Press on

I am now 25 weeks pregnant and yes it is true what they say “every pregnancy is different.” This pregnancy is drastically different, in ever way shape and form. And to throw in being a stay at home, homeschooling mom of two little boys 4 & 5. My world is different. I have been taking some time to adjust, putting things on hold (like my blog) and just focusing on the things that I can do and have the time to do. Just when I think, I have some sort of groove, the tune of my life changes and I have to start all over again. My spirits are up and I am giving myself tons of grace! I am learning how to give myself some realistic goals and if I can go above and beyond one day, then great. But if I just meet that one goal, wonderful. And if don’t accomplish anything I set out to do then there is grace!

I am truly grateful for my relationship with the Lord and learning to lean on Him in this time (and every time) Focusing on my relationship with the Lord has to be #1. So, recently I have been  following along with Good Morning Girls / Women Living Well more consistently, to help keep me accountable. I even started on online Facebook group which had been fabulous. I have been reading more, and taking time to inhale and exhale more. This has been a challenge and like I said before, sometimes I don’t get everything done, and I am ok with that.

At Good Morning Girls online ministry we are on break right and will pick back up in the Fall, however, I like to keep going and encourage my group to do the same. So we are continuing in Psalms. We read the first 20 chapters at the beginning of the summer before we start reading Proverbs and Song of Solomon with GMG. We have picked back up in Psalm starting with chapter 21. Today is day two in chapter 22 and I love idea of going back and forth in Psalms. The way David and some of the other writers write is truly encouraging as most people will agree on. One of the things I like most, is how transparent David is. In all of his low points, challenges, hurts, good news & bad news, he never looses sight of who His God is. Even when it may look like the Lord has left, David without a  doubt knows who God is, The I AM. This motivates me to stay closes to my Creator no matter what my life may look like or how people will treat me.

I encourage everyone to continue to push pass and see pass your current situation and find hope in Jesus.

Thanks for reading!!

Also, here is my Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVlg_D6J0qc98ux4f8gd4Ag/videos

P.S. It’s a boy! 🙂

Mild Winter depression, and First Trimester!

Hey Everyone!

It has definitely been a while! But I have survived the bitter cold winter and I am ending my first trimester of pregnancy! Yes, I am pregnant! So much life has happened in the past few months and I have so many things to write about and not sure where exactly to begin!

My last post was at the end of January and I was fighting mild depression at the time. Then February came and, BAM I was in a “funk”. Winter blues is what some call it and for the past two winters it has caught me off guard. I tried different things to motivate and inspire me but it was a struggle. (Some of you may be able to understand) Most day to day stuff got done but it was hard to focus on myself and what was healthy for me. My diet suffered and my goals. I put whatever energy I had into maintaining my home & family.

Just as winter was ending and spring was approaching, I was able to exhale. A couple of days into spring is when my son told me I was pregnant. And I was! Last fall my husband and I talk about having more children and I ask my sons how they would feel about having a little brother or sister. They loved the idea and were super excited. I had to explain to them, that I wasn’t pregnant and it would be up to God if He desired more children for us and when. My oldest son at the time was 4 and my youngest son was 3, so of course my explanation went right over their heads! It wasn’t until January of this year my oldest would ask me all of the time, if there was a baby in my belly and when will I have a baby and I always gave him the same answer; it is up to God. Late January he said to me (my oldest) “mommy, are you going to have a baby in January or December?” My answer was the same and I also let him know I would not be having a baby any time soon!

March 23rd, we were heading out to the library and my youngest was banging on my belly (as they often do, they call it a drum) and he asked (being silly) “mommy what’s that?” pointing to my belly, and I said it my belly. My oldest came over touch my belly and said, “Mommy there is a baby in there.” I was shocked, I didn’t even answer him because I really wasn’t sure (I am terrible about keeping track of my cycle). Later that evening we were all out with my husband and I told him what our son said and my husband said, “No way” and I said, “Well lets just get a test to check.” He was reluctant because we took one the previous month and it was negative. Anyway, I took it and well, it was POSITIVE!

I am not due in December but my due date is towards the end of November so if this baby is late, my son would have assumed right.

We are excited, and of course the 1st trimester was tough. Praise the Lord it is coming to an end!

I have a tons of things to share with you (and it is not all pregnancy related) and I hope to be posting regularly now!

Thanks for reading!!

Life of a servant,

AJ

“I am the Lord’s servant…” Luke 1:38

Life of Servant…serving God & others

Some people may read the name of this blog “Life of Servant” and wonder what it is all about. Why do I proudly call myself a servant. So I thought I would explain a little. 🙂

When we think of the word servant, some people may initially have a negative perspective about the word. I believe it can go both ways, and since we know so much about the negative of side I thought I would share some positivity on how I see myself as a servant.

