Breathe

Moses has been walking this land for 40 years. It isn't as if the ground all of a sudden became holy. The ground didn't just change. It's that Moses became aware of it.

Are we standing on Holy ground all the time and we are passing by burning bushes left and right, but because we are moving too fast and distracted we miss them? Do we take for granted that what we stand on is Holy Ground?

The word LORD is in the Bible nearly 6,000 times. In Hebrew the name is really 4 letters, YHVH. These letter are pronounced "Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh. or as others say now Yahweh. In some traditions this is never even pronounced because it's considered so sacred, so mysterious, so holy. The rabbi's even believed that they were kind of breathing sounds and that the name is simply unpronounceable.

Is the name of God the sound of breathing?

Yod Heh Vav Heh

The word for ground is Adame, God breathed life into Adam from dust

Do you ever have moments when you feel like you're seconds from losing it?
Each persons life is but a breathe- Life is fragile. We've been breathed into by the Creator of the Universe, and this divine breathe is in every single human. If no one ever realizes this, the truth still remains that God gave us life.

Hebrew language the word for breathe is the same word for spirit. The Hebrew word for breathe is "Ruah" and the Greek word is "Pneuma" . Scriptures state that when God takes away the "ruah" they die and return to dust. Cultures actually believed that the breathe of God literally resided within their own body. Having that spirit reside in you, sanctified you.

What happens when you breathe is that you let God in and you realize everything that you need to leave behind. If we were to be totally Honest, is there anything in your life that you need to breathe out? The spirit guides us into truth. God gives the spirit without limit. Is there anything you need to breathe in?

You are a sacred creation of God, flowing through all of us is the breathe of God and we are standing on Holy ground.

When a baby is born what is the first thing they have to do to survive, does this baby have to take a breathe or say the name of God, What is the last thing we do before we die, we take our last breathe or is it that we can no longer can say the name of God.

Yod Heh Vav Heh!

As you slow down may you realize that we live and move and breathe, Yod Heh Vav Heh!

-Notes taken from "Breathe" by Nooma

Baby Holybee's head profile












Baby Holybee Leg











Baby Holybee laying on stomach












Baby Holybee Foot












Baby Holybee fist/ arm

21 weeks and other things going on!

Here is another recent picture of me at 21 weeks pregnant. I am really starting to show, with the help of the belly band I have been able to still wear a lot of my work pants luckily. Everyone at my work that comes in is now starting to notice. Although I am still feeling good about my growth because a girl came in and she was the same size as me but she was only 3 months pregnant, so that makes me feel pretty good! I still have a little bit of a belly button, I assume that should be gone pretty soon though. The baby has been really starting to kick a lot of harder now and not waking me up at night just yet, but man sometimes the baby will kick for like 5 minutes straight. Pretty cool, how God uses our body to create a BABY!

I am still feeling really good, just tired because work is exhausting me. I am on a record or something. Once this week has ended, I will have hired 10 new employees. Bringing my total for the month up to 19 new employees, that has to be a record or something... ha ha. Not just with that, but man... the rest of my job on top of keeping up on all the new hires. Crazy!!!

The newest and greatest thing we have purchased is the Apple TV... drum roll please! I know, we are such geeks. We mainly only watch TV shows through iTunes so this seemed to be the most reasonable solution. We are in the process of setting it up right now so that we can use it. We are so utterly excited to see what this bad boy can do :)

We are in search of a 2nd vehicle, we have done a lot of research on Consumer reports, and Auto Guide to try and find what would be most usable but not expensive and something we can pay cash for since we sold the truck now. Also, something manual transmission since we won't be driving it that much to begin with since Andrew and I carpool to work and so on. We first thought the Honda fit, but then we would be making payments because it would be a new car. And on top of it, it would be sitting in a parking space most of the time so it would be a waste of money. We will see, we are waiting for a call back on a manual Honda Accord, so we will see what happens with that.

