Good Morning!!

Baby Zachary will be 1 month old tomorrow! He is such a sweet baby, and I am soaking up every minute of life right now. Friends have been asking how life with 4 kids is, and my answer is, "Just about the same as 3 - Organized Chaos!" But I love it!

One thing I am struggling with, as I have with my past ones at this stage, is lack of sleep. Zach is actually one of my easiest at night with only one night time feeding, so I am blessed! However, this Momma does not do well with any lack of sleep whatsoever! Around 2 or 3 in the afternoon I find myself without any energy whatsoever. Last night was even more of a challenge because Haley woke up in the middle of the night and needed me too. So I woke up this morning, heading into my 5th week lacking sleep, with absolutely no energy. My first solution - coffee. I am what I call a "social coffee drinker." I never would get coffee for myself, but I would have a cup when out with friends. Then back when I was getting my second degree, taking 21 credits a semester and pulling each class in only a Tues/Thursday schedule, and raising a 2 year old as a single Mom - I turned to coffee. I would drink it here or there when a paper was due or a test was eminent. I suddenly found myself turning to coffee a bit after my 3rd child as well... and Haley is still probably the main cause for my exhaustion in general. When she was just a few months old, someone that did not know our family asked if I had a little girl and prophesied that "she would be an even greater lioness than I was." She is surely a lioness cub in training. So this week, I have found my coffee brewer on again.

This morning, as I tried to hold my eyes opened wide enough to insert my contact lenses, I found my mind racing with additional solutions or how much coffee I could pull off while nursing.

Then, I heard the whisper, the sweet still voice of my Creator, my Savior, my Father, "Christie, you would rather turn to coffee for strength instead of me, the God of the universe?" My mind stopped in in tracks. Why don't I turn to Him quicker... why don't serve instant prayer instead of instant coffee. Now, there's nothing wrong with coffee, but there is something wrong with my thinking to turn to that first over the One that is all-powerful.

So, for the next few weeks, you may see me with a cup of coffee in hand (12 hours of sleep around 12 weeks, usually for my kids), but feel free to say a prayer for strength for me and know I am praying too. Coffee is good, but first I want to go straight to the source of all power.

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!

Sep aration

Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Sin - we all do it (Romans 3:23). And there is always a consequence for it - sometimes earthly, always eternal. The biggest consequence of sin is separation from God. When Christ died on the cross, the curtain in the temple tore (Matt 27:51), signifying our access to God the Father. He paid the price so that we need not be separated from Him again. However, some chose to keep the separation there. By not choosing to follow Christ, you are choosing to be separated from him... that decision may seem earthly, but is definitely eternal.  

Heaven or hell? God in your life or separation from the Creator of the universe that holds the world in His hands? My choice. Your choice. (Joshua 24:15) Praying you don't miss another day separated love of the Father. This Easter, remember, He died for you, for me, because he LOVES us and never wants to be separated from us again.