9/30/2008

From my devotionals


Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.


Our children where given to us by God and it is our responsability to teach them about Him. It is not up to our church or the school we send them to. GOOD KIDS DON’T HAPPEN BY DOING NOTHING. IT REQUIRES TIME.


9/27/2008

Labor facts :)




Yeah, this is a questionary about my labors so if you don't care for it, keep on and stop reading. I saw it in someones blog and thought was a neat thing. I may be weird but I find interesting this kind of stories hehehhe. I would love to hear yours if you don't mind to add a coment :). I wish I had some photos of my pregnancy bellies but Matthew took all my photos from my computer because it was taken too much room. I will look for them and add them later.

How long were your labors?
Kid #1: About 6 hours. They induced all of my kids, and as soon as they break my water and they put the epidural it goes faassstttt
Kid #2: 3 ½ hours
Kid #3: 4 ½ hours
… yeah, I know, I am very blessed

How did you know you were in labor?
I found out with the three of them when the nurse told me “ ..well, the iv is going, you will start feeling the contractions from the potosin pretty soon. And it was within seconds let me tell you…

Where did you deliver?
All three of them in the Crestwood Hospital in Huntsville, Al. I loved the hospital and the nurses there. I actually used the same delivery room with two of them..

Epidural?
Is this a serious question? Of course!!! Did I mention that I was induce?... I am not one of those strong women that do it the natural way. If I can benefic from epidural I WILL

C-section?
No, praise the Lord. Having a c-section was always one of my fears. I am a wimpy so I wasn’t very thrilled with the whole c-section idea

Who delivered?
Dr. David Wheeler (the great!!!) with the first 2 and Dr…. wow I can’t remember the name but he was the greatest! And he delivered my last baby..... Laura can you help me with his name???

How much did they weigh?
Kid #1: 6 lbs. 15 oz., 21 inches
Kid #2: 8 lbs. 6 oz., 20 inches
Kid #3: 7 lbs, 4 oz., 20 inches

One special memory for each delivery:
Kid #1: Matthew will kill me for telling you guys this but, when he saw the needle of the epidural going right to my back he… almost fainted. The funny part is that the nurse instinctively went to help him and left me there while the doctor did my epidural. My husband wants me to get attention out of the fact that he almost fainted, so he told me to also add that while my in laws where coming to the hospital to meet the baby they got a called from a different hospital in Huntsville telling them that their other son has had a car accident, so they couldn’t come until late that night and my father in law until the next day. Yeah, it was pretty serious. God saved his life that day.
Kid #2: After I heard how long the needle of the epidural was (did I mention that I am afraid of needles?) I was very nervous about getting it, although I did not want to not have one. So the nurse kept asking me if I wanted one and I kept telling her to hold on a few more minutes. Of course she didn’t make much sense out of the fact that I wanted to suffer a little longer for no reason. Finally she asked me if I was trying to go natural because I was 7 cm and they couldn’t wait much longer if I was going to have it. So I told them to go ahead. I was shacking so bad that she had to put some other thing in my i.v. just so they could do it…. I have all kind of epidural stories uh??? J Still, wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kid #3: When I was 7 cm the nurse started to notice that her heart bit was slowing down. She was trying to make me change positions hoping that it would help, but it wasn’t. When I was only 8 cm the doctor told me I needed to start pushing because it was time. He did it in such a way that I never thought there was any problem at all, which it was good because I think if I had known that there was problems maybe I would had freeze. I thank God to have him as a doctor, I know He saved us of a lot of trouble that I don’t even what to think about. He used the doctor to deliver my baby perfectly so we didn’t even have to think about anymore.

Praise the Lord for my three beautiful little girls.

9/26/2008

Heal our land



Bible verse


Sorry I deleted this entry from before and for that matter the entries that everyone wrote, I was trying to edit something and, obviously mess it up....sorry


9/21/2008

Last photos of the summer

Here goes some photos of the girls that I took yesterday. Sorry, I thought I have figured out how to do slideshow but... couldn't so.... you can see them the old traditional way... :) Enjoy them.


This is her "Noelia smile sweet" face. I can't get a photo of her... she won't look at the camera most of the times :)










Happy Fall!!