Truck sold and other goings on

Well... we said "So long" to the truck yesterday. We sold the truck for $11,000. So sad to see it go, but another step towards saving for the baby and for a house. I am really going to miss that truck! There were so many memories, but more to come with all the new things happening in my life.

I have finally made some business cards because, before I didn't need them and now I am starting to need to give out.

The next Monday (April 30th) we will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary. Man! Time does fly by fast doesn't it? I am so happy to have such a wonderful and understanding husband! Celebrating an anniversary, then a baby! I just want to thank God for all the wonderful blessings He has given us in our life and I just can't wait to see what this new addition to our family will bring to our life. More to come...

A basic thought

"What do your attitudes toward church and toward Christ have to do with each other?
What tempts you to to disobey Hebrews 10:25? What spiritual benefits might you miss out on staying away from Christian gatherings?

'On the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship.' How do regular attendance and participation strengthen your relationships with God, with family members, and with other believers?"

McChristians

" A friend of mine tell me that when he was a college student, a popular bumper sticker boldly stated "Jesus Christ- Yes, The Church- No!" Thought the bumper sticker is long gone, the sentiment has trickled down to a pervasive attitude of "Jesus Christ, Yes- The Church, When I need it and on my terms!"
These days church attenders are infected with a virus on conditional loyalty that has produced an army of church hitchhikers. The hitchhikers thumb says "You buy the car, pay for the repairs, unkeep, and insurance, fill the car with gas- and I'll ride with you. But if you get into an accident, you're on your own, and I'll probably sue!" Many church-goers have a similar agenda: "You go to meetings and serve on the boards and committees. You grapple with the issues, teach, entertain the children, and I'll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me. I'll criticize and complain and I'll probably bail out. My thumb is always out for a better ride."

The "McChristian" mentality constantly checks to see what 's new on the menu ust in case there's a better deal down the street. "McChristians" have a telling vocabulary, using phrases such as "I go to" or "I attend" but not typically using the words "I belong to" or "I am a member of."

If you're a tried- and- true long-term member of a church, the following may or may not surprise you. "A 1999 George Barna Research poll showed that one in seven Americans change their church affiliationevery year, while one in six rotates between churches."

So here in the first decade of the new millenium, there's a phenomenon that would have been unimaginable in any other century- churchless Christians. There is a vast herd of professing Christianswho exist as nomadic hitchhikers without accountability, without discipline, without discipleship, without fellowship, living apart from the regular benefits of the ordinances."

- Taken from 'Disciplines of a Godly woman" by Barbara Hughes

Hiccups

Shortly before I left for lunch I am sitting at my desk and the funniest thing happened. I think the baby had hiccups, because for about 5 minutes I felt this rhythmic tapping on my stomach and then after that it stopped. I think that was about the only thing I think it could have been. Pretty cool I think!

* My Dr's appt last Thursday was good, Andrew and I were able to hear the baby's heartbeat again. Also, we got set up with the actual Ultrasound appt in 2 weeks, where you have to have full bladder and the whole deal. This would be where they would tell us the baby's age and if it is in line with my due date and if we wanted to know (which we don't) the sex of the baby. Pretty exciting because I haven't seen a new picture of the baby since I was 10 weeks pregnant and I am sure he/ she has grown quite a bit. Fun fun!!!

18 weeks and looking fine!!!

Here is a recent picture of me, I am just starting my 18th week, I am starting to get a little belly but not much yet. I am sure, it will pop out anytime now. I am still waiting to see if I can fill out any maternity clothes, right now I am just leaving my current pants unbuttoned and wearing long shirts to cover the pants.


Today marks the first day I actually realized the baby had kicked me... so exciting!!! I was bending over for something at work and I could feel a few little bumps, nothing too hard but enough to let me realize our baby is ....yep still in there!!

