Our baby girl was born on August 15th.  Her name is Madelyn Christine. She weighed 8 pounds and was 21.4 inches long. She’s already a month old!  I knew our lives would change, but I didn’t know how wonderful it would be to be a mommy. Babies truly are a gift from God…especially this one   Here are a few pictures from the last 2 days…I will post some in another blog from the days following her birth when I get a few *extra* minutes.

When Josh and I found out we were having a baby, not only had we not ‘planned’ to have her, we hadn’t even decided that we really wanted to have kids.  Needless to say, we were surprised, shocked, and completely unsure what to do next.  All we knew, and what we prayed continually, is that God had a plan, and He was going to have to take care of everything…we knew NOTHING about having a baby!  As our friend, Pastor Iman puts it; we had an “amazing opportunity to trust God”.  In the past 8 months we have received blessing after blessing…so many times I’ve thought, “I need to blog about this!” So, here is a quick list…a praise report of sorts…of some of the things that have occurred throughout my pregnancy…

*Our friend Rachel delivered FIVE BOXES of diapers one day, because God told her to buy them…and she has brought a few other boxes at random times….!

*We were blessed with a car, a convertible…even though this was not a ‘baby friendly car’, the person who blessed us with it knew God wanted us to have it.  We were able to sell the car to a family that was equally blessed to buy it, and Josh was able to buy a Jeep Cherokee…his IDEAL vehicle…and plenty safe for little Madelyn!

*Various people have brought us items that are either new or gently used including, a changing table, a new car seat, a crib, a new pack-n-play, a bouncer, FOUR baby carriers, FIVE boxes of clothes, a stroller, several toys, and a few more packages of diapers…and the Baby Shower isn’t even until tomorrow!

*Our friend Kat gave us a care package with pacifiers, blankets, wash cloths, a Boppy, and a bath seat

*We received an annonomys donation to our ‘maternity leave fund’…that, combined with what Josh and I have been able to save, has given us enough $ for me to stay home for SEVEN weeks after Madelyn is born!!

*Josh will be able to work a slightly different work schedule when I go back to work so that we will only need 4 hours of childcare/day

*Our friend Vanessa is going to watch Madelyn during the afternoon while we are at work so we don’t have to put her in daycare!

*At 7 months pregnant, I still knew VERY little about the process of giving birth…a friend of one of our co-workers met her at the office for lunch one day, and after lunch asked her to give me her name and phone number.  You see…she is a Doula (similar to a midwife), and God put it on her heart to offer her services to me…at NO CHARGE!!! She has been an INVALUBLE resource…she is an amazing woman and will even be attending Madelyn’s birth in a few weeks.

We are overwhelmingly blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing family of friends who speak into our lives.  AND WE CAN’T WAIT TO MEET MADELYN IN PERSON!  It’s crazy to know that she will be here in less then ONE MONTH!!  I hope this encourages you, that even when you don’t see how something can possibly work out, that God will ALWAYS make a way!

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”

So…it’s been a really long time since I blogged last…like 1/2 a year!  Hey – I’ve had a lot going on!   

Josh and I recently got to have maternity photos taken by Daniel and Nicole…well, pictures by Nicole, Daniel was there for moral support for Josh I think, and I figured this was the best way to break the non-blogging streak. 

The day of the shoot, we agreed early that we would make it quick so we could go get some sushi for dinner. Here’s one of the 1st photos…

Next, Josh wanted to get some pics on the jungle gym….but on the way over, he spotted a little trail that led into a wooded cove area and thought it would look really cool, Nicole agreed, so we walked down a hill and over a little stream and as we got to the area where the sun was coming through the trees I saw something move…right about then Josh said, “Oh, a frog!” And Nicole froze.  Then, we saw another one, it was small, but as we looked closer we realized there were tons of these tiny frogs hopping around, and I started to laugh and I said, “Nicole, aren’t you scared of frogs?” as I turned around and saw her, I laughed even harder…she had turned her back to the frogs and was speaking scripture under her breath…”for I do not have a spirit of fear…”  Really?! Hilarious! These frogs were smaller than a nickel in diameter!  So I said, ok, fast, take some pictures and we’ll get out of here…she looked at me, and I seriously thought she would start casting those frogs from the woods at any moment “in Jesus’ name” but she didn’t.  She mustered up every ounce of self-control she had and took some AMAZING photos!!