So, where did the summer go? I personally have no idea. One day we were waiting for the warm weather and the next day I hear on tv that tomorrow is the first day of fall…. Wow… I think I have short term memory lost… ???
It may have something to do with the fact that I have been moving from one side to the other side of the country over the summer. Maybe the fact that I have spent half of the summer worry about my lack of electricity, the girl’s school…. Worries, worries, like me worrying could change something… hehehehe
Anyway, now that the summer is almost over, and please don’t take me wrong, we have ENJOYED the summer; I am looking forward to see what the fall and winter is going to bring us. After all, the new church in Granada is going to be opening doors soon, my in laws are coming in the end of November from the States to spend a couple of weeks with us. Then Christmas is coming and, I think we all agree with this, it is one of the greatest times of the year. My sister Paqui and my brother in law and nephew Jonathan, will be coming from the States since, and this is a really big event coming up, Ashley will be having the baby!!! (sorry no name yet, so I can’t call him by his name- a little pressure there Ashley ;)). So, summer is gone, all the good weather, days in the park, swimming pool, nice open windows in the house, and all the goodies that comes with it. But let’s be real here, God made fall to be just as beautiful. And winter, here living 50 miles away from the mountains, and being able to see them, wow, it is going to be a beautiful sight.
It is easier to face fall too when you had a proper summer (Those familiar with summers in Asturias understand this part, to the rest, disregard.. hehe)


So to all of you HAPPY FALL!!

..... Hold on, I am going to be missing the fall festival at the church…. WHATTT!! ;)






9/19/2008

First week of school

Well, I wanted to use this time to praise God for answering prayers. The first week of school was a success :). The girls are very excited about their school, teachers and many friends that they have been able to make already. Kayla told us today that the girl that she sits with in school didn't come today, but that there were so many girls that wanted to sit with her that her teacher let them take turns to sit with her (I am sure that the teacher allowed that because Kayla is new and didn't want her to have to sit all day by herself). That makes me feel good because it helps me see that she is well accepted although she is new in class.
Nicole wasn't happy tomorrow is saturday... "but mommy, I like to go to school..."
Praise God for His faithfulness, for His love, His protection, and for answering prayers.

Please pray

I would like to ask you to pray for Matthew's family, especially his mom. Matthew's grandmother (mom's mom) passed away last night. She was sick but no one was expecting it to be so serious. There are many things that needs to be taken care of over the weekend, since the funeral will be in MI and she is in AL. Pray for strength for Matthew's mom, and for grace to go through this difficult time.

9/16/2008

Piano classes

Last week Kayla started piano classes. She has been looking forward starting those.
When she is at church she always pretends she is playing the piano. :) It is so cute. Well so, I think she is going to do great. She has been reminding me every day that she needs to practice and is excited about the next class. Alberto is good with her and that also is great, it will keep her wanting class.
Nicole keeps asking when can she do piano too, but we are waiting until she starts reading. Alberto says it will be a lot easier for her that way.
Our desire is that all three girls would learn piano and then get to choose a second instrument. So far Kayla talks about flute and Nicole wants to learn the guitar. Maybe I can learn some piano helping them to practice.. hehehe.

First day of school

So the day finally came and the girls had their first day of school. They were very excited as you can imagine and I was really nervous.... go figure...
They did really good, Matthew went with Kayla and was sure to find little girls around her to get them to talk so Kayla would feel better. He is the bestest daddy. They went in at 10 and we picked Kayla back up at 11:30. She sits with a girl name Paula and they seems to be playing together in recess. Paula has a sister in Nicole class name Lucia, but I am not sure if Nicole is playing with her. The parents are very nice too.
I went with Nicole and pretty much they had a meeting with the parents to kind of pass out info and stuff and then the kids came back with us. Nicole's teacher is very sweet, and it is her first year teaching in this school so she is not burn hehe :) She told me today she was trying to get the other girls to talk to Nicole, because Nicole, although when she gets to know everyone she is very open, she is not the type of person that would just get close to someone and ask if she could play with her so... thought that was sweet of her. Plus she letted me take a photo of her so... that is a plus hehe. I am the crazy mom with the camera.... :) hehe
So today was really their first day and they came back really happy, especilly Nicole that came back with a big old bad of candies from one of the kids' bday :)
There goes some photos.
This is a photo of the back of the school because it is hard to take a photo of the front... too many trees.
This is Nicole's classroom. The teacher said it was the first time she saw it so that she was going to decorate it more. Today it already looked like she had done a lot.Nicole's table is the one all the way to the right side. Right next to the patio door :) fun!!
This is Carmen, Nicole's teacher. She is a sub :( but she says that the actual teacher is down (they didn't say why) and that she thinks she will be there if not the whole year, at least most of it. I don't want to be mean but, I really like this teacher
This are most of Kayla's books. She is still missing two. One I found today but there is a math book that I can't find. I think when I was in 1st grade I only had like 4 subjects...
Okay, so this is actually from today, so the second day of school, but Kayla wanted (or me whatever) a photo of Kayla with her new backpack, as it seems like she won't be using much because they leave all their books in school so they don't have to carry them back and forth all day long.

