One Thousand Gifts

I am starting a dare... A dare to stop right where I am... every Monday with tons of other people and... count my blessings. You can read about it here http://onethousandgifts.com/a-letter-from-ann and here http://www.aholyexperience.com/.

One Thousand Gifts

A Dare to Live Fully
Right Where You Are

1. a saved soul
2. a God who loves me right where I am
3. His grace
4. my daughter's curls
5. those can't contain how happy I am, "show all my gums" smiles
6. milk running down the face of my lil one after nursing
7. a God fearing husband who seeks God in all he does, no matter the cost or how long it takes
8. Heaven - the home of my Savior and two babies
9. wisdom
10. the word of God
11. testimony
12. seeing the look on Abigail's face when I give her a cupcake at 9am for no reason
13. hearing the grunts of my 5 week old in the middle of the night even though it wakes me
14. the squeal coming out of two kiddos when Daddy walks in the door
15. the scent of my kids as they sit on my lap


I will be back next Monday and every Monday after.
Will you join me and take the dare with me?

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13)

Great read...

The Five Scariest Things You Can Do This Halloween
http://www.visionforumministries.org/issues/news_and_reports/the_five_scariest_things_you_c.aspx

Loss of a child

I know all to well the pain of losing a child. I have talked several times on my blog about our family's loss last yr of two of our children through miscarriages. This kind of pain is apart of the roller coaster of life that most think will never happen to them. Sadly, when it does... many go through it alone. There are many reasons why this happens, but it is NOT OKAY!!! Those who have loss a child in anyway while in the womb or out of the womb deserve to have the chance to speak, to cry, to laugh, to scream, and to hope. And then they should be able to do it all over again, not matter how many times it takes. Days, months, and yes, even years after one has lost a child, they should STILL be able to go through these emotions openly.

I have been following a blog of an amazing family who recently lost a child after having him in their arms for a lil over 24 hours. Their faith is incredible. Their love for Jesus is beyond anything I have ever seen and I don't say that lightly. And yet, still, they are on a roller coaster. And it is okay. It doesn't mean they don't love Jesus anymore or that they have no more hope. It means they are hurting and will for a very long time. The mother wrote a post yesterday here http://loveinactionjourney.blogspot.com/ and I encourage anyone who has gone through the loss of a child or knows someone who has to read her post along with their story over the past few months. With much wisdom and in so much love, she writes of her path to a "normal life" again. For those of you, who have felt this kind of pain...know you are not alone and it is okay to grieve. For those of you who know someone who is going through this kind of pain no matter when it happened, I pray this post will help you understand in a small way what your loved ones are going through.

I also found an amazing website of a line of cards that specializes in pregnancy loss, infant loss, and infertility. It is here http://lostforwordscardline.com/ . Words are not always easy to come by during these times, but it is so important to let those who are hurting know that you are thinking of them. These might help.

***Update: I also just found another site that specializes in making memorial jewerly for mothers who have loss children. These would be so special to a Mommy who has loss a child. (I would love to have one of these and am definately going to have to look into it more.)
http://www.metalstampedmemories.com/
"Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep." Romans 12:15

My Sweet Boy

I get to have this sweet, cute face everyday.
Can you blame me if nothing else gets done?

My New "NORMAL"

I was just thinking in the midst of looking around and seeing all that still needed to be done and was asking myself, "When will things ever get back to normal?"

Then I looked around and had a revelation...

"This is my new normal,

Things will never be the same again."

I took that in for a moment and said to myself, "It doesn't matter what all STILL needs to be done. Who knows if it EVER will get done. "

This is what matters...

"MY NEW NORMAL"



God is in the details PEOPLE!!

Yesterday, my post was about naming our boy, Isaiah Michael. I spoke of how God showed me time and time again that He is faithful to ALL of His promises.  This morning, the daily prophecy that I read was this...