I have moment like this and I have to stop and really cherish it. How amazing it is that we as women get to go through the experience of carrying a child inside our bodies to take care of and keep safe. What a great responsibility, and yet still such a beautiful thing :)

John 17:6-8 & Ahava

After work I was catching up on some of my podcasts and was listening to Robert Elliott from Reformed Baptist of Riverside, has a Scottish accent, but man I have to say 95% of his sermon is all meat! Here are some notes I took while he was speaking, you can download his podcasts for free through iTunes:
John 17:6-8- Robert Elliott

He has made the Father known to us, as his disciples, like 4th of July fireworks- Big, Extravagant, and Colorful. His truths are visible even from thousands of feet away.

Moses, perhaps, the greatest man on earth- Even as great and righteous as he was was only allowed to see the back side of God.

Jesus tells us more about God here, in these passages, than Moses could ever show us. Jesus reveals to us the Holiness and Compassion of God- the Power of God and Tenderness of God. It's Christ that shows us these things not Moses. Moses only gave us glimpses, whereas, Jesus is the full sunshine that shows us through all generations the true God and all His attributes.

I have manifested You to men because YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM TO ME.

We can't look at anything the same once we've seen God. From the most beautiful star in the sky, to the most intricate flower growing out of the ground, we can never look at these the same once we've seen God's beauty.

James Montgomery Boice- Everything is God's, for he made it originally and can do with it what He pleases... Everything is God's and obeys the laws that He has set, from the smallest atom to the greatest star.

If God is God at all, then everything is His, if it isn't God's than God isn't God at all and we might as well find another God, right?

The Word of God has been presented and it opened their heart and has changed their minds, is now something that they have embraced and made their own. It is no longer about their own noble insights, it's about them embracing the Word of God and the Truth of God.
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Celebrating at the end of this month is our 2 year anniversary, and watching this NOOMA video "Flame" was pretty cool. What does love mean to you? Do you have a Raya, a Ahava, or a Dod flame in your marriage, or do you have all three? If you're reading those words and going... what are you talking about? Read below in the notes I have written and you'll understand.

"Song of Songs was originally written in the Hebrew language, which has three different words for our English word 'love'.

The first word we find is the word 'Raya'. Raya would be translated literally as 'friend', or 'companion'- somebody you hang out with.


Another Hebrew word we find for love is 'Ahava'

Ahava is the love of the will. Now, this is way more profound than fleeting romantic feelings. This is much more than temporary urges. Ahava is making a decision to join your life to the life of another. This is an emotion that leads to commitment.


There's a a third Hebrew word for love that we find in Song of Songs. It's the word 'Dod.'
Dod is translated in English, literally, as to 'carouse', to 'rock', or to 'fondle.'

Dod is the physical, sexual element to a relationship."

So, after reading these three definitions what kind of flame do you have, or do you and your spouse have all 3 flames? The kind of spouse that is your friend, your devoted partner, and your lover? Being close to our anniversary, and being appreciative of the kind of close relationship I have with my husband, this was a good video to watch.
In today's society, people are left empty because their marriage only had 1 or maybe even 2 flames. They are left unsatisfied in their marriage because the lack the 3 pieces that truly make a marriage last.

"We have our raya flame. We have our ahava flame. And, we have our dod flame.
One flame burning all by itself will never be as hot as all the flames burning together. I mean, we were created for all the flames to burn as one.

When you separate the flames, it can never really satisfy. It's like you're living outside of how God wired you to live"

True sexuality is vast and mysterious. It involves all of you. I mean, you have a body, but you also have a soul and a spirit. And love is two people coming together and giving all of themselves to each other forever."

Need I say any more? Happy Anniversary to us, April 30th!

