This and that...

It's finally Friday! I feel like this week went on forever! And although I'm halfway through about three thought-out and pertinent posts, I don't have enough brain cells left to finish them.  So after the week that it's been my Friday post is going to be a bit random... so here is what's going on with us these days:

Week one of my "fresh start" has been a major success! I was up at 6am on Monday thru Wednesday (and "slept in" until 6:15am on Thursday by accident) and spent close to an hour each morning reading through Romans. Let me just say, when you put the time in, God really does speak to you and laid out exactly what I needed to hear each morning. It's the confirmation I need to keep up until this becomes a routine.

We had a sweet high school gal from our church over for dinner on Monday night and I just loved getting to know her better. She's asked me to be her mentor and I am beyond honored. But now that's made me realize that I should get one, too! I think everyone needs one... someone who has been where you've been and is where you want to go. Josh says that any mentor worth a dollar won't have time to do it, so I have one in mind and just have to muster up the courage to ask.

Other moms: you know how you don't really shed during pregnancy and then you go through a weird hair-falling-out phase about 4 or 5 months after giving birth? Well, I had remembered that, but forgot about the annoying hair-growing-back (again) phase that completes the cycle. I cannot do anything with these annoying baby hairs... does anyone else have this problem?  And no, I don't actually keep them slicked down like this, but they are hard to make blend in!  (and no, I can't believe I posted this)

Lilly has decided to start biting me (and only me) as a sign of affection (maybe?). How does one go about getting an 11-month-old to stop biting? And no, I have no desire to bite her back.

Speaking of Lilly, her favorite word for the past month has been "What?" (or more accurately "wwwwwwhhhhhhha-T" with an emphasis on the T sound). I have tried for a solid month to get it on video and she plays coy every time I pull out the camera. Such is life.

Jake has started a new obsession with the movie "The Incredibles" and asks to watch it 24/7. We are minorly convinced that he seriously thinks that he is Dash and runs around the house at top speed every time his character is on screen. It's actually a very appropriate comparison.

I am aware that I never posted about Jake's preschool experience... (1) because he refuses to stand still for a photo and I could not get a first-day-of-school picture like other moms do and (2) because so far he has a love/hate relationship with it. Day one was awesome, day two he realized that I was going to leave him and flipped out, day three was by far the worst and he clung to me like I was dropping him off at prison, and day four he marched in there like it was no big deal until he stepped foot in his classroom.  His teachers tell me that he only cries for 10 minutes (aside from the hour he cried on day two), but it still breaks this mama's heart. I know he's still adjusting, so I'm just trying to be patient with him. In other preschool news, his teachers sent home a list of all of the songs they are learning and I do not know a single one. Nope, not one. I'm not sure I'm going to be much help.

The closest thing I have to a "first day of preschool" picture.  Sigh.

 We rearranged our living room which made a world of difference in how much space we have and I love it! The only downside is that the paint color that I liked with the old arrangement now looks blah with our new arrangement (weird I know). So now I'm deciding if I can just live with it and get over it or if I want to go through the hassle of repainting. Also wondering what our landlord would think if I told him that I'm painting yet again in less than a year. Decisiveness is not my strong suit. And yes, I am aware that these are crummy iPhone pictures with really bad lighting and my living room is not in picture-perfect condition. For those of you who are new, I feel like it's my calling to post pictures of my home in "real life" rather than the beautiful ones when it's cleaned up, which I still do on occassion. It's like a ministry for other people like me who have good intentions, but also have multiple tornadoes coming through on a daily basis and messing up your hard work.  The "before" pictures are on top.

Something NEEDS to happen above the couch.  B-O-R-I-N-G.

The pictures don't do it justice, but the room feels SO much bigger and opened up... with more seating!

Not sure what's up with the color on the "after" picture... picture 1 is more accurate.
And yes, The Incredibles is on the TV! 

My husband and I are solely paying for the Redbox movie rental in our area. In the past three weeks we have racked up quite a bill on only three movies. We always think that watching a movie together sounds like a great idea, and then we're both too exhausted to ever start, thus the movie sitting on our mantle or coffee table for weeks on end (look closely at the above picture for proof). We need an intervention.

Okay, I think that's enough random rambling for today. Chances are that I won't get around to posting again until Tuesday since Sunday night will be a late one watching my husband become an IronMan! I'm so proud of him already for all of the time he has put in to prepare for this race!

Any big plans for your weekend? 

This Week's Reflections Topic

Now that the craziness of getting the new blog up and running is behind me, I guess I should get back to our regular-scheduled programming! This week I want to keep it light and a little more personal since I always love reading the different personal stories that come out of these. So this week I want to reflect on our "life verses"- the verse or verses from Scripture that define who you are or the one(s) that you turn to in times of trouble.  Is there something in the Bible that resonates so deeply with you that you feel like it was written just for you to read? I would love to hear what those verses are and the stories behind them. If you'd like to write your own post on this next week, please link up with me next Thursday to share!  I am looking forward to spending my Thursdays with you again!

