Motherhood is Arduous

The definition for arduous is involving or requiring strenous effort; difficult and tiring. It is an arduous journey to care for little children. There is a quote by Sharon Jaynes, "Successful mothers are not the ones who have never struggled. They are the ones who never give up, despite the struggles."

Lately, I definitely feel that motherhood is arduous. The boys are so active and learning lots. Karissa is trying to keep up, so she is crawling, cruising furniture, and getting everything the boys leave behind.  Not to mention how much disciplining and correcting they need. Plus, demands for food, toys, and playing. The feeling like you are totally failing at the whole mom gig, often creeps in and makes you feel down. To be honest motherhood has been the most challenging thing in my life this far, not even going to college can top motherhood. I am sure you mother's can agree! Our job is never ending and exhausting. I can also say it is rewarding and such a beautiful experience. 

It has been a time in my life filled with grace and love. If I could go back in time to prepare for this journey to motherhood, I still would not be ready. I made a list to see the positive and blessings on hard days. 

While my kids make me feel crazy that they: 

-scream 

-run around the house

-act wild 

-make messes

-need attention 

-ask for food

-want to take baths 24/7

-constantly want to be outside 

I feel truly blessed that they:

-are healthy and happy 

-can vocalize well

-can run, walk, and jump

-have energy 

-have a growing curiosity and need to move 

-glad they can feel loved with a simple hug, word of affirmation, or tickle attack

-grateful for clean, running, warm water 

-grateful for having food

-grateful for an awesome yard and play equipment 

Sure it may mean speedy meals, lots of kitchen time, lots of sun time and little quiet time. They are what matters and it us such a joy, blessing, and privilege to be able to stay home and be their mommy, entertainer, chef, comforter, nurse, and everything haha! 

So hang in there momma's it will be bad some days, but remember Jesus is there to listen and carry you through! Here is a prayer I wrote using Galatian's 5:22-25

"Lord, let me put on the fruits of the Spirit: Love, everyone that surrounds me and those far from me. Joy be with me in all my thoughts and actions. Peace of mind and heart. Long suffering in all trials and temptations. Kindness to all I encounter this day. Goodness be filled within me and poured out to others. Faithfulness to You and others. Gentleness may it be my first action to my children. Self-control in my mind, heart, and body. Christ help me to crucify the passions and desires of my flesh. Let me walk in Your Spirit as well as live in it. Amen :) <3 

The black and white marriage

My in laws anniversary is today...38 years of marriage, 7 children and 8 grandchildren later, still have a growing love. I thought it was befitting to share a story about the black and white marriage that my beautiful mother in law wrote for representing the sacrament of marriage.

The Calling of a Panda

Jesus Christ spoke to me one day...He said, "There is something I must share, if I may?" 

(To me)

"If  you would reflect God like a panda bear, you would wear his colors of his black and white hair!"

"Black for sacrifice, white for love, these are My colors," He said from above. 

"These two colors are inseparable, like on a panda, you'll see! And until you obtain them, you can not be with me!"

But I said, "Lord, I am only white and I need black?" 

He said, "Keep looking, your on the right track!" 

So up the mountain, I began to climb...and kept falling down but on the third time... 

someone picked me up, his color was black. 

He said, "I'm your sacrifice and placed me on his back. 

Our Lord said,"Keep climbing you two to the top until you see Calvary, then you may stop." 

When the sign appeared in front of our face, we said to our Lord, "Are we in the right place?" 

He said, "Look at each other and then you tell Me!" 

We looked at each other and received such a scare!!!!

For we had turned into one Big panda bear!!!!!!!!!

By: F. Georgianna Hibler

Here is a picture of it hanging in their bedroom! 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Mom and Dad!!! Thank you for being a beautiful example of a Christ filled-centered marriage! May the Lord ever be with you two in your marriage!! We love you!!!!! XOXO :) <3  

12 in 2014

Here is a little preview of our past year and all we did. We had ups and downs but ultimately thankful that God provided in more ways than one. :)

 We started the year with a new niece and celebrating a cousin's new journey into marriage. Plus 7 months pregnant with our 1st baby girl! Also lots of worries with her head measuring small, but beyond grateful things finally looked good! ;)

Had a fun Valentines with my boys and enjoying our last month as a family of 4. Date to Sweet Cece's for some yummy frozen yogurt! I was also really getting into nesting and having everything ready for Karissa's arrival. Beginning to experience contractions and restless nights at the end of February. :)