The new happenings

Thursday, we had a couple over and we got creative and decorated some cakes for fun, so here is a picture of the cakes we made and they were ohhhh sooo good to eat too. Mine is the cake that looks like a clown cake all brightly colored and all! Becca's is the Surf's up cake with waves and all. What can we say, her major is art. Here is the picture of our 3 cakes:












Yesterday we got delivered our new TV... Yipeee! It is ohhhh so pretty!! Here is a picture of it below:

On order right now is a Wedding Book I have created through iPhoto on my laptop, because I needed something professional looking to show clients when they want to book me for a photography job. This is the cover of my first album, it was relatively cheap considering Shutterfly wanted $60.00 for an album like I wanted. iPhoto only cost me around $30.00 and it will have a black linen cover with this as the front of the album:

Also, may be a prayer answered. We have praying, of course, about what we were going to do once the baby was born and we have been cutting back anything we owe and putting money in the bank. I have been wondering what I could do for any extra money after the baby was born, Thursday afternoon, after helping my boss out a lot with projects and it being crazy busy at work. She said that I couldn't leave working once the baby was born because they needed me so bad. She said that she would find something for me part time in the same department and if we could she would see if we could set me up to do some work from home. My jaw is dropping and I am like, WOW! That would be so awesome if we could do that because that is what we have been trying to figure out :) She said, we'll talk more once we get closer to your due date, but you can't leave us! I am keeping this is my prayers that hopefully something would be able to work out. I am not getting my hopes up, of course, they have to think about budget, etc. before anything like this would ever even happen. So, keep this in your prayers, this would be nothing short of a miracle to us because I love my job and my bosses and I know that I won't want to leave my baby for too long.

Galations "(6:1) Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (6:2) Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (6:3) If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (6:4) Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, (6:5) for each one should carry his own load."

Reading at my lunch and these are what we read. As Christians, we have many responsibilities- one including us holding each other accountable. When we see a brother or sister doing things, we should step up to the plate and gently correct them. Doesn't inlcude us going up to our friend and saying "Fool, what are you doing?"
Always keep your spirit humble, reminding ourselves that we are nothing more than servants seeking to please the LORD or GOD and not ourselves.
Take pride that you are exactly how God has planned to make you. Be proud that you are a creation of God, and by the world's standards you may not be perfect but God sees you as a perfect creation.
Lastly, carry your own load. Be prepared that in times in our lives our load may be heavy and other times it may seem light. But don't pawn your responsibilities on anyone else. Step up to bat and take a big swing, sometimes we'll miss the ball but maybe we'll get it at the next pitch. God has given each one of us a specific load, and it will never be more than we can bear.

Keep your focus on the things God has placed before you in your life, and the many joys He will bring you if you continue to follow his direction.

New TV and other stuff

We decided to buy a TV, well somewhat of a TV it is actually a 27in. LCD TV for a pretty low price too from CompUSA. We did buy it online, so we won't have it for the next couple of days but none the less. We will have something to be able to watch.
I still have not decorated much, we are still struggling to find a coffee table that will fit in our apartment. We got this coffee table from a friend but after we put it in there is no walking room and we wouldn't be able to get into our DVD's either. We are in search of a coffee table that is about 17 in. wide to be able to fit it in there. Smallest we've seen was 22 right now. We might end up just buying 2 side tables and putting them in the middle so we can move them whenever we like. We will see what we can find.

Also, I am going to try and see if I can get my wedding pictures, which are on negatives, converted to digital so I can actually re-print them without having to try and figure out which negative belongs to which picture, ugh! I believe Ritz camera can do this but I am not sure. I have very limited amount of wedding pictures in the house right now because of this reason.
That's it for now.

Selling the truck

In an effort to lower our cost of living we have made a decision to sell the truck. The truck has been good to us and if we could help it at all we probably wouldn't sell it. It is costing us a lot to insure plus we won't be able to afford it if we decide to stay home with the baby. The truck has been great, I will miss it dearly and because it was Andrew's dream vehicle. Sometimes we have to sacrifice in order to make things work, especially financially... so I am pretty sure this is the route we are going to go because it seems to be the only thing we really could do. When I am not working the Honda will be good to us, great gas mileage and will lower our insurance quite a bit. Not the thing either one of us want to do, but we have to make it work somehow and this is something we can afford to give up right now. We can put the money from the truck into an account and allow us some room in case things get really tough financially.

I am working on some ideas of what I could do from home once the baby gets a little older. Everyone suggests photography but until I make a name for myself I will be at the mercy of the client for me to make money. I have explored other ideas but haven't found anything too promising and that won't cost me money up front. So if you have any ideas let me know

Going on 16 weeks and the wierdest dream...

