She's Having A ....

Brenna and AJ planned a cute way to reveal the gender of their baby to  their families.  We were all so excited!!

We arrived at the park where AJ proposed to Brenna.  It's becoming a very special place.

Can you tell how happy they are?!  It's so sweet!

She was very happy to show us the ultrasound photos.

We were all guessing right up to the very end.  

I really thought it was going to be a girl.

And Tabitha did too!

But when we opened up the confetti poppers it was full of blue!!!!

We are all so excited!!!

So that makes 3 granddaughters and 2 grandsons for us!

It's not too long ago I posted a photo at this same tree.

 Life just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter in this season we are in.  AJ and Brenna are going to be such great parents!!

My Prayer for My Home ~To revive womanhood

Every morning I look over it.  I pray and ask the Lord to let it be so.  Some people call it a Mission Statement.  Some just say it's their goals, their "Purpose"  or even their "Why."  Whatever you want to call it, it's important to have some concrete  desires for your home.

When someone enters into the place the Gimenez Family calls home, I have some desires for them.  But, more important than that, I want the people that call this place Home to have a sense of belonging.  I have these needs and desires for them!

But, even more important than that, I want to please my Heavenly Father!  I know He has some desires for my home, even more than I do!

So I have a list that I look over daily. I pray over it daily.  Does that mean it always happens?  No, it sure doesn't.  I think everyone that sets goals, makes New Years Resolutions or just makes a plan for the day knows that it doesn't always go the way they have planned. But, if you aim at nothing you'll hit it everytime.  

Let me encourage you, dear sister friend, have some goals set for what you want your home to accomplish. Search the Scriptures and ask God what He would have for your home. Then, look over it, pray for it, work towards it, adjust your day so that it will be accomplished!

Let me encourage you, don't keep your eyes on the temporal things with this list.  Having clean floors and dust free surfaces doesn't need to be on the list. Having children that never misbehave shouldn't be on the list.  Never having an argument (or discussion ;o) ) shouldn't even be on the list.  Yes, these are all good things, but we are real humans that struggle.  Don't look at your list and then be discouraged, look at it as an encouragement to keep your eyes focused on the right things.

So, do you want a peek at my list?

Here is what I have listed in my prayer journal.

Desires for my Home

 *Refuge from the world

*Place of Love and Peace

*Place of Learning and  Growing

*Christ to be glorified

*Full of Joy and Laughter

 He's worth it!  And your family and home is worth it, too!

Patriot is Here!!

Our very first grandson has arrived!! We are so excited to welcome Patriot Stearns to the Gimenez family!

Tabitha delivered him at home and everything went great! 

He was 8lbs and 12 ounces.

Can you tell he is already very loved!?

His middle name is after Shubal Stearns, a Baptist Preacher that started Sandy Creek Baptist Church in the 1700s. 

He has such cute chubby cheeks. 

And he has an adorable cleft chin. So cute!!

 

Your Calling ~To revive womanhood

I'm not asked all that often.  And it's usually on paperwork.  But when people ask what is my occupation or who is my employer, I sometimes stop and think, "What is the best way to answer this?" 

Housewife?  This one just seems cold to me.  Maybe it's the word house and makes me think I should be in doors all the time. ;o)  Every women knows that in the season of life I am in this doesn't always happen!

 Stay at Home Mom?  As opposed to a working Mom?  I do believe I work.  And a lot of times very hard.

Homeschooling Momma?  Yes, but there are many other things in my day as well.

Homemaker?  This is the more Biblical term as we are called to be the keepers of our home. But do people really know what this means?

In my quest to find out how to fill in the blank, I have learned this:  I should LOVE my calling in life. At a retreat I just went to, Mrs. Trish McCoy said,

  "Whatever the will of God is for me is my highest calling."

  My calling is first to my husband.  Then, to my children.  I am to build them and my home.  What a beautiful, full, intense calling that God has placed on my life!

I know that the women reading my blog aren't all in the same place that I am.  Maybe you work outside of your home.  Maybe you have raised your children and now are an empty nester.  Maybe you are not married and do not have children.  But, I do know this, we all have a calling in our life.  For the wife and Momma, your calling IS to your husband and children.  Titus 2:5 says that we are to be keepers at home.  KEEP means to watch and guard, to keep close and protect.  That is my calling!  And I truly love it!

So, dear sister, how is that going for you?  Are you watching and guarding what is coming into your home?  Are you keeping your home close or are you striving for other purposes?  Are you protecting it like a mother hen protects her chicks? Or are you as the bird in Proverbs 27:8 that wanders from her nest?  Do you have some specific goals and desires for your home?

We've all heard the saying, "Fail to plan, plan to fail."  If we are to be the best "Keepers of our Home"  we need a plan of action.  We need some serious goals and then we need a plan of action to achieve those.  In my next "To revive womanhood" post I will share the goals I have for my home.  It's a list I look over quite often and remind myself my purpose and the purpose of my home.  Let me encourage you,  ask the Lord, "Is this the purpose You would have for my home?"  Search the Scripture and find out how a Godly home should operate.  It's a wonderful study.

Today will be a day full of schooling, grocery shopping, laundry, and even lunch out with a friend.  I'm hoping for some time to have one on one with my husband as we read a book together.  I will make dinner with veggies from our garden, and may even find time to crochet. And who knows, this just could be the day our new grandson is born (Tabitha is now at 41 weeks!)  It's a busy season. It's sometimes tiring and hard.  There are days we laugh a whole lot.  Then there are days I have to remind myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  But, I love it.  It's my calling and I'm so thankful for it!
 

Celebrating Callie

Our sweet girl turned 12 not too long ago.  I feel like I turned around and she just grew up all of a sudden.  I am so proud of the lady she is becoming!

She loves the Lord, her family, her cat, and books! 

She asked if we could spend a few hours at the library for her birthday.  It was so fun!  She read and read and checked out a ton of books!

The next day was her "birthday party."  It's so neat how the Lord works things out.  Last year she told us she would really like to have birthday party next year since she's never had one.  We've always done family parties for her, but never one where she could invite her friends.  At the time last year, she had one friend at church. Our youth department was quite small, so I secretly wondered who we would invite.

Throughout the year since her last birthday, the Lord has provided more and more friends for my Callie.  She has loved it!!

For her party she asked if we could go out for dessert all together at a fancy restaurant.  We went to Ivy House in Williston.  It's an old house filled with antiques and gifts.  It was so fun!

We invited the Mommas along too, so that was super fun for me!  So thankful that God provided friends for her, and for me as well!  Isn't He always right on time?

We had a great time celebrating our sweet girl!

 Happy 12th birthday Callie Grace!  We love you!