What a beautiful Monday!

                                                look at those eyes =) 

Monday has been a day of errands and house chores. And not a bad day to run errands because it was simply BEAUTIFUL!  By the way Addy salutes you as you read this blog. Well maybe it was the sun in her eyes..we'll never know! It was mainly a grocery day which my kids love only because they know that means Costco which means FREE FOOD. haha. Unfortunately around 10:30 I guess they don't do it. Makes since to do it more around lunch time anyways.

We had fun and just wanted to share a few pics of our outings.

helpin her brother

kroger

such a sweet boy!

their new water bottles =) everyone was pumped about them!

love candles

a nice salad to top things off

this is a random pic I know. Found it in my folder and I just love this man so much so why not add it! We went on a great date that night and it was just a week before his appendix almost ruptured.

NIGHTY NIGHT

 9:07 p.m. and Jared, Adoniah and Micaiah are all sound asleep. Bed time for my kids is one of the sweetest times of the day for me. Let me clarify because I know your mind already went there..it's not because I finally get to shut those doors and have some "me" time as if they were complete burdens to my day. Now I would be lying if I didn't say that yes there are nights when 8:30 rolls around and I am on top it. Pajamas, teeth brushed, rooms picked up and mom is ready for the day to be OVER! There have been nights where I just ask Jared "honey can you finish up the rest of the night" and he so lovingly will pick up my slack.
 Bed time with my children has become so sweet to me because it's the close of the evening, things have quiet down, and I get to express and love on them in a different way than I do during the day. Addy and Micaiah have complete different bed routines. For Micaiah he is my sweet boy and as long as I am in there laughing with him he is content. Right now he loves for me to set him up on the rail and talk with him before I put him in the crib. He has me sing "Jesus loves me" to him and then asks me to pray for him. Right now he is on this kick with telling secrets =) it is so cute! He wants to be the one to lean in your ear and tell them (which it usually consists of some silly babble) and then looks up at me and snickers and expects me to laugh with him. He has 3 certain animals that have to be in his bed with him and he is good. I adore that little boy! Our prayer over his life is that he will stand for truth and speak it boldly, and not just to tickle and appease mans ears just as the prophet Micaiah did in the book of 1 Kings 22:1-28.
 Adoniah she is a little different. She typically is never ready for bed when it's comes. But I can say overtime she has learned that her tricks and excuses don't get her very far. We are very proud of her and her growth over the years. She loves for me to read her books and discuss what the next day will look like. A lot of the time she tells me how we are going to make pies in the morning...yeah that hasn't happened yet but I can tell she is holdin out for it =) One big thing is she loves to know that she is loved. Does that make sense? She wants to hear your affirmation and lots of  hugs kisses and more hugs kisses. I love seeing daddy do this! In her eyes he is her prince and I wouldn't have it any other way!  She is a born leader and I believe God is molding her to do great things for his kingdom. I love telling her how proud I am of her and for what an awesome big sister she is to her brother. I know I do not do it enough and so I want to be very intentional to take that time at night and speak those things that I feel towards them, but sometime get to busy and consumed during the day that I do not voice it.

"Mommyhood" for sure is not easy and it is very demanding but it sanctify's and challenges me to love in a way I had not experienced previously.

Psalm144:1 says "Blessed be the Lord my rock who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle."
 In parenting I face spiritual warfare often. God has given me these two precious souls to lead, guide, train and disciple. I want them by God's grace to have their eyes opened to the light of the glory of the gospel of God in the face of Jesus Christ. However satan wants their eyes to remain shut and cold towards the beauty of our Lord. I praise Him that he trains my fingers for THIS battle and my hands for war! Apart from him I can do nothing. I must look to him and not try to fight this war without him.

Mommy's verbalize your love to your children and fight for them everyday! Love you =)!

