Fall Festival

Here are pictures of our Fall Festival that we had at the church on Sunday night. Jackson was a cowboy and he loved being around everyone!

Does Jackson already have a girlfriend?

Today after church we had lunch with the Cappelmann's who have a little girl named Anna who is 3 weeks older than Jackson. They met about 2 weeks ago and it was love at first sight. Have you ever seen a baby make so many funny faces?

“Don’t Worry, Have Faith” (Luke 12: 22-34)

Most women(certainly me) and especially moms tend to struggle with worrying. This is a great article I reveiwed in seminary for my couseling women class. His steps to overcoming worrying are very helpful.

“Getting to the Heart of Your Worry,” by Robert D. Jones, The Journal of Biblical Counseling, (vol. 17/13, Spring 1999)

Dr. Robert D. Jones begins his article by stating that signs points to the fact that no single problem plagues people more than worry, and that worry is one of the most typical everyday sins. However, Jones states that there is good news, worry is a solvable. Through God’s spirit the Word provides Christians with all they need to overcome and fight worry and anxiety. He further explains how fortunate that Christians are to have God’ Word to be our guide and they are not left with human centered psychologies for answers to life’s problems. [1]

Jones then moves to discussing how and why worrying is a sin. Jesus says that worrying is wrong. In Matthew 6:19-34, Jesus forbids worrying three times when he says, “Do not worry” (verses 25, 31, 34); therefore, worrying is a sin. Furthermore, Jesus explains that worry is idolatry in verses 19-25. Jones states that worry expresses idolatry in the heart. He states that “your worry is a sign that in some way you are trusting in yourself, that you are building your life on things or people other than Jesus.”[2]

Jones states that worry expresses three main truths that are found in Matthew 6: 19-34. First, worry expresses that a person trust in competing treasures (verses 19-21). So much of a Christian’s worries involve earthly worries; however, Jesus states to not store up your treasures on earth but to store up treasures in heaven where thief and moth cannot destroy. Secondly, worry expresses that a person looks at life with competing eyes (verses 22-23). According to Jones, when Christians fail to look at life by setting their eyes on Jesus and his kingdom, their life will be filled with darkness and chronic worry. He further states that Scripture urges Christians to set their heart on things above. Thirdly, Jones affirms that worry expresses that a person is serving competing masters (verse 24). Jesus declares that a person can not serve God plus something or someone else. Jones quotes Stanley Gale who states, “instead of trusting God by submitting and yielding to his good pleasure, the worrier rebels and asserts himself in defense of autonomy, of independence from the God in whom he lives, moves, and has his being.”[3] At the end of this section, Jones urges the reader to repent from his false gods, and to renew his faith in God and his Savior.

Jesus explains that worry is unbelief, and the solution is faith. Jones states to worry is to deny God’s power, wisdom, and love for you in your situation. Additionally, to worry is to doubt His knowledge, goodness, and might toward you. To believe God’s goodness is to be freed from worry. Jones clearly states that “the remedy for worry is to seek the Lord, to believe His promises, and orient your life around His priorities.”[4] He also quotes John Piper who states that worry results when our remaining unbelief, our inadequate faith, gets the upper hand in our hearts. The remedy? Believe Jesus and His gospel promises. Trust all that God has promised to be for us in Jesus. Jesus plainly states to not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow has enough troubles of its own (6:34). Worrying cannot improve a person’s future.

At the end of the article Jones gives the reader a five step process to releasing his worries to God. First, Jones urges the reader to go talk to the Lord about his worries. Second, admit that worrying is sin. Third, ask God to help you identify the specific idols in your life. Fourth, confess your worries to him and repent of the ways that you have sought your own agenda, and not God’s kingdom. Fifthly, tell God that you are sorry for not believing in His promises, and ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you of all these things.[5] Jones urges the reader not to stop there. He urges the reader to turn to the Lord and worship, and trust in God’s promises of grace, even in worrisome situations.

This article’s strengths far out weigh its weakness. Jones does an excellent job of explaining how common worry is, and the fact that worry is a sin. Jones does not just come up with the fact that worrying is a sin from his own reasoning, but he gets his conclusion from Scripture and what Jesus explicitly stated on worrying. Secondly, he does a great job of clarifying the truth that worrying is idolatry, and the solution is repentance. Throughout his article, Jones does a great job of giving the reader practical applications. Thirdly, Jones states that worry is indeed unbelief, and the solution is faith. Jones states that one of the bottom lines is that your worry is a sign that in some way you are trusting yourself, that you are building your life on the things or people other than Jesus. Lastly, his conclusion is extremely applicable with his five step process on how to release your fears to God.

