Faith Story part 2

On Sunday December 12, I gave my faith story at church. So here it is for you all to read!



I was born Dec. 21, 1982 and was later dedicated to the Lord at Keene Evangelical Free Church. During my early childhood we attended church somewhat regularly, we split time between Keene and the Presbyterian Church in Axtell. I went to Bible school every summer, usually at both of these churches and also attended Awana after school. I grew up knowing God and accepting Christ early on, I can't remember the exact date, but I remember being that kid that every time someone asked if you had accepted Christ, I prayed again for Him to be my Savior just to make sure I had done it.

My Dad's parents were also a big influence on my walk early on, they were what I call "quiet Christians", they brought no attention to themselves, but in everything they did you could see Christ's light shining through. Before breakfast everyday, my Grandpa would read from the "Daily Bread" and then read the scripture that was for that day. Then we would kneel down at our chairs and pray quietly. For a long time I didn't know what my grandparents were doing, I thought they were just mumbling something to God, so I would copy them and whisper quietly to myself. At the age of 9 my Mom and Dad divorced, this was a hard time for me but I realized after years of listening to my parents fight, it was a lot quieter and calmer at our home. Over the next 3 years my Mom worked two jobs and my sister and I spent quite a bit of time on our own. We were still able to go to Sunday school, Bible school and Awana, these things helped to build up my faith. When I was 12 my Mom remarried and we moved 40 miles to Overton. At this same time I would not attend church again until the age of 20.
At the age of 17 I had a full time job and took care of myself and pretty much did what I wanted, but always praying that God would keep me safe, even when I knew what I was doing was not the right thing. And even though I walked out on God, He didn't walk out on me. He knew that someday I would come back and recommit my life to Him. And He was right, at the age of 20 He brought Morgan into my life and soon after we started dating and began attending Westmark Church together. One day sitting there listening to Pastor Dave Carlson, I felt like his sermon was just for me and right then and there I decided that my life had to change and I was going to let God be an active part in it.
I am still learning and growing in Christ, but everyday He is holding my hand as I am learning to trust Him even more. And now after almost 6 years of marriage and two beautiful children, I can say that God has a far greater plan for my life than I ever knew. And I know that God will never leave me, no matter how far I wander from Him, He is waiting for me, for all of us to come back to Him because truly He is all we need!

Faith Story

Last night as I was getting ready to leave Awana with Brenna and her friend Issie, one of the elders of our church approached me about sharing my faith story during Sunday morning worship sometime in December. My first reaction was NO, NO and NO, I however didn't' say this, but was totally thinking it. I was also think who really wants to hear MY faith story??? Although I have lived a life full bumps in the road, had a pretty rough childhood etc, I don't think there is anything special about my story, many others have gone through the same things or even more and through God have turned their lives around. I still feel like a work in progress, which I guess we all kind of are until we are reunited in Heaven with Jesus, but I am just not sure about sharing MY story. So in the hope that maybe my story will touch someone's life I agreed to do it. I also had to let this elder know that their would probably be a lot of tears. I am emotional when I speak about my faith, as well as when I get nervous and anxious (which I will totally be, I may have to take one of my anti anxiety pills before I get up there). But sharing MY story is what I will do, now to find the right words and a way to summarize all that I have gone through and all that God has done for me in this life. Please pray for me!

You're Invited to a Tea Party!

Last night as I was getting ready to go to bed I noticed that some lights were left on in the basement. When I went down to shut them off, this is what I found.

Brenna had decided to "make her table pretty" (set the table) for her tea party with her dolls and othe stuffed animals. Too cute!

Knock Knock Jokes

My wonderful little boy Jacob (20 months old) has begun telling knock knock jokes, it is hilarious. He just comes up and says "Knock, Knock", I say "who's there", he says "jabber, jabber, jabber" then he says "knock, knock" again. We do this for a few minutes at a time, it just cracks me up. I am hoping to get a video of him doing this soon.