SICKNESS X3

 SO thankful that I do not have to put X4! I have been the only one in my home lately free from this ugly bug that seems to be spreading. Jared is currently healing from his appendectomy surgery, and the same day he was discharged to come home Addy was complaining about her head hurting which then proceeded to both of her ears. Addy is usually on target when she says something is hurting so I called the pediatrician and left the hospital from visiting my man to take her in. Sure enough when the doc asked her where she was hurting she didn't hesitate in pointing out the exact spots and she nailed it. She had an ear infection in both ears. She was pretty miserable but once we got her on her meds you could tell an immediate difference =) And now she is back to her normal self!
 Then the next day M woke up from his nap and came in the living room just to puke all over the floor. His temp was at 102.0. My family was falling apart! For Micaiah we just had him constantly drinking water and gave him some children's medicine to break the fever. About a year ago he woke up from his crib having a "febrol seizure" because his temp got so high and it was the first time for this to happen so we didn't know what was going on, but now when his fever spikes we watch him like a hawk so we do not have to go through that again! They are both doing much better today free from fevers and pain!
 It has been so long since I myself has come down with a cold that left me with a fever, puking etc. As much as I kiss on my kids and play up in their faces because I forgot that it can actually be passed to me, I have yet to get something that started with them. Every mother can testify together that when mom is on "shut down" things just do not operate the same =) I am so thankful that the Lord spared me from getting anything so I could be here to love, care, and serve my family back to health. It's been tiring and it would be really cool if I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase starting with "mom can you help me..."  but I do try to rejoice in these times and see them as part of my growth in Christ.

 Agenda for today: REST, RELAX, DRINK WATER, PLAY, AND REPEAT

Thank you Jesus that you made our bodies to heal themselves, and you give mothers and extra dose of your grace and strength to continue caring for our families!

Appendectomy and God's Provision

 Hello Friends!

 I hope you are doing well on this fine Saturday. It's a little cold outside that's for sure but I have every reason to be thankful and I bet you do too =) The past week in a half has not been the "normal" week I would usually anticipate. But I cannot complain because this "not so normal" time has challenged and stretched me both physically and spiritually.
 Most of you know about Jared's recurring pain he has had in his side the past few years. For those of you who do not let me give a very brief and quick rundown. This pain has come up a few times a year for the last 3 years at least. It's an internal pain in the right side of his stomach. It pretty much immobilizes him for a few days then disappears all together. About 2 years ago or more we went to the ER because the pain got so bad he could not bear it. And for Jared that's a big deal because he will hold off on going to the doctor if possible. It's just the kind of guy he is =) We went even though we did not have health insurance at the time hoping we would find out the problem and resolve it. Well that was a big fat NO and all we were left with was 1000's of dollars in debt. Praise God that has been paid off in full! There that's all you need to know.
 So around last weekend the dreaded pain came back. Everything ran it's course that whole week just as it always does until Thursday evening, That night around 6:00pm the pain moved away from his side and down to his lower right abdomen. It was INTENSE! I hate hate hate seeing my man in pain. It's breaks my heart and I just want to take it away from him somehow someway. The plan that evening was to go to a spiritual gifts class that has been going on at our church.
 Side Note: I am not talking back where we all get together and do those tests (not saying there is anything wrong with that) but what they are doing is going through God's Word discussing scriptures, talking through the gifts, and practicing them together and I think the plan at the end is to go out into the community and ask people for prayer etc.
 We decided to try to go so Jared could have someone pray for him. He barely made it out of the car and into the room to sit down. One of our elders who leads the class came in and we asked him to lay hands on Jared and pray for him. He did and while that was happening another family came in and joined in with us. By that time more people were starting to come in because the class was about to start. At that point the whole room agreed that if Jared was up to it we would worship together and spend more time praying for God's healing. He said yes to that. Worship was so sweet! Trevor I don't know if you will ever read this but seriously I was blessed by your leading! We spent about 45 minutes praying over him. I love when the body comes together like it did this particular evening. Our brothers and sisters were praying such mighty prayers. Prayers for miraculous healing and recovery in the name of Jesus. God put on my heart Psalm 103 while I was praying and I just knew he was in that room with us even if he chose not to heal.
 He left that night still with pain but not as much.Even still, God is good in all his works and his ways are higher than ours for what he does. The next morning (Friday) we decided to go the doctor. After many hours and going here and there the CT and ultrasound detected an inflamed appendicitis. We were sent to Methodist East for surgery to be done,  It was done this morning and I am grateful to say all went well and Jared is doing fine. He is pretty drugged up but I actually find in kind of humorous seeing him in such state. Man is that wrong to say?? He was just saying such funny things =)

