Saturday, February 15, 2014

fearless friday was not forgotten!

Unfortunately there was no post yesterday because I have been laptop charger-less all week, and quite frankly there's no way I'm typing out all I had planned to write on my phone or on my husband's tablet. I like a good ol' fashioned keyboard. Or pen and paper, but that doesn't help me get it online.

So since there's no fearless post I shall share about my Valentine's Day. :) The hubs got off work early, which was a gift all by itself because it is hard for him to get off early certain days, Friday being one of them. I was able to do a bit of shopping, and the best part about that is almost everything was on sale!  Woot woot! Jeremiah didn't tell me where we were going, just to dress up. I was SUPER excited about that because I basically never have an occasion to wear dressy clothes, and even more rarely do I get to wear a non-nursing friendly outfit. So I had lots of fun putting on a little makeup and wearing a nice dress that I knew the hubs liked but had yet to see on me :-) He ended up taking us to Fogo de Chao, YUMMM. Needless to say I am still stuffed. If you aren't familiar with the restaurant, it is a Brazilian Steakhouse where they provide several different cuts of meat in rapid succession until you tell them to stop. I'll post pictures of the cards you use there below.

Anyways so that was alot of fun. Naomi's godmom watched her the evening, so we had a few hours to ourselves which is pretty rare and such a blessing.  We are definitely getting old though because we talked about going up to Howard for old times sake or going to a jazz club but we were full and tired and ready to head back home. Ha! The things parenthood does to ya. Just a couple years ago, our night would just be getting started around ten pm!

To be honest I really used to look down on Valentine's Day because it seemed so shallow. I remember so many girls in middle school and high school desperate for a boo thang they could claim as their own, even if their "relationship" began two days before V-Day and ended two days after. I never wanted to get caught up in such empty displays of so-called love so I ended up shunning it altogether.  Now I look at it more from the perspective of having the opportunity to show the people you truly love that you love them, whether it's family,  friends, or someone you're in a relationship with. The day is also a great time to make those who may otherwise feel unloved feel special. I was one of the ones like, Why in the world do we need a day set aside to show people we love them when we should be doing it anyway!? Oh how I chuckle at my younger immature self lol. Now I know that there's nothing wrong with showing a little extra love.

I hope each of you are having a wonderful weekend celebrating love! Later today my love and I will be going to a couple's Valentine's event that our church and another church are co-hosting. It will be our very first one since getting married :-) How do you celebrate Love Day? Show someone you love a littlw extra love today, and go be fearless and show someone who may feel unloved (or maybe that you think doesn't even deserve to feel extra love) some Christ like love today (and every day!).

This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.
1 John 4:7-8

It was so nice to get dressed up!
If the green side is face up, it means keep the meats coming! Red side means you need a food break. I actually had green side up a good portion of the time!
Hubs said he was too full to smile. He's still adorable. :-)
We received this before we left the restaurant. How cool!
Me and my boo :-)
'Tis I.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Fearless is my new normal: an introduction to fearless fridays

These past ten (TEN!!) months of being a mom to Naomi have been full of exciting moments, but I have to say the times that I enjoy most are watching her and the hubs have daddy-daughter time. It used to freak me out seeing Jeremiah flipping her over, tossing her in the air and such, but now that I see how much Naomi enjoys it and looks forward to it, I just sit back and let it happen.
Super-baby Naomi!! Her daddy makes her flyyyyy!!!
It's funny that as I watch Naomi playing around with her daddy, the only person in the room who's on edge is me. Of course Jeremiah is being careful, but not to the extent of padding the walls and floor (which kinda sounds like a good idea as I type it out...). Naomi, the one who's being tossed around, is the least fazed of all of us. She doesn't really know to do anything but trust us.

Oh that I would have the same kind of trust with my Heavenly Father! He has given me no reason to distrust Him, and He has a track record of perfection. He is to be trusted above all others.

Yet more often than not my actions are more characterized by comfort and security than by fearlessness and faith. I question the things the Lord calls me to do and quite frequently end up not doing them at all because I've talked myself out of it. And when I do obey, I love to have a safety net. Just in case this obedience thing, this leap of faith doesn't work out, I better have a back up plan. I like to have contingency plans for my contingency plans. I love the idea of being fearless, but taking actual, fearless action makes me, well, fearful. 

This year...you know what? Scratch that. This week will be different. I've found that when I stretch my goals out over the course of a year without setting specific deadlines for them that the goals often go unmet. And so begins fearless fridays. Every Friday I will post on a fearless act the Lord has led me to do. It could be big. It could be small. It could be something for someone else, or it could be something in my personal life. No matter what the acts are, they'll all be great because I'll be doing them in obedience to my Father, Who enables us to act in spite of our fears, Who enables us to overcome our fears.

I've always believed that God is far too big and great for me to live a basic, ordinary life. I am taking Him at His Word that if I obey Him I will see extraordinary things done in His name that point others to His Son Jesus Christ and give Him all the glory. I'm not looking for accolades about what I do. I'm just looking to obey and thus be blown away by the amazingness (I made that up!) of God in my every day life.

Care to join me in being fearless? In the comment section each week, share a link to a fearless friday post in your blog. Let's live fearless lives for the Lord together!

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

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