Recently I have been really into the country music from my elementary school years. Back when I had never even been to California, when I lived in my home state of Texas, and back when country music was so very different than it is now. I'm not talking about Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood. (Not that there is anything wrong with them.) I'm talking about the original Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Toby Keith, and Tim McGraw, to name a few. Listening to this music with an adult set of ears has really clued me in on what the meanings were behind the songs these artists sang.
There is one in particular that has really been hitting home. When I was younger I had no idea what Garth Brooks was talking about when he sang "Unanswered Prayers" I just thought it was a pretty song. Now that I've become an adult, been married, and had kids, it takes on a HUGE new meaning for me. I never thought before in my wildest dreams that I would say to myself, "Thank God he didn't answer that prayer when I wanted him to so badly." I just thought that when I prayed and it went unanswered I was just put on the back burner and he would get to answering it when he was done with the more important ones. Now I know of course that God doesn't look at our prayers as one more important than the other, he has a plan, already put into place and already on a roll. I know now that everything that I truly needed/wanted/hoped for was fulfilled.
The things I prayed for before kids were so trivial (if that's what you want to call it) "Jesus, please let me pass my driving test." "Jesus, please let John call me today." "Jesus, please help me get through this week of school without another girl yelling at me for something that wont matter to her in 4 years." "Jesus, I beg you to help me pass my driving test THIS time."
Then after I got pregnant they started to get a little more serious. "Jesus, please let me not lose my baby because of this bleeding." "Jesus, please show me it will be okay if my baby ends up having Down Syndrome." "Jesus, guide me through this pregnancy without a man there to help me." "Jesus, protect me during this C-section so I can live to be my sons mother." "Jesus, thank you so much for my beautiful baby boy, but now can you please show me the way to be a single mother."
Then I got even older, he guided me through the absolute hardest three years of my life and then I married Ryan and they changed even more. "Jesus, please give me the strength to keep working for my family while Ryan is trying to find a job, oh and can you go ahead and help him find one." "Jesus, I wasn't expecting this pregnancy but thank you, now can you seriously help Ryan find a job before I end up on bed rest." "Jesus, thank you for putting a job out there for Ryan, please don't let me lose this baby because of this bleeding...again." "Jesus, protect me through this C-section so I can continue to be a mother to my son and now a mother to my daughter." "Jesus, thank you so much for my beautiful baby girl, now can you please give me the patience to be a mother to two, a wife, and still keep my sanity." "Jesus, please let Gabriella sleep for a few hours so I can get the laundry done, the dishes washed, and spend some quality time with Max."
Now when I pray, I pray for people I don't know, I pray for people I love, I pray for my family, and I pray for the sake of PRAYING. "Jesus, you have blessed me so much now will you please bless my friend with a baby, her and her husband desperately want one and are having a really hard time." "Jesus, help my friend get through her husband being out of the country serving our country, hes a good man." "Jesus, show her what shes doing wrong and how she can fix it." "Jesus, bless her even though we don't get along." "Jesus, please help my girl get over her cold, shes so sad when shes sick." "Jesus, help Max sleep through the night without nightmares." "Jesus, keep your hand over my brother, he needs guidance right now." "Jesus, make sure my dad knows I love him too much for words." "Jesus, keep your hand under my friends flight to Korea to be with her husband." "Jesus, I know you're sick of hearing me for all these years but please please please keep my family healthy."
I don't know if I was just rambling on but I seriously have had these HUGE feelings inside of me that I wish I would have known the power of prayer when I was younger. I really wanted to share with you all that you should never stop praying. The prayers that have gone unanswered were just that because they weren't in the blueprints of your life. Youtube the song "Unanswered Prayers" if you haven't heard it and remind yourself that he is ALWAYS listening.
Talk to you soon,
J
1.05.2011
Happy New Year!
Welcome 2011!!
Well! Let us say thank you to the Good Lord for welcoming us into a new year!
