Fighting Fear

http://www.buckheadchurch.org/messages/amazing-stories/part-3

I listened to this sermon this morning. It is amazing! I encourage you to listen to it.

Goodbye Facebook...

The other night my sweet Father-in-law challenged me to get rid of facebook for 60 days. I love a challenge! But there has to be some kind of reward! So we bet that if I could leave it for 60 days he would take me to dinner and if I caved and got on I would take him to dinner. To make the story even more funny....he didn't trust that I wouldn't get on so he devised the plan to change my password so I would not know it as well as change the email to Scott's so I couldn't change the password again! Too funny! So here I am two days in to a world without ANY facebook and my life is much better. Instead of checking on my friends through their status updates or photo albums I have actually called them. Facebook has made us lose our intimate relationships with the people we care about the most. I also have had so much more time on my hands. I didn't realize how much time I was spending on facebook. Yesterday I got home and cleaned the whole house! I am so much more productive. Well...we will see how this 60 day challenge goes. I will keep you updated!

30 Things...

I was thinking today about Scott turning 30 this year. This sparked a question in my mind...What are 30 things I want to do before I turn 30??? So here is my list and they are in no particular order of importance! Hope you enjoy

1. Have another baby or maybe 5 babies!
2. Try to read 5 good books...(I hate to read...literally! So my goal is to make this happen)
3. Go on a hot air balloon ride
4. Go skydiving
5. Buy land that has potential for a farm and build our dream home we have designed
6. Go to Africa on a Mission Trip
7. Get Molly professionally trained
8. Learn to coupon (I coupon now...in fact I saved 46.22 today on my groceries...but I want to be that person that they pay me to buy groceries)
9. Read my entire Bible..again!
10. Learn to smock clothes for my children one day
11. Enter my chocolate poundcake in a baking contest
12. Put together a family cookbook
13. Run a marathon
14. Watch the entire Lost Series with my hubby
15. Go to a Miami Dolphins and Miami Heat game
16. Make dirt cups with the gummy worms in them that we used to eat in like Kindergarten...Love those things!
17. Stop worrying so much about other people.
18. Learn how to shag dance with my hubby!
19. Share my testimony to women
20. Learn how to sew my own curtains and place mats
21. Go to Bora Bora
22. Go to Ireland
23. Go on a Greek Isles Cruise
24. Start yoga and pilates
25. Start calling my friends more rather than texting.
26. Try to convince my mom and step dad they should move to Georgia
27. Learn my true decorating style...right now I believe it is a cross between country/vintage
28. Open a GiGi's cupcake store in Dacula, GA! (Although this is far-fetched...I had to put it on my list)
29. Go on a 20 mile hike with Scott and not fear coyotes & bears
30. Start my own vegetable garden

"You Love Me Anyway"

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

James 5:7-9. “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

These are three of the bible verses that came to mind this morning at 4am when our dog Molly could not sleep. Lately, she has been waking up every morning really early. Fortunately for me I sleep like a rock. Literally, Scott has to shake me to get me up some mornings. Well, I was woken up by Scott busting in the room this morning, slamming the door, and yelling that Molly was going to the pound:) Haha! It takes a lot to get him rattled so I knew Molly must have made him pretty mad! I slowly got out of bed and moved to the couch so Molly could lay next to me out in the living room. Well...that did not go as planned. For some reason she wanted to play fetch for 2 hours. Now she is laying next to me sleeping very peacefully while I sit here and write because now I can't sleep. Oh the life of a dog!

So I reflected on a worship song this morning while playing fetch. It is called You Love Me Anyway. This is such a refreshing truth for me that no matter what God loves me. It doesn't matter how many times I doubt his ability or stomp my feet because he didn't give me what I wanted the second I prayed for it. He loves me unconditionally. He died for all my sins, was persecuted, was nailed to the cross & still he has a greater love for me than I can even imagine. Isn't that the best feeling knowing that he loves you for you? You don't have to prove anything to him. All you have to do is trust him with your life!!

I am an extreme people pleaser. I always make sure everyone else in the room is happy before I even begin to worry about me. I guess you could say it is definitely not a good quality to have. I used to stress all the time about what people were thinking of me. This kind of quality can definitely run you into the ground. After the miscarriage, I realized real fast that the only person that I really NEED is God. Like I have said before, I dealt with the miscarriage in a way that most people did not expect. I pulled away from everyone and everything except God. There were so many nights and early mornings I just sat still with God. He was the only person I wanted comfort from at the time. In some ways that was the best thing that could ever have happened to me because for once in my life I made MYSELF matter and I focused on the one thing I NEEDED most & that was God. The normal ME would have made sure everyone else was okay with the loss of the baby and then a few months later I would have dealt with my heart. For some reason though, God gave me the ability to shut down from everyone and I am so thankful for that.

I encourage you to really reflect on this song and verses. Know that God loves you so much. Even when no one else in the world understands or gets what you are going through...He does and he is in total control. There is nothing he can not handle.

Seasons of Life

Sorry I have not written a post in a while. Not only have I been super busy between rotations & life, I haven't had anything on my heart to really write. I made a promise to myself when I first started this blog that I would only write when God put something on my heart. I truly believe he gave me the ability to write as a gift & it is something I enjoy so much! I am forever grateful that I have the freedom to write about our God & praise him through every post!

My sister-in-laws and I had the joy of throwing Scott's sister(who is also our sister-in-law) her Bridal shower this Saturday! It was a hit! We have been planning for a few months now and it was so fun to see it all put together. I am one blessed girl because when I married Scott not only did I get to marry one very handsome man but I gained three brothers, three sisters, and two fabulous new parents:) I guess you could pretty much call us the Brady Bunch! The best part is they all love the Lord dearly. God really has blessed our family! We pretty much have every kind of profession that you would need to get through your day just within the one Urbizo family! And one of the things I love most about all of them is there hearts!! For example, when we were going through the miscarriage they all stood over my bed that night and prayed for Scott & I. Or one time my brother in law Mike came over to finish the shadowboxes in our kitchen & not only put hours of labor into it but also came back over the next night to help us finish painting. There are so many examples and maybe on other blogs I will get to share them:) Those kind of qualities are hard to find and to have them all in one family makes me feel so blessed to be able to be a part of it on a daily basis!

When I was praying about this blog today all that was on my heart was the song "Desert Song". It talks about all the seasons of life that we go through on a yearly, monthly, weekly basis. It speaks so much truth of how I feel right now. I sometimes put this song on in my car and just sing to the top of my lungs! In one verse it says, "All of my life, in every season, you are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship." No matter what the struggle God is still right by your side. He is still God and still listening to the desires of your heart.

In Matthew 7:7 it says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened."

So in every season of life praise God for that particular time. Even if it is a struggle...use it as time to grow closer to him! He loves you! I know that 10 years from now I will look back at these past few months and be thankful for this particular valley in my life. Right now I am thankful that God has his hands on my baby. If I could not be a parent to that sweet angel there is no better parent than him. I have learned so much about myself the past few months. I thought I had ME all figured out but aparently not:) God is constantly working on me day by day.

One thing you can know for sure is that every person will go through struggles and thankfully God gives us struggles to draw us closer to him! Hope yall have a great week!

Below are some pictures from Nikki's beautiful shower!