I have to admit, today has been a bad day. I've been trying not to complain, but I've been so sick last night and today that I'm having a hard time with that. But, despite feeling crummy, I managed to get in some Bible reading today. I love that when I read the Scriptures, even ones I've read or heard over and over, I can see things in a new light.
Today I read in Matthew 5. Jesus had just finished sharing the Beatitudes, then in verses 38-42 He talks about the old law that said, "An eye for an eye." He says here, "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also."
Then it gets even tougher in verse 43:" You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you...therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."
I've read those verses before, but today I was thinking as I read them about how easy it is to love our neighbor or our brothers and sisters when that love is reciprocated, but an enemy? That's a whole different story! And Jesus didn't just say tolerate them; He said to LOVE them. I don't think I have many enemies, but I have been perhaps unfairly treated before, or talked about, or hurt. There have been folks who haven't treated well family members of mine or other people I care about. But the only thing I can control is my response. If Jesus said to love, then I'm sure if we put our faith in Him, He will give us that ability. What will separate a true Christian from the world is our ability to show Christ's love in spite of how we're treated. Like the verse says, if we do that, we can be perfect just like our Heavenly Father, for He has loved us before we ever loved Him. Sometimes I feel quite unlovable, but God in his infinite mercy never stops loving me! I pray that the Lord can open my eyes to the areas in my life where I need to respond in a more Christ-like way.
If you happen to be reading this, I would also appreciate your prayers that the Lord will give me strength to get through this sickness. I know I'm not the only woman to go through pregnancy sickness, but I'm having a hard time with it. Thanks!
Until next time,
Bethany
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
It's Just One of Those Days...
Today was one of those days where I didn't even get dressed until 3:30 p.m. These days seem to be happening more frequently. Don't judge me; at least I actually did get dressed for a few hours today! :)
Bryson and I made three pans of fudge. I folded three loads of laundry. I felt so proud of myself for accomplishing these tasks that I ordered Papa John's pizza for dinner! Again, don't judge. At least I got one with lots of veggies on it.
The pregnancy nausea and total lack of energy has set in, along with a ridiculously round belly for only 9 weeks. I guess on number three, my body is just saying, "Oh yeah. Here we go again. I'll just go ahead and pop out there like I know I'm gonna have to do eventually."
Christmas is only a few days away, and I'm hosting the Hoskins' family Christmas Eve get-together, so I'm trying to pace myself and slowly get the things done that I need to do (thus the 3 pans of fudge I made today). In my typical OCD way, I even made a list Saturday outlining each day with things I need to do. Phillip laughs at me, but I'm a goal-setter and a list-maker. Even more so now, I need a list to keep me moving. Yesterday, grocery shopping was on my list. So, I dutifully made my way to Kroger. I was actually feeling pretty good prior to going, but the longer I shopped, the worse I started to feel. My stomach suddenly felt empty, and when my belly gets empty, the nausea gets SO much worse. So what does the crazy pregnant lady do? I go to the deli and order an 8 pc. fried chicken dinner (because I wanted hot food), checked out as quickly as possible, and then as soon as I got Avery and my groceries loaded in the van, I dug into my chicken. I ate the biggest piece in there, and it was delicious! Then I drove home, and told Phillip what I did. Of course, he laughed at me like I'm insane. Maybe I kind of am.
I love Christmas time, but this year I'm kind of feeling like, enough already. Let's get this over with and move on. Yikes, I sound like Scrooge. However, I am looking forward to the excited looks on the kids' faces and spending time with family. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
Not sure if I'll write again before Christmas, so I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas! May God bless you and yours!
Bryson and I made three pans of fudge. I folded three loads of laundry. I felt so proud of myself for accomplishing these tasks that I ordered Papa John's pizza for dinner! Again, don't judge. At least I got one with lots of veggies on it.
The pregnancy nausea and total lack of energy has set in, along with a ridiculously round belly for only 9 weeks. I guess on number three, my body is just saying, "Oh yeah. Here we go again. I'll just go ahead and pop out there like I know I'm gonna have to do eventually."
Christmas is only a few days away, and I'm hosting the Hoskins' family Christmas Eve get-together, so I'm trying to pace myself and slowly get the things done that I need to do (thus the 3 pans of fudge I made today). In my typical OCD way, I even made a list Saturday outlining each day with things I need to do. Phillip laughs at me, but I'm a goal-setter and a list-maker. Even more so now, I need a list to keep me moving. Yesterday, grocery shopping was on my list. So, I dutifully made my way to Kroger. I was actually feeling pretty good prior to going, but the longer I shopped, the worse I started to feel. My stomach suddenly felt empty, and when my belly gets empty, the nausea gets SO much worse. So what does the crazy pregnant lady do? I go to the deli and order an 8 pc. fried chicken dinner (because I wanted hot food), checked out as quickly as possible, and then as soon as I got Avery and my groceries loaded in the van, I dug into my chicken. I ate the biggest piece in there, and it was delicious! Then I drove home, and told Phillip what I did. Of course, he laughed at me like I'm insane. Maybe I kind of am.
I love Christmas time, but this year I'm kind of feeling like, enough already. Let's get this over with and move on. Yikes, I sound like Scrooge. However, I am looking forward to the excited looks on the kids' faces and spending time with family. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
Not sure if I'll write again before Christmas, so I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas! May God bless you and yours!
