Sensible Stewardship

I'm starting a new little blog roll called:

Sensible Stewardship

This is something I've had an increased passion for over the past few years. It wasn't until I reached adulthood that I came to understand my command and role as God's steward. That He owns everything, and I am simply a manager of it. I want my children to come to understand and apply this principle much sooner in life. It is an aspect of life that is constantly growing and maturing (like many virtues: faith, peace, love, joy, obedience), but I don't want my kids to start learning it when the leave the house and suddenly have an income or responsiblities. Why? Well that is the topic of the first Sensible Stewardship post!

Who is a steward?
Everyone.

Yep, thats right. Everyone.

You see, know where in scripture does God "excuse" anyone from being His steward for any reason.

Stewardship transends age, gender, socio-economic status, work status, the size of a house, the number of posessions, spiritual age, or location on this planet.

For the Bible clearly states that:
1) Everything is God's- whether you have little, or a lot (Psalm 24:1)
2) Everyone is God's workman, a steward of His resources. (1 Corinthians 4:2, Ephesians 2:10)

So you are barely making it, paycheck to paycheck. You are working as hard as possible to earn an income. Are you a steward? Yep. No excuse there.

You are an eight year old with no income. Are you a steward? You betcha!

You are a multimillionaire with loads of assets. Guess what? You are managing God's resources!

You are a widow, with nothing to your name, in a country or culture that does not honor you. You are a steward too. (see Mark 13).

You are an orphan with nothing but a pair of shoes and the clothes on your back to your name. God can't possibly be calling you to be a steward, can He? Yes, He can, and He does!

Everyone is God's steward. You are steward of all of God's resources: Money, 'Stuff', Time, the Earth, even Yourself!

So be ready. Be ready to become the steward God wants you to be! Be ready to teach your children that they are stewards too!

Join this journey with me. I don't have it all togther. I may not have it all quite right. I want to grow. I want to learn. I want to learn how to teach this to my daughters. Please join me.

Best Week Ever! (Almost!)

I have had just simply a wonderful week. Some may call it the best week ever! (Well almost!)

• I had my 20 week ultrasound. Those are so much fun! There is nothing like seeing your baby in action!
• We found out we're having another baby girl! I'm so excited to able to call my kids "my girlies!". There is nothing like having a sister. Izzy is so thrilled.
• My mom and dad wanted some Izzy time- so they took her for almost the whole week. From Monday afternoon-Friday afternoon. While I missed my girl tremendously- it was wonderful to get some things done and rest without having a busy three year old around. Between being pregnant and Izzy giving up naps- my ability to keep up house and run errands have been diminished quite a bit.
• No Izzy=a working vacation for the hubby and I :) 'nough said.
• I have been asked to cowrite and publish a children's curriculum that teaches stewardship. After seeing a curriculum I've been working on the past two years, I was contacted by International Steward who has been asked by Book of Hope to come up with a children's curriculum. I am so excited about the process and working with two other lovely ladies.
• Discovery Village (the children's ministry at Ada Bible Church) is starting up again! I love serving there and working with other adults with the same mission and heart for children. I'm also thrilled that Discovery Village will be putting an emphasis on stewardship in their classrooms. They will be taking an offering and talking about stewardship of money, time, and things. Whohoo!!!
• My house is clean (for now).
• Baby clothes have already been sorted.
• Paul has two people interested in the same condo unit that hasn't even been built yet!

It has been (almost) the best week ever!

It's a...

GIRL!

Our baby girl is perfect and healthy. In celebration of being 20 weeks (thats halfway!)- here she is: her first photos, sorry if they are blurry or confusing, but its the way it is!

Here she is sucking her thumb. This one is my favorite. Its a profile shot- she's on her back looking at the 'sky' and you are looking at her from the side.

The "money shot"

Her first footprint.

Another cute profile picture- see labels if that helps. She's on her back again looking up and you are looking at her from the side.

Overall the ultrasound went wonderfully. Everything looks perfect and right on time for a late December or Early January delivery. I'll be working on a date with the doctor probably at my next appointment.

Isabelle of course is thrilled beyond belief that she is getting a little sister. She proudly pats my tummy and cuddles up and announces to everyone that she has a baby sister in my tummy. Its so cute! I hope they have a great relationship.

Now if we can only decide on a name...any suggestions?

Things I Love Thursday- Asian Sesame Salad from Panera

Oh my good golly it has been a long time since I have participated in Things I Love Thursday...or any significant blog post for that matter.

Losing my free time due to my 3 year old suddenly giving up naps will do that to you.

I am normally a chocoholic, anything sweet I can get my hands on, a bowl of ice cream is the perfect bedtime snack kind of girl. This pregnancy however, I have been less drawn to the sweets (gasp!). I'm almost ashamed of myself. Lately I am more eager to grab something salty (oh yummy chips and pretzels how I love thee). Salads have been soooo tasty. Give me salad over pasta any day (who am I?). I also have been drawn to like the tangy/sour things like orange pop and vingegrettes.

