My life in 4 seconds.

Ok, seriously..seriously. I can't wait any longer. It's almost Easter. It's practically Sunday. I'm breaking my own rule and posting about the everyday because let's be honest, God is in the everyday and it's in the everyday that He meets me. This has been a good exercise for me tho - I needed to take the time to share my faith in a no nonsense way. I hope it encouraged some of you. It served as a good reminder for me.

So what have you missed since I drove off of the regularly scheduled program? Not a whole lot. Just a lot of children raising. Here is a video of what my life feels like at the moment - summed up in exactly 4 seconds.

I didn't even mean to take this. I think my camera must have been accidently switched to movie mode. Or I was just checking to see if the battery was working. Either way, it's a pretty accurate portrayal of what happens in the Myers home most afternoons: Jack standing at the kitchen gate begging for crackers and Moses screaming his tiny head off somewhere in the background.

Jack is serious about his crackers.

"Crack-uh?"

All day long he wants a cracker. From the minute he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed. He has my determined spirit - he will keep asking until he gets what he wants. It's effective my son.... your mom knows from experience. But maybe be a little less determined about the frivolous things in life... like crackers. When you're looking for a job? You just keep asking until they give you the top position. You're not even two yet though, so fair enough, I'll cut you some slack.

Speaking of determination, Moses is so onto the whole "cry and they will come" method. Boy does that kid have a set of lungs. He's is a marathon crier. Unless he's being held in which case he promptly falls asleep. Woe betide you who sets him down again though. Because the crying will commence once more. He also has the uncanny ability of falling asleep immediately after the stroller starts moving but will wake up just as quickly as soon as it comes to a complete stop.

Yes, life with boys is nary a quiet one. But they are beyond sweet and completely adorable and I love them.

Daily Reminder

The other day our good friends, James and Danielle, came over so I could take pictures for their baby announcement (I'll post about that next week). They brought a little chalkboard with them as a prop and when we were all done I mentioned how I wanted to get something similar so that it could be an "art piece" around the house. Instead Danielle and I arm wrestled for it and I won so now it's mine. Actually, she left it with me free and clear because she's nice like that.

It didn't take me long to decide what to do with it - use it as a rotating Scripture board! There are little hints around our house that we're livin' for the Lord, but nothing that really serves as a great reminder of Who we serve, why He's so awesome and what we should do in response. The Scripture board (I just made that term up right now) is such a great way to achieve all three - especially since you can keep changing the verse based on what God's speaking to you that day or week or whatever. I placed my board on the coat rack by our front door in our main room where we spend the most time so that it's easily spotted and easily seen when I need some encouragement.

It's such a simple verse but it's been on my brain ever since the Aaron Gillespie worship night we attended where I cried a lot and Tim worshipped like a crazy man and we left wanting more. Anyways, among so many other incredible Truths, Aaron kept saying "God is for us!" and it really resounded with my heart . GOD IS FOR US. He's on our side. That's amazing. What more do we need?

Here's the full paragraph where the verse comes from (Romans 8:31-39) which in its entirety is even more incredible:

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

An Everlasting Meal

The title of this post sounds super spiritual (right?) but this post has nothing to do with that. I know I committed to only posting about faith based stuff until after Easter, but I just have to say...

I want to read this book so bad. It's so far from what I usually gravitate towards, but something about it intrigues me. Jules from Pancakes and French Fries is featuring it in her book club next month.

The concept is brilliant (this coming from someone who rarely strays from the recipe. And to go without one? Shocking!)

The prose is beautiful.

The images are flawless.

This video gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I love the earthiness of it. And the artistic flair she brings to preparing the food. I mean, she lines the jars up picture perfectly in her fridge. It makes me want to munch on a radish or eat a beet. Who am I???

   

It would be a bit of a splurge for me to purchase the hardcover so I'll have to wait until my local library carries it.

Wall Art: Tutorial

A month or so ago I came across a great resource in my Bible outlining prayers for your children using Scripture references as a guide. While I pray for my kids throughout the day, I wanted to be more intentional about praying the Word over them. Psalm 91 is such an amazing place to find comfort for your children, especially if your a mom like me who's constantly concerned for their future health and welfare (what mom isn't, I know, but I think about it a lot). 

This Psalm is so on point with where my heart is for my kids that I wanted to display it in their room, in hopes that after saying it over them enough times I would begin to memorize it and they in turn would learn to pray it with me. If the Words are a comfort to you as well and you'd like to hang them in your child's room, here's an easy-peasy tutorial on how to do it (it's pretty fool-proof). This is exactly how I made mine but you could play around with spacing and colors depending on your taste/preference:

1. Go to BibleGateway.com and search for Psalm 91 (I used the New King James translation). Copy and paste the text into a Word document, or if you're a Mac user like me, a Pages document.
2. Remove all the line numbers and fix the layout to your liking. I started by centering the text, stretching it to about 1 inch from the edge either side, and spacing it exactly as it is in the Bible. However I ran out of room on the page and used single spacing/no line breaks instead. I also added the "psalm 91" heading.
3. Change the font to Century Gothic, size 16. For the heading use size 72.
4. The colors I used were chartreuse green, golden yellow, tangerine orange and two shades of turquoise blue to match the colors in my nursery. I used them to highlight parts of the text that especially spoke to me. You can obviously change this up to your own taste.
5. I printed mine on soft gloss photo paper because it really makes the color pop (regular paper tends to dull them down). If you don't want to use regular paper, but don't have 8x10 photo paper on hand, you can always print it somewhere like Target or Walgreens.

