The Daniel Plan

Jason and I started The Daniel Plan 2 weeks ago. You can read all about it here. It consists of eating lots of produce, fruit and protein.  No processed foods and no artificial sweeteners.  They also have a detox plan that removes you from all gluten and ALL sugar.


What I'm eating: 
Coffee with almond milk and a little honey.
Steel cut oats with blueberries or blackberries
Rice cakes with natural peanut butter
Fruit
Spinach salad with chick peas, broccoli, olives, hearts of palm, tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice and a little garlic salt. (This is my favorite new way to eat a salad!)
Diced chicken breast with mashed avocado. Kind of like a chicken salad/guacamole mix.
Whole wheat spaghetti with marinara that is made with only REAL food..... (Or I just make my own)
Steak
Sweet potatoes
Brussel sprouts (LOVE)
Cauliflower
Chicken
Salmon
Eggs
Pretty much any vegetable out there.
I cook with olive oil. No butter, vegetable oil, corn oil, etc.
Lemon water.

[Side note: We really enjoyed the whole wheat spaghetti and so did our kids. In fact they ate all of it.]

Confessions: 
I ate a piece of pizza.
I miss coffee creamer.
I miss ice cream.
I ate too much on Sunday. It was a lot of protein and not "carbs", but too much protein is not always good I am realizing. Well, too much FOOD isn't good!  I felt horrible afterwards and came home and slept. I remembered why I hated eating like that.

I know that eventually I can eat ice cream, but for right now I have to say no to it all or I'll just cave.

How I Feel: 
I'm sleeping a lot better at night. I don't toss and turn anymore. The only reason I wake up is if our kids come in our room for some reason.
I don't feel sluggish...(except for Sunday when I ate too much)
I feel lighter.

Weight Loss: 
We are now on week 3 and I have lost 8 lbs. I was getting discouraged earlier this week because I had not lost anymore weight.  Today I had lost 2 more pounds. I know that losing it this way is healthier and better for me.

Still pushing along and changing habits, but I feel like this is the first time I have taken control of what goes in my mouth...and as a homemaker, what goes in my husband and kiddos mouths.

The weekend Cedar came to kill us all

I'll start out by saying that I am not a hater of many things. I grew up in a house that wasn't allowed to use the word "hate" for ANY reason what-so-ever.  This could definitely be the reason that I don't know how to clearly share my feelings about something I don't like for fear that someone might think I hate them...or whatever.    However,  I sincerely, unapologetically HATE cedar. My weekend was filled with itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and congestion. At one point I really thought I was getting the flu and asked Jason to feel my head because I was convinced I had a fever with chills.  I don't appreciate how he immediately knows when my hypochondria sets it. (If it weren't for the times that I have self-diagnosed myself with 7 different kinds of cancer....)  Once I realized that it really was allergies and nothing was helping I decided to go Target and get meds to help me.

It's never a good sign when the allergy section is cleared out at Target.  I managed to find a miracle drug behind the counter that gave me some relief. Claritin-D my friends. It's the way to go.

Thankfully I managed to enjoy our weekend. We were pretty packed with stuff to do, but it was a lot of fun.  A friend from church took the bigger kids and we just had Madi Saturday night.  Our friends, Shanie and Sean, from church had us over for a belated birthday dinner that night to celebrate Jason. We had a lot of fun and she made the yummiest food! 

My brother came in Saturday night to help move baby sisters stuff from their apartment and play drums at our church. I have to brag a little and just say that he is SERIOUSLY good.  I love good musicians and he is a really great one. We were so thankful to have him come play for us. 

Sunday night a group of my girlfriends got together for an overdue girls night. These are what I call my forever friends. I have known Amanda, Barb and Breanna (my sister-in-law) for over 10 years and Jennifer for 7 years. We all met at church and have shared pregnancies together, trips, sorrows, crazy stories and God sized dreams together.  I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to, but it never matters how long it's been.  They get me and it's never boring to be around them.  They are life-giving, encouraging, Jesus-loving girls who have always made me better. Always.  

It was a great way to end the weekend.

Here is to a new week!