The moment she had the shots she wanted, she bolted back up the hill…!  On to the playground!  One of my favorites…

I’m pretty sure Daniel was still joking with Josh about Nicole and the frogs when this one was taken…hahaha!! 

We really are blessed to have such amazing and fun people as friends!  Thanks guys…!!! 

To see some more pics from our shoot, go to this link… http://lyricsphotography.com/darkroom/share/?n=gerstmeyer#NIC8536jpg

And make sure to check out Nicole’s blog!  There’s a link to the left…

When I say I will accept things “in God’s timing”…I need to REALLY mean it.  I thought I really meant it… What I’ve realized today is that even though I’ve said and prayed that, in the back of my mind I’ve been thinking…”I want things in God’s timing…as long as He waits until I think I’m ready”.  Well, that’s not really God’s timing is it? Nope. It’s still my own. If you’re going to pray and believe that your life will unfold exactly as the Father has planned, then be ready for things to shake up your world…and not be or look like what you thought they would. And TRUST that the Lord really does know what He’s doing…because He sure knows better than you or me EVER will!

Psalm 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Ephesians 1:11
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will

Thank you Jesus for knowing what I need before I can ever comprehend!

I LOVE Thanksgiving…mostly because I love FOOD!  And being with my friends and family.  This year I was not able to be with my family since they are all so far up North…so I decided I would make Thanksgiving dinner for the first time this year.  I’d never made a huge dinner…and I’d never cooked a turkey. It turned out wonderfully.  I’d originally planned on it just being Josh and me, but I was thrilled to be able to spend it with the Rivers’ and Tinkers’…thank God…because we would have ended up with way too much food!  (Who buys a 15# turkey for 2?!…A girl whose dad always made a 22 pounder or more every year, that’s who!)  Here are some pics from the evening!

A tip I got from a cooking show…olive oil & Seasonings under the skin prior to cooking….probably saved my turkey since I ended up cooking it at 400 degrees in order for it to get done in time for dinner!

Stuffed and ready for the oven

YUM! It turned out better than I expected!!

“The Spread” Turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, black olives, and Vivi’s turtles! (Everything but the gravy was made from scratch!)

Liz, showing us how to work off the calories after dinner with Diego

Me and Josh, full and content.  What a great night!!

How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

My birthday was last Saturday, November 15th…and I turned 28, thank you very much!   I love birthdays!! I am so thankful for great friends that go out of their way to show how much they love me.  Alyse and Stacy made me the most wonderful treat EVER and surprised me with it at work the Friday before my big day…

Thanks ladies…I am truly blessed to have you as friends!

Many of us know the story of the men who were given “talents” in Matthew chapter 25.  I know now that “talents” were a form of currency when the Bible was written.  I didn’t always know that though.  I took this story as being quite literal, and “talents” to me were, your ability to paint, or be a great speaker, or a great athlete. 

Matthew 25

14 Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

My talent has always been my ability to sing.  From the time I could talk, I sang, from a very young age I’ve been very affected by music.  When I was 3 or 4 years old my mom was cleaning one day and had left MTV on.  She came out of the bedroom to find me planted in front of the TV crying….when she asked me what was wrong, I said “it’s just so pretty mom”….the song was Time After Time by Cindy Lauper…and I still cry all the time when I’m moved by music. A few years ago I had the oportunity to see Trans Siberian Orchestra in concert….I started crying 5 minutes into the performance, and don’t think I stopped until we were in the car….it was just SO good!