Karissa Kay born March 1, 2014, so little and absolutely beautiful!! Such a relief she was perfect and healthy, after all the struggles with the pregnancy and coming 4 weeks early! Her birth story is quite the eventful one, haha. It was quite the month for our family of 5! :)

Welcoming spring with ripe mulberries, a trip to Silver City for Easter, and our first minivan purchase (used). Still adjusting to life with 3 kids was challenging for us. My husband had his first job offer out of town and we really had to discern what we would ultimately choose. :)

Good ol' May...our busiest month! Lucas, the hubby graduated with a Bachelor's in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Mathematics. Celebrated Mother's Day with Karissa's Baptism and hubby's 27th Birthday!! We also celebrated the beginning of summer with Ezekiel's 2nd Birthday and a new cool pool for the kids. It was quite the eventful month and ended with Lucas having three job offers in three different cities in our state and finally choosing to move to his hometown near family. :)

Celebrated our 5th year anniversary with some good wine after packing for the big move! So exciting to reflect on our relationship as a married couple and looking to the year's to come with great anticipation. Also stressed about the big move and changes! :)

Packed up and ready for a 4 hr. trip away to our new home!! It was stressful and and super exhausting! We barely fit our things in the truck and made the drive safely. So thankful my parents came to help!!! We were welcomed with lots of rain, too! :) 

Enjoying summer's end and the awesome new big yard to play in!! We got most unpacked and organized the most important things, (like the kitchen, lol). Got my first blowout on I-40 driving to pick up my new glasses and feeling so grateful to have family to rescue me! Lucas started teaching and spent a lot of time setting up his classroom, thankful for having a creative mom to help him! :)

Had a fun month celebrating our oldest son Lukrik's 4th Birthday with a Spiderman theme. Karissa began eating solids, sitting, and rolling around. Still getting into a rhythm for our family being a new city, liking the quietness and friendly people in our new community. :) 

Fall is here and to kick off my favorite season we took a trip to the pumpkin patch and had a blast!! Spent the month painting and carving pumpkins. Baked pumpkin bread and made green chile stew for the first high school football game, took the kids to their first football game (they actually loved it). Plus Lucas joined a community band playing the tuba. We also went to the Balloon Fiesta with cousins and checked out our local library. We got a new T.V. and had fun trick or treating in our new neighborhood! :) 

Had the first snow fall of the season and we were excited to see so much! Celebrated my 29th Birthday! Took a trip to Silver City for Thanksgiving with my family! Had fun adventures at a park and walking in the downtown area. :) 

A beautiful and exhausting end to a great year! The kids were sick for most of this month and luckily got better right before Christmas. My second niece turned 1 yr. old and my other sister is having her first baby in August 2015!!! Had a quiet and peaceful Christmas, but very love filled and amazing company!!!! :)

So I look forward to all this new year has in store for us!! New goals and growth! Happy New Year!!!!!

"In Him we are also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of His will." Ephesisans 1:11 :) <3 

  

Heavenly hands

Have you ever just gazed at a sweet baby's little hands? Or ever wondered at the strength of their smallness?

Lately I have been obsessed with Karissa's little hands. She has begun to hold me while she nurses. It made me reflect on how fragile and precious life can be. Infants depend on us to nourish, care for, and love them. When seeking comfort they cling to us with their tiny hands. Its sweet feeling their soft little hands grasp your big rough hand, as if asking for help. It made me compare it to my need for Christ. There are times in my life I feel fragile and in need of comfort. I reach out and cling to my heavenly Father for that feeling of safety and love. Like a child I need comfort and reassurance that it will be okay, that I am safe with Him. "Show Your marvelous loving-kindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings." Psalm 17: 7-8 

So whenever you feel fragile and helpless, think of this verse. Remember we just have to call out and reach for our Heavenly Father's hand to comfort us. :) <3

The big move

We moved four hours away from the place I was raised. I can't yet say that I am recovered, haha. It was exciting, stressful, exhausting, and sad. Yes, all those emotions, lol! I never really thought I would leave Las Cruces, but we did. I cried as we drove away and it was difficult saying goodbye to family and friends!! :(
I can say its bittersweet as we are moving on to new adventures for our family and leaving behind old ones. So many sweet  memories from this place: growing up here, meeting Lucas, getting married, having our children, and graduating from NMSU. New memories to make because having grandparents for the kids near by again is awesome!!!