A successful first week

I have to say that this was a very successful first full week of January. Jackson went back to school only kicking and screaming a little. Mornings are the worst with him, but by the time he gets out the door he is fine.  Our week went a little like this.....

Wednesday night Jason and a bunch of guys from our small group went to the Spurs game. Our friend Randy graciously invited Jackson to come along.  This is a pretty huge deal to this 7 year old. Not only where they 4 rows behind the Spurs bench, Jackson apparently followed every single play without skipping a beat. There was also the added bonus that they were on TV and several people saw them.  I've never seen him so excited. So thankful for Randy who made a little boys dream come true. My small group ladies got sitters that night and also enjoyed a little time together! It was so fun getting a night away with girls. I seriously just love our church.

Thursday we spent almost the whole day installing some new equipment up at the church. I was there from 3:00 - 9:00pm. I haven't spent days like that at the church in a long time. I am pretty good at being at home with the kids so that doesn't happen, but sometimes you have to make exceptions. Thankfully it's not a regular thing.


Yesterday the girls and I got to watch baby Avery. She is a doll baby and the sweetest thing. The girls had so much fun with her and kept asking if we could get another baby. I must admit the baby fever did hit me a little yesterday. I will however say that I love the ages my kids are at. It's fun when they are babies, but I love this new stage we are entering in to.

We ended our Friday with a fun night out with some of our friends from River City. Francesca and Nick took us to this awesome restaurant in Bulverde, Texas called Tejas Steakhouse. Seriously amazing food and so laid back. I love any place that you can wear jeans and eat good food at.  Aaron & Bre came too and we had the best time enjoying good food, live music and friends.

It was a really busy week, but a great one. I am a full believer that when we spend time apart from the world and get quiet with God our whole perspective changes. I was really thankful that I did that this week and made time to read the bible and pray.

Hoping that this means good things for 2014!

Happenings

I'll start out by saying that Mountain Cedar is from the devil.  I easily sneeze 243 times in one day.  I heard that people will move to other areas of the country to get away from it.  I completely understand why now.

I spend a lot of days at home because we share one car and I don't really want to get out of my pajamas anyway so it makes my life easier.  Staying in your pj's all day was something that I never could understand from SAHM's until I actually became one.  I try very hard to make sure I am dressed by the time Jason gets home, but even then....

Yesterday we spent the day doing laundry, taking our tree down and had lunch with our sweet friend Laci. I always have so much fun with the girls during the day.

My little mess. She dressed herself  and wanted me to take a picture. 

My sweet, serious Reagan drinking her hot chocolate like a grown up. ;-) 

I also spent hours trying to work on our church website and banging my head into the wall. Thankfully I phoned a friend for help who knows way more about all this stuff than I do.  She confirmed to me that I have no clue what I am doing. I appreciated her honesty and if I am being honest I secretly prayed that she would tell me, "you really have no skills at all to do this. I'll do it all for you." I'm just sayin.

Instead it went a little like, "I'll help you get started. Let's work on making this a little more user friendly and then you'll be able to do this!" Dang it.

In other news, I have to do a little plug for our church. We just started a series called The Gathering and it is by far one of the most exciting ones we have done in my opinion. I feel like people have given up on church. Maybe not Jesus or even their friends that go to church, but for whatever reason it has become one of those things that people can take or leave.  But church isn't a place, it's a gathering of people. A community.  It's where miracles happen because where 2 or more are gathered He is there.  I believe that the church is the hope of the world. I believe without it we can't go as deep as Jesus wants us to. Who will bring a meal to family that just had a baby? Who will cry with the broken? Who will support the addict?  What happens to the woman who's husband left her?  There is no body of Christ because we no longer know what it means to come together to worship, use our gifts, find healing and help lead lost people to Jesus.   Hope is lost.

So, this series is a big deal to me. We are getting serious about who we are and what we value. Each week we will be breaking down our values and how they apply to us as individuals. My prayer is that we would be a place that longs for more of Jesus in our lives everyday.

Hope you can make it! 1600 River Road,  78132 | 9:00 and 10:45 am.

Pray for your husband..whether he knows it or not.