Servant: one devoted to another or to a cause

I was created to worship and to serve. Period. Who I choose to worship and serve is my choice, but I will (by default) worship and serve something or someone. And if you did not know by now, I choose to worship and serve the Lord.

What does this mean and what does this look like? Well, it will mean and look different for everyone.

We were designed this way, whether you agree or not. If you look at your life and reflect, you will begin to see things and people, you worship and serve. It could be your job, family, money, church, people, stuff, etc.

How do I serve the Lord?

Well, I serve in many ways; I serve my husband, my children, my home and different ministries in and out of the church. The center of it all, the core or the heart, is that I do everything unto the Lord. This is not my “job” this is my devotion to Adonai/the Lord. It is a great privilege to be able to serve the Lord and the “fruit” from serving, overflows in my life in so many ways. I am truly blessed to be used for His glory and to make His name great, so others can see  and know who God is.

Being Adonai’s servant gives me the opportunity to reveal His character.  How do I do this? I surrender my wants and desires and allow Him to direct my day, giving me the wisdom so I know who and what I should serve. Calling myself a servant, keeps me humble and takes the focus off of me and helps me to see, it is not about me. We live in a very “Me” centric world and this causes a lot of people to be driven my selfish actions. It is not easy for me to be a servant and I struggle A Lot! Which is why I need a savior to help me be all that He created me to be and do.

Ever since I choose to be a servant, I felt liberated and free from the bondages of the world. I started  to see my purpose and this brings me joy and happiness which is not defined by the world.

How and what do you serve?

Life of a servant.

AJ

Come now…I will be with you

 

 

Hey Everyone!

So as I mentioned on my other post, I am blogging through the bible along with Women Living Well(WLW)/Good Morning Girls(GMG), I am also using the Soak Method. Today on WLW website Courtney wrote about Exodus chapters 1 & 2 “Be Brave” which was  huge blessing.

This post is going to reference chapters 3 .

Moses has now been in Midian for a number of years. He has married and had children. And the Lord begins to call Moses out from his “new” life in a land, to go back to Egypt to fulfill God’s great mission. The Lord captures Moses attention by coming down and revealing Himself through a burning bush not consumed by the fire and verses 5 & 6 reveal the holiness of the Lord. I believe at that moment the Spirit of the Lord captured Moses’ heart. The following verses 7-9 show us the mercy of God and His plan to deliver His chosen people and He invites Moses to partner with Him to fulfill Moses’ destiny.

In verse 10 the words “Come now,” stirred within my spirit. I can imagine Moses first interaction with God Almighty/El Shaddai, commanding Moses to join Him. What an awesome experience! That God would call us and invites us to join Him. Now we know Moses already had a heart to help his people and we see this when he killed the Egyptian. However, he responded in the wrong way. In fact, he did not know how to respond. He knew he wanted to do something but didn’t know what to do or how to do it. In chapter 3 we see how God has revealed Himself and will now teach Moses how to help his people and to trust Him.

How often do we respond to a situation with the right intentions but the wrong way. We move so quickly, and jump at the first sign of what appears to be the right opportunity and fail. This chapter has revealed so much to me about myself and how much I need a Savior! I know God has put certain desires within me and I need Him to show me the what, the how, the who, and the when.

When Jesus came into this world one of His messages was “Follow Me” (Mark 1:17) the same as “Come now”. He wants us to come unto Him and partner with Him to bring reconciliation between the Father and His creation. Awesome!

Moses recognized his short comings and his response to God would even suggest he was a bit scared or nervous. I mean, after all, he was, about to deliver the Israelites from out of Egypt. And He knew he would need God and God gave Him the assurance and courage to fulfill the calling on his life. God says to Moses, “I will certainly be with you.”

Jesus said, “Follow me,” and He also said he would send a “Comforter/Helper” in John 14. The same as “I will certainly be with you”. The mission we as Christians have is great, and we like Moses have a lot of short comings. We may even be a bit scared and clueless as to where to begin or how to fulfill this mission. But Jesus encourages us and said He would not leave us to take on this great task to accomplish on our own. In fact, we cannot accomplish this mission or anything else in this life without the Holy Spirit. And the ONLY Way to receive the Holy Spirit is through Jesus Christ. He is the Only Way to the Father! I am blessed to know that God loves me so much, that He would send His only Son, so that I do not have to live in this world alone defeated. To God be all the Glory!

I just love the way the Lord encourages His children! Every time I read His word I am reminded of His love, mercy & grace and also how much I need Him, a Savior, Jesus/Yeshua! I encourage you to experience Jesus through the Word of the Most High God/Elohim!

