A Few Steps at a Time

For those of you who follow my blog but are not on facebook, I just wanted to let you know that the past couple of days Parker has been taking some steps. He is so thrilled with himself. He can do about five at a time. I'll have to post video later.

Out of the Funk

I must confess that over the past year I was in, what I call, a spiritual funk. I wasn't in one of those "valleys" or facing one of life's "storms" that resulted in me feeling separated from God. I was being disobedient. I had done what the church in Ephesus had done in Revelation 2:4. I had "left my first love." I was like people who divorce because they have fallen out of love with their spouse. It was a gradual fade. At first, you skip spending time in God's Word one day out of the week in order for you to get a little more house work done or to catch another tv show. Then, it becomes two days, three days, and before you realize it, where once you held a devotion to God's Word, now stood a love for fleshly desires. I was lazy. Yes, every once in a while I thought, "I really should spend some time reading my Bible and talking to the Lord. I'll do it after this tv show goes off." Next thing I knew, I couldn't hold my eyes open, and I would go straight to bed without giving my relationship with the Lord another thought. I continued to go to church and sing songs whose words rang out praises to the Lord, but my heart had been emptied of the joy of my salvation. I'm sure it was noticable. Sometimes when I'm up in the choir loft and look around at people's faces when they are singing, it breaks my heart when the look on people's faces is one of boredom or discontentment. I'm sure that's what I looked like. As I was rolling around in the mud and muck of my sin, I finally came to my senses much like the prodigal son. I was tired of feeling so far away from my Savior. I had wasted too much time. I repented of my sin, and prayed for the Lord's help to get me out of the pit. The Lord is faithful and true to His Word. He says in Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you." Wow, how he has done just that. No, it didn't happened over night. I had to be disciplined to open my Bible and spend time praying rather than turn on the tv. But, the more and more time I spent in God's Word, the more quickly the joy came back. God's Word is good! I have realized how important His Word is. I understand that His Word is life in a whole new way. The very foundation of my relationship with Him is His Word. I'm a far from perfect, but the fact that my fleshly desires are still at war in my heart even though I have turned my heart over to the Lord is no excuse to continue in sin. (You should read Romans 6 sometime.) That's why scripture tells us to die daily to ourselves. I am writing this for several reasons. One is to confess my sin publicly. Another is I hope that this helps someone else who may be in a "spiritual funk." But, most importantly, I want to rejoice in the work of the Lord in my life. My His name be glorified!

9 Months Recap

• celebrated his first Mother's Day.
• was dedicated to the Lord.
• went on our first family vacation.
• ate his first handful of sand.
• continues to cruise around on the furniture.
• can stand by himself for a few seconds.
• loves to push his walker around.
• says "mama" and "dada".
• has separation anxiety.
• finally got his first tooth! Followed by 2 more in the 2 days after.
• chases Isaac around the living room.
• loves to pull all the books off the bookshelves.
• gives lots of hugs and kisses.
• weighed 20 lbs 10oz and 29 3/4 in long at his 9 month checkup.