I sat down to write a completely different post this morning. Something with pictures of my children, puppies and flowers....you know, the typical "Natalie" stuff.  ;-) But here I am about to tell you to that you need to pray for your husband...whether he knows it or not.

3 years ago Jason and I went through a difficult time in our marriage. I had become a control freak about everything and all of it was born out of fear.  Every move I made was fear based. I wasn't just a nagging wife, but a fearful, controlling and worried nagging wife.  It wasn't a great combination and it is extremely humbling for me to even type these words out.  Hello, world! 

During that time we both had to do some serious soul searching and took steps to get healthy. Our marriage came out on top and God transformed us, but if I am being honest it took a lot of hard work and the realization that change started with me.  If I wasn't secure in who God had called me to be, then it just didn't matter how healthy Jason got. No one can complete you. Only God can. 

So, I started to get really serious about myself and I learned 2 things: 

1. God is God and I am not.  If I am truly going to trust God to do something then I have to let go and let him do it.  I had to let go of every single expectation I had.  I wrote in my journal one morning, "You are the creator of the heavens and the earth. You brought everything into being. You make all things new. I DO NOT."   Taking matters into our own hands never gets us God sized results. 

2.  The power of prayer is transformative. I pray for my husband every day. I take it seriously and I believe that God has called us as wives to do it and that the power of our prayers move mountains. . I read Power of a Praying Wife (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) and prayed those prayers for Jason every single day for 30 days straight.  He didn't even know I was praying. If there was something I wanted to change about him, I would instead just pray about it. 99.9% of the time it was not something God was worried about. It revealed to me that it was a hang up of mine that I needed to just get over. The things that God wanted to do, HE DID. They were huge and life changing.  I shut up, prayed and loved my husband.  When there were big things that I needed to share I did so with a soft heart. Not one that was filled with fear and bitterness. 

I've been seeing this go around and thought it was such a great tool. Pray for your husband. Pray everyday.  Pray out loud.  Pray whether he knows it or not.  

I know that so many of you (man or woman) have struggling marriages. You are fighting the same battle. You've given up. Some of you have just started out. You can start now. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  

We did it

"This is the year.  2014."

"Maybe this year will be different."

"Cheers to a better year than 2013!"

"So long 2013, I won't miss you!"

This was many Facebook posts on New Years Eve.  I am not sure I saw any posts that said, "You've been awesome 2013! I hope 2014 will be just like you!" I always find in interesting when I see posts like that and it sparks my curiosity wondering what the heck went on in their lives that year.

Jason and I started out last year on an incredible journey moving to New Braunfels and pastoring River City Church New Braunfels. Anytime I hear Jason talking with leaders lately about this last year it has began with, "WE DID IT!".

Yes.  We did it.

WE....
started something new.
got bruised (and maybe a few broken bones) and got back up again
accomplished a new year at a new school
transitioned into me staying home full-time
And, we did it.

WE....
learned to love each other deeper.
prayed harder and longer.
learned to trust God.
don't know everything!!
And, we did it.

WE...
learned how to make meals to feed lots of people on a budget.
waited
received a lot of grace
made friends
made family
got potty trained
Yep, we did it!

WE....
watched a lot of Netflix
dreamed
realized God is bigger than we thought
saw Him provide
grew up
spent another year raising our amazing children
celebrated 9 years of marriage

WE. DID. IT.

My sweet friends who walked through a year of cancer treatment, you did it.  You who walked through the loneliest moments of your life, you did it. You who thought God would never provide, HE did it.

Our dear church, WE DID IT.  We baptized, cried, worshiped, learned and loved.

You did it. We did it. He did it.

Can't wait to see what He does in 2014 for us all. With great expectation, we welcome all that it has to offer.

To the volunteers at my church.

To the volunteers at my church:

I say thank you.

To quote Bill Hybles, "The local church is the hope of the world." Today I am overwhelmed to brag a little bit because without you there would be no church.

I thank you for spending endless hours loving on children, changing diapers, wiping down toys, teaching silly songs, acting out bible stories, rocking crying babies, making copies, setting up rooms, tearing down tables, making coffee, sweeping, painting and mowing.