 

And for no other reason than the fact that they are just cute and have not had much "face time" on the blog here lately, here are just a couple of pictures to hopefully make you smile today!

 

I'm loving that he finally smiles for the camera... only in self-portraits where he can see himself though!

Couldn't you just eat her up??? Cuter by the day I tell you.

 

Have a happy Thursday!

Because somebody has to be "that girl"

Don't you hate it when someone posts something on Facebook before you've had a chance to announce it? Like when a couple has a baby and you read some random person's "Congratulations on the birth of Jacob!" on your page before YOU get to announce your OWN news??? 

 

Yeah, me too. I try to never be that person...

until today...

because...

 

GUESS WHO GOT ENGAGED!!!?!?!?!?

 

Meet my awesome, beautiful, wonderful best friend, Elizabeth... who has a "thing" about announcing exciting stuff on Facebook.  I have appointed myself as her official spokesperson and think it's time that the social media world found out that...

 

 

ELIZABETH'S GETTING MARRIED!!!!!

That's an old picture of us, but that same expression has been plastered on my face since I found out. So if you're friends with her on Facebook or Twitter, go blow it up... because she has a "thing" about that and it would be so much fun to drive her nuts with the love!

 

Wait a minute... I feel like I'm forgetting something.  Oh yes, the groom... kind of an essential part of a wedding, right?  Meet Dara- her totally awesome fiance:

 

A BIG BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BOTH OF YOU!!!

LOOKING FORWARD TO A YEAR OF CELEBRATIONS!!!

Now go update your relationship status already!

Fresh Start

Thank you all so much for the sweet comments about the new look! I am still just on cloud nine about how everything came together and look forward to this new chapter.

When a family plants a church, the church basically becomes another child. After launch, it needs love, affection, and a lot of time. It also requires that the "parents" and other relatives (basically the others on the launch team) fill in the gaps, making sure that all odd jobs to take care of it were covered. When we moved here a little over a year ago, we were blessed to find people who were willing to roll up their sleeves and see this thing come to life. Launch day is still one the greatest days of my life so far and so far we've managed to nurture our little sprout and it is growing in the right direction. But in the beginning, just like everyone else, I filled in wherever I needed, which was leading our kids' ministry. Because I had a very clear picture of the vision for our church and our children, I was the best fit for the role even if I felt underqualified. I started building a team, branding everything, creating registration forms, policies and procedures, training people to serve, and the list goes on and on. Once we launched I had to focus on some weekly issues such as making new nametags and registering the new kids that came through the door, which thankfully we've seen happen every week, continue to train our leaders as that team grew, schedule for future months, and make sure the balance of volunteers to kids was at a safe place week to week, even if that meant stepping in and filling in somewhere myself. We are six months into the life of our baby and all in all I have been to one Sunday morning service... at our own church plant!  Crazy, right? But oh so worth it.

I think I've alluded to the busy-ness of our lives in past posts, and even though launch season is crazy, the day after launch day proves to be no more relaxing. As our numbers grow, so do the people that we get to love on and pour into on a weekly basis. I knew that praying for rest was something that might not happen, but I trusted God that He would know how much of a load I could carry and for how long, all the while balancing my marriage and kids and a full-time job... and somewhere deep inside my spirit the word "soon" continued to ring out.

Wanna know something wonderfully amazing about our God? He keeps His promises... but I bet you already knew that. The "soon" that I kept hearing is here, which just blows my mind. Not only did a family move down from our old church (who were originally going to plant with us in the first place but the timing was not right) to take over the kids' ministry, but we also had a miraculous NINETY-THREE people at our Discovery course the other night. This class is on a Sunday night and is a place where we teach on your spiritual gifts and personality, trying to find the place for everyone to get plugged in and serving. We want everyone to find their "sweet spot," serving in an area becuase they get fulfillment out of it and not just because we "need" someone to fill in that spot. For many smaller churches and church plants, the doing things becasue we "need" someone to do it season lasts a long time, so praise God that we're already coming out of that season and into a new one. Josh and I literally sit on the couch at night and there are no words to express our awe of what has been happening through this church, so we are just faithfully and diligently trying to listen and obey... and not trying to screw things up in the process (which is our most common joke!).

