Excited because I am hopeful that we will welcome a new son into our home.

Scared because we will welcome a new son into our home.

Excited because we are seeing God move in us and showing us more and more of our role in serving Him.

Scared because we are seeing God move in us and showing us more and more of our role in serving Him.

Excited because I am seeing Parker grow in her knowledge and understanding of the Lord.

Scared because this year she hits double digits and I realize half of her time in our home is gone…are we doing enough?

Excited because Emery is growing more comfortable in her skin.

Scared because she can either be a Leader or she can be a follower….are we doing enough?

Excited because Bradley is learning by leaps and bounds….

Scared because I don’t know if he (or me) is ready for Kindergarten….are we doing enough?

So, I look forward to a year that will be marked by the hardest of days, as I think of my son, alone and hungry, and me on the other side of the world. I also look forward to a year with great joy as my son comes home, my daughter hits a milestone, my sweet middle child continues to be drawn to the ONE who will give her purpose, my precious boy becomes a big brother and my man and I continue to walk this journey together.

One way he has blessed me the last few months is in letting me have the time I need to run. He may not get it, but he has seen the joy it brings me.  On Thanksgiving Day, we ran an 8k in Knoxville. He has not trained much, but we are so stinkin competitive, he took off and beat me by 2 minutes. Kind of humbling, but I have come to understand that part of it is our personalities. He is an all out competitor and I always want to save some for the last minute in case I need it!

Here we are after our 4.97 miles…how gross do we look? It was a warm Thanksgiving run. I always tell him, I am not used to running with the sun out!

Can I say again, how  much I love Knoxville. We ran down Neyland Drive, by the river, the Stadium and the cool waterfront. I loved it!

Thank you, Jason, for all the ways you love me.

I am so thankful for time spent with those we love the most!

She was not my plan, my idea, BUT she was in His plan all along….I can’t fathom life without her smile, her laughter, and even her moodiness!

She is the greatest surprise of my life….

Today, I am thankful for Jesus.

I am nothing without Him.

I have everything because of Him.

I am completely crazy about Him.

If He never blesses me again, He has done more than enough for me.

Thank You, Jesus. It always begins and ends with You!

On August 1, two months ago, Jason began a program called the 24 Day Challenge through a company called Advocare. We had some friends who had participated and had seen amazing results. The 24 Day Challenge is a nutritional program that consists of vitamins and supplements which are designed to aid in energy, weight loss and core nutrition.  We did a lot of research because we are very skeptical of anything that sounds too good to be true!  We learned that the products were created by a reputable nutritional board, is based on Christian values and had some heavy duty endorsers.  Jason decided to give it a try. We cut out sugars, breads and dairy and he was exercising 3-5 days a week with P90x. We have eaten a lot of veggies, fish, chicken and salads! I have even cut WAY back on the diet coke!

After 24 days, Jason had lost 14 pounds and 3.5% body fat.
As of today, he has lost 26 pounds and 6% total body fat.

My man has worked hard and I am so proud of him!

As for me, I have shared that I am training for a half marathon. That is 13.1 miles or 23,056 yards or 69,168 feet. I have always been active and exercised, but have always disliked running. I mean REALLY not been a fan of the whole logging miles in anything except my car. BUT, I was ready to be challenged and accomplish something that I knew was hard for me. So I decided to do it. I have been training for 12 weeks and have ran 3 to 4 times a week with some cardio thrown in.  I have used some Advocare products from their performance line called Muscle Fuel and also their energy drinks SLAM and Spark.  On my long runs they have made a HUGE difference. So why is today such a big deal.

I ran 10 miles today.

One of the greatest outcomes in all of this has been the fact that Jason and I have developed a little bit of discipline In our lives. We are learning the beauty of telling ourselves no. We are getting up at 5am Monday through Friday to exercise. We have always been night owls and struggled to get up early even though we have desired to be more disciplined in our schedule. Let me say, I am loving the early morning runs. It is still dark, but I crank the worship music and have such a sweet time of prayer and worship while running!  Don’t get me wrong some mornings are HARD, but I am choosing to say no to myself and my bed! I also am thankful to have it done and don’t have to think about it during the day.

This has been such a journey and I am so thankful at what God is teaching, leading and showing us.  How are you being challenged?

But, I am simply not feeling it right now.

Why?

Because I have had one of those days where I feel on the edge…..the edge of anger, frustration, and not liking very much in general. I could go into the various reasons why I feel this way, on this particular day, but really, what is the point?  We all have these days, these moments, these emotions.  The key is figuring out what you are going to do with it.  Am I going to allow my emotions to rule, get on Facebook or Twitter and vent or am I going to die to my emotions, bathe myself in Scripture and prayer, and CHOOSE to respond in a way that brings Glory to His Name.  I think this is a battle that I fight more days than not. More than that, I think this is the battle I see many moms fight each day….especially with these last few days of summer upon us.  Life is hard, days are long, frustration is inevitable, so why not get a plan together for how to handle it instead of blowing up and moaning and groaning about it?  Imagine how that would look to a non believing world? Not that as Christ followers we don’t feel every single one of those emotions, but that we allowed Christ to respond for us, in the midst of those moments.