You do it all. I see you.

Thank you for setting up speakers, creating slides, changing cables, fixing computers, playing your instrument, rehearsing in the middle of your week and using your voice to create a time of worship.  Thank you for hanging out with teenagers, going to football games and taking people to coffee. Thank you for giving someone hope when all hope is lost. For loving them when they feel the most broken.

Volunteer, we experience Jesus because you use your gift.

Thank you for greeting our new guests, praying for people in need, handing out cups of coffee and taking time to talk to someone hurting. You fold bulletins, design graphics, create back drops, take pictures, bring organization and make sure people see Jesus.

Words can't begin to express.

With a humble heart, thank you for the time you put into serving Jesus. You get up at 6am on a Sunday morning to make sure kids are taken care of, coffee is made for our guests and worship is ready to go. You serve popcorn to a neighborhood of people that need Jesus on a Friday night. You give up your backyard so kids can hear about Jesus.

For opening your homes, your hearts and your bibles. So grateful.

I know you do that because you love Jesus and that you believe in the mission of River City.

River City, I thank you.  You are the hands of feet of Jesus and He is pleased.

I am a grateful woman.

Cause I like the 2nd day of school better

This year I was really excited about Jackson's 1st day of school.  We have had such a great summer and we were both ready for him to go back to school. (Jackson and I, that is.) I had big dreams of pictures that morning and walking him in to meet his teacher.  I had it all planned out in my head...

Get up at 6:00am.
Have a cup of coffee and peace & quiet.
Get Jackson up at 6:45.
Jackson gets ready while I make breakfast.
Leave at 7:15 for school because we all know the line will be INSANELY long.
Park.
Walk Jackson to his classroom and get a super cute picture of him and his teacher.
Say bye, hug and tell Jackson, "It's okay, you are going to have an awesome day. No need to be scared buddy! You are going to rock this! I'll see you later....Okay, just one more hug....now I really have to go. I LOVE YOU TOO!!!"

It all went great. Right up until the part about PARKING.

We actually got to the school and couldn't find a parking space. Jackson then told me that he didn't really want me to walk him in at all and to just go to the carpool line and drop him off. After circling around a few billion times I decided that I needed to respect his independence. Once we got to the carpool line, I thought..."Oh I'll just pull over when I get up to the front, step out and take a picture of him walking into the school."

Nope.

It went more like this, "Mom, NO PICTURES. NONE! I DON'T WANT ANY PICTURES OF ME. YOU TAKE PICTURES OF ME ALL THE TIME AND THEN YOU JUST POST THEM ON INSTAGRAM."

Whatever Jackson. I am taking your picture.

It would be like me to get my phone out and not be able to operate it at the most important time of my life. My camera wouldn't operate. My morning was ruined. Instead I capture this...

Happy 1st Day of School, Jackson! 

I did not get a 1st day of school picture.
The door then shut and I was waved on by the the crossing guard.

So, to make up for this obvious MOM FAIL.... I got all the pictures I wanted this morning when Jackson and I walked to school.  I made sure to get the perfect picture for Instagram. I can not disappoint the 23 followers that I have.

I've always liked the 2nd day of school better anyway.

Madison Joy Powers

I feel like I need to remind myself where my kids are at. So, humor me while I do a little update on Madison.  :)

Madison is 2  1/2 years old.  I seriously can't believe that all this time is passing us by and that we no longer have "a baby".  

• We finally got rid of the paci about 2 months ago. Thank the Lord!
• She is talking a lot more now (hence the "no pacifier") and is definitely a little chatty Cathy. 
• She weighs about 35 lbs. Big girl! 
• We love, love, love her curly hair....seriously. 
• Loves to swim and go down all the big slides at Schlitterbahn. Almost too brave in the water. I'm pretty sure she would go down the major rides if we let her. 
• Madi loves to play with blocks and anything she can stack and/or organize. She really likes to sort things and do puzzles too. 
• Her favorite thing to do is go out with Mommy and Daddy. Anytime she can get in the car and go somewhere she is happy. 
• She makes us laugh. A lot. I wasn't expecting her to be so funny, but she is really developing a little personality and really enjoys when people laugh because she did something humorous. It's really funny to watch. She loves attention. 
• Her favorite shows/movies are: Dragon Tales, Veggie Tales and Stuart Little. In fact, she watches Stuart Little every day. 
• Madi is an adventurous, risk taker, loving, funny, joyful little girl. She is also head strong and hates being told no. She sits in time out quite often at home, but she always seems to dry up quickly and comes to tell us "Me no crying anymore." 