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns -- 10/20/11:

I have spoken to you through My written word. I have spoken to you through My prophetic word. I have given you dreams and visions to assure you of My promises to you of provision and protection. All you have to do is to put your trust in Me and believe what I have said. Refuse to allow fear to have a place in your heart or to allow doubt and unbelief to undermine or destroy your faith, says the Lord. Stand your ground of strong belief and be unwavering.

Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

How awesome is this!!! God is speaking to His children. We must not allow anything to side track us of His promises!! We must set our face like flint, don't step down for anyone or anything. Keep your heart and your mind set on Him.

PRAISE GOD!!

Naming Isaiah Michael

Isaiah - "God is salvation or salvation of God"

Michael - "Who is like God"

Many people have been asking about "Isaiah" and why we chose this name for our precious little boy. so I wanted to share why. Isaiah is 1 month old today and I thought today would be a great day to do that.

The meaning of our kiddos' names mean everything to Brent and me. Brent and I pray and seek who are children are from the Lord from the moment we know we are going to have a lil one coming. The meaning of a child's name is so important. It truly is what you speak over them countless times every single day. So here is my quickest version of naming our Isaiah Michael.

When God opened my heart to having another child after Abigail (for those of you who don't know, I was totally against having more children), He took me to the book of Isaiah. "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strenghten your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left." (Isaiah 54:2-3) God spoke to my heart and said, "Open your heart and your home Kari. I am not done building your family. I still have more in store. Your family is not complete. Open your heart and you will not be disappointed."

Needless to say, I listened, but only half way. I thought okay, I'll open my heart up to the "idea" and hopefully God will change His mind. Do you think that happened? Nope. So after about 6 months, the Spirit kept speaking to me through His word and through sermons and all kinds of things.  I couldn't get anyway from what God was telling me to do. He wasn't asking, He was telling me. I knew it, but I hesisitaed. Then, January 2010, God gave me a vision of myself being pregnant. It was amazing. I had never experienced anything like that before and I haven't since then. But, that was it for me. I knew I couldn't hide from His plan and I didn't want to anymore. I was beginning to get excited.

Who was this child that God wanted so badly. When was it going to happen?

So to make a long story as short as possible, Brent and I started trying. We got pregnant and we lost our baby. What is the world was happening? Where was the fulfillment of God's promise? Why on earth had He brought me from not wanting anymore children to wanting them and actually getting pregnant to only lose our baby. I was confused. But God, again took me to Isaiah.  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are highter than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9) I knew I had to trust God even though I didn't understand.

We got pregnant again, and again, we lost another precious baby. This time was extremley tough. I was alot further along and I was angry and hurt. I was heart broken. The same week we lost our 4th child, I started BSF and guess what book we were studying... the book of Isaiah. I can not begin to tell you the countless times God comforted me through this book in the Bible during the hardest time of my life. Everytime, I thought I wouldn't be able to take another breath, I would do my homework for BSF and be consumed, comforted, and loved on through the truth of God's word. I couldn't deny God, I couldn't deny what I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what God had told me to do. At BSF, we came to chapter 50. Verse 7 says, "Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, have I set my face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame." 

Over and over in the book of Isaiah, the children of Israel faced challenge after challenge, obstacle after obstacle. They questioned where was this God, where was their Messiah, when would the promise of their God come to pass? Would it ever happen? And everytime, God through Isaiah would tell them to return to Him, He would tell them to put their hope and their trust in Him alone. He told the children of Israel that His purposes stand, that no one or any circumstance could change HIs plan.

I knew I had to set my face like flint. I chose to put my trust in Him and to not doubt His promise to me. I knew our circumstances in the flesh looked as if His promise would not come true, but I knew I serve a God who is faithful to ALL His promises. That is what I did. I had my moments, but I would go back to the book of Isaiah over and over and stand on the truth of God's word.

And then, without trying...

I got pregnant again.

