Week 39

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, SO THAT we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

I hope and pray that God will bless every word read with grace. I hope His beauty shines through- I pray that the Holy Spirit is presented clearly, and that this is committed to bringing glory to God's kingdom. I pray that He continues to break down my walls and His sweet voice speaks through a southern girl's silly journal.

When I'm under "attack" my go to defense is to whisper "Jesus" until my heart is filled with trust, confidence, and love. His name holds power. It holds submission. Jesus is victorious and the enemy is defeated through His sweet sacrifice. Amazing Grace.

God, thank You for these 39 weeks.
Thank You for bringing me here.
Thank You for overwhelming me right here in my living room- every week.
Thank You for protecting this time with You.
Thank You for using little ole me.
You are perfect God. You exceed my expectations every time and I'm sorry for limiting your power.
God unleash Your greatness to Your people and grant us with understanding, blessing, and guidance. Lord don't ever let us get numb to your love. Jesus continue to fill our days with You. You are all we need.

 

Thank You for our trip to Gatlinburg- Thank You for the time with family. Thank You for the restoration.

Thank You for confirming our suspicions with this sweet picture. Thank You for entrusting us with this gift. Thank You for his heartbeat.

Thank You for the joy in this moment. Thank You for the outpouring of love. Thank You for those who prayed for us constantly. Thank You for being the main ingredient in this recipe.

Thank You for allowing us to feel excited. Thank You for the trust that we learned.

Oh God, thank You for this little boy. Thank You for his plan. Thank You for allowing it to start here.

 

Thank You for our earthly home. Thank You for opening our hearts with an open house. Thank You for distracting us from pain with something so good. Thank You for protecting our decisions.

Thank You for new ministry. Thank You for the opportunity to bless others. Thank You for being the center of this adventure.

Thank You for 5 years filled with love. Like BIG love. Thank You for celebrating with us. Thank You for time.

Thank You for Friday nights. Thank You for filling every Friday night with "us" time. Thank You for the 10 Fridays of love since our anniversary. Thank You for the commitment to You and each other.

Thank You for that boy you picked out for me. Thank You for his heart. Thank You for overwhelming our relationship with Your goodness. Thank You for these sweet memories. Thank You for speaking to us through Dr. Seuss.

Thank You for the generosity of our family and friends. God, You truly blow us away through these angels. Not only with gifts but their presence, prayers, and love. Thank You times a million.

(photo credit to Sweet Julep Photography )

 

Thank You for filling that space between us with You. Thank You for reminding us of your goodness. Thank You for teaching us. Thank You for Your lamp. Thank You for making this far better than what we expected. Thank You for being our beginning and end and everything in between. Thank You for laughter and memories. Thank You for talks. Thank You for plans that didn't work out and prayers that went unanswered. Thank You for clearing away the clutter. Thank You for focus. God let every step with this child start and end with Your love. Let our hearts be open to receive even more love. Show us how to bless others abundantly. Everything we do- we commit to You.

 

 

We can't wait to meet you little guy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 38

I keep reading "Week 38" over and over.

My heart is overflowing with emotions. I've been told this little bundle could join us any minute now- so everyday I wake up and first praise God for that joy- and then look at that good looking hubby and then I stare at this basketball belly. I mean my life can stop right now. I want to meet this little guy so badly but I feel incredibly blessed to have the privilege of being his provider for the past nine months. And I pray that we are graced with many years to help Levi Fisher see how great our God is. I pray that he is a generation changer- that B and I get to provide a home full of boys that just want to hang out; that we get to watch him be molded by the hands of our Creator and be completely blown away (over and over) by His goodness.
I believe in my heart that God has set our generation up to create big believers. I think He's prepared this huge dream for our kids. I mean like set this world on fire with the love of Christ. I know our world can be so scary, but as our world becomes more black and white and not so much gray- lines are being drawn. Mediocre is a thing of the past. You either take on your God purpose- own it- challenge it- live it.. or you let this world consume you. God is giving us this platform to not blend in- we have to stand out, be the light, and it's gotta be contagious.  It's got to be the place to be. It's got to be just this, overwhelming give me more of THAT. What if God let's us see this world change.. for the good. for the love. for His kingdom.
I'm so excited to hold this little baby and smother him in kisses and I want to relish in every moment He gives me- I do not want to wish this boy's life away. I know it starts at the beginning. I'm excited that even though he won't remember these first few years, it will not only mold how B and I continue to raise him but I know it's going to change our love relationship with our Father. I know He will continue to prepare our hearts for bigger dreams and break off any limits we put on our Saviour. It puts a smile on my face that we get to be a part of His dream. And God has surrounded us with so many other new parents that we get to do life together- I know He has knit us all together so that we would be encouraged constantly.

