If You Can't Say Something Nice...Resolve Not To

You know the old saying - "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Well, I'm taking it on as my New Years online resolution. You see, I've gotten into the bad habit of airing my emotions over the phone or online - to the world - rather than taking them to God. For some reason, I feel like if I air my frustrated and (for lack of a better word) icky feelings about my day/kids/self/health/situation on my blog or facebook then I should feel better - especially if lots of people encourage me through comments - right?!?! Wrong. I'm here to tell you that it does not make you feel better to make your facebook status relate to the world that you are having a bad day or to call your mom/husband and cry that they are not there to help. So here it is: my New Years resolution is to take all of my icky feelings to the Lord first - he sees - he cares - he wants to hear - and he's in control, so he can help. Does that mean you won't ever hear of any difficulties in my life again? Probably not. I like transparency. My goal is to stop crying out to the world while I am in the middle of something rather than crying out to my God. The key is for me to go to him first!

So this morning when my 8 month old who is of course on a fantastic schedule as every 8 month old should be  totally and completely unpredictable in the mornings screamed bloody murder for 2.5 hours despite everything that I could possibly think of...I had LOTS of icky feelings....LOTS. So I put him in his crib (after checking him thoroughly), got in the shower, and WEPT before the Lord. WEPT. When was the last time you wept before the Lord? It feels pretty good. I must confess that I would normally call my mom or husband weeping or get on facebook and rashly type out something to make people feel sorry for me. It may seem like that is what I'm currently doing, but I'm not. The situation is over, and I'm here to tell you that after I had fallen on my face before my God, I had an overwhelming sense of peace. Praise his Name! I love my God, and I love that he cares enough to fill me with peace during a time that I had none. Thank you Lord, I'll be back soon :) Do you have icky feelings you need to take to God? As my mom always tells me: "He can handle it."

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."  Psalm 55:22 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

A New Year's Eve Wedding

Kevin's Cousin Abby got married on New Year's Eve. We had so much fun celebrating her big day and ringing in the New Year with family!

Carter and his cousins dressed in their best!

The ceremony was beautiful!

We clean up well!

The Watts Boys & Their Families

We danced the night away!

Happy New Year!

Congratulations, Sam & Abby!

Getting Ready for a New Year

Well, as usual, we are busy bees around here. We've finished up all our Christmas parties, visits, etc... as you have seen in the previous post, and we've taken all the Christmas decorations down (insert sigh of relief that this chore is done).

Kevin's cousin is getting married this weekend - yay! We are headed to B'ham for a New Year's Eve Wedding celebration! I have to go shopping to get a nice dress that will fit my 20 week pregnant body, and I'm thinking about getting Carter his first tie for the event (I don't think I will be able to resist :-) He got a haircut today in preparation for the big day, and such a big (looking) boy probably should wear a tie. Needless to say, we are looking forward to it!

NOTE: I went shopping shortly after writing this post...WORST. TRIP. EVER. Carter did not get a tie, and I did not get a dress. We both go frustrated - REALLY frustrated. He tried to escape multiple dressing rooms (while I had no clothes on - of course). He went down for a nap the SECOND we got back to the house, and I ate chocolate and drank diet coke the rest of the day to try to recover. I don't know what we will wear- I may try again later. Probably not. Honestly, there will be a beautiful bride distracting everyone's attentions anyway. Thank you, Abby!

I'm also looking forward to a new year. This year is going to bring some exciting changes to our family, and we are excited! I love starting a new year with a new, BLANK calendar! I found that VistaPring is offering FREE calendars!!! I spent some time inserting some of my favorite pictures from this year, added Bible Verse captions - to keep me focused on God's Word this year as I am planning my activities, and inserted all our family Birthdays/Holidays/Due Dates.... I can't wait for it to come in!!! I opted for the "slow" shipping, so it'll be a while before I get my hands on it (mid-Jan), but I only paid $5.67 (shipping) - only $1 more than Wal-Mart calendars - and soooooo much better!!!

(PS. Yes, that smiley face is my Due Date:-)