God's Perfect Gift to Me

I just realized that I never posted this back in May, it was still sitting in my drafts...oops... but I wanted to post it despite it being so late because even so, I still daily celebrate the fact that I married this wonderful man!!

It was two years ago that we said "I do." We said I Do to loving each other through thick and thin, to bearing with one another in our silliness and stubborness, to encouraging one another as we walk through this life, to being Jesus to each other sharing the gift of unconditional love and sacrifice, to being a witness to their life. Someone once said, " We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet...I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things...all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."

A good many things have been witnessed by us as we've walked through the last two years of marriage. :) We've seen each other laugh and cry. We've had evenings watching the sunset cuddle up together, and we've also had evening where we worked late into the night just to get things done. We've served the Lord side by side and loved doing so. We've done our best to live out the verses engraved on the insides of our wedding rings. On his, Ephesians 5:25 where Paul speaks to husbands, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." On mine, Ruth 1:16-17 "...Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates us."

I love this man I married because he is God's Perfect Gift to Me. None other would do, God chose him specifically for me and I am ever so thankful.

Nathan and I celebrated our 2 year Anniversary a month early because our Anniversary falls on THE day that we move into our new house in Pittsburgh. Our trip consisted of an overnight stay on a Bed & Breakfast passenger car train in WI, but no children allowed, so Josiah stayed home with Auntie Naomi and Uncle Isaac for his first 24 hours away from Mama (and Daddy). I am so blessed to know this man. He is God's Perfect Gift to me, truly, I do not know what I would do without him in my life! He is my #1 fan and greatest encourager. He leads me (us including Josiah) in the ways of the Lord and points us to Jesus daily. I love how he signs off his emails with "Only Jesus" as his signoff because it is so true of his life. God is so good.

Won't you stay awhile?

The sun sets behind the silhouette of the church steeple outside my kitchen window, painting broad strokes of soft pastels that gently welcome the stars into the night sky. I feel peace in the evening. Sitting outside and feeling the smooth, cool air on my skin while all of nature sings it's song into the night, brings a calm end to a busy day. So peaceful, so serene.This is me time, my time alone with God. Him and me, & me and Him.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Make time for the quiet moments when God whispers and the world is loud."? Won't you stay awhile? What would God have to say to you as you pause this evening to listen while nature sings it's lullaby? 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I love you.

I am for you.

I love watching you and revealing Myself to you throughout your day.

You matter.

You are not alone.

When there's not enough you to go around, I AM enough.

I rejoice over you.

I am watching out for you, your comings in and your goings out.

Seeing you laugh and enjoy life brings me joy.

You are my child.

I love you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And then....stillness. The serenity of sitting in the presence of God. Just you and He, & He and you.


I love you too Daddy, thank you.

Moments

I love these moments

and these....

and these too...

and definitely these...

But you know what? Some days, these moments are the only thing keeping me going. When diapers need to be washed and they scream "WASH ME PLEASE!!!" from the pail in the bathroom. When sleep is a distant memory and you can't remember the last time you slept for more than 3 hours at one time. When hubby comes home from lunch early to find there's no food on the stove, in fact, his wife hasn't even thought of what to make yet.... When a child demands your every waking moment and you can't seem to even catch a moment to yourself. When your hair is greasy and your mascara spends more time looking like black saggy bags underneath your eyes than upbeat and on your eyelashes. Those are the days when life gets hard, when life as a mom truly becomes a labor of love and a life of true surrender to Jesus Christ. Because on those days, all we can do is sink to our knees and weep saying, 

"Lord, there is NO way I can make it through this day on my own, 

but somehow these moments keep ticking by, so I need Your help. 

I need Your strength to make it through the next five minutes. 

I need Your patience to juggle children and cooking and laundry 

and cleaning. I need Your peace to know that this calling is worth it. 

And I need Your help to be thankful because these moments 

that seem so hard...well they will only be here for so long and 

someday I'll be wishing they were back. Come Lord Jesus 

and be present here with me today, right now, 

even in my weary and helpless state."