This Holiday season was not as crazy as I suspected it would be. I did get behind a few days in the laundry but I made it all up in one day (thank goodness). Maximus ended up with a hair cut and Gabriella's room is officially filled with toys!
So first off I have to say that we lost a great man. My Sister in Laws lost their daddy, Dennis Lee Goodwin, suddenly and tragically on December 20th. He raised his girls for a long time by himself after the loss of his wife and their mommy passed away when they were very young. He took care of them, he taught them, and most of all he loved them. To read his obiturary and learn a little more about him click this link.
The only bright side to this story is that we got to spend a lot of time with not only Sandra and Andrea (my Sister in Laws) but also with my brother, Hugo.
Christmas was a lot of fun! We woke up before Max (my late sleeper) and were able to brush our teeth, nurse baby and feed her breakfast, and then wake up Max. There aren't words to describe his shock and happiness when he saw that "Santa" had dropped of so many more presents! It took him MAYBE 30 minutes to tear through what took us at least 8 weeks to buy. Haahaha! Gabriella opened a few presents herself but she was much more interested in the things Max was opening and of course...the wrapping paper. My wonderful husband surprised me with a...brand new digital camera!!! I was not expecting it at all! It goes to show that even when you really don't think he's listening...he is! =) After we finished with our own little family we just jumped in the car in our Christmas jammies and headed to my moms house for about an hour so the kids could open her gifts. We then came back home to get into our Christmas outfits and head over to Ryan's Aunt Kathleen's house for Christmas lunch and a little gift opening for the kids. Finally we ended our day BACK at my moms with some more Christmas food and some game playing. I bought Ryan the Just Dance 2 game for the Wii (he LOVES dancing games) and we had a kind of tournament...where Ryan was whooped by Sandra! She ended up being the best at the game! By the time we got home I was exhausted as was the rest of my gang, so we just hit the sheets!
Gabreilla's birthday party went off without a hitch! I couldn't have imagined it coming out any better! Here are some pictures of the setup.
Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Sandwhichs
Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting (YUM)
Fruit Salad with PINK Cool Whip
Magic Marshmallow Wands dipped in Vanilla flavored PINK candy
Pink colored Rice Krispy Treats
and...A Veggie Tray =)
The Candy Bar!
Strawberry flavored (My Daddy's favorite) With homemade buttercream frosting and purple sugar sprinkles!
The giant cupcake that Sandra and Andrea surprise us with!
And some mini cupcakes around it!
The Happy Birthday banner was made but a great friend and fellow blogger Lisa. She sent it all the way from Florida! I made the high chair skirt (easy peasy). This was where she ate her cake and we opened the presents!
The fun activity table! We had make your own tiaras, Make your own shields (for the boys), Pin the tiara on the Princess and Pin the Gem on the Crown (We actually didnt get around to those games but they were still there hahaha, the kids were way too busy with the other stuff!), also we had a pull string pinata, and FACE PAINTING!
Our door sign =)
Gabriella's First out fit! Well she was wearing a cardigan over it...I'll just post another picture of her LOL.
There ya go. =D
This was her second outfit! My Mother In Law, Melissa, bought and mailed this to us for this day! The front of it has this big silver Happy Birthday thing on the inside of the tulle. So perfect!
Here's Max after his face was painted. He got a fire face which was really appropriate because he was running a fever during the party =(.
We helped her blow out her candles!
It was so exciting and she was cracking us up!
Ryan, his brother Tyler, My brother Hugo and Matthew were all painted to look like the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Don't mind the hubbys hair, he was wearing a hat all day. =)
So I hope you enjoyed those thousands of pictures Hahahaaha!
New Years Eve we just spent the day and night with our family over at my moms and ended up in bed somewhere around 11:30, we waited until about 12:15 to actually fall asleep though.