New Blog

I started a new blog to journal my journey to a healthier me. You check it out at www.tjfouts.blogspot.com .

First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Brenna's first day of preschool, she was so excited she woke up at 6 am and preschool didn't start til 10:30. So for 4hours she was asking when she would be able to go to school. It was an emotional day for Mommy, but for some reason the tears didn't come until about 9 last night when I was making dinner for Morgan all of a sudden the water works started. I finally realized what a milestone this was for my little girl or should I say my big girl. 3 1/2 years have flown by so fast, it seems like we were bringing this beautiful girl home from the hospital yesterday and now she is big enough to go to school for 2 hours without her Mommy. I love Miss Brenna sooooo much!

Jesus Loves Me!

All I Wanna Do is Dance, Dance, Dance!

Brenna had her very first dance class today. It is a combination class of tap and ballet. She Loves It!!!! Here are a few pictures from today.

End Of Summer

Well summer is coming to an end and I realized I have only posted twice in recent months, so I thought I would catch you all up on what did all summer and all of our upcoming events. Most of our summer has been spent at the pool, hanging out at home and attending a few weddings.

Brenna and Jake are growing up so fast. Jake is now 18 1/2 months old, he is 33 1/2 inches tall and weighs 26 lbs (the exact same measurments of Brenna at 2 years old). He is active, onery and filled with joy. Jake is usually happy and always has a hug and a kiss for his Mama! I hope and pray that he continues to be so filled with love throughout his life.

Brenna is almost 3 1/2 years old, she is smart and sassy with a complete mind of her own. She loves all things princess and also describes herself as a princess (hmmm I wonder wear she gets these wonderful traits from?). Brenna will be starting a dance class (tap/ballet combo) on August 27, preschool starts on September 7, and Awana starts September 8. She is going to be one busy little girl. She makes my heart melt constantly when she tells me "you're the best Mama" and "I love you so much". She is a wonderful little girl (even though we butt heads quite often, it must be that our personalities are too similar). I cannot wait to see what the future holds for my wonderful children!

Summer Day

Brenna has once again begun swimming lessons this summer, her first lesson was on Tuesday and she had a blast. We go again tonight, I hope it goes just a smoothly. Jake and Mommy have been playing at the park while Brenna is swimming, even though he would LOVE to get in the water.

We have also been taking Daddy many meals out to the field while he has been planting and now he is doing some male row delay (a seed corn thing) and the rain has set everything back. So now he is trying to make up for lost time.

Brenna and Jake have enjoyed going to play with our friend Issie about once a week and we have made a couple trips to the children's muesuem, such a wonderful place. I think we will start trying to go to the pool a few times a week to break up the days.

Today we decided to the get the sprinkler out for some relief from the heat. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I will try to take more pictures of the kids and post more often, it just seems like time gets away from me.

Lately

It has been awhile since I last posted, so what have we been up to lately?

Playing with kitties,

Helping Daddy water trees,

Planting flowers and watching them grow (if you look closely you can see the green coming out of the soil).

Dressing up beautifully for church.



Coloring together.

Brenna has also been working on potty training, but I didn't think sharing pictures was probably appropriate. That's what we have been up to. What's been going on at your house lately?

Easter 2010

I know this post is a little late, but I wanted to share pictures of Brenna and Jake in their adorable Easter ensembles!

30 Day Shred, Again!

I started the 30 Day Shred once again on Monday. So far its kicking my hiney pretty good. After finishing it the first time around, my hubby and I went on vacation and I gained back all that I had lost plus a few extra pounds. Now I am trying it again and hopefully will have better results. I will try to update my progress again on day 10. I have also added walking daily to my routine, hopefully this will help lose some extra pounds!