He is definitely getting ready for his big debut and my back is feeling it! We are having contractions- (regularly) not too painful.. yet. Just enough to get us excited and then they stop- but apparently it's completely normal so we sit and wait til he decides on his birthday. I mean it is a big decision so I can't say I blame him. Mommy and Daddy are just ready to meet this little blessing- oh and about 50+ other people. no biggie.

 

The devil has made his attempt in making me feel trapped and anxious and that was just completely put under my feet today during church. God delivered me from that feeling and my heart claims freedom in His name. It was super tempting to feel "ready for him to be here" and not in an excited way. And I know that is not of God- and He totally freed me of that with several worship songs and a great message on overcoming obstacles.

I'm so excited to hold Levi Fisher Rawlins but until he makes his big decision I'm going to continue to rub my belly and be thankful to have my sidekick with me every second of the day.

 

Praying for God's peace and His continued freedom.

 

Week 37

FULL TERM BABY!
Heck yes!
We made it!

And what a FULL week we had! We progressed slightly- not enough to call the troops but just enough for red alert.. cell phones on ring- on hip- car packed- carseat loaded and nervous/excited mommy and daddy to be! Regardless of whether he comes this week or in 3 weeks-- like hello he will be here.  CANNOT STOP TO THINK ABOUT IT TOO MUCH!

And Levi Fisher's room is officially DONE besides his little pictures that will go on the wall! So we wanted to share all our hard work in a few pictures!

This is the incredible barn door my husband built (door and all). This is definitely his favorite feature-- every time B passes his nursery he slides the door "just to make sure it works". I think he's a little proud- and he should be. It is TOTALLY better than I imagined. With a combination of Pinterest tutorials and creativity on our own part, we made it happen. I knew I wanted a sliding door because his old door opened up into the room and blocked the closet door- NOT functional! And I mean this just makes it a little boy's room! His rug is from Lowe's bought at a steal for less than $70! IKR!

These are my little touches to the room. Top Left- we didn't go full on fish theme but kept it simple and clean. One creative Saturday I painted these chevron (waves), bubbles, and little fishies paintings. Nothing too complicated but a good wall filler. We will scatter some more pictures around these to complete this wall. Bottom Left- I crocheted these two separately back before I was preggers and came across them and decided to make them into a cross since the colors matched perfectly and put them in a shadow box. Right- His sweet little initials sit atop his armoire which was the hubs a long time ago  (he painted white).

These are the back corners of his room. We got the lime green chevron curtains from Hobby Lobby. The crates were a last minute decision to screw together and fill the corner for his knick knacks- which is also where his monogrammed pillow that my amazing sister in law made. Such a sweet keepsake. The other corner occupies the hubby's fishing pole lamp which gives off the prettiest light. His changing table was the hub's parents old buffet table that we took the doors off and changed the knobs and of course painted to add a pop of color! We know we may never actually change a diaper on this but it does hold his diapers and wipes SO it is serving a purpose!

His sweet resting place. I'm pretty sure many of us slept in a crib similar to this one. It was B's old crib and we painted it white. The AMAZING crib bumper was made by my cousin- go "Like" Simply Darling on Facebook. She's awesome! Matching pillow from Hobby Lobby- bumper fabric also from Hobby Lobby. He has a chevron quilt and polka dot skirt and sheets all from Target.

And this little gem rests above his crib. The DIY hubby used his jig saw and cut out his name- I know he's pretty fabulous. The oar was found at Hobby Lobby and painted by my sweet little brother.