I desire to serve Him the way He serves me.

Life of a servant 🙂

The Book of Exodus

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

I am truly grateful for 2014. I have experienced and learned a lot about myself and about the Lord! Yes I am excited about the New Year but and honestly I am excited about everyday! Everyday is new and fresh. When I wake up and see the sun has risen I choose to be grateful. I try and practice to see things through the lens of the Lord, this is not easy but like Mrs. Duggar says “Practice makes progress.” Haha 😉

I would like to share with you a blog I have been following for about 2 -1/2 years now called Women Living Well. I stumbled upon this blog when I was researching about Homeschooling and actually her youtube channel came up and her ministry has been a great addition to my journey as a servant of the Lord. A couple of months ago when I was asking the Lord, what book to read next, He led me to Exodus, however I did not jump in until now (not sure why). I received an email from the blog and saw she was starting the book of Exodus  so, I decided I would follow her “Blog through the bible” as best as I can(maybe this is why I waited 🙂 ). They are reading a chapter a day -Monday thru Friday and I tend to be a little slower when I reading the bible, allowing myself time to study, soak, meditate, discuss, pause and not just “read” it so, I will be probably in up behind but I thought it would be fun to follow along.

Also, I will be reading the “Thru the bible” commentary by J. Vernon McGee (among other study bibles & books). I have had the Exodus commentary for a while but I never read. My husband brought it for himself a few years ago and I asked him about and he said it was great. I started reading and I love it so far. I encourage you to join us in reading the book of Exodus or any book of the bible.

What book are you reading? Are you reading with a group?

Please post comments or questions below!

Check out Women Living Well 

Getting it straight…

As I started writing this post about the beginning of my relationship with my husband, I had to pull out some paper and call my husband to get the dates & years in order. Haha! (I am terrible with dates). I am so thrilled to share part of my story with you all mainly because I now can get the timing straight!

About a week or so before Nov. 27th 2002, fresh out of High School and fresh into college! My sister introduced me to my now husband. (Long story short, I promise) I knew from our first get together I wanted to date him, that’s it. I had no intentions on getting married mainly because of my parents separation. I thought he was cute and he was definitely my type so, I thought I would date him for a little while (maybe). Well, we hit it off instantly. He always wanted to be around me and I guess I liked that because it was me who asked him to officially be my boyfriend on Nov 27th (this was a funny story, I will have to share how that happened another time).

Fast forward to May 2004, we both decided after attending church for about a year, to dedicate our lives to God by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior. Fast forward again to May 2007, I got down on one knee at a public park and proposed! Yes, you read correctly! Everyone thought I was nuts but I literally put my husband through so much and with me not being the most affectionate person, I knew this would be the best way to really show him how much I love him and how much I wanted to be with him, FOREVER! Of course he was completely shocked, at first and was saying, “No, no, I was going to propose” lol,  but then he said Yes! He knew how difficult it was for me to show affection so he absolutely  appreciated my proposal to him.

Whew! That was a whirlwind (not really). Moving along to August 3rd 2007, we decided to honor God in an untraditional way by getting married at City Hall. It was one of the best days of my life. We intentionally decided to not have “wedding” and we did not want to wait. And I believe God has honored us and He has blessed us tremendously! And we both have not one regret!

Now, please understand this is not a fairytale. We had many challenges (still do) along the way but I am truly grateful to have had a relationship with the Lord first before I got married because God really taught my husband and I what the meaning of marriage is and the covenant between male and female. For this I am forever grateful to Jesus! 7 years of marriage later he still makes me smile.

Thanks for reading! (More marriage post coming soon)

Leave questions and comments below! And don’t forget to subscribe!

Life of A Servant…Blog Intro

So, I have been running from the idea of starting  a blog again. Why? Well, there are too many reasons to list but if I had to choose two it would be, time & consistency. I won’t bore you with why I stop but hopefully inspire you with why I chose to start again.

The first reason is, I am a woman. Haha! And I have so many thoughts, ideas and plans, running through my head. And I just want to get them out (me yelling). As I journey through life, I want to share. Why? I want to share because I appreciate when other people share. I spend lots of time on the internet like most people and I often sign off feeling inspired and motivated. I am not a writer, and I have poor grammar but I do have a desire to share my life.

Second, my life is not my own, it belongs to God because of Jesus my Savior, who sacrificed His life so I can be in a personal relationship with the Creator. My relationship with God has inspired me to live a life bringing glory to HIM and to be a blessing to all of His creation, for His name sake. I hope my sharing will be a blessing as I am blessed by so many bloggers.

So this is my life, a woman, a wife, a mother, a homemaker, a, homeschool mama, a servant.

Life as a servant.

Aliyah