That was a lot of back-story for where I am going with this, so thank you for bearing with me. With all this being said, I am so very excited for this period of time that He is giving me to get all of my ducks in a row again... to focus on me for a little while. When I was younger, focusing on me would have meant being selfish and doing things that gratify me temporarily- such as shopping, watching movies, and basically wasting time. I feel so different this time around though. I feel like He has extended me some relief, but I need to be responsible with how I use it. Now it's not to say that I won't spend an hour here or there watching HGTV, but more than anything I feel the need to fill myself back up. One of my favorite Reflections posts was about the song "Desert Song" (which is oh so amazing by the way if you don't know it) and I mentioned that I was running on empty after a harvest. To be honest, in all of the running around, I never got to a place where I could fill myself up again and have been living in that place for montshs. So now that I am transitioning out of leading the kids' ministry (although I will still be serving our sweet little ones since I love it) and Jake is in preschool a few days a week giving me a small break, I am going to use this wisely. It's not a coincidence that our church started a series called Fresh Start this week and I find it so very fitting. In the grand scheme of things our time here is short, and I want this week to be a fresh start in how I utlize this gift he's given me. I am not a morning person but know that people can train their bodies to get up early, so yesterday I got up at six just to spend an hour of quiet time in the word. And becuase our God also loves to give confirmation, He opened a door up last night for me to teach one of our favorite high school girls exactly what I had studied that morning. Love when that happens. I already look forward to doing that every Monday and Wednesday from now on. The other side of that is getting back to taking care of myself physically. As much as you know I love to run, I can't tell you the last time I pounded pavement aside from a random 5K I did this month. So on Tuesdays and Thursdays I am going to pursue that passion and get my physical self back in shape, too. I want to take this time and work on being a better wife, a better mom, a better playmate for my kids, a better sister, a better daughter, a better friend, and a better servant to those in need. I want to read more, build a more solid foundation in the Bible, pray more, and make my time matter. I am thankful for this season because I know it won't last long... something tells me that God is giving me rest to prepare for whatever is coming next.  And whatever it is, I want to be ready.

So tell me... with a new school year starting, do you see this time as a Fresh Start? What goals do you have for this upcoming year?

You Found Me!

Hello, hello!  So glad to see that you jumped on over here and found me... welcome to my new home! Even though I will no longer be posting over at Mauneyland, I was thankfully able to import everything from the old site to the new site so newcomers can get the whole story.  As I mentioned in my very last post over there, it seemed time to retire that one and start fresh since I felt like my writings and topics over there were taking on a new life of their own, leading me here.

So why "The Seeds You Sow?" Well, I want it to be a place where I can share some goodness with the world, and for those who may not know me, my goodness comes from above. I want to encourage, inspire, and help those on their own personal journeys as they grow in their faith. Trust me when I say that I have come a long, LONG way and am so very far from perfect and there are still many days when I don't get it all right, so I hope others find comforts in the ups and downs of my crazy life. Plus, I feel like if we all put a little more love out in the world then perhaps we'll get it back tenfold... and we could all use a little more love.  I am still going to continue with my Thursday Reflections series where we spend a week reflecting on a particular topic from a blog, song lyrics, scripture, sermon, etc. and share thoughts on it the following week, so if you would like to join me in doing that I'd love it. The next topic will be posted this coming Thursday and you can now find all post posts under the "Reflections" tab at the top... fancy, eh?

So if you're new here, welcome!, and if you've followed me over from Mauneyland, thank you for clicking over and this is where I'll be from here on out. I will probably expand on the new blog design and that whole process (and yes I had hired help... there is no way I could have figured out how to do this on my own!) in the upcoming weeks, but in the meantime, what do you think?

Crickets

As Jake would say... "Mommy, where arrrrreeee you???"

Yes, I've gone missing this week, but it's because someone's blog is getting a little makeover.  I cannot wait to share in just a couple of days.

Don't worry... I have plenty of goodness to come including Jake going to preschool, an update on both kids, a new series of FAQ from other church planter wives, and a new Reflections topic, which I skipped this week to give me time to catch up on life a little.  I'll be back soon, I promise.

Stay tuned...

Friday Funnies

In an effort to get back to the lighter side of life here on my little blog, I thought I'd share a few fun things to make you smile. Then again, it's Friday, so hopefully you're already smiling!

First up... click on this link and watch this short "campaign" video. This might be my favorite thing that the Daily Show has ever done:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-9-2012/exclusive---barack-obama-attack-ad

Next... please enjoy this video of Jake's rendition of the Black Eyed Peas's "I Gotta Feeling." Yes, my son is awesome.

And lastly, how about a dose of double cuteness... there is no more fun toy than a big, giant box.

Have a happy weekend, everyone!  Check back on Monday for the weekly Reflections topic (and trust me, it will be sunshine and rainbows after last week's!) and some pictures of Jake's first day of pre-school. I'm not sure yet if that's going to bring tears or squeals of joy... from me, not him. I'm pretty sure he's not going to miss us AT ALL, so we'll just have to wait and see how I handle it!

Happy Friday!