 

I gotta say, I had a very hard time deciding exactly how I wanted his room to look. I finally decided on the colors and knew that would be the "theme". I knew I wanted to incorporate fishing but didn't want it to be overpowering. I'm so thankful we were able to pretty much do everything ourselves and make it his room- full of hard work and a lot of love. It's not pottery barn but it's our little boy's room and I think it's our favorite room in the house. It has inspired me to fill the other rooms with as much attention----- in due time. :-)

 

 

speaking of due! That bump is about DUE! Levi is settling down a bit- or running out of room! I was able to get some major pampering done this weekend which I am so thankful for. It kind of put me in a relaxed state of mind which I've had to fight off all weekend. All I want to do is sleep.

 

I'm praying that these last days/weeks will be filled with rest that comes from Him. We want to be overwhelmed by His peace. I want to focus on Him- and I think God allowed us to get all our busy work done so that we would have time to really concentrate on His love. I know I've been distracted and even "out of order". As much as I would love to be holding my baby right now I'm so grateful our Father is giving us more moments to just be in His presence. I hope our minds can stop and be graced with still moments of His grace. I'm praying that the hubby and I can turn our eyes to Him this week and soak in His goodness and favor.

 

 

 

Week 36

Please excuse me while I pick my jaw off the ground.
It's hard to grasp we're within 30 days of holding our little tangible prayer.

And on perfect cue- "It is Well" comes on my Pandora.

The Lord has been preparing my heart for this post for a while now. Yesterday. August 3rd marked a year that we had our greatest loss. It was quite possibly the most "real" moments of our lives. Our hearts were opened and shattered and we had nothing to depend on- not even each other- except God. Those feelings and emotions and heartache have washed over me all weekend. I can't dwell on the hurt and ache but what I want to remember is what God did in this house that day.  I have to honor what He allowed to happen that day, because a lot of different things could have happened- but our Father showed us His face that day. God exposed me and Brad. He showed us real love. real dependence on Him. He brought us all to the same page- our love aligned. And we still struggled- every day was hard. Every day that we were weak- He gave us strength. There were so many days filled with tears and numbness. But there continued to be days- He continued to wake us up and give us another day. And so when I think about last year... I have to focus on what God did-- NOT on what the enemy would've liked to happen. And it is only by pure love that the Lord aligned that day to happen 3 days before our church's 21 days of prayer began. When our focus shifts to worship, to heal, to focus on His pure love for His children. I know that wasn't a coincidence- just like it's not a coincidence that we were able to announce this pregnancy at the time that our first baby would have been born- just like we are a month away from celebrating this little baby now. God has allowed a lot of healing by surrounding us with reminders of His great love. It's amazing to experience the rawness of complete dependency on the highest power.
I am just beside myself trying to imagine feeling this huge love for this sweet little boy.
**mushy moment**
As I sit across from my husband, with my headphones in, he's eating Moe's and watching the Braves and has no idea that I'm staring at him ;-) but I love him. God made him for me. He gave us this love and I encourage you ladies to be overwhelmed by the man of your house. Especially if he has experienced a great deal of "life" with you. Let those memories of love, "talks", laughs- just let it wash over you. The enemy would love for us to pick apart everything the other is doing "wrong", but what about all those days they choose to come home to you. None of us are perfect and that's the greatest part of love to me- we love anyways despite our faults. THAT is huge love. And it's God's grace that gives us the power to do so.

Want to know what's behind that bump.... The amazing sliding barn door my hubby started and finished today. Oh my goodness yall it is just the cutest! Next week Levi's room should be as close to complete as it's gonna get minus his little pictures that will fill up the walls. We are pretty proud of his room. Almost everything in his room was a labor of love by one of us (which explains why it has taken so long to finish).

We're definitely going to have to step it up on the rest of the house because his room is way cooler than all our other rooms.

I'm so excited for 21 days of prayer that kicked off today at Church of the Highlands. Monday thru Friday at 6 a.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. you can go to a campus (or online) and join in on an hour of complete prayer and worship. It's so powerful and your heart will be filled with the Holy Spirit. I learned to love prayer from being invited to 21 days of prayer. I was never comfortable or knew what to pray, but when you spend a whole hour devoted to talking to God.. the Holy Spirit will fill your prayer with words and fill your heart with His desires. 

Would love to pray with you if anyone has any prayer requests you can comment or e-mail me at elyserawlins@gmail.com.

 

"In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." Psalm 5:3