God has been SO good to us! I am tellin you we are just so unworthy it! Here are a few of them:

1. The absolute wonderful time we had Thursday evening of prayer and worship over Jared. I was challenged and blessed so much as I'm sure other were and I know that God was Glorified in that place which is what really matters.
2. The appendix was caught early enough before it ruptured.
3. The place we went for the scans only charged us for 1 CT scan even though we got 2 CT scans, an ultrasound, and blood work done.We cannot tell you why they did that. Simply the provision of God and nothing else! Did i mention earlier that we still do not have health insurance but were in the process when this all happened
4. Even though I have been going back and forth between house and hospital taking care of kids, making pancakes, doing laundry, cleaning house, being with my man, feeding him meals and attending to his needs I have not felt it as a burden, but a blessing in every way. God has given me a heart of gratitude. Thank you Jesus for using these things to build me up and sanctify me to be more like Christ. As Paul said "not that I am there but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own, forgetting what lies behind ad pressing forward to what's ahead" that was paraphrased I do not have a Bible on hand
5. Amazing family and friends who have stepped in with such love offering up there time to meet our needs. Love you guys so much! The kids are doing good and we are just thankful to Him who is seated on high!

Let the waiting begin...

 I just cannot wait for our adoption to come to a close and have Isaiah here living, laughing, and doing life with our family. We are now on the waiting list at the babies home. They have all our information and now it's just the waiting process of them finding a child that matches our profile. We are #15 on the waiting list. That # is soon to change, but as you can see there are still quite a few families in front of us. We are expecting it to be another 5 or 6 months before we get our child referral. And although our hearts long for him to be here we know that we still have a lot of fundraising and money to raise. It has been incredible though to see God send the money in unexpected ways right when we need it.

This has been an amazing journey for us. Thank you to those who have been a part of it through prayer, and giving. Here is the website to the home we are adopting from if you want to check it out. www.lovingheartsbabies.com