    I am so excited to see what the next 2 years brings us with Madison Joy.  We are so blessed. 

Our Summer in NB

This is our very 1st summer in New Braunfels.  The first 3 things that come to mind are TRAFFIC, Schlitterbahn and TRAFFIC.  Ha! 

I will admit that I had no clue what to expect when it came to living here in the summer. Everyone had warned us, but I didn't believe it until I saw it. What normally takes me 10 minutes to get to our church now takes me at 20.  I have finally found some back roads that most tourists don't know about and avoid all major roads as much as possible.

We really have had the best summer here. It's not only the funnest place to live during the summer, but it's my first summer to be staying home with my kids.  We've gone to Schlittlerbahn quite a few times thanks to my dad giving us season passes. It has been a blast and I will ask for them EVERY Christmas.  Our good friends from the church, Rebecca and Gregg, have a private property on the river and have invited us out there a few times. It's beautiful, peaceful and tons of fun. My kids are officially river rats.  We've also really loved going to the library here, having friends over and just generally enjoying New Braunfels.  We recently had a Girls Night Out with the ladies from our church too. It was tons of fun.

I'm just glad the summer isn't even over yet!

A little road trip

I decided this past Thursday to put the kids in the car and go see my family in Houston. I had planned on going for awhile, but we kept having car problems. That was solved..(blog for another day), so I made the trip. 

I'm so glad we went. We were able to spend time with my sister, her fiance, my brother, dad, both sets of grandparents and some of my dearest friends. 

I don't especially miss Houston because of the horrid humidity there, but I love seeing my family and always drive away sad and wishing we were closer. It amazes me that after almost 11 years of being gone, I can go back and know exactly where everything is...right down to little grocery store in my grandmother's neighborhood. I am also proud to admit that I can keep up with any crazy Houston driver. Well, maybe I shouldn't be proud of that. ;-) The best thing about going back home is that it reminds you where you came from. 

In the later part of my teenage years my mom made the move to San Antonio for work. My dad decided to move out to Spring, Tx where we lived, buy a house and let us stay in the schools we were so deeply involved in.  Although I know it was hard for him to do it all those years, I am grateful for the dad he was to me. He is the most forgiving man I know and never failed to own a mistake. He taught me what it means to forgive like Jesus forgave and to laugh at life....even when it sometimes stinks. He wasn't perfect...but who is. 

Madison cracks me up in this picture. ;-)  

My grandmother's gorgeous wedding portrait. 

My dad's house. 

Hold on, Goldie!

My van has been inoperable this week. Some sort of gas leak ....or something...

I guess that's a bad thing.

So, we've been down to one car again. Not happy, Bob.  However, it's been kind of fun. I have been having to drive Jason everywhere and then pick him up from the church. We did that for years and it made for great talks to and from work. We would talk about ministry, life, the kids, his day, my day and seemed to always stop at Sonic. It was kind of nice this week to have those old memories back.  The kids were pretty tight in the back seat, but they made me laugh a lot and we've had some great dance parties.  I guess there isn't much else to do in a little Ford Focus. ;-)

Goldie went in to the shop today. Crossing our fingers that she is under (what we think is) a recall. Thank goodness we don't have any car payments though!  It'll be nice to have it back with plenty of space, but I'll admit I may miss us all being stuffed into that Focus.  Just this morning I had to turn around, stop and pick up toys that Madi threw out the window. Who wouldn't miss that?!

Hold on a little longer, Goldie!

Staying at home

So I've been doing the "stay-at-home" mom role for about 6 months now.

And I'd say this about sums it up.  Kidding. Well.....sometimes it's the truth.