Thanks for your prayers and please keep praying for God's protection on them.

9/14/2008

From my devotionals today


This are the things God has spoken to me personally during my morning devotionals. Thought someone may benefit from any of it:

* God has protected me even though I belong to a wicked generation
God has given me salvation even though I come from a family and a country that knows all about religion but nothing about the true way to Heaven, Jesus Christ; and is blind to the holiness of God.
God has given me a wonderful husband that loves me, but most importantly loves God above all things, although I do not deserve him.
He has given me three beautiful loving daugthers although I am not the mom God wants me to be.
He has allowed me to serve Him as a missionary in Spain although I am not a faithful servant.
He loves me, although I don't deserve it.
THANK YOU GOD!!! I PRAISE YOUR NAME!!

* We need to find diamonds in the dust of our circunstances

* To praise God for our blessings makes them bigger

* To praise God for our problems ends them
(Sorry if the translation wasn't great... )




9/10/2008

My journey through Nehemiah

I just finished "Comfronting the problems of life" by Martha Tyler. It is a devotional book of a study of the book of Nehemiah. I have to say that I have never paid special attention to that book, so I was excited to do a study of it.
If there is a thing that stands out above everything else of this book is how Nehemiah prayed for 4 months for what it took him 2 months to do. He knew the work was hard and that the posibilities of the king allowing him to do the work he knew God wanted him to do, were very minimal. He knew that only God could do that work.

So he prayed, he had faith, and he put action into the job he was to do. He didn't just stayed still until everthing was taken care off. He put some action into his burden. He didn't just say "oh, I am so burden about the city of Israel, so I am going to pray". He did pray but he also did the job that needed to be done to build the city and bring God's people back to Him.
He knew he had a job to do and he knew that his calling came from God. So he did not stop when fear came or when people tried to get in the way. He jut let God take care of that, He knew His God was powerful.
He also was able to encourage the people of Israel to work on building the city again. He gave them each to do what he know they would be encouraged to do, which is what it was close to their homes. Some even did a little more.
So he prayed, he had faith, he worked hard and he was an encourager. Many lessons for me to learn in this book and now it is time to apply them.
I am now starting a study of the book of Esther. I will let you know how it goes. It is written by Elisabeth George. I have several books from her and I like what I have read so far, so I am also excited about it.

Another finished book

So, I finished "He speaks to me" by Priscilla Shrirer.
I will leave you with a phrase from one of the last chapters. "True happiness comes from fulfilling the purpose that God has for us."
It is a good book if you are looking for recommendations on books. It is not a must read though, at least in my simple opinion. To me it was too general, although had great truths and made marks in several parts in pretty much every chapter, it wasn't a challenging book, not overall if I am making any sense. Of course, that changes with every person. It depends in what you are needing at that moment and also the heart in which you are taking it in. I have been studying lately a lot on the Holy Spirit and how to be fill of Him, so that may be why the things she was saying where not anything new to me... that may be why I was not so challenge by it. ????
Anyway, in my opinion, if you find it buy it, but don't get crazy looking for it ;).


Update on the girls school



Well, it is official now, the girls have a new school.

I have asked some of you to pray about this, so I felt I should update on it. I have been praying about the situation on the girls school. We have "chosen" the school behind our house as the best choice, because is close to us, because whatever friends the girls make would be close so they can play after school and so it would be a great way for us to make contacts for the church, and why not friends.

Then we had a second choice, it is farder from us, about 10 min in car, maybe less, but in Granada, which means morning traffic. But we felt it was good because it is a bilingual school, it is close to the church building, so Matthew could take them in in the morning and pick them up when they were done, since he would be in the church or the church are visiting in the mornings anyway.

But, one more time, God showed us that His plan is not our plan. His choice is a school here in our town, but we didn't even know about it until the last second. It was unprobable that the girls wouldn't get in one of our two choices, but... when the Lord closes doors.... :)

Last year was the same, public school was so not an option. We looked at private schools (too expensive) and semi-private schools (could only find catholics ones, and that was also not an option for us). In the last second we heard about this public bilingual school and I was so not going to do it but I felt God wanted me to. So I did, really just because I thought it was impossible for them to get in. But they did :) because, now I know, it was God's will. The girls had excellent teachers, great friends, and we were able to make some friends out of the parents that would remain friends forever.. and hopefuly we were a testimony to them while we were there. I remember driving there and not liking the are.. I could not be so wrong.

