Getting Ready...Nesting???

So just like Jared's last post, we are trying to patiently await Sam's debut. Lots of things are running through my mind. Let's see...

1. We don't have anything "ready". The only things we have are a baby bed, some outfits, and a glider. Now, normally I would be freaking out. I'm such a planner/organizer/list maker. I'm still all of those things, but I'm not worried in the least bit. I know that the Lord has everything under control. The only struggle is waiting. I'm so excited for us. I'm ready for Sam to be here like yesterday. I'm starting to get uncomfortable and its hard for me to imagine how much more my belly can grow. For all you mothers out there...don't laugh. My stomach is already tight and stretched to maximum capacity. I weighed last night knowing I had gained like 20 lbs. I know right? That's what I feel like...good news. My 20 lbs. was only 2 lbs. Seriously, my sleep is starting to get hindered and if you know me at all you know I love and need my sleep. Through it all God is so good. I feel so blessed to have this little baby growing inside of me. He's moving so much now! I'm starting to feel more like a mom than a 24 year old who has no idea what's going on with her body. It's neat to feel him moving at different times. Sam still moves a lot when we jam out in the car, but now he moves a lot when I'm trying to go to sleep with the basketball game on. I know that will make Jared proud.

2. "DELIVERY". Enough said. That freaks me smooth out. I know that the whole birthing process was designed by God and that my body can survive, but come on Eve! I'm a weakling! Really I am! I'm praying that the Lord will give me peace as the time for Sam to come gets closer. I'm excited and ready, but everyone always tells you all of their horror stories when they find out you're pregnant. Seriously, how is you telling me your awful delivery story going to help me become more excited. I vow, today and forevermore, that no matter how awful my delivery may be I will not tell it to a new mother. I'll probably wait until she's as far along as I am, then tell her. Then she will feel like I will. :) Just kidding.

3. School. Sam is expected to arrive three days before school starts. I know, I know...my timing is impecable. I had hoped to have the baby in May, but I know God's timing is perfect. He knew when we would be ready. So, after Sam comes I'll have a long term sub while I'm on maternity leave. I don't know who my partner will be next year. It will most likely be a new teacher, which worries me. Not that it won't be a good teacher. I'm sure it will be. It will just be hard to have a long term sub and a brand new teacher as partners at the beginning of the year. I'm trying to get all my beginning of the year activities together before school lets out. That's the planner in me I suppose. As far as a baby sitter goes, praise the Lord, I think we've gotten things taken care of. I'm so thankful for that.

4. Our house. The insurance guy said that they would speed track our claim and get a check to us sometime this week. No check thus far. I'm "wishing and hoping and thinking and praying" that our floors will get done soon. I really don't like concrete living room floors. I'm so thankful that everything has worked out like it has though. By the time Sam gets here he will be living in a new house practically. I'm so thankful for friends who know how to install floors...we'll be calling you soon! I'm also thankful for friends who help me to see the silver lining. In this crazy world we live in, its so easy to get caught up in the little things that don't really matter.

5. The Lord. Our bible studies have been going so good. I really need the encouragement and accountability that they've been giving me and hopefully I've been giving to them as well. Last week, Satan was attacking everywhere. It was a really busy, tiring, spiritual warfare of a week. This week, I've started waking up earlier, spending time with the Lord, and getting my day started off the right way. Even my kids at school have noticed. "Mrs. Hollier, you don't look as sleepy as you normally do." Ordinarily that might hurt my feelings, but I know that they can't quite figure out the difference that they're seeing like I can. Out of the mouths of babes, right? I've been convicted of several things through Jared's sermons...which is a tough thing as a wife of a pastor, but I love it. Some of the girls in our bible study have asked me, "Do you tell Jared what we talk about?". My reply is always the same, "No." That's how I know the Lord is trying to speak to me, because those things we talked about on Tuesday nights are being mentioned in Jared's sermons on Sundays. OUCH! One of the things that I've been convicted about has been starting my day off right. Not that I wasn't spending time with the Lord at all, it was just not first thing. Jared talked about how when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for fourty years, the Lord commanded them in the very beginning to gather their food for that day in the morning. Don't store up for other days, just gather for that day. They had to rely on God each day for His provision. They couldn't rely on their own strength. When they did, their food was full of maggots. Yuck! It was such a good example of how every morning, first thing, they were reminded in a tangible way of the Lord's faithfulness. I can't even tell you how much of a difference it has made in my day, to start it off meeting with the Lord at my kitchen table. I'm currently trying and praying to live Ephesians 4:29 out...which if you're a teacher isn't always easy. I have it taped to my desk and one of my kids was reading it today while I was proofing their fairy tales. Her reading it aloud helped remind me how I'm supposed to talk, in what way. Thank you Lord for the ways you speak. You are so good.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

~Elizabeth