custom Diaper Case (with monkeys and camo!)

I recently won at the Diapeze Fan Celebration a Mama Necklace from Belle Fille Boutique (just shipped today)

And was just emailed today that I won the Charis Designs (which I blogged to enter) Diaper Cover

One of the giveaways I won that can't recall where it was from was for a GC to Amazon with which I bought the Fuzzibunz

And I believe that is it (17 giveaways total won).... except if I keep winning :) 

Hubby says he believes I could win the rest of our cloth diaper stash... so I will keep trying!

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.

Proverbs 3:3, 4 (NIV)

He Before Me

When trying to figure out what I wanted to name my blog I had quite a bit of difficulty. And then there is the issue of the url for the blog. Now the url is permanent so I needed something that would always be true. So I finally landed on "He before Me"

Who is "He" and why do I place him before "me?"

He could easily be my husband. I seek to serve him and love him and submit to his authority but he is not the "He" to which I refer. He could also be my son. Little Rock is my baby boy and I put his needs before mine. I seek to give him all he needs and a little more with all my power, but he is also not the "He."
"He," as you probably already knew, is the One I call Lord. Our Father in heaven, the one true God! I will always strive to put "He before me." I am not perfect and am selfish at times, but at the beginning of each day I will start again. Regardless of my previous failures I will still try to put "He before me."

Now, as for the title of my blog: Rock Steady. I'm not sure I will keep it but for now it will do.

Rock Steady refers to not waivering in my faith and principles. The Thomas Jefferson quote says it pretty well "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."

And Rock is my baby boys' nickname/middle name. I will have a post later about how we came to the conclusion that it was to be his name, but for now i will leave you with this verse:

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Psalm 18:2 (ESV)

TOKEN OF GOD’S LOVE

     For my first blog post i thought it would be good to give a little about me. But then i decided it might be better to give the testimony that my husband and i now have from events since our marriage. Following is the letter i had typed up and written to a little church in Virginia that had helped us when times were rough. The letter was read out loud by a man at the church just shortly after we had moved. (it was also printed into their church bulletin later)

TOKEN OF GOD’S LOVE

token - (noun) something serving to represent or indicate some fact, event, feeling, etc.; sign

We had come to the point where we couldn’t take anymore. I was six months pregnant and not working and my husband had recently become unemployed as well. The coming paycheck would not be enough to pay rent and electric or any of our other bills. With only a few dollars in our checking account and our gas tank on empty, going anywhere to apply for another job was out of the question. We were drained financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

My husband and I were lying in bed on the second Saturday of the new year and we finally broke down. In tears we prayed a desperate prayer not ready to be homeless again for the third time in less than a year. My husband prayed for something, anything, to show us we weren’t forgotten, just a token of God’s love.


After the long heart-felt prayer my husband decided he would go to a prayer meeting early the next morning. He had stumbled upon the prayer group during an early morning walk a couple months ago. The group met at the local library weekly and invited him in that morning. He kept planning to go back another Sunday but the desire for sleep was greater than his plan. This time, however, we would both make the effort for him to go.

We didn’t drift to sleep until sometime after two and the alarm went off less than four hours later. I got out of bed still half asleep to start the coffee while my husband woke to get ready. He left for the meeting and I tried to get more rest but all I could do was cry and pray. I felt like I had just fallen asleep when my husband got back home to wake me. At the meeting he had told of our hardships and was handed a monetary gift at the end. This brought some financial relief but I was still filled with grief. My husband tried to get me to get out of bed but I didn’t want to move and just wept. He asked if I could be ready in time to try a new church, I promised him I would be and he left the room.

I sent up another prayer so that I might have strength and energy to get through that day and I rolled out of bed. I cried the entire time I was getting ready: during my shower, getting dressed, and even while fixing my hair. The tears wouldn’t cease from flowing. My husband didn’t tell me to stop crying and just continued through the morning as if my tears weren’t even there. He made me breakfast and he was so filled with joy that some had rubbed off on me. We ate then got into the car to leave. Though my eyes were still red and wet I received a compliment from my husband about how beautiful I was that morning.

Before we could make the drive to church we filled our gas tank with part of the gift from earlier that morning. The drive to church took longer than we anticipated but it gave my complexion time to clear of the pain. We arrived late during children’s story time, but we were still welcomed and seated in an empty spot near the back.

It seemed as though every word spoken that morning was intended for us. Children’s story time was about not fearing, songs about faith and trust and a guest speaker whose sermon was about God is in control. We were invited to attend Sunday school so we followed the crowd down the stairs. One of the men from that morning’s prayer group was there and asked if it would be okay to share our situation with the class. The church offered to pray for us but didn’t stop there. They also voted to help us financially and gave us a check.

We sat and listened to the lesson intently and were greeted by many as class finished and dismissed. A woman from the church came up to us and presented us with a jar. She said she didn’t know who she was supposed to give her jar to until that morning. She gave us a book along with the jar to explain it: Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright.

When we arrived home we opened the jar and it was full of change, mostly silver, and some bills; also in the jar was a golden game token. It took us a while to realize that this token, inscribed with “No cash value,” was really more valuable than we could imagine. For that day our prayer from the night before was clearly answered. We received not only help financially, but also a token – a token of God’s love.

     Anytime my husband begins to tell our story to someone he feels the Spirit come down and touch him. He knows that though we went through a low valley our faith grew stronger through our Lord.

     We still have that token, as well as other items that remind us that: if we have faith, the Lord provides. I will continue to share some of those stories in later posts. Until then, God Bless!

So don't worry about tomorrow,

because tomorrow will have its own worries.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34 (NCV)