Deuteronomy 6:5-9

This coming Sunday Jackson will take part in a baby dedication ceremony at church. This is where we, as his parents, will present him before the church, stating our intentions to raise him knowing and loving The Lord. In preparation for taking this step with him, Dan and I attended a class last Sunday before service called "Faith Beginnings" - it was just an hour long, but it was amazing, causing my passion for doing all that is right for Jackson to grow even bigger. 


We talked about parenting as one flesh, about putting our relationship as husband and wife above that of mom and dad. We talked about our role as his parents in his faith-filled upbringing, what our role is and how that role changes over time.  We talked about how the most important part of this role is that bringing Jackson to church with us every Sunday is not enough. Sending him to bible school and Sunday school is not enough. Rather, we must take those seeds that are planted each week and nurture them. We must feed them and water them continuously, creating teachable moments so that his faith is built on the strongest foundation possible. 


This idea can most easily be seen in the bible in Deuteronomy 6:5-9
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be taken upon your hearts. Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home or when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your head and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."


I love that verse. I love the image it brings to my mind- of a loving home where all that is said and all that is done is in complete alignment with what God desires. A home where the parents flawlessly flow their faith and love to their children. That is what Dan and I want. We want to be those faithful pillars for Jackson, to give to him the greatest possible gift, the gift of a relationship with God. It is also, in my opinion, the hardest gift to give. One made increasingly difficult in a world that is standing on the shakiest of spiritual soil and where every where Jackson will turn he will face people, actions and events that will test his faith. 


Therefore, as my little man's 1st birthday is quickly approaching I am taking it upon myself to begin focusing on diving even deeper into my own faith, for I know in my heart that mine and Dan's example will be the absolute number one influencer for Jackson's own faith and there is no such thing as 'starting too young.' To document all that I learn in my quest for knowledge I will be documenting on these pages my journey, the things I learn in the books and articles I read, the creative ways I come up with on how to immerse our home and lives in the word of God and lastly, I will also pose the questions that come to mind when I come up against a wall and need God's direction and your help. 


Each time I work towards this goal by writing about it I will then store the posting on the top of my blog under the "Faith Beginnings" page.

ONEder Fund

I totally saw this coming. The snow-covered roads, the cars struggling to make it up the hill in front of our home, the school closings... I saw it all coming and prepared yesterday to work from home today- and I am so glad I did. Jackson is at mamaw's, the puppies are already napping (what a life!) and I am preparing for some morning conference calls with lots of hot coffee. I am hoping to finish a little early today so I can go and pick up my little man before there is too much snow on the road for the 5 minute drive over. 

Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you something that really touched me. I have mentioned Kelle Hampton's blog before- she is amazingly inspirational and shares a lot of the same views on life as I do. Well, her youngest, Nella, is just a couple of weeks older than Jackson. And as her first birthday is quickly approaching Kelle has set up a fund to raise money for a cause near and dear to her heart- The National Down Syndrome Society. You can read all about it here and more importantly if you feel compelled to do so in your own heart, you can donate here. 

There are many reasons why I blog. Mainly because I love it, but when a blog such as Kelle's has the power to do something so good, something so selfless for the benefit of others... well, how could you deny the beauty of something like that? 

Back to work for me, but if you're watching the snow pour down outside your windows like I am I pray that you stay safe and warm today!

Peacefully Balanced

As I have been thinking about 2011 and all of the dreams that I am dreaming for this year I became incredibly inspired by something I read on Lisa Leonard's blog (she was inspired here on Ali Edwards). The idea is to choose a word each year to focus on, thus inspiring you and pushing you towards living whatever that word is. 


So, I was inspired to choose such a word. I began to pray about it and two words kept coming to mind: PEACE and BALANCE. After praying some more I decided that I would choose "peacefully balanced" for 2011. I love it. When I say those words I immediately feel more at peace, more relaxed... as if the stresses and pressures I put on myself are all of a sudden given permission to leave my body. 


On their own, these two words just felt incomplete. Lacking something. But, when I put them together they felt magical and exactly what I need to have in my heart every day. PEACEFULLY BALANCED doesn't mean dividing my life into equal parts. It means prioritizing what really matters and dividing my time accordingly- that is true balance. Time spent not equally, but appropriately. And that is very personal and will not be the same for any two people. The "peacefully" part comes into play when I realized that when I do make those priority choices on where my time is spent I need to be at peace with it. Be at peace and just let it go.


It is being at peace with the piles of laundry that are just waiting to be put away while I am reading books and playing with Jackson. 


It is missing a run on the treadmill for going to bed at a semi-decent time because my body needs the rest.


It is not being on the fast-track for promotion by being 'always connected' to work because my family comes first. 


It is not harassing Dan to please put away his things because it's really just not that big of a deal.


Peacefully Balanced in all parts of my life. That is the resolution.


Simply communicated, complicated to do. But I am going to pray about it and focus on it and look at these words every day and let it all sink in. Sink in so deeply that eventually I will fill up with peace and balance and I will exude peaceful balance in every way. 


Do you have a word... what is it? Thank you, Lisa, for the inspiration!

T-1 Month

I can't believe I am saying this, but we are officially 1 month away from Jackson's 1st birthday. My handsome little man turned 11 months old today! My walking, talking, flirty, adorable little man... is 11 months old. Crazy, absolutely crazy.