Now it was stressful because the kids caught colds that week and all of them wanted to be comforted by only me! It was rough trying to pack, clean and get ready to move. Thankfully we had my parents and a cousin help big time to pack the truck!!! Family is awesome!! :) Also our stuff barely fit, haha.

I am still adjusting but it is awesome having such a big house and yard!!!

 Its also been hard because I miss our old church. Everyone here at our new church has been super welcoming! :) I do look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us. :)

Rediscovering Catholicism

I had a dream about sharing my journey to becoming Catholic again. I never thought I would be Catholic again in my life. Mostly because the church I was going to before was very negative about Catholics. So before I get ahead of myself I have to start with how I got to that non-denominational church.

I was raised Catholic from birth until my teenage years. I was taught to have faith and be a good person. That was enough until I was 17 years old and I could feel I needed more. So I began going to a Bible-study with my best friend that her uncle led from a Christian non-denominational view. It was great because they taught me how to truly love the Lord and live for Him, I also began to love studying the scripture. This later led me to another church that had a Bible college which I went to for 1 year. I was going to this church and loved it! I met a lot of Christian people that are still a big part of my life now.
 Then through a friend from this church I met Lucas who is Catholic.The non denominational church I was going to had the idea that Catholic's are not Christian. I knew it was not true because I still had family and friends that were Catholic, who love the Lord. So I thought of Lucas as  a guy who didn't even go to church and had no relationship with the Lord. Then I got to know him and learned about how he actually did have a relationship with the Lord. I could see how much Lucas loved the Lord and truly lived for Him. He was serving on the campus ministry team at his church and you could see his passion to teach others about Christ's love for us.

I asked Lucas questions about teachings of the Catholic church in comparison to non denominational Christians. He answered so well and it made sense, plus it actually did not go against scripture. I didn't realize at the time, but the Holy Spirit truly led him to answer all my questions with wisdom and sincerity. I still doubted him and when I found out he was praying and discerning becoming a priest, I thought I could get him to convert. Little did I know his testimony of Christ in his life was converting my heart and making me fall for him! (Yes, Lucas was contemplating priesthood!) As Lucas and my relationship grew, my heart longed more and more to be in communion with Christ through the Eucharist again. I had to really pray hard about the decision I had to make because I felt drawn to the Catholic church again, but felt guilty because I was hearing it was wrong from my non-denominational friends. I never regret leaving that church or the friendships that were lost from my conversion. My relationship with our Lord grew stronger and I finally felt whole again when I chose to return to the Catholic faith. Plus, I grew new friendships that helped me grow more spiritually!! I found the thing I was missing most were the sacraments that the Catholic church has. I love my faith and more importantly the Lord!!! :)

 Bottom line is no matter what Christian faith you follow as long as you are Christ's completely and truly live for Him, your religion title is not what matters. But in my opinion Catholic's are the bomb!!!!! :) <3

Psalm 27:4 "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, And to meditate in His temple." 

Sorrows turned into joy!

I have been reflecting on how the Lord truly turns sorrows into joy! Since Karissa is two months old now I just think back to my pregnancy. It was rough and even if it had not been labor always is. I am grateful that my prayers were answered and everything went well. Prayers are always answered in His timing. :)

When we had decided to have another baby, we both prayed for a little girl. Really it would have been okay had we had another boy, but our heart's desired a girl. I knew it would be a blessing no matter what gender and had to trust that the Lord knew best. Little did I know the blessing would not be without some suffering. Here is the thing, all my blessings have not been without a little suffering. I am not complaining about the  suffering because they make me stronger and draw me closer to Christ. I never like to dwell on those sufferings, but for the first weeks home I did. I am sure every mom struggles at first to find joy in the challenges that motherhood brings. While I was not ever depressed, I just was in survival mode, doing the bare essentials to make it each day. I am healed fully from delivery and my emotions are good. Now that I am adjusted (as much as possible) to life with 3 children and know it will be okay, I can relax and enjoy!!

These boy's love their sister!!!! :)

Look at this little girl!!! :)

So precious!!!

How can you not find joy while gazing upon this glorious gift, a precious gift of life that God entrusts us with!!!

"The pain that you have been feeling can't compare to the joy that's coming" --Romans 8:18