New Years

 With 2012 around the corner I have been thinking about how people get so hyped about New year resolutions. The main one that comes to mind is "losing weight". I can see how with those amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas meals how a few extra pounds could sneak in and make their self at home. It's happened in the Olinger family.
 I see nothing wrong with making these goals you just have to commit and decide to follow through with them after the hype has died down. Disciplining yourself to do the hard things is not easy. When I think about my own life I fall short in so many ways.
 I want to get up early in the morning to sit and study the word. The whole council of God. Be still. Meditate. Pray. Pray Big. Pray in faith! Share the gospel. Fast. Love my kids with patience and gentleness. Serve and encourage my amazing husband daily. Help the poor. Worship the Lord in spirit and in truth and the list goes on. I am always remembering that by myself none of this can be accomplished and is all in vain if not done for Christ.
 I am forever in awe and amazed that Christ suffered and payed the price for my unrighteousness (Isaiah 53:4-5) having God's wrath averted away from me and given His perfect righteousness through repentance of sin and faith in Christ. I am so thankful for his mercy even in all my "mess-ups" and when I long for earthly things more than the precious living words of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love the Lord so much and desire to walk in constant obedience and faith living a life pleasing to him. Praise be to Him that when "we are faithless he is still faithful for he cannot deny himself." 2 Timothy 2 11-13
 I have been thinking of some things I want to work on for this coming year. And I am very excited about getting back on track and organized in differing areas of my life. My friend posted a great blog recently on New year questions to ask yourself. I highly recommend checking it out. Here is her link: www.theunlikelyhousewife.blogspot.com  love you megan =)
 One of the main things (New Years resolution if you will) I am going to aim at improving is scripture memorization. I am seeing the huge importance for it more and more. I have started in baby steps and I am pressing in by God's grace to fill up my "belt of truth" to be ready at all times. Refresh yourself on the armor of God. It is great! Ephesians 6: 10-20. I hope your goals and plans moving into this coming year will be God exalting and to the praise of his great name.
 One more thing before I go. Being here in Missouri has no doubt been wonderful! Lot's of games. laughing, and relaxing. But I have noticed that my guard has been dropped. Just because I am on vacation does not mean vacation away from the Lord, and with regret that was kind of how I had been acting. I woke up this morning longing for the Lord. I prayed in the shower for repentance. I sat down after breakfast and opened the Word and just did not know where to start. It didn't take long and I just started reading the whole book of Ephesians. Out loud (I love reading the Bible out loud even when I am alone) I was trying to read the whole thing but only made it to chapter 4 because of something with the kids.
 Anyways, the point is speaking God's truth out loud is one of those powerful things I believe the enemy can have no say in. Every Word of the Lord proves true! I was refreshed through his Word. I want more. He is so gracious to me and I am just so undeserving of such great love. May God receive glory through this vessel and be used for his purposes in whichever way he so chooses this coming year and the years to follow.

Christmas 2011

 This Christmas was such a blessing. Every year just gets better as the kids get older and their understanding grows more and more to why we celebrate this holiday. This year we did an "Advent Calendar" as a family. This was our first time doing this. I highly recommend it whether you have children or just you and your spouse. It takes you through God's story (Old Testament and New) to the birth of Jesus. It is a great way to keep your mind and heart centered on Christ amongst all the other things grabbing for your attention.
 Micaiah was so cute. When we would ask little simple questions for him and Addy to answer after our reading he would respond with his adorable voice...ummm God? He's going to be that child in Sunday School =) haha! Adoniah really impressed us. She would sit and listen to the story (little bit of squirming here and there) and there were a few days she answered all the questions from the story. It is true they are listening even when your convinced they are not.
 We did some fun family activities together but the one we enjoyed the most was having our 85 year old neighbor over for a Christmas dinner before we left town. She is one of the sweetest ladies. We have known her for almost 4 years. She adores the kids and the kids just think the world of her. We wanted to bless her and show the kids that this month is not just about us but showing others the love of Christ. She is not a believer and she knows where we stand and I have had a conversation with her about our faith. She respects us but does not want anyone pushing their beliefs onto her. We had a good ole time eating chicken tortilla soup and cookies/coffee for dessert. The kids made her a card which I'm sure got put on the fridge. It was a blessing to serve her.
 We are in Missouri now taking it easy and enjoying time with Jared's family. SO glad Jared has a full week off work just to be with us. I always come back to Memphis reality a little sad after being spoiled so much while being here =) Here are some pics of our fabulous time here with family =)!

Opening her gifts on Christmas Eve

A purple blanket..her favorite color!

Jared explaining to mom how the new "keurig" one cup serve coffee machine works that we surprised her with!

Auntie Amber and Lil Mac in his cars tent

Papa putting together a toy

This is no joke...Me and Addy after she got into some "extra strength joint cream" in Papa's room and rubbed it all over her face and even got in her mouth. She was suppose to be taking a nap. It was no fun =(

Our exciting trip to Walmart. It's one of the main attractions up here.

Tossing the coconut jar (it's plastic) and trying to get a mid air pic.

had to try again

there we go..I was really trying to focus

An awesome Wednesday mornin breakfast

 

Breakfast food is his favorite thing to cook and he is really good at it! Pumpkin pancakes, eggs, and bacon.