And then somehow, God is so gracious to remind me of the blessings of this beautiful labor of love. He brings me up out of the depths of despair with reminders of the little joys that break up the hard days. The gentle touch of tiny fingers tickling your side as he eats in the middle of the night. The big eyes that watch you intently while you read him a Bible story before bed. The sheer joy in his body as he wiggles and squiggles in your lap. The surprised look on his face when he discovers something new. The giggles bubbling up from his soul as his belly is tickled. The sighs in the night as he slumbers peacefully while you sit by his crib with tears streaming down your face, wishing that these moments would last forever. 

God is good, and this labor of love...well, it can sometimes be like the Sea of Galilee, you never know when a storm will kick up and rock your world (literally). But remember that story in the Bible? Remember what happened in that big storm where the disciples had been rowing for probably 9+ hours and thought they weren't going to make it? Yeah, Jesus came to the rescue. He literally walked on the water in that storm and came exactly to where his disciples were struggling, right into the thick of it....and he brought peace to them in that storm. He brought peace to them. What a beautiful hope we can have in Him when we are going through the storms of life and motherhood when we feel like the next wave will sink us for certain. He is always there, always ready to bring peace to us in the storm.

Littlest known, yet most influential mom.

What does it mean to be a Mother? Is it merely a title given to any woman who conceives a child? Is it merely the tasks we complete each day to make sure everyone in the house is clothed, fed, cleaned, and put to bed? Is it more than that? Dear friend, I say, it is MUCH more than that.

Being a mother myself now, it's amazing to me what is birthed in a woman when she gives birth to a child. A sense of wonder, achievement, fear, responsibility, commitment, and deep unconditional love all well up from depths that we did not know existed. It's almost as if a new person comes into being as we take on the blessed task of raising the little one that lies in our arms immediately after birth. Such a huge and daunting task this is, such a heavy burden to bear. BUT, also such a blessing it is to be given the gift of motherhood and to watch your little one grow and flourish under your care and correction, love and affection, teaching and direction.

 I was so encouraged as Nathan preached at a nearby church that day and he spoke of the littlest known, yet most influential mom in the Bible. Her name was Jochebed, and though she is only mentioned in 2 verses in the entire Bible, she raised 3 of the most influential children in the Old Testament - Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Jochebed did her God-given task of raising 3 godly children who would one day lead the entire nation of Israel out of captivity and into the Promised Land. She faithfully taught them and led by example what it meant to trust and follow God no matter the circumstances. Nathan encouraged we mothers in the church (those with children of their own as well as those spiritual children) that though we may go unnoticed or unspoken of, our influence is great and God gives us such a gift in being able to instill His statutes into the children He blesses us with. That is my hope and prayer, that though people may not remember me, or speak often of me in years to come, I hope and pray that what I have taught my children about our Lord and Savior would live on as they testify of their faith, hope, and trust in Him.

Where has the time gone?!?

My oh my has time flown since I last posted on here! I apologize for not keeping up better, especially with all the changes that have happened since Josiah was born. Here's some quick highlights of what happened in the month of April.


On April 6, I celebrated my birthday of 22 years of wonderful life! My dear husband took me out to Rodizios Brazilian Steakhouse and then to the Shout House in downtown Minneapolis where they have dueling pianos....so much fun! My favorite was a duel based on songs that have a number in the title, those guys know their music!

Rodizios, unlimited meat! :) yum yum!

The clean air of Nebraska and Kansas filled our lungs mid-April as we headed down to show off Josiah to the family before we move out to Pennsylvania for Nathan's Seminary internship. God was SO good to us in giving us an amazing visit with my Mamapolly, who arrived at her heavenly home just a month and a half later in June. So thankful that she and Josiah got to meet one another before she passed away.

Mamapolly and Josiah

4 Generations - Mom's side

4 Generations - Dad's side

Naps with Grandpa are the best! I think Grandpa enjoyed it too ;)

Dorothy Fischer - a family friend

Nathan and Benjamin working on a wood project

The finished wood project product!

We surprised Samuel at school for lunch!

My dear friend Tabitha

My Goddaughter, Stephanie

Good ol' floor time with Grandpa

We celebrated our risen Savior on Easter Sunday with Nathan preaching a wonderful message at a small local congregation.

At the end of April, we said our goodbyes to the youth group at RLC. After three years of youth ministry there, you realize how deeply God can use you and how hard it is to say goodbye. The pictures below are of the sword drills, Nathan teaching the 100+ youth, and me and my small group. <3

Introducing....Josiah Jerome Olson

Through the eyes of Josiah Jerome Olson, his birth story.

