I don't stink!!

So much has happened since I last posted. I'll try to fit it in a nutshell:

1. Cole went to the Doctor (the nurse was awesome) and we found out he is in the 10th percentile for weight. The nurse weighed him 3 times, just to make sure. 15 pounds, 7 ounces. I am cracking up! Grant was so HUGE compared to Cole. The Doctor says he would rather see a lean baby than a fat kid. (Umm . . . Grant was a fat kid . . . ) Anyway, Cole is doing great and is quite healthy despite the fact that he won't eat mush food. Yeah, he's on solids, but he won't eat mush. No rice cereal, no pureed carrots, no applesauce. He gags and sometimes vomits. (What is it with me and the vomit thing?) Cole does eat non-mush food items like canned green beans, whole wheat bread, scrambled eggs, crackers, Nila Wafers, apple slices, and black beans. Those of you who are freaking out about the stuff I'm feeding my kid, I KNOW!! You don't have to warn me about allergies, etc. I know. I'm not nearly as uptight as I was when Grant was a baby, and you won't be either when your #2 comes along. Oh, yeah. Cole is in the 80-85th percentile in height. Of course.

2. My family actually left Wednesday morning so we didn't get to stay up all night talking. Bummer. I look forward to seeing them again soon. Mitch mentioned maybe trying to get down to California in the spring. Who knows! They will definitely be here for the 4th of July, though. Woo Hoo!!

3. Mitch kept me company last night in my scrapbooking room (formerly known as the kids play room). I was making birthday cards for his clients and he was helping me out. He learned how to curl the edges of cardstock, stamp with acrylic stamps and he learned a technique called "direct to paper" inking. I took pictures, just to prove it. Blackmail for the future.

4. This morning I went to Ladies Bible Study at my church and it was awesome, as usual. We are doing a Beth Moore video series on Daniel. Today the theme was "No Smell of Fire". It was so good. Basically, it was about how Rack, Shack, and Benny (V-tales reference . . .) were thrown into the furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar. They said, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, . . . But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." But even if he does not . . . (Daniel 3:17-18)

Beth Moore taught us about 3 scenarios when people of God face a fiery trial (she used the example of a woman finding a lump):
A - We pray and pray and are delivered FROM the fire. Out of this, our faith is built. But, how many times do we justify the outcome? We might chalk it up to better science that got us through the medical crisis.
B- We pray and pray, but we have to face the fire. God delivers us THROUGH. Out of this, our faith is refined. (Refiner's fire . . .)
C- We pray and pray, and we are delivered BY the fire into God's arms. Through this our faith is perfected.

As long as we are on this earth, our faith is being refined. Or, at least I hope it is. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds . . ." (James 1:2) There are so may great scriptures to get us through tough times. And, God will deliver us!! Whether he delivers us FROM the fire, THROUGH the fire, or BY the fire, he has promised to deliver us. What an awesome reminder that was to me this morning. I remembered times in the past when I felt like God was refining me. When I was delivered FROM the fire, yes, I forgot all about God's great work. There have been times when I was delivered THROUGH the fire, but in some of those times I wasn't allowing God to deliver me fully. Beth Moore showed us that in Daniel 3:27 it says, "They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them." There was no smell of fire on them! When we allow God to deliver us fully, we won't smell like the fire. When people look at us, they won't say, "Oh, poor Kelleigh. She has had such a rough time." Instead, they will say, "Look at the joy Kelleigh has. Her life must be good." When we keep walking around with a victim hat on lamenting our circumstances, we are not bringing God any sort of glory. And after all, our purpose here on earth is to bring God glory!! We should be able to say what Paul says, "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." Oh, how I long to be that kind of witness!!

SO, I promise to be open and honest with all of you, but I am taking my victim hat off. No one wants to listen to a whiner anyway. I recently visited a friend after a very harrowing day and she sat there and listened to me whine the whole time. I'm trying to develop my friendship with her and she had to listen to THAT!! (Sorry, friend!!) I have also decided that my whole SAD episode was just in my head. I was choosing to be a victim. I'm done with that. I love my life. I love my family. I love my role as a mother. When little things threaten to overwhelm me, I will remember this! Please hold me accountable!

Ahh . . . I'm done.