And if you'd rather just save time and have me send you a PDF of the one I already made, that's ok too. Just leave a comment with your email address, or message me directly at apple.myers@gmail.com.

This Lady Knows Her Stuff

I recently started following Jami Nato's blog. Who is she? Nope, I have no idea. But that's besides the point. The point being THIS LADY KNOWS HER STUFF. And by stuff, I mean what it means to live in accordance to God's will and tell it like it is rather than say what people want to hear which, more often than not, is:

"It's ok. You don't need to forgive/let go/apologize/smarten up/repent/turn from your sin. You just do what feels right and God will understand."

So far, my two favorite Truths that she talks about are:

The Most Expensive Gift I Ever Gave (this will blow you away)

Oh Sorry, I Thought That Was Mine

So good.

Words.

"When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, 

But he who restrains his lips is wise" Proverbs 10:19

I spend a lot of time, more than you'd probably expect, regretting things I've said past and present. I'm so much better with words on paper than I am in person. If you know me well, you've probably heard some of the more notorious incidents where I've said the wrong thing on accident or, even worse, with eyes wide open. The problem here is threefold:

1) I don't like awkward small talk or uncomfortable silences so I tend to scramble for something to say which sometimes results in further awkwardness.
2) I can be careless with my words or just way too honest and blunt. Sometimes I want to be witty or amusing. Other times I insist on voicing my opinion or having the last word. Whatever the reason - I'm often guilty of not adhering to that old adage "Think before you speak."
3) Sarcasm. With a capital "S." I have a terrible habit of using it.

The problem here is that my need to be heard can result in causing offense or hurt to others. Which is an awful feeling and so not worth whatever it is I just had to say at the time.

Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."

The tongue is a powerful weapon, often untamed. I find myself praying more and more that God would control my tongue to keep my from saying things I'll regret later. I want to be someone who builds people up instead of tearing them down. Who can make people laugh without doing it at the expense of others. I want to be a mother who speaks life and encouragement into the hearts of my children - not someone who shouts at them and is constantly scolding.

I want to stop complaining and start praising God. This is one of the most frustrating areas for me because I have gratitude to the core of my being for what God has done in my life and yet I still seem to find reason to complain or grumble or find fault with a situation. For instance, when people ask me how Tim's job is going I often start on a positive note but end with "but in the long run it won't provide enough for us." Agghhh! No! The Lord is good and faithful to provide and he has given us our "daily bread" for the day and that is enough for now. So I should still only ever have praise for him. And yet, as I said, I seem to have this penchant for not thinking before I speak.

Clearly I'm not the only God-fearer who struggled with taming their tongue - the Bible is full of passages in regards to this issue. This passage from James 3:3-18 is a perfect summary of my struggle:

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salta water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Amen to that.

Here's to thinking before I speak.

Suffering

Please read this entire post and watch the video at the end.

I don't know why God allows certain events to transpire on our earth. From Herod to Hitler, the earth has been filled with people who seek to destroy His people. These monsters are His creations and yet He gives them the free will to live as they might and to be given over to the evil one who fills them with the poison of his lies. I don't know why God chooses to let them continue spilling blood and spreading terror. I don't think I'll ever know - at least not this side of heaven. But I do know that God is a God of justice who will, in the day of Judgement, pay back every cruelty to those who first committed them:

There will be tribulation and anguish for every soul of man who does evil - Romans 2:9

tribulation |ˌtribyəˈlā sh ən|noun (usu. tribulations)a state of great trouble or suffering 
anguish |ˈa ng gwi sh |nounsevere mental or physical pain or suffering

Jesus mourned over the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:32-36). He wept over the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). He had the flesh torn from his body and then willingly crucified it. For the sake of the people. Us. Them. You. He knows, first hand, what it is to be mocked, abused, accused, betrayed, tortured, mutilated, murdered. He deeply understands us.

crucifixion |ˌkroōsəˈfik sh ən|noun chiefly historicala form of execution intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying") gruesome, humiliating, and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal.

Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4-5

The Holy Spirit, the Great Counselor, is among us. If we repent and believe, He dwells within us. He is all around. That means He sees all things and hears all things. He sees the atrocities, the terrors, the torture. He hears the cries that break forth from the blood shed and He is not exempt from feeling our pain.

We do not know what we ought to pray for, 

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans - Romans 8:26

groan |grōn|verb [ intrans. ]make a deep inarticulate sound in response to pain or despair