Friday, December 17, 2010
A Few of My Favorite Things
"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens..."
While I like that song, I just have to disagree with the lyrics. Really?? Whiskers and kettles aren't what make me smile. Yeah, I get it; the theme of the song is that it's the ordinary, everyday things that make our lives full and wonderful, and with that, I can agree!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brothers who love each other more than anything in the world.
Big cheesy grins from my three favorite guys.
Bryson's amazement at the beautiful snow.
Avery's new trick...sticking his thumbs in his ears :).
Bryson doing so well in his Christmas program and his excited waves to us in the audience every few minutes.
These are a few of my favorite things!! I know it doesn't rhyme, but at least it makes a lot more sense.
While I like that song, I just have to disagree with the lyrics. Really?? Whiskers and kettles aren't what make me smile. Yeah, I get it; the theme of the song is that it's the ordinary, everyday things that make our lives full and wonderful, and with that, I can agree!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brothers who love each other more than anything in the world.
Big cheesy grins from my three favorite guys.
Bryson's amazement at the beautiful snow.
Avery's new trick...sticking his thumbs in his ears :).
Bryson doing so well in his Christmas program and his excited waves to us in the audience every few minutes.
These are a few of my favorite things!! I know it doesn't rhyme, but at least it makes a lot more sense.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
My Pregnancy Grumblings
"If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all." That is the motto I was raised to adhere to and also explains why I haven't blogged lately.
It took about a week for the shock to wear off about our pregnancy news. During that time I had slight moments of nausea. Let me just tell you, they have gone from slight to severe and almost constant. Last Sunday morning was the first day I woke up feeling really yucky, and as I rolled over to sit up, I was like, "Yep. This is it. This is what I remember feeling and why I vowed to never have another baby." It seems like each day the nausea is getting stronger, and it seems to be most severe at night, which means I get very little sleep. It also means that I have a bag of chips and glass of lemonade on my table by my bed for a middle-of-the night snack to attempt to relieve the nausea. I have gained ten pounds already from sick-eating, because unfortunately, eating is the only thing I have found to take the edge off. I eat when I don't feel hungry and food doesn't even sound good. I don't remember it being this bad with my last two, definitely not Avery.
Another thing is that my life cannot revolve around this pregnancy. I now have two little boys that require lots of attention, so even though I don't feel like it, in a few minutes they'll be up needing breakfast, changed, and gotten off to preschool. I'd rather just lay on the couch under a warm blanket, but that just isn't an option. Phillip has been sympathetic, but he works third shift and sleeps through the day, so there's only so much he can do. I'm already becoming more of a homebody than ever. The last two nights Phillip has taken Bryson and gone out to a viewing, a church-working, and a graduation party, and I have stayed home on the couch. Somehow I must muster up the energy to finish my Christmas shopping. This is a bad time of year to feel terrible. I need to clean my house for company, go grocery shopping for baking, actually do some baking, wrap presents, attend school programs, and the list continues. We also need to take a trip to KY for a family Christmas, and the mere thought of getting into a vehicle and riding that long makes my stomach heave.
I'm having my first ultrasound tomorrow, and then am scheduled for another one in January to measure the neck and check for abnormalities like Avery. I'll feel SO much better when I'm told everything looks normal. That should also be around the time when the nausea is starting to ease some. So, I just must keep my thoughts focused on the future and getting through this rough patch.
I guess I've done enough complaining for one post. I will try not to make it a habit!!
It took about a week for the shock to wear off about our pregnancy news. During that time I had slight moments of nausea. Let me just tell you, they have gone from slight to severe and almost constant. Last Sunday morning was the first day I woke up feeling really yucky, and as I rolled over to sit up, I was like, "Yep. This is it. This is what I remember feeling and why I vowed to never have another baby." It seems like each day the nausea is getting stronger, and it seems to be most severe at night, which means I get very little sleep. It also means that I have a bag of chips and glass of lemonade on my table by my bed for a middle-of-the night snack to attempt to relieve the nausea. I have gained ten pounds already from sick-eating, because unfortunately, eating is the only thing I have found to take the edge off. I eat when I don't feel hungry and food doesn't even sound good. I don't remember it being this bad with my last two, definitely not Avery.
Another thing is that my life cannot revolve around this pregnancy. I now have two little boys that require lots of attention, so even though I don't feel like it, in a few minutes they'll be up needing breakfast, changed, and gotten off to preschool. I'd rather just lay on the couch under a warm blanket, but that just isn't an option. Phillip has been sympathetic, but he works third shift and sleeps through the day, so there's only so much he can do. I'm already becoming more of a homebody than ever. The last two nights Phillip has taken Bryson and gone out to a viewing, a church-working, and a graduation party, and I have stayed home on the couch. Somehow I must muster up the energy to finish my Christmas shopping. This is a bad time of year to feel terrible. I need to clean my house for company, go grocery shopping for baking, actually do some baking, wrap presents, attend school programs, and the list continues. We also need to take a trip to KY for a family Christmas, and the mere thought of getting into a vehicle and riding that long makes my stomach heave.
I'm having my first ultrasound tomorrow, and then am scheduled for another one in January to measure the neck and check for abnormalities like Avery. I'll feel SO much better when I'm told everything looks normal. That should also be around the time when the nausea is starting to ease some. So, I just must keep my thoughts focused on the future and getting through this rough patch.
I guess I've done enough complaining for one post. I will try not to make it a habit!!
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