I also love the oriental salad from Apple.bees. So, on a recent date night (whohoo!) when we ventured to Panera- I decided to try the Asian Sesame Salad. Sounded good and similar.

Oh my dear gracious was I in heaven! This salad is simply amazing! Better than Apple.bees!!! The chicken is baked not deep fried. The dressing is a sweet tangy goodness that is so light and clear you can hardly tell its there. The sliced almonds, greens, on wontons make this perfect!

Oh how does my pregnant self crave this salad. However, my dear pregnant self cannot afford to go out every night of the week to fulfill this craving.

This is where I'm hoping you all come in. Anyone have any recipes that are similar to this? I've tried the dole asian mix with dressing- it was ok...but the dressing was not quite the same.

Is there a dressing that anyone knows of that is similar? A kit? An online recipe? I've tried the recipe I've seen that is suppose to copy it- but it was complicated and didn't taste nearly the same.

Thanks for the tips! And don't forget to check out more posts for Things I Love Thursday hosted by the Diaper Diaries.

Less Than a Week!

You have less than a week to put in your guess for what our little blessing will be (boy or girl!). Go to expectnet.com and the game name is Sibling4Izzy- or click on the link in the sidebar.

Since our birthdate and relative time will be chosen ahead of time (scheduled c-section) this is the fun part of the guessing!

I cannot wait until the ultrasound to see our little baby!!!!

You Know When Your Kids are Growing Up in a Different World...

You know your kids are growing up in a different world than you did when...

your 3 year old daughter looks at you funny when you proceed to pretend stamp books while playing library....

And then proceeds to get out her pretend laptop computer and 'scan' them all in....

And then demands a reciept for her books.

This one time at band camp....

Early August. Hard to believe. Every time August comes upon us, I can't help but think about August's pasts- back to school shopping, scheduling, last days of work, and of course Band Camp!

Yes I was a band geek, and probably always will be.

My senior year band camp was 9 years ago. 9 years ago I was more formally introduced to a guy named Paul who would eventually become my husband 5 years later. Boy was it an introduction!

It started one night in the middle of the week when we were sitting around the campfire. Paul and I were talking and sitting with a group of friends we happened to share. We were being 'set up' by my girlfriends at the time. But, we got to talking and found out we had quite a bit in common. One of my father's rules was that any guy who wanted to date me had to talk to him first (and ask permission!). Well, Paul's dad had the same rule (other guys had balked at this idea). It was great.

For the last night of band camp there was skit night where sections or classes could put on a little skit. For our senior year, my classmates wanted to go big and funny. The concept was is that it would be a skit about all of the funny/naughty things that happen at band camp beyond the eyes and ears of the director and leaders. They thought it would be hilarious to have two of the most innocent, unsuspecting people be caught 'making out' in the woods. So who did they pick? Well me (I was the perfectionaist, 4.0 people pleaser, drum major leader, christian girl) and Paul (the nice christian guy who wouldn't say or do a bad thing to save his life). I was rather mortified of the whole idea (I was worried what my teachers might think!) but played along. So 9 years ago we snuck out of our 'dorms' and into the woods to later come running back- with Paul tucking in his shirt all for the laughs.

Little did I know I would marry the fellow.

It was funny. We made it funnier because we would have never done such a thing. I'm still slightly mortified.

At least I marry the guy in the end right?

So band camp 2000 was a great time. Fire, skit, and a bus ride home next to a boy! Yes, we sat next to each other. A month or less later he became my first boyfriend. 5 years later he became my one and only when I said "I do".

Kind of like a fairy tale don't you think?

This one time at band camp....

A Princess Party

Wow its been a long time! Life has been so crazy lately- and doesn't show signs of slowing down. Here is a quick recap of our happenings:

Izzy had her 3rd birthday last week with a princess party at the park. The weather was perfect, the company was better! We had 20 family members from both sides join us to celebrate. Even Grandpa and Grandma Morgan were able to join us!

Izzy received some wonderful gifts- lots of princess and dora items.

This is what happens when you put the daddy and the sister in charge of photography...

A princess for sure!

Izzy with her castle cake- it turned out pretty well (word to the wise: don't use extra moist cake mix...it gets really heavy outside and doesn't decorate the easiest!)

Among the birthday celebration we have spent time up at the cottage with the Morgan family, done some shopping and food prep for different get togethers, had a family reunion, and tried (and failed) to keep up with houswork. But, Paul has had two closings in the past week- so we are truly blessed.

In the next week we have:

• church
• out of town family to meet, greet, and have fun with
• meet a new babysitter
• move mom and dad spica
• go to birch run and a tiger's game
• close on mom and dad's house
• have a bridal shower
• possibly host another out of town cousin
• finish moving mom and dad spica

Whew! I'm exhausted thinking about it! I just hope summer weather comes back (was it ever here?) so we get a few more beach days in before its fall.