Brent and I knew in our hearts before ever even having an U/S that we were having a little Isaiah. We weren't surprised at all to find out we were having a boy.

Michael is Brent's middle name and we knew this time, we were to name our boy after his Daddy here on earth.

Isaiah Michael Kanaly is God's promise to me fulfilled. And I believe with all my heart God's purpose for Isaiah is to proclaim God's promise to all people. That God is our salvation. There is no other way or no one else like our God.

God loves you and if you are struggling with doubts or with a promise that hasn't been fulfilled...

Read the book of Isaiah and see God's faithfulness in the midst of crazy, hard circumstances and remember my Isaiah Michael.

Because...

"He who promises is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)

Isaiah - "God is salvation or salvation of God"
Michael - "Who is like God"

1 Month

Isaiah is 1 month old today!!!

I can't believe it. Time is FLYING by!! We went to the doctor on Monday, just two days ago and Isaiah weighed 8lbs. 15oz. He is gaining about a pound a week. He loves, loves, loves to eat and Mommy loves, loves, loves feeding him. He just curls up so close to me and takes his sweet time. He is definately not in any hurry. Brent and I were talking last night at how all three of our kids are so different and how as their Mom, I can tell in the way they nurse from the very beginning. It is amazing to be apart of their lives as their Mom. Truly a gift from above. I am so blessed. At the doctor, Isaiah did have double ear infections, but he is doing great. We would never even have known if I hadn't taken him in due to some congestion he was having. Let's see, what else to say about Lil Man.

He loves to eat... oh yeah, I said that already...
He loves to be as close to you as humanly possible... He is a snuggle bug.
He HATES dirty diapers and will not hesitate to let you know when he has one.
He sleeps great, but grunts ALOT during his sleep.
He loves noise, the louder it is, the calmer he is.
He is looking straight at Brent and me now as if he is saying, "I know you". (and we love it!)

Here are a few pics from today I took to capture him at 4 weeks.

Look at those cheeks.

They are starting to droop already!!

And he definately has the double chin thing going on now too.

Munch, Munch, Munch... go ahead you know you want to eat those cheeks up!!

Me with my precious, promised gift.

Happy

1 Month

Isaiah

Michael!!!

I love you to pieces!!!

Moments Like These

Got this post idea from another blog I follow and loved it... I used some of her "imperfections" as well as adding in my own. I love to know that we are all imperfect and that we are blessed beyond measure to have perfectness surrounding us at every moment if we just open our eyes to see it. Thank you Lord for my perfect moments!!

Most days right now, my house is not even close to looking like I want it to.

My floors need to be vacuumed and the tile needs mopping.


The dust, well, let's just say... it's THICK!

There are days when Brent and I have days when we are just "off". Nothing clicks.

My toenails are in a scary need of a pedicure but it's not in the budget this month nor next month either. So today, I did my own. Colored, nasty toes are definately better then untaken care of natural nails. (Just like a tan, chubby, belly is better then a white, chubby belly...) 

Sometimes clothes sit on our bed for the entire day never being touched, just to be tossed in the floor until the next morning... only to start the whole cycle again the next day. This can go on and on before they are hung up or folded and put away.

Every vent in my house is covered in dust and I have no intention of cleaning them anytime in the near future.

 I don't have designer clothes or fancy shoes. In fact, I am not even fitting in the clothes I do have.  

Sometimes our trash is overflowing and we play the balancing act of how much trash can we stack before it tumbles?

My van needs to be washed in the worst way.

Last week I accidentally left a load of clothes in our dryer for three days. THREE.

We haven't been eating like we should, but we always seem to have a packet of Oreos in our pantry. (This is not helping the "not fitting in my clothes right now".

I always go entirely too long between hair cuts and therefore, my hair, is always in a ponytail.

There are still unpacked boxes in our house from our move 3 months ago.

Our lives aren't perfect. They aren't even close to perfect.

But they are full of perfect moments

Like these...

And these are all I need.