That is my prayer, my longing.  Is is yours?

It has been a while since it has been the original Bradley chicks, so it was high time to plan a trip.

We decided to go to the Beth Moore Simulcast which was being hosted at First Baptist Church Woodstock, GA and it was

just what we needed to plan around.

On Friday, the girls had Grandparents Day at school.  LuLu had come in for a few days and the girls LOVE being able to share their school

with their GP’s.  They show off some cool things they have learned and enjoy time with them.  I love that our school does this, even if there is a push for the GP’s to

donate money!!

We left after eating lunch and headed south.  We rolled into our swanky Embassy Suites and were pleasantly surprised with our cool suite.

We dropped our stuff and headed to the Ballard outlet and  you know it….IKEA.

We pause for a moment of silence to honor my most favorite place to buy stuff for our home….

Now, we spent a few mindless hours walking around and a few hundred dollars later, exited.

I bought these for our hallway project….more to come on that at a later date.

I also got this and this for outside.  They are a lot larger than they appear. Excited about all the things I can do with these.

We then went to eat at Pappasito’s. I adore this place.  Their tortillas are hands down, the best I have ever had.  It was fun to take Mom and Kim.

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We were up bright and early and headed out.

It was POURING…so we stopped to get an umbrella.

Thank the good Lord for Navigation….that’s all I am saying.

We were early birds.  Seriously early birds.  That is the way we roll for some members of my family.  While I am not ALWAYS late, some members of my family like to point out that I am not ALWAYS on time, either. Some members of my family, on the other hand, are especially fond of punctuality.

Trust me, I am reminded A LOT that I don’t always arrive on time.

Anywho, we were at the Beth Moore Simulcast for her new book

So Long Insecurity.  I have not read the book, but I am a big fan of kissing insecurity goodbye.

I am a girl.

I have insecurities.

Shocking, I know.

Let’s just say, I sooo needed to hear this.  She talked about 6 Signs of A Secure Woman.  She based most of it out of Ephesians 4 and looking at the demon that is insecurity.  Insecurity is, in its most basic form, making it all about OURSELVES.  Insecurity keeps us chronically self-aware…and honestly….how gross is that?

We are caught in the Am I’s….

Am I smart enough, cool enough, skinny enough, Am I witty enough, Am I saying the right thing.

Yet, a life controlled by the Spirit curves out to serve others, love others, forgive others…to Magnify His Glory.  We are so esteemed by our Creator that we don’t focus on ourselves, but rather on Him.

There was so much meat that I can’t wait to read her book, look at myself through His Word and be transformed.

Because it matters to me, my faith and my ministry.

But it also matters for my girls.

To raise them SECURE in His love, His Grace, His AMAZING journey for them.

It matters to every woman, to every mom.

This is a battle we ALL face and I am so sick and tired of being told what I am supposed to be as a woman, a mom, a daughter, a wife by our twisted culture.

The only measuring stick I am to hold to is that of Christ.

I could be the skinniest, most beautiful, talented, confident, witty, woman on planet Earth, but I would still be a quaking mess of fears without recognizing who I am as a Daughter of the King.

I am WORTH it to HIM.

I am PRECIOUS to HIM.

I am BEAUTIFUL to HIM.

I am IMPORTANT to HIM.

I am DESTINED for An ABUNDANT LIFE through HIM.

Needless to say, I could go on and on.  As someone who has worked with teenagers most of my adult life, these are things I have known and said for years, yet it is sooo good to be reminded that I can be enslaved to my own self and be hindered in by obedience to the life God ordained for me.

I don’t want to miss His plan.

After the simulcast, which over 300,000 women heard about finding their security in Christ alone, amazing, we headed to the hotel and then to a local mall and the Container Store.

To me the Container Store is the Pottery Barn of organization and IKEA is the Target…..I am more a Target girl myself.

We ate a Maggiano’s and picked up Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

I soo gained weight this weekend, but I am secure in the knowledge that my pounds do not determine my worth!

We relaxed at the hotel and the next morning headed back to IKEA to pick up a few last things and to Atlantic Station.

All in all, it was a refreshing, relaxing weekend.

And when I got home, I came home to a clean house, happy kids, folded laundry and homework done.

Can I get an amen??

My man is a-may-zing.

A perfect ending…..

He chose, and I just went with it.  We are using youversion.com and following the Life Journal Reading Plan.  We will read the OT once and the NT twice.

I am super stoked because it is not overwhelming, which means I am more likely to stick to it.  Also, Jason set it up on my phone so I can read it through my day, as well.

If you would like to join in, it isn’t too late. Also, my username is kelstew if you want to follow along!

Next week, I am also starting the Esther study with some other staff wives and I am BEYOND excited to go through this study with these ladies.

I hope to share some of the things that God is teaching me and how I see His Word impact my day to day.

What about you? Are you strategic and intentional in reading the Word?  I can say with certainty that you will not be disappointed!