So starting next week I should be in the beginning of my 16th week, still feeling pretty good and finding that I am still kinda fitting into my old clothes but getting together. Everyone at church kept asking me "When are you going to start showing?" I usually just shrug and say I don't know... So, I feel chubby and to me I see a little belly but to most people don't see anything at all resembling a belly. Here is the most resent picture I took of myself is morning....


The other part of my title for my blog was that I have had now 2 dreams of my car being stolen. We own a 2006 Honda Civic sedan, this most resent dream was me taking it to a non-official car wash at a gas station. I was waiting for some time when I looked outside and I did not see my car anywhere. When I asked the people they said they took the car around the block to dry it off. A little while later when everyone else's cars were gone I was sitting there and my car still had not shown. When I asked the cashier she told me that sometimes they take people's cars... Aghast I say "What!!" The cashier said, you see those people in the cars leaving right now they are the ones that probably stole you car but we can't bother them now they are leaving... still shocked... I said "Little do they know my car has low-jack and you will pay for this" They located the car and they said it was on the dock getting ready to be loaded into a truck. Then... I woke up. Sheesh what is up with the 2 dreams of my car being stolen?

Does Darfur have a prayer?

A few months back I heard from a friend about the small area in the Sudan, Darfur, and when I was told about the genocide that is occuring over there... at first I wasn't at all hit by it until I went to a website Save Darfur recently and realized the statistics of how bad it really is over there, how devastating it is. The weird thing to me was "Why had I not heard about any of this in the news? How come their government is choosing to ignore the problem?" Below I have copied the background of Darfur from SaveDarfur.org. I hope that you stop by the website and maybe even donate some money to this organization that is trying to stop the genocide over there.

"Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, and mass slaughter.

Since early 2003, Sudanese armed forces and Sudanese government-backed militia known as “Janjaweed” have been fighting two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The stated political aim of the rebels has been to compel the government of Sudan to address underdevelopment and the political marginalization of the region. In response, the Sudanese government’s regular armed forces and the Janjaweed – largely composed of fighters of Arab nomadic background – have targeted civilian populations and ethnic group from which the rebels primarily draw their support – the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

The Bush Administration has recognized these atrocities – carried out against civilians primarily by the government of Sudan and its allied Janjaweed militias – as genocide. António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has described the situation in Sudan and Chad as “the largest and most complex humanitarian problem on the globe.” The Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias are responsible for the burning and destruction of hundreds of rural villages, the killing of tens of thousands of people and rape and assault of thousands of women and girls.

With much international pressure, the Darfur Peace Agreement was brokered in May 2006 between the government of Sudan and one faction of Darfur rebels. However, deadlines have been ignored and the violence has escalated, with in-fighting among the various rebel groups and factions dramatically increasing and adding a new layer of complexity to the conflict. This violence has made it dangerous, if not impossible, for most of the millions of displaced persons to return to their homes. Humanitarian aid agencies face growing obstacles to bringing widespread relief. In August 2006, the UN's top humanitarian official Jan Egeland stated that the situation in Darfur is "going from real bad to catastrophic." Indeed, the violence in Darfur rages on with government-backed militias still attacking civilian populations with impunity.

On July 30, 2004, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1556 demanding that the government of Sudan disarm the Janjaweed. This same demand is also an important part of the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May of 2006. On August 31, 2006, the Security Council took the further step of authorizing a strong UN peacekeeping force for Darfur by passing resolution 1706. Despite these actions, the Janjaweed are still active and free to commit the same genocidal crimes against civilians in Darfur with the aid of the Sudanese government.

International experts agree that the United Nations Security Council must deploy a peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect civilians immediately. Until it arrives, the under-funded and overwhelmed African Union monitoring mission must be bolstered. And governments and international institutions must provide and ensure access to sufficient humanitarian aid for those in need."

Move in day!