3 years old

newborn

1 year


2 years

3 years

Three years ago today I went to the hospital to do my pre-admission paper work, had my car serviced and went to work on a normal Monday, and had a doctors appointment around 11 am for my 37 week check up. To my surprise my doctor sent me to the hospital to have an ultrasound, or that's what she told me, so that they could check my amniotic fluid level. Well low and behold I was in labor. My sweet, beautiful first born, Brenna Morgan, entered the world at 9:57 pm on March 19, 2007 weighing 7lbs 8oz and 20 1/4 inches long. Our lives have been changed forever by knowing this sweet little girl. I pray that she lives her life for God and that she becomes an incredible person as she grows. WE LOVE YOU A WHOLE LOT LITTLE PRINCESS!

Thankful

This year I began reading my One Year Bible again, and I am so glad that I have. As I read through the Old Testament I am reminded of how thankful I am that God sent his son, Jesus, as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. All of the many rituals, sacrifices and laws that were to be followed during Old Testament times makes my head spin, there were so many that I have no idea how any of the Israelites kept a single one. I know that many of the laws we still follow today such as the Ten Commandments, but I am so thankful that I don't have to go out to my flocks and find a male ram without defect to sacrifice, or make a grain offering or that I don't have to go through a priest to talk to God and ask for forgiveness. I am just so thankful that Jesus covers all of my sins and He can cover yours too if you accept him as your Savior.

Waterpark Fun

When we asked Brenna what she wanted to do for her birthday, she told us she wanted to go swimming. So, we thought about how to go swimming in the middle of winter, our first thought was to just go to Kearney (our nearby "city") and rent a hotel room for the night. Then Morgan decided that we needed to go to Omaha for a farm show so we ended up going to the indoor water park there instead. Brenna had a marvelous time, although her birthday isn't until the 19th, it worked out best to do it a little early to make sure Daddy wasn't too busy to enjoy the fun. Here are some pictures of our fun time, mostly Brenna just went down the water slide and cruised in the lazy river with Daddy. She had a blast!

So Not a Farm Girl!

The corn field in our backyard has been home to some neighbors cows for the past month. Today my husband stops by the house before heading to town to pick up a prescription and some milk, he tells me to watch the cows and make sure that they don't get out because they were crowding around the water tank (located basically in our backyard). So, I look out a few times, nothing to interesting just cows drinking water. I jumped in the shower real quick and when I got out this was the view looking into my back yard.

Below is the front yard by the time the neighbors got here to get the cows back in.

When I called my husband to tell him the cows were out, he asked me to go out and try to keep them off the lawn, ha ha ha is all I have to say. I tried yelling at the cows, shooing at the cows, swinging my arms wildly. The cows started to move, but those darn bulls just gave me an evil look and scared me just a little, so I gave up and came in. I was not raised around cattle and my husband usually doesn't let me get anywhere near his cattle, unless I am in the pickup being very quiet. I am so not a farm girl!

Jake's 12 month Check Up

Today Jake had his 12 month check up. He now weighs 22 lbs 8 oz and is 32 inches tall. That puts him at 50% for weight and 97% for height. He also has a huge melon, his head circumference is in at least the 90th percentile, I am not sure the exactly! But he gets the big head from his Daddy, I of course have a normal perfect sized head, ha! I guess he will be a smart little boy just like his Daddy! Jake was also given his immunizations and did fantastic, he only cried when the nurses stuck him with the needle.

Happy 1st Birthday Jacob Alan!

One year ago today God blessed our lives with our second child, a son, Jacob Alan. At 6:09 PM on February 2, 2009 Jacob arrived into this great big world weighing 9lbs 5oz and 21.5 inches long. Jacob you have been a blessing from the day we found out you would be joining our family, we prayed to God that He would bring us a healthy baby and he did. Brenna has loved you from the day she met you (I even think she loved you when you were in Mommy's tummy, she always wanted to look for you!), we are so blessed to have to wonderful children who love each other!