The same thing happend today when I drove by it. Praise the Lord He is pacient with me and brought to mind all those things about the last school, and how I didn't like it and how I ended up loving it.

To some people this may be silly, for me is crucial because my girls are the most important part of my ministry and where they go to school is a great decission, especially if it is the wrong one.

I love my children so much but I know God loves them even more. I know that He will take care of them.

Another good side of this school is that they use uniforms (A good modest skirt btw), so something else I don't have to take care of.

God is good, all the time. Even when He doesn't "do" what we want. :)


Is this normal?.. :)

This is so me sometimes is not even funny. Is this normal or am I the only one? Does it come with being a mommy? Leave me a note if you feel identified, but if you can't make it to it... smile :)

" I decide to water my garden.As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier.I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left.My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to move the Coke so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm and decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but won't remember it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day:
* The car isn't washed,
* The bills aren't paid,
* There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,
* The flowers don't have enough water,
* There is still
* only 1 check in my checkbook,
* I can't find the remote,
* I can't find my glasses,
* And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.



9/08/2008

A strong woman vs. a woman of strength


A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape...
But a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.

A strong woman isn't afraid of anything...
But a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of fear.

A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her...
But a woman of strength gives her best to everyone.

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future...
A woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be God's blessings and capitalizes on them.

A strong woman walks surefootedly...
But a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.

A strong woman wears the looks of confidence on her face...
But a woman of strength wears grace.

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey...
But a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.--

By Cathy Berry





9/07/2008

The greatest job of all

I found this poem in a web page and thought was really great, so I figure I would share it so you all too can be bless. Enjoy it moms



I have the greatest work in the world;
The job of rocking a baby to sleep,
That of guiding his tottering feet,
A baby's clothes to launder and fold,
A precious life to shape and mold,
A drink to give from a little cup,
At night his toys to gather up,
Hurts to heal and fears to quell,
A baby to keep clean and well,
A stack of diapers to put,
Oh, what a happy worthwhile day!
I am a "Mother."
I have the greatest work in to world;
A husband to encourage when things go wrong,
When he comes from work to greet with a song,
Denims and shirts to wash and mend,
A helping hand, when needed, to lend,
Three times a day is meals to cook,
To strive to be my best to look,
His back to rub at the close of the day,
For his faithfulness to God I pray,
When hubby's in the field I take lemonade,
for all these tasks his love has Paid.
I am a " Wife."
I have the greatest work in the world;
A home to keep happy, clean and bright,
Make things go smooth and strive for the right,
Jams to cook and jellies to make,
Cookies and pies and bread to bake,
Washing, ironing, and sewing to do,
So many tasks, will I ever get though?
Lettuce to wash and peas to pick,
floors to scrub, lost items to seek,
Dishes to wash and windows to shine,
These and many more tasks are mine.
I am a "Homemaker."
Help me, Father, to faithfully work,
Forgive if I unconsciously shirk,
give me the patience and love I pray,
To keep myself in duties way;
With all the hustle that each day brings
May I not neglect the needing things;
Each day to spend time alone with Thee
That Jesus Christ be seen in me.
Thank you for husband, our home, our girls and boys;
Thank you for love which brings me much joy.
Thank you , Lord.----
By Mary Lou Burkholder

9/06/2008

Catching up with my Scrapbooking

Okay, so this post is especially for Laura :). I have been doing some scrapbooking the last couple of days and she told me she would like to see my scrapbooking and I told her I would take some photos and post them here so she could see it.
I love to scrapbook but I haven't have time the last 2 years or even longer because of all the changes in the last few years in our family. Now I have a especial place for it and it is not in a place where anyone would go to, so if I need to, I can leave the mess, and it is in the same "room" where the girls have been playing later so I can spend longer time doing it since the girls are there too. Anyway, the perfect scenario to catch up... let us see though :)
I am super behind though. Noelia is 2 and right now I am concentraring in hers, but I haven't even finish her first year.
Nicole is 4 1/2 and I think I probably have up to her 3rd bday although not included.
Kayla is 6 and I may have up to her 3rd bday (included :)).
I think I spend longer trying to figure out the design that is going to be done and stuff that I am going to use that actually the time spent putting the page together... I may look thru the internet and get some layouts ideas and just "copy" them... at least until I catch up.
Well anyway... there it goes...