I sang all through elementary, middle, and high school, and then majored in musical theater in college.  I couldn’t go anywhere in my small town without people asking what production I was in, or where I’d be singing next.  But, I started suffering from anxiety when it came time for me to get on stage.  Over the course of my 2^nd year in college, it got worse and worse to the point that I decided I could no longer perform.  I ended up moving out of the town where I would have to explain myself to a place where I only knew one family.  I didn’t sing publicly for 5 years. I was afraid so I hid my talent…

 24 Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

When I moved to Oklahoma, and came to Destiny for the first time, one of the reasons I loved it so much was because of the praise and worship team.  Something in me stirred…I knew God was calling me to use the talent He’d given me…but I was still scared.  Iman, who was the assistant to the worship pastor at the time, approached me after a service and asked if I was going to try out for the team…I’d ‘just happened’ to sit behind him in a service, not knowing who he was…I bashfully said I had thought about it, and he gave me an audition packet.  That’s when I remembered this parable.  I started feeling very convicted about burying the talent that I knew was given to me for a reason. So, approximately 3 or 4 weeks after I’d been given the packet, when Iman pretty much forced me come into the Hospitality room after service one night, I auditioned.  I was PETRIFIED.  I forgot the words….I messed up the part…I stopped singing altogether at one point…and I’d been listening to those 2 songs for almost a month! Thankfully, they could see through the nerves and let me on the team anyway.

26 His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

For me, the interest made off of my talent is every time a person can enter in to worship because of what God is doing through me.  I still get nervous…I still think I’m going to forget the words most of the time, but I don’t want to be face to face with God one day and have him be disappointed and call me “A lazy servant”, so I use my talent, for His glory, out of obiedience, and because of the Joy I have found through worshiping my Saviour. 

We all have talents, what matters is how we use them!

*Please read this entire blog if you start, there is important info. at the end!*

I’m sure many of you have received an email that is being forwarded around right now……it looks something like this;

“REFUSE NEW COINS

This simple action will make a strong statement. Please help do this…Refuse to accept these when they are handed to you. I received one from the Post Office as change and I asked for a dollar bill instead. The lady just smiled and said ‘way to go’, so she had read this e-mail. Please help out…our world is in enough trouble without this too!!!!!

U.S.Government to Release New Dollar Coins   
 

You guessed it
‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ IS GONE!!!
If ever there was a reason to boycott something, THIS IS IT!!!! DO NOT ACCEPT THE NEW DOLLAR COINS AS CHANGE Together we can force them out of circulation. Please send to all on your mailing list!!! “

This is completely ERRONEOUS information!!  “In God We Trust” is written along the outside edge of the coins….here’s what I copied off of the US Mint’s website…

“The Presidential $1 Coins

The United States is honoring our Nation’s Presidents by issuing $1 circulating coins featuring their images in the order that they served.  The United States Mint issues four Presidential $1 Coins per year, with Presidents Monroe, Adams, Jackson, and Van Buren being honored in 2008.  Each coin has a common reverse design featuring a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty.  These coins feature larger, more dramatic artwork, as well as edge-incused inscriptionsof the year of minting or issuance, “E Pluribus Unum,” “In God We Trust” and the mint mark. Although the size, weight and metal composition of the new Presidential $1 Coin are identical to that of the Sacagawea Golden Dollar, there are several unique features that make this coin distinctive.”

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, research things before you “send to all” on your mailing list!!  We need to be informed if people are going to listen to our message, and we need people to listen if we are truly going to make a difference!!!

Josh and I finally made some home-made sushi!  We’ve been talking about doing it for….well, since we started dating…and it turned out GREAT!

We used Tuna from Whole Foods, I made sticky rice for the first time, and Avocado and cream cheese.  Seriously, it was the best sushi I’ve ever had!

And this is it….

I’ve had it for a little over a week…..I love it!  One of the first things I did was send my mom an email while I was getting my hair done by Liz at Ulta.  The only thing I wish it had is a camera so I could send twitpics.  ; )  I like text messaging a lot more now though! And it’s pretty cool to be able to go online whenever I want……