                           We're pregnant!                     20 weeks!               The night before he was born.
                                                                                                              (9 days overdue)

So, as most of you out there can see, I have been growing and growing over the last nine months. Mommy's tummy has gotten lots bigger to make room for me growing big and strong in here and she keeps it nice and warm for me. She talks to me and tells other people about what I've been up to. She's very proud of me. I haven't really met her yet, but even so, I love her very much. Mommy feeds me really good; I really like it when she eats fruits and veggies, those are my favorite. Daddy is really fun too, I hear him every day when he sings to me, talks to me, and prays with mommy for me. I can't wait to meet him too.

Everyday, I feel this cold draft on my back for a short amount of time when she goes to work..I'm not sure why she gets cold so fast and then warms right back up again. I keep hearing her talk about the 'snow' that won't go away and the 'cold weather.' I don't like the sounds of those things, so I think I might stay in here where it's warm for as long as possible.

.....

The midwife told mommy that I was supposed to come February 24th, but I really liked being in her tummy. It was warm and I got to be with mommy ALL the time. I loved being her little tag-a-long everywhere she went. By March, though, I was getting a little cramped and couldn't stretch my legs out very well. I would try to stretch my foot out straight and mommy would jump and push my foot back, I guess it hurt when I did that. So, on March 5, I mustered up all the courage I had in my little body, and by 4:30 a.m. on March 6, I let mommy know that I was finally ready to come out of my warm cocoon and see the world that she and daddy lived in. I woke her up early because I was just so excited for what was about to take place!

As the day progressed, she and daddy would time the 'contractions.' Every couple of minutes mommy's tummy would tighten around me like a big hug, but after lunch, those hugs didn't feel as nice as they did before and I don't think mommy liked them either. I could hear her moaning with each one and I was busy doing my fair share of work too, getting my head straightened the right way to come out. It's tough work being born!

We went to the hospital in the afternoon around my nap time, but it was hard to nap with all of those 'contractions' going on! If only they would give me a break so that I could nap and then keep doing my job of getting my head to fit the right way outta here.

I was so happy when mommy finally got into the bathtub because her whole body relaxed and I did too. The water around her tummy was so warm and I felt very safe. I tried my best to get moving quickly because I was getting tired and so was mommy. She wasn't laughing and talking to daddy anymore between 'hugs', she was silent between them and moaned very loudly when each big 'hug' came.

Before I knew it, the time came and my body was freed into a warm place where many hands were holding me. Next the hands put me on mommy's chest where I let out my first hello to the world. Mommy held me close to her chest and when the midwife asked if I had a name, she looked up at daddy, smiled, and said, "His name is Josiah Jerome." I was so happy to finally see her and be held close to her on the outside. Daddy is super nice too, he really likes to hold me and his big strong arms make me feel really safe.

So that's me! Now I'm here and learning lots about this big world. Mommy is still waiting for the cold to go away for good and I definitely agree now that I know what it is. More about me to come later. :)

Knowing the Master

Joy and Excitement pulse through my veins, the lifeblood of this pregnancy. They pulse through, giving that gentle reminder of the smaller heartbeat that exists, tucked away inside.  That gentle and joyful reminder of the beautiful role this body will soon take on. However, anxiety and fear also wind their way through those same veins, like bacteria seeking to destroy. Each day, the battle gets stronger as the good fights off the bad. The bad never gets completely exterminated though as it continues to multiply, changing and mutating in an attempt to disguise itself as something good. The fears, anxieties, and what if’s of the unknown challenge my mastery of them.

 “Instead of trying to Master the Unknown, 

focus on Knowing the Master.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Psalm 9:10 “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

Psalm 63:6-8 “Whenever I remember you on my bed, and think about you during the nighttime hours; for you are my deliverer; under your wings I rejoice. My soul pursues you; your right hand upholds me.”

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Exodus 14:14 “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Habakkuk 3:19 “The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. He give me the agility of a deer; he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain.”

And finally…

Proverbs 23:25 “May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.”

His Word lives in me, searching to confront what is evil. His Word attacks what is bad, like white blood cells to bacteria, fighting it off to destroy it completely. May His Word be always on my lips, and forever written upon my heart, that I may not forget the truth about my God and Savior.