A different kind of Monday

So normally Monday comes around and I look like this:

But nope, not today. Why? Well, for SEVERAL reasons. For one, I had a great Sunday. I really enjoyed going to church with both my friend Danielle and then later with my husband. The message was a good one, one that definitely deserves a deeper level of reflection within myself; a "MOMmentation", as I have dubbed it.
The message spoke about being Faithful: Trusting in the character of God to do what he has promised to do will ultimately catalyze faith.  It was a guest pastor, I believe his name is Dan Ronne. Although he didn't have the polished finesse of PK, what I truly loved about him was his relatability.  He spoke of his journey being a Christian, how sometimes we go to church and have an inadequacy about our Faith. He said he drank, did drugs, was sexually immoral until mid twenties. I related to that because although I never did drugs, my first two years of college were a drunken blur and I would be lying if I said I was a virgin when I married my husband.  Hearing PK and Kevin McQueen talk about both of their relationships being them saving themselves for their wives is so beautiful, but, thats not my story. So I suppose deep down, you always feel a sense of being a slightly tarnished Christian.  While Christ has ALWAYS been in my household, attending church every Sunday and us knowing the Word, I can honestly say that my past actions strayed many times while growing up and even with me talking the talk, I didn't walk it like I should have. I loved that he says that God is still working on him each day (even almost cursing in the middle of his sermon...hilarious). I feel the exact same way about myself. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says " Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, The old is gone, the new has come. All this is from God." I work on trying to make sure my actions are doing a better job of correlating with my words.

So the Pastor spoke of three different catalysts to use while aiming at being more faithful:

Catalyst #1: Fixing a broken mental image of who God is. -- As a Christian, we should aim to a relationship with God, not labeling God as an all vengeful, full of wrath being. In fact, its the opposite. He is loving, he is merciful. Since becoming a parent, I have a better understanding of God's love for me. I am HIS child, and while I disappoint, he doesn't love me less. Just like Jonathan may disappoint me in the future, he will always have my love.

Catalyst #2: People of Faith admonishing you to trust God's character and promises. In this definition, admonish means to advise earnestly. So having people advising you to trust God's character and promises. I love this because it speaks to what Chris and I have been trying to do as of lately as a couple, and what I am learning to do individually. Ive been blessed to have several lifelong friends. Friends such as Tasha, who is always so incredibly uplifting no matter what. I know that in my darkest moments or hour, all I would need to do is make a phone call and she would be there to genuinely pray for me, and to listen. She never judges, no matter how bad the situation I got myself into may be. I aspire to have patience, to have her kindness, to have her nonjudgmental attitude. And most recently, I've decided to push away a person who is just pure toxic. Who has trouble find them wherever they are because they live for everything but God. Being around them makes me not like the person that I tend to be. I talk different, I gossip more, I become so pessimistic about everything. And then of course we have new close friends such as Danielle and her family who I feel like are right on our same plane and place in life in regards to the age of our child, the years of marriage, what we desire spiritually, and at the same time, I hope to gain Danielle's very levelheaded way of thinking and her ability to be strong, yet tactful in her discussions with people. Her sunshine demeanor that makes her very likeable.

Catalyst #3: Living in the light of God's faithfulness leaves a shadow on the next generation. This is one of the most important for me because everything I've been through, I am, and hope to become is for the positive development and betterment of my beautiful little boy and I have an incredible partner in life who feels the same way.

So, that was the service in a nutshell that spoke to me and my family. That evening we went to go visit Chris' Uncle who was diagnosed a year ago with Lou Gehrig's disease. His arm is completely gone already. Seeing his favorite Uncle like that really bummed Chris out, which is completely understandable. I told Chris we need to make sure we spend as much time as we can with his Uncle, going out to dinners and just enjoying our time as a family. Im not sure how much time he has left, but there will be a time when he can't walk as freely and he cant hug Jonathan and I want to get as many pictures as possible being able to do all those things. Chris and I spoke about life last night and what we pray for eachother. It is truly a blessing to have youth and we want to do everything we can to live life to the fullest...

So now on this Monday, I am excited about Jonathan, Jordan, and Olivia taking swim classes! it will be their first class and I may be more excited than they ever will be. I want him to love the water as much as Mommy does. Jonathan had a bit of a cough waking up this morning though so I am hoping he is feeling better. Looks like we will need extra dose of vitamin C tonight and a Vicks rubdown.

This has been a very looonnngggg MOMment of Reflection.