We ate.

Our Thanksgiving was great. We ate. We had a pretty quiet day. We ate. We laughed. We ate. We watched Christmas movies. We ate. We put the kids to bed. We ate

.

"Be still, and know that I am God"

Reading through news articles this morning and I came across one that breaks my heart into a million pieces. A blog found on Momlogic talks about how down syndrome is disappearing. Not because with all the modern technology we've found a cure but because when a mother finds herself faced with a lifetime of mothering a child with down syndrome "as many as 92 percent decide to abort." In this article the woman they speak of aborted her baby boy some time after 18 weeks. I don't get it. Are we so consumed with taking the easy way out in life and being conveinent that we've lost all faith and hope in something that is greater than ourselves. She aborted her baby because of an inconvience. Yes, down syndrome babies have more health issues. They have heart defects a lot of the time. There are many other things that could happen. Those things in no way give any mother the right to snuff out breath of a baby because they are scared of the unknown.

My sister is 27 years old. We grew up sharing a room a lot of the time. We played barbies in the closet, dressed up in funny outfits, and laughed at all the Disney movies. In no way was my sister, who is affect by down syndrome, not a huge part of my life and the compassion that I have for others. I have been faced with the doctors warning me and telling me to test for ds with all my children because I have a sister with it. I always smiled and declined. Whether any of my children had down syndrome or not, the choice would never had changed. My love and concern for that child would have even grown simply because of me knowing how much a child with such a handicap would bring to my family.

As a society we think that we can take our life into our own hands. We think that our decisions are just about us. We do whatever feels right or seems right at the time without thinking of the effects of anyone else. I'm not condemning this women in the blog for aborting her baby. I am sure that her and her husband did not come to that decision lightly as she states in the blog. I do think that the lack of faith and hope that people have is a bigger problem than anyone with any kind of birth defect. Without Christ, you have nothing. I would not want to make any decision in my life without the peace of the Holy Spirit alive in my soul. To go through the devastations that life can bring in a matter of seconds, can only be handled with the grace and mercy of Christ. To love without reserve, is something that only God gives.

The numbers have long been dwindling. Between 1989 and 2005, there was a 15 percent drop in births of babies with Down syndrome. Researchers estimate that there should have been a 34 percent increase during that time because women are having babies later in life, which increases the likelihood of having a child with the disorder. Some wonder if Down syndrome, which is the most common chromosomal condition in the United States and affects 400,000 Americans, will vanish entirely.

They use the word "vanish" as if it makes it feel better that thousands of women are aborting their "abnormal" babies. That's okay. Go ahead and let them. It won't change. Simply because I am heartbroken and write this blog, nothing will change. Somewhere there will be a women today abort her baby simply because he/she has down syndrome. The only way I can get through the rest of my day with this thought is believing and knowing that these babies wake up in the arms of someone who is greater than down syndrome. That baby boy who was killed for not being normal, woke up in a place that will be all he'll ever know. He's a "Glory baby" now.

Psalm 46:10 (New International Version)

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

Worn out Mama

Stress-free life is something that simply does not exist. We all have stresses no matter how old you are, what you do for a living, or what kind of mobile device you have. We seem to buy into products with words like, "soothing", "tranquil", "all-in-one", and "convenience". I don't think there is anything wrong with this. I all for comfort and convenience. I think that life tends to hand us all way too many stresses but with those stresses come a mind set that only we are in control of.

Today I reevaluated my stress level in my own life. I am a stay home mom with 2 children under the age of 5. I am 6 months pregnant. I recently moved to a completely new place across the country from where I consider to be home. The wear and tear of life has made me exhausted and I needed to look around me and eliminate some things. And add a few.

1. Switching back to disposable diapers during the holidays full of traveling, Christmas parties, many outings, and lots of fun! I don't need the stress of washing tons of diapers every other night. For me, this is a stress that I don't need right now.

2. 30 minutes of exercise at least 3 days a week. This helps me focus and gives my stress an outlet.

3. Stop taking myself so seriously.

4. Spending more time in conversation with God. This is the most important. Spending more time listening to his still, small voice.

5. Stopping! The dishes can wait. The laundry will still be there in 30 minutes. Spending time having a tea party with my girls, reading books, and having tickling matches are at the utmost important. The hugs, kisses, and smiles is what I live for.

This is my 5 step program for a more tranquil, peaceful, and soothing life. On Sunday our pastor spoke on 4 survival stratigies for living. I feel that they are strategies for not only survival but for living life to the fullest.

1. Worry about nothing

2. Pray about everything

3. Thankful to God in all things

4. Thinking on good things

All of these are important and go hand in hand. What goes in, always comes out. This hormonal, stressful wife and mother has purpose in living a life full of good things.

Family Holiday Traditions

Another family tradition. It is a Norweign recipe that was passed down. I don't remember any Christmas holiday growing up without it and my children will experience the same. These are awesome warmed up with a little butter or just plain. Great for freezing as well.


Kringla

1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 1/2 bars of margarine or butter
2 eggs
Mix first three ingredients
1 1/4 C. Buttermilk
1/2 tsp. Butter flavoring
4 3/4 C. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix and chill overnight. Roll out in pencil shape as big as your finger and make a figure 8 or pretzel shape.
This will take practice. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes only until light brown on bottom.
Store in tight container.

Just my take on it...

I'm a follower of Christ and proud to say it!!!Let's see how many people on FB are not afraid to show their love for god!!! Repost this as your status... Each time you see this on someone's status say a quick prayer for that person!! let's get God back in this country like He should be!!! If you agree respond!!! Just copy and paste... God Bless!!!