It's been a fun 6 months all in all. I've enjoyed it a lot and I'm so grateful for the opportunity, but I would be lying if I didn't say it had it's challenges.

Now that I stay home I ....

• don't have to find a sitter in the summer or school holidays 
• don't have to work around Jason and I's busy schedule. It's still a busy schedule, but my priority is my family. 
• get to set my schedule just the way I want it. I can have friends over for coffee, go up to Jackson's school when I want, have lunch with the girls at the river and go to Houston last minute if I wanted to. I love that freedom. 
• I am fully focused on my kiddos. I didn't feel like I wasn't focused before, but I can tell God had me home for certain growth "spurts" my kids would be going through. 
• I am doing ministry with Jason in a way that I never have before. That's one of my most favorite things. I love planning and dreaming together. 
• I am just as busy. I am learning to say no and I feel like it's something God has me specifcially walking through during this time. I knew that when we took on the responsibility and role of Lead Pastors that it would be certain expectations on me and my family, but God has been showing me He is the only one I should be trying to please. And that means saying no and maybe even saying yes to other areas. 
• can see what some of my friends meant when they said they felt lonely. I feel like I have a lot of friends, but when you are home all day with your kids, it gets lonely at times. When I worked, I was constantly around adults. When I got home I was usually ready for my kids. 

I am mostly just thankful for what God has been doing. Ministry is tough. I've said it before...it's not for the faint of heart. Starting this church felt like starting over in a lot of ways. Everything was new for us and pretty much everyone else. But more than anything it was VERY new to our kids. I am so thankful that we have learned to live on one income so that I can stay home with them. If our family isn't first and they grow to hate the church and/or hate God then we've just simply failed.

Refuge

The past 6 months have been a whirlwind. It has been an exciting, busy, challenging, humbling, fruitful and life-changing time in our lives since we moved to New Braunfels. 

God has been teaching us so much. I have really begun to see that God is more concerned about my relationship with him than He is with anything else in my life. I've been hit upside the head multiple times in the last few months with the fact that I am

A. Not in control. (As usual) 

B. What I thought was important just really wasn't. 

I have also grown to respect my husband more than I ever have before. I have been amazed and I am privileged to call him my husband. He has been a great leader and pastor to our congregation. I don't mind bragging on him. I love how Jason has allowed the Lord to shape and mold him into this role. It's not always easy, but it's so rewarding.   God knew that we would need a refuge away when we decided to go to Colorado back before Christmas. We asked our family for no presents, just money towards our trip. We wanted to celebrate our 9th anniversary and for it to be just the 2 of us. Jason's parents gifted us with their airlines miles and offered to come stay at our house for a week! 

I think in the back of my mind I didn't think it would all come together, but it did! Last week was the trip of a lifetime.  Our friends, The Conant's and The Schlueter's joined us since we all have anniversary's within a week of each other. It was a blast.   Here are some pics of our vacation. Can't wait to go back!! 

Spring is in the air

I love Spring. I love being outside with our kids on our cul-de-sac. I love that my kids get to be home with me and that we can do whatever we want during our day.  

Like waving American flags in the driveway. Let freedom ring. 

We paint and play in the sprinklers on semi-warm days. 

We take a drive to the river that is now less than 10 minutes away.  

Probably the best thing about living in New Braunfels. 

 We feed ducks and talk to them. (Just about 5 min after this happened, 

about 8 of them came chasing after us) 

And then there is baseball. Spring and baseball. The two just go together. And now Jackson is playing and Jason has come full circle.  

This Spring represents so much for us. Something new and fresh. A new town. New friends. New things to experience. New lessons to learn. 

But most of all, these pictures represent the greatest job of my life. My family. 

President's Day and Routine

Jackson has off on Monday for President's Day. We spent the afternoon with Aaron, Bre and the kids at Landa Park and then off to dinner in Gruene. I love days like that and I love spending it with them. 

 

I love how much these boys love one another. Best friends. 

 We had so much fun at Landa Park on the swings. 

