What I love

In less than a week I will be celebrating my four year wedding anniversary. So, to kick off a little "pre-celebrating" I thought I'd write my own version of this.

Here it is:

What I love about my man

I love that he taught me how to cook.
I love his willingness to give me foot rubs.
I love that he works hard at whatever task is given to him.
I love his ability to come up with silly nicknames for our daughters that make them feel special.
I love that he tells me when I'm wrong.
I love the way he makes me laugh until I cry and can't breathe or get up off the floor.
I love his abilty to "tell it like it is"
I love that he remembers what I was wearing the first time he saw me.
I love him in a clean, ironed button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
I love his singing.
I love the way he can read my face.
I love that he's always been a bit of a loner.
I love his hugs.
I love the way he praises God.
I love his ability to "weather any storm."
I love that he supports me.
I love his generosity and selflessness.
I love the way he always wishes he'd ordered what I ordered when we're out at a resturaunt.
I love his confidence.
I love how he listens to my ramblings and never asks me to leave him alone, even if he is deathly tired.
I love how he can be outlandish.
I love how he loves his Lord.
I love how he loves me.
I love him.

Bishop Teklemariam Gezahagne

Recently the question was posed to me: "If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be?"

I thought, "Who else? Bishop Teklemariam of course." I figured his life experience would be the closest to Jesus' life as I would get in this day.

Oh, are you not familiar with him?

Bishop Teklemariam has led a revival in Ethiopia in which millions of people have become born again christians, been healed from serious illnesses such as tuberculosis, blind have received their sight, and the dead have been raised to life!.

I have not been the same since reading "Unseen Hands", a book written about his life and the Ethiopian Revival. There is a new book out called, "Acts of God in Ethiopia" you can check it out on amazon. Better yet, if you are in the Chicago area, he has been here visiting and teaching at my church. You're welcome to come tonight to see and hear for yourself!

"For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." -1 Corinthians 4:20

"The Adventures of Bella and the Watermelon"

She's NOT playin'!....Would you agree?

Yummy...

My husband and I decided that tonight was a great night for a late night ice cream run. Of course, we're coming to realize that whenever he's thinking actual "ice cream" I'm usually thinking blended "ice cream-like" coffee drink. I have to confess that even at church I had to fight occasional thoughts of a nice cold Mocha Frappiccino from Starbucks(oooh...this flesh!).

To my dismay, by the time we went for our ice cream run, Starbucks was closed;( So, I decided to try something new and ordered a Mocha Cappuccino Blast from Baskin Robbins. The drink consist of coffee blended with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. I figured that since it combined two of my simple pleasures: coffee and chocolate, I couldn't go too wrong with it. So, while my sweetheart enjoyed his Nutty Coconut Shake, I sipped and enjoyed a nice new alternative to the Mocha Frap I would have normally gotten from Starbucks.


MMmmmm....How I love finding new ways to treat myself. What's your favorite treat?

Whew...Its over!

Well folks, I am proud to say that after many months of envisioning and planning the best polka dot party we could concieve,my husband and I have successfully pulled off our youngest daughters 1st birthday party! Complete with balloons, bubbles, candy, cheese puffs, cheerios, bbq ribs, chicken, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, spaghetti and cupcakes, we had it all!

The birthday girl wore a pink tutu with a polka dot ribbon tied around her waist and a pink onesie that had a green "B" with white polka dots on it! This outfit was especially made for her by her very crafty godmother. Our oldest daughter wore a pink and green polka dot pillow case dress made by their godmother as well. They were adorable!

For a 1 year olds birthday party, we actually had alot of men in attendance(enough for them to sneak off and get a good game of football going!). Most of my friends with small children(even the pregnant ones) attended and talked "girl talk" while the guys tossed the football around. Grandparents and cousins came and brought gifts for our little guest of honor.

Unfortunatley, both of my little ones were very sleepy by the time the party started, so they weren't "at their best" so to speak. Let's just say next time there will be a mandatory nap before I turn them loose in a party full of family and friends who want to kiss, hug, play, and take tons of pictures of them!

All in all, I thank God for blessing us with a beautiful one year old to celebrate!

Happy Birthday Bella!