This is the statement I've seen showing up on my Facebook over the last week or so. You know how it goes. You get the e-mail and it says that if you don't send it to 5 people then you don't love Jesus. WHAT? How in the world are these things in any way helpful to the Christ centered religion of Christianity? I feel the same about the entire Christian appareal, bumper stickers, and wrist band industry. Do I need to wear a t-shirt confessing my faith because that's just the only way people would know that I am a Christ-follower? What about paying for the groceries of the person behind you? What about carrying the elderly ladies bags to her car? What about speaking to the Starbucks barista about how you hope he has a great day and are genuinely interested in his life?

Is posting statements of sentiment faith on your Facebook wall the way to really be a witness? How about befriending those who are less lovely, less friendly, and less worthy than what you would consider yourself to be in this thing we call life. Share your faith, but don't post it on Facebook expecting someone to have a life changing moment by reading it on your wall. Being a Christ follower isn't an advertisement. It's a relationship.

Out Takes

Christmas Picture came in. I sat looking at them and how perfect of a family we look. The fact is, you can't tell that it was raining in the picture that we printed. But it was. I love out takes of pictures and Christmas pictures are no exception to its bit of funny parts. You have to have humor when raising kids. To see that even when it rains, the rainbow is soon to come. With that God's promises are remembered.

Forgiving Moment by Bryan & Kristin Thompson

Kristin's words

At 10:00 a.m. I told Grace that we would be watching "UP" tonight as a family. I told her that she would not be watching tv of any kind the entire day until her room was cleaned up. I had spent so much time on Monday cleaning up her room myself and it was completely a disaster within 24 hours. After telling her this she then informs me that she was too tired to clean so I told her that she could lay down and take a nap and THEN clean up her room. I took this opportunity for her to take a nap since Hope was also laying down. Both kids laying down at the same time, I couldn't pass that up!

After naptime, Grace was told again about no tv unless her room got cleaned up. She played in her room instead. I kept reminding her all afternoon and she kept making more of a mess than cleaning up. I knew what was coming that evening but tried to think positively. After dinner and baths, I then told Grace that in 20 minutes we were going to sit down and watch "UP" as a family and that she would not be watching it unless her room was cleaned up. She kept saying that she wanted to watch it really, really bad. I then explained to her, "You have the choice. You can clean up your room and watch, "UP" or you can choose to mess around and not clean up and not watch the movie. It is up to you." 10 minutes went by and not much progress. 15 minutes went by. 20 minutes. Then almost 30 minutes, as I was trying to give her a chance to make a good choice, and still the room was not cleaned up and it was also accompanied by an attitude which got her a trip straight to bed. It was 6:00p.m. and not only was her room totally not even close to being clean but her attitude was really aweful. After the tantrum of realizing that she would not be watching the movie with Mommy, Daddy, and Hope, I spoke to her in a calm voice about her choices yet again.

Consequences are so hard on all of us and they are even harder to learn. But, teaching my kids consequences is my job. I would much rather teach them that their are consequences to their action than them have to learn this lesson the hard way out on their own in the real world.

Bryan's words:

She had been in bed for fifteen minutes and her mom and I discussed how disappointed we were that she had made the decision she had. We talked about forgiveness, but we also discussed the need for consistency. We do get what we deserve, after all. Or do we?

After a few minutes of tossing the idea around, we decided it may be the perfect opportunity to teach Grace all about...well...grace.

I walked into her room. She immediately quivered and her tears were wetting her pillow. I sat down.

"Grace," I said, "I want to tell you a story."

She curled up next to me, her four-year-old body still shaking.

"In the beginning of time, God created every person and everything we can imagine. And God created us to love. God wanted to show love to us, and God wanted us to show love to each other. We were made to be kind to each other, to give to each other. But we didn't do what God created us to do. We found ways to hurt people and to do terrible things to each other. And we broke God's heart. And the Bible tells us that God is good and cannot be around bad. People had made bad decisions, and we didn't deserve the love of God.

"But even though we didn't deserve God's love, God chose to do something amazing. God sent Jesus to earth to show us what real love is. Real love is doing everything you can for someone even though they don't deserve it. And because doing bad has to be punished, Jesus chose to take our punishment so we wouldn't have to. So Jesus allowed others to hurt and to kill him. God showed us GRACE. Grace means giving something GOOD to someone when they don't deserve it."

I held her and said, "Grace, did you deserve to watch the movie?"

She shook her head.

"That's right," I said. "You didn't deserve it. Just like we didn't deserve God. But just like God showed us grace, your mom and I are going to show you grace. We're going to give to you even though you don't deserve it."

Grace was now in tears as she hugged me. "I'm so sorry," she said. And I knew she was.

Holiday Memories #1

The holiday season is full of many, many wonderful memories for me. I always think about my grandma who made Christmas extra special, my mom and all the things she would bake, my dad and his sneaking around hiding gifts, my brother and sister and all the things that we experienced together during this time of the year.

Every year since I've been the wife and mom, I make the holidays special for my family. I will be sharing some of our family traditions every Friday. Today I'm sharing a great recipe for Spiced Tea. This is a dry mixture that I always have around from the beginning of November until after the New Year. It is something my husband starts asking for in October and absolutely loves it. My kids now drink it and we will have many evenings of family time sitting around with our holiday mugs filled with the orangey spice that fills us all with warmth in knowing that we have each other and that's all that matters.

Spiced Tea

1 1/4 C. Sugar (or splenda for the non-sugar version)
1/2 C. Instant Tea
1 pkg. Country Time Lemonade (or any presweetened lemonade mixture)
1 7oz. Tang
1 tsp. Cloves
1 tsp. Cinnamon

Mix all together, add about 2 spoonfuls to a mug, add some hot water and enjoy a holiday treat!