I do have to say that it is very fitting that Jacob arrived on Groundhogs Day because a week earlier we had tried inducing labor and it failed, and on Feb. 2 we were induced again and it worked! Once Jake decided he wanted to be born he came quickly. We arrived at the hospital at around 7 am for our (2nd) scheduled induction and he was born less than 12 hours later! Jacob was welcomed by Mommy and Daddy, then Brenna came in as soon as you were all cleaned up. After Brenna met him for the first time, Grandma Pat and Grandma & Grandpa Fouts were able to come in and meet Jacob. We were all so happy for his safe and healthy delivery!

Jacob has learned so much in the past year, as you have probably read all of his monthly updates! So what has Jacob been up to this past month???

• Jacob is once again sleeping through most nights or waking only once for some milk.
• He can crawl like a champ and will walk while holding someones hands.
• He is beginning to eat more real food, instead of the jarred stuff.
• Jacob still loves his sister and all that she does.
• He really enjoys bath time, now that he and Brenna take baths together.
• He wears size 4 diapers and 18-24 month size clothes. I don't know his height or weight, but I will have an update on that on Friday when we go for his 12 month check up.
• Jacob is just so full of love, he loves to give hugs and kisses.
• He has learned how to tickle himself, when Brenna tickles him, he says in a high pitched voice "tick, tick, tick" and tickles his chest. (It is hilarious!)
• His absolute favorite thing to do is sit on Mommy and Daddy's bed and look out the window and he loves to throw things behind the couch and then say "uh-oh"!

Jacob is our funny, loving, sweet little boy. We pray that God will bless his life continually in the same ways we have been blessed by our precious son. Happy Birthday Baby Boy, Mommy and Daddy Love You Sooooooooooooooooo Much!

Party Like a Rockstar!

Okay, so we didn't really party like rockstars, unless there is a 1 year old rockstar out there, in this case it would be my son Jacob! Although his birthday is not until tomorrow, we celebrated yesterday a bit early with his official party! We had family and a few friends gather at our local community center for the big party. We decorated in red, orange, blue and green, using napkins and plates that I found online for our inspiration. It was a wonderful time eating lunch together and watching Jake watch me open his presents, ha! The only pictures I got of him were when he was eating cake, and I took no pictures of our decorations or his big birthday cake (don't ask me why I forgot, I just got caught up in everything and I am not a huge picture taker anyways). We enjoyed lunch of roast beef sandwiches, cheesy crock pot potatoes (my hubby's fave), a broccoli salad (my fave), fruit salad and a veggie tray. A simple meal with friends and family, who could ask for a better day, and we had two extremely tired kids afterward, but both stayed in wonderful moods throughout the day, no one had a meltdown (not even me)! Jake mostly got clothing as gifts, which was perfect because he is quickly growing out of his clothes. We got a wagon for Jacob for his birthday, but mostly Brenna plays in it with all of her toys (go figure, what's Jake's is Brenna's and what's Brenna's is Brenna's). Today they have both been enjoying the wagon indoors, its a little chilly out today. I hope you enjoy the picture of the Birthday Boy eating cake and playing with his sister in the wagon. I will be posting his one year update tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Brenna Says Vol. 3

My darling little girl has come up with even more funny sayings so I thought I would share them with you!

Almost every single day: "Mama, when is Prince Charming coming?"

Laying down on a box, toy box, anything that resembles a bed (other than a real bed): "Kiss me, Kiss me, KISSSSSSSSSS MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She is pretending to be Sleeping Beauty and needs to be woken up.

Looking at her brother lovingly: "Oh, he's such a cute baby!"

When asked to do something: "I will do it in 2 seconds!" or "I will do it in a little while" or "Not right now!"

"I love you a whole lot!"

When she has finished going potty: "I make yellow, Mama!" or sometimes its "I make yellow a whole lot!"

And yesterday while trying to get her brother to play "Prince Charming" for her, first she is trying to drag Jake back to her bedroom to play, then when I tell her she has to be nice to him she stands in the hall way motioning to Jake and saying "come on Jake, come Jake, Now Jake, Jake I said NOW, Now Jake, come Jake, I said now!" This went on for a few minutes until Jake finally followed her.

Hope Brenna's little sayings gave you a good chuckle!