The only weakness found in this article is just one helpful piece of advice that Jones could have given. He could have urged the reader to pray to God, “Even if (name your fear) happens, You will give me the grace and strength to get through it.” He did not really touch on this step of releasing your fears to God, but he covered everything else in this very well written, clear, and comprehensive article.

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[1] Robert D. Jones, “Getting to the Heart of Your Worry,” Journal of Biblical Counseling 17/13 (1999): 21.

[2] Ibid., 22.

[3] Ibid., 23.

[4] Ibid., 24.

[5] Ibid.

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When I see you Smile

Oh yeah Jackson's first full smile was last Saturday. By 2 months they should be able to smile when you smile at them. Precious!

"For you created my inmost being:
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
Psalm 139:13-14

Update: 6 weeks old

Jackson turned 6 weeks last Tuesday! I cannot believe it has already been 6 weeks. I am scared to write this because the minute I do he will have bad days BUT Jackson slept from 11:15-7:15 am!!!!! I cannot tell you how wonderful and blessed I feel to have gotten 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep!

He also had a bath last night without screaming the whole time. He is so cute he sucks hard on his entire hand while we sit him in his tub and just waits for it to be all over.

Advice to new moms: Once you have been home with your baby a couple weeks try to get out of the house for at least 1 hour a day. When Charlie (the most loving husband ever) gets home in the afternoon he looks after Jackson while I get out, mainly to Walmart, and hopefully soon it will be to go to the gym. I go to the doctor today for my 6 weeks checkup and she will tell me if I can start working out heavily or not.


Also try to feed your baby around the same time every day (every 3 hours) and he will have an easier time sleeping through the night. Schedule (not a real strict one) is important.

*Just in case you are wondering I took like 130 pictures of Jackson his first couple weeks so I will be posting pictures almost every post.

*The picture shown here of me and Jackson is right after I had given birth. I had a very fast, almost too fast, delivery (about 5 hours). I went in at 5 am to be induced and then had him at 11:17 am---the epidural was wonderful and I did not feel a thing! The second I saw him it was love at first sight. God gets all the glory for a healthy baby boy! The other picture is a dad and Charlie giving him a bath before we could put him in the tub because of his umbilical cord and circumcision. My Boo Boo is so cute!

Next post will hopefully be an outline of a counseling women class I hope to teach next year ( I am trying hard not be obsessed with Boo Boo).

Baby's Schedule

At first Jackson did not know where he was so him being on a schedule did not matter. I just tried to keep him awake for 4 hours of the day and made sure he ate around every 3 hours (not any sooner than 2 1/2 hours unless it was an emergency). He was a great baby and would sleep from like 11-2 and then go back to sleep till 6 am. Now I want him to have some sort of scheduled wake time and nap time but it is hard because his stomach hurts him and that determines when he is awake or when he is asleep.

I do recomend new mom to read Baby Wise but be cautious about how strict it is. If your baby is crying uncontrolably pick him up!

Right now his day is like this:

5-7 am morning feeding time
10 am midmorning feeding (try to have wake time from 10am-11:30ish and then lay him down for a nap)
1 pm lunch time (wake time, nap time)
4 pm another feeding (same)
7 pm dinner (same)
9:45 pm bath time
10 pm last feeding put him straight to bed (with a night light on) in his crib with music playing so he knows it is bed time.

*all these times are not exact
* every feeding have a diaper change (I usually do it before the feeding because it really wakes up Boo Boo. If you do it after the feeding he will probably go to the bathroom on you)
*Also if he is gasy I give him generic mylicon drops before each feeding

He needs to get 24 ozs no more than 32 ozs. This schedule has worked and he does sleep anywhere from 11-5 or 7am. Jackson gets 5 ozs every feeding (a couple weeks ago he was only getting 4 ozs). If he gets less thana 28 ozs he will wake up at 2am hungry so it is important to get those ozs in during the day. Some of my friends put some cereral in the milk for the last feeding but that may cause constipation which he does not need anymore of.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a 6 week old baby schedule? Should he just have two big naps during the day?

About This Blog

Greetings in Christ!

This blog is designed for new moms and anyone else who is interested in what entails being a "mom." This will be a forum where new moms can share ideas and learn from each other. I will also be regulary posting my experiences of what works and what does not. Basically, this is everything I wish I had known before I had Jackson, my son. He was born on September 12, 2006 and I thought we would take him home and it would be easy. Boy, was I wrong! Despite the challenges of motherhood, the rewards are more precious then jewels. (Prov. 31:10)