My hopes for this new year are so simple. I hope to keep my family healthy and happy, I hope to be able to get my family to all the places we want to go this year, I hope to make my friendships and family relationships stronger than ever, and I hope to keep my faith in God and prayer growing. 2010 taught me quite a bit about patience, love, friendship, motherhood, family, and the future. I want to keep learning and keep growing into the person I know in my heart that I am.
Look forward to a lot more blog postings!
Talk to you soon,
J
Well! Let us say thank you to the Good Lord for welcoming us into a new year!
This Holiday season was not as crazy as I suspected it would be. I did get behind a few days in the laundry but I made it all up in one day (thank goodness). Maximus ended up with a hair cut and Gabriella's room is officially filled with toys!
So first off I have to say that we lost a great man. My Sister in Laws lost their daddy, Dennis Lee Goodwin, suddenly and tragically on December 20th. He raised his girls for a long time by himself after the loss of his wife and their mommy passed away when they were very young. He took care of them, he taught them, and most of all he loved them. To read his obiturary and learn a little more about him click this link.
The only bright side to this story is that we got to spend a lot of time with not only Sandra and Andrea (my Sister in Laws) but also with my brother, Hugo.
Christmas was a lot of fun! We woke up before Max (my late sleeper) and were able to brush our teeth, nurse baby and feed her breakfast, and then wake up Max. There aren't words to describe his shock and happiness when he saw that "Santa" had dropped of so many more presents! It took him MAYBE 30 minutes to tear through what took us at least 8 weeks to buy. Haahaha! Gabriella opened a few presents herself but she was much more interested in the things Max was opening and of course...the wrapping paper. My wonderful husband surprised me with a...brand new digital camera!!! I was not expecting it at all! It goes to show that even when you really don't think he's listening...he is! =) After we finished with our own little family we just jumped in the car in our Christmas jammies and headed to my moms house for about an hour so the kids could open her gifts. We then came back home to get into our Christmas outfits and head over to Ryan's Aunt Kathleen's house for Christmas lunch and a little gift opening for the kids. Finally we ended our day BACK at my moms with some more Christmas food and some game playing. I bought Ryan the Just Dance 2 game for the Wii (he LOVES dancing games) and we had a kind of tournament...where Ryan was whooped by Sandra! She ended up being the best at the game! By the time we got home I was exhausted as was the rest of my gang, so we just hit the sheets!
Gabreilla's birthday party went off without a hitch! I couldn't have imagined it coming out any better! Here are some pictures of the setup.
Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Sandwhichs
Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting (YUM)
Fruit Salad with PINK Cool Whip
Magic Marshmallow Wands dipped in Vanilla flavored PINK candy
Pink colored Rice Krispy Treats
and...A Veggie Tray =)
(Probably my favorite part!)
And some mini cupcakes around it!
This was her second outfit! My Mother In Law, Melissa, bought and mailed this to us for this day! The front of it has this big silver Happy Birthday thing on the inside of the tulle. So perfect!
Here's Max after his face was painted. He got a fire face which was really appropriate because he was running a fever during the party =(.
We helped her blow out her candles!
It was so exciting and she was cracking us up!
Ryan, his brother Tyler, My brother Hugo and Matthew were all painted to look like the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Don't mind the hubbys hair, he was wearing a hat all day. =)
So I hope you enjoyed those thousands of pictures Hahahaaha!
New Years Eve we just spent the day and night with our family over at my moms and ended up in bed somewhere around 11:30, we waited until about 12:15 to actually fall asleep though.
My hopes for this new year are so simple. I hope to keep my family healthy and happy, I hope to be able to get my family to all the places we want to go this year, I hope to make my friendships and family relationships stronger than ever, and I hope to keep my faith in God and prayer growing. 2010 taught me quite a bit about patience, love, friendship, motherhood, family, and the future. I want to keep learning and keep growing into the person I know in my heart that I am.
Look forward to a lot more blog postings!
Talk to you soon,
J
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