Yesterday we were actually able to move in, which is awesome!!! We moved in pretty much everything with the help of our friends Eric, Josh, and Talia. Put most of our stuff away too, we have books (which we need bookcases for), Clothes to hang up, etc. So we spent our first night in the new place tonight and I have to tell you I slept like a baby in our new bed... I never thought it would feel so nice to see a bed until it hit 1am....ha ha. Took a nice Hot shower this morning, so that was pretty awesome. Just looking forward to getting the rest of our stuff from the RV and moving it on in, but it should be just little stuff from now on. Yipeee, It is so nice to be in this place, Just have to thank the Lord for opening the door for us :) I will take some pictures soon and post them, but right now you don't want to see the place because there are boxes everywhere still. More to come :)

Nooma video "Rain"

Imagine this....

It's early in the morning and the sun just barely rises over the lake and a Father takes his 1 year old son on a hike early in the morning. The Father puts his son in a backpack as they hike around the lake with the fog still over the lake from the cool night.. As they re hiking around it's a moment that you wish you could just freeze because it is just so beautiful. As they get halfway around the lake the Father looks up and sees dark clouds. Shortly after, it starts to drizzle and then it is pouring rain. With lightning and thunder, the Father hikes faster to get home with his son on his back still he puts the hood on his son's head. They are soaking wet, his son starts crying at the top of his lungs and at points shrieking out of fear from the lightning and thunder. The Father grabs his son out of the carrier and brings him closer to his body and whispers to him " I love you son, we're gonna make it!" Still hiking through all the rain, thunder, and lightning and whispering "I love you son, we're gonna make it!"

Isn't our relationship with God just like this? We puts us onto His back and we follow His lead through so much beauty and we wish we could just freeze that moment. And when the storms rage, the rain falls, and the lightning strikes we pulls us off His back and brings us close into His body and whispers "I Love you, we're gonna make it!" We're gonna make it through the storm and the rain eventhough we're scared... But we are protected under his strength and loving arms. He just simply whispers in our ear "I love you, we're gonna make it!" It's when we go through these trials that God pulls us close to Him.

Has there ever been a moment in your life you just wanted to freeze because it was so beautiful? Do you think that there is an easier way than to have to go through trials?

The most precious thing

Today I heard our baby's heart beat for the first time! It was such a special moment, I cried the whole way home from the Dr's. Everything is still looking good so far, next visit I have to take another HIV test... they said the results were indefinite... whatever that means. So far so good, I should be getting my lab results from the exam in a week or so. Other than that just my clothes getting tighter and tighter. I think in the next 4 weeks I should be getting a belly here :)

Willow Tree

I have recently purchased 3 pieces of the Willow Tree by Demdaco for our new apartment, so here is a picture I took quickly of them this morning.

So, our intended move in date is now Wednesday instead of this last weekend, but we will just have to wait and see if they did actually finish the apartment. These last couple of days has been kind of hard because we had arranged eveything perfectly for the move this weekend. So now, we have no Hot Water and no home telephone or internet. You wouldn't think hot water would be such a big deal until you go to take a shower. Anyway, that's it for now I think. I will most likely post another because I have a Dr's appointment this morning.

Not moving this weekend!!!!!

Andrew and I are thoroughly mad this weekend... which would have been a perfect weekend to move by the way. We called the apartments Friday morning to pick up keys and said that the contractor has still not finished the granite countertops. So, we had everything shut off, telephone, internet, etc. Now they are telling us we may not be able to move in until Wed. I cannot believe this, they moved our date from the 1st to the 2nd and now not until next week. Andrew is going to get aggressive with them and have them comp us another free month since they have now taken away 1/2 of our free month due to their own problems not ours. Sorry, but they will breach their contract if they don't comp us a month like promised. We had gas turned on, electric, etc at our new apartment too so that is one more thing. Luckily, my work is accomodating and will allow me time off mid week to move if necessary. I am so mad, so we spent all today cleaning up the RV and getting it ready for our new possible owner. Geesh, can you believe it???