We've also spent the past few couple of weeks dealing with some parenting issues. The transition for Jackson has finally caught up to him and he's had a bit of a hard time adjusting. At school he is great, but at church he is tearful and gets nervous about going in. He's also had a bad attitude these days. I had lunch with a church friend last week who is also a principal at an elementary school here in NB and she gave us some great advice.  At school he has a controlled environment. At church, he gets there before anyone else and there are new kids coming in every week.  Something is always changing because we are growing. Good for us...hard for him.  After talking with her and then talking with him, Jackson needs major routine right now. The days of going to get treats after school and to the park are on hold. Right now, it's all about going straight home, eating a snack and having 30 min. of quiet time. I've already seen a huge difference in his attitude as well.

Also, there is Madi. She's 2. So, there's that... ;-) 

Other than that it's just been a week of playing in the garage, riding bikes in the cul-de-sac and snuggling.  

Lots of stuff going on at the church too.  We are starting our Women's Ministry and I'm excited about getting more women plugged in. I love seeing how our people are passionate about going deeper with Jesus and they are really doing whatever it takes. Even when it means saying NO to our flesh.  If you are in the area come join us on Sunday's. Jesus is doing something very real. It's exciting, humbling and overwhelming all at the same time!

Soul Detox

January 1st I started the Soul Detox reading plan on You Version (Bible reading app). It was a great devotion and bible reading plan, but after 30 days it ended and I found myself wanting more.  Jason kept mentioning to me that I needed to read the book Soul Detox that it derived from. I knew it was something I needed to do, but kept putting it off for one reason or another.  I think I was in denial.

Saturday morning I woke up before everyone else and found it next to some of Jason's books.

I ended up reading half the book.  It was convicting and eye opening.  I started off thinking, "Oh I really don't have any big sins." You know, no drugs, alcohol, etc. And then I read this....

"Are you often consumed with fearful, worrisome thoughts, putting your faith in bad things happening rather than good?"

I humbly admit that yes, I do. I would like to think that I have great faith in most areas of my life, but when it comes down to it there is always that little part of me in the back of my mind, wandering if God will come through or not. Ouch. He then challenged us to look at every area in our lives that may feed those feelings. I honestly don't know what the one thing is, but I decided to do bit of a fast and create some space in my life to figure it out.

So, I have erased Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest off my phone. I left my Pages app because I do social media for our church and needed update that regularly. Everything else is gone and while it has been hard to not stay connected, I am finding myself thinking more about the things that go in my mind through out my day. I didn't erase my accounts. I am checking on my computer in the morning or night because I do have friends and family that contact me through these sites. However, my iPhone is so consuming and always just "right there". I want to truly detox my soul and I feel like this is where it starts.  

I am excited and feel like I am only making more room to hear from God and to focus on what He has called me to do. To be His child, a wife to my hard-working husband and a mom to my 3 beautiful and rambunctious kids.  There is so much that God is doing in our lives and every day I reminded that if we don't put Him first then it's just pointless.

Madison turns 2

Madison turned 2 this past Saturday. We celebrated by having a family over for dinner. We decided against doing a big birthday party this year. Partly because we are tightening our budget, but also because she is only 2. Shh...don't tell her. 

Unfortunately, I took no pictures, but I do have this video my mom took of us singing Happy Birthday to her. 

Madison Joy Powers 

You are now 2 years old.  I can not believe that my baby is growing up. My last baby. I could not be more grateful to be your Mommy. Here are some things that I love about you. 

You are funny. You always like to laugh and make people laugh. 

You are stubborn. I know that when you are older it will be hard,

 but it will also make you a great leader. 

You love pretty things, but you are not afraid to get dirty. 

You are fearless. I wish I was more like that. 

You have curly hair. Seriously. 

You love to eat anything and everything. 

Right now you are really into Elmo and watching Little Bill. 

You love to ride your tricycle outside with your brother and sister. 

You love putting makeup on...also peanut butter. :( 

You love to play with toys that let you organize and stack. 

You are really good at playing make believe. 

Your favorite drink is lemonade. 

Your favorite food is peanut butter sandwiches. 

Your favorite activity is taking a bath. You ask for one morning, noon and night.  

Here are a few pictures of Madi over the last few months. 

We love you Madi Joy.