Third Day

Let me draw your attention to the bottom of screen. Go ahead....look. Down there is a video bar powered by You Tube. If you click on one the pictures you will hear a song by christian rock band,Third Day. My hubby and kids bought me their Chronology Volume 2 cd for Mother's Day (and a ipod shuffle to put it on might I add;) These were two gifts I had been wanting for some time.

I usually listen to contemporary or traditional gospel music and although I enjoy a hand-clappin' foot-stompin' good time just like the next person, I sometimes feel the need to change things up a bit. Third Day produces the perfect blend of an upbeat sound accompainied by meaningful, soul nourishing lyrics. Go ahead and click on one of the pictures to enjoy the uplifting lyrics along with great music in the background. You can learn more about Third Day and buy their music here.


I am yet to get a chance to listen to all of the songs on the cd I have, but here are my most favorite songs by Third Day so far:

#1. "Your Love Oh Lord" (Brilliant!)
#2 "Show me your Glory" (More Brilliant!)
#3 "Mountain of God" (The Most Brilliant of them all!)
#4 "You are so good to me" (My husbands favorite)

You can listen to all of these on You Tube as well.

Comments

Okay...I'm happy to say that its been expressed to me that there has been some problems with leaving comments. Nooooo, I'm not happy that you haven't been ABLE to comment. I'm happy because the fact that it is a problem means that you're reading and you WANT to comment! YAAY!

So, I looked in the settings and made some changes and things should work fine now.


Please....Comment on!

In the right place, at the right time

Tuesday night is the night of the week my husband keeps our babies, while I get all dressed up and venture out ALONE to...yes! you guessed it: Prayer Meeting!

I always enjoy Tuesday Night Prayer, but this Tuesday night was especially great, in that I realized, once again there can be more than just spritual blessings in the house of the Lord!;) Right when I was about to leave prayer someone told me that they had some bottles of perfume in a bag and I could pick one before I left. Just so happens, this individual works at a department store and had designer perfumes in a bag! For free!

Now, for a "normal" person, this may have been nothing but a mere insignifigant coincidence. However, for a girl like me who (can never get enough variety of sweet smelling fragrances) this was a divine blessing from God just for me! In so many words: The JACKPOT!

As I write(type) to you now, I'm enjoying the sweet scent of "Island" by Micheal Kors. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

What a mighty good man

I got into a discussion yesterday with a friend of mine and she shared with me this very touching story...

When my friend went into labor with her second born, her plan was to go to the hospital and her husband was to meet her there. To her surprise, after arriving at the hospital and undergoing the routine labor and delivery check in, she found out that her baby was breech as she would have to have a c-section. As you could imagine, in labor and without the presence of a loved one, my friend began to feel extremely nervous! Having had two children myself, I know there is a feeling that comes over you when anyone indicates that there may be anything unusual going on with your baby.

Well, just as my friend began to move from nervousness to full-blown PANIC, in comes her husband. My friend then explained one of the most beautiful experiences. She said that when she saw her husband walk in that room, a peace and a calm just came over her and she had this feeling that everything was going to be alright. What was so exciting for me was that I knew exactly what feeling she was referring to! Its this feeling of being safe and protected. Its a feeling of serenity and knowing that the other person has your back, and no matter what happens, your going to make it through it, because you're together!

I believe so much of the feeling I am referring to is pure trust and that "reverence" Ephesians 5:33 is talking about. Her story reminded me to be thankful to GOD for blessing me with such a wonderful, strong, loving, capable, leader of my household: my husband.

Just a few more dollars...

Another reason we should focus on storing our treasure in heaven versus on this earth:

Just a few more dollars and 1 gallon of gas will be minimum wage in Illinois!

I read, therefore I blog.

Well, here it is; my first post! To be honest, I really enjoy reading the blogs of many strangers who have no idea that I am following their own life's journey. I have actually began to feel as if I actually know some of these people through their blogs. I get a chance to learn about them, their family, their beliefs, their triumphs, and their struggles.

With that, though it may sound silly, but info from various blogs has actually strengthened me in times of weakness and shed light on serious issues I have fought to understand. I find blogs to be a useful source of connection, community, and inspiration.

So there you have it: I read, therefore I blog.