In the Chaos with Daddy…

Back in June, when our house in Morristown sold, we prayed to find a diamond in the rough in Knoxville.  After viewing more than a dozen homes and walking away from a “not quite right” home, we found this gem.  Despite the bright red roof and interesting color palette, it has been a HUGE blessing and we are enjoying making it our own.  That means, of course, LOTS and LOTS of projects.  Outside, Brian has already installed a new roof, cut down nearly 30 trees and leveled the front yard.  Now we are on to a few of our inside projects.  The latest project is the building of a new mantel and the removal of old tiles and replacing them with stone.  Brian is incredibly handy, but has also had great help from some friends from church and our small group (We LOVE you Northstar!!)

Well, tonight as Brian chipped away at old tile, we sent the girls up to their playroom to get away from the noise and flying debris.  After a few minutes, they begged to come back down, so we hung out in the kitchen and made cookies.  When the cookie preparations were complete, the girls ran into the family room and jumped up on the couch.  The noise and chaos of Brian’s project continued as the girls sat on the couch, ears covered, happy as clams.  Knowing that the noise level couldn’t be all that enjoyable for the girls (not to mention the possibility of flying pieces of tile) Brian again encouraged them to go back upstairs.  Ella looked up at him and said, “But daddy I LOVE you”.

In that moment I saw such deeper meaning for my own life.  You see, my girls were OK with the chaos, with the noise, with the mess, as long as they were with their daddy.  It wasn’t all of their toys or their favorite show that was keeping them there, it was the presence of their father.  While the playroom seemed, in my mind, a much more logical choice…full of all the pleasures a little one desires, it was void of the one person they wanted to be with.

I hope I can view my life in the same way.  That I will be willing to sit patiently through seasons of chaos, uncertainty, change, pain or even loss, as long as I am in the presence of my heavenly father. That I will value my time with God more than the “fun” this world offers me. That when tempted to choose the temporal over the eternal, I will remember the words of my three-year old, “But daddy I LOVE you.”

Giveaway :)

11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven is giving away a gorgeous Hotslings baby carrier!

To enter click HERE.

I’m BAAAAACKKKKK

Can’t believe it’s been this long. OH how life has changed since my last post. I’ll even have to rename my blog to “THREE little Lady Vols”. Yes another little smith girl will be arriving soon. We have also been settled into life here in Knoxville for almost 6 months. Life is good. Can’t wait to share it again!

House Update

We are still waiting  on our house to sell.  Last week I was a little discouraged, just feeling a little weary and disconnected. But God, AS ALWAYS, brought encouragement and strength to keep going.  We do have one prospect on the house.  There is a couple who likes the house and have come back a second time.  Not sure if they will buy, but I am at peace about the timing of it all.  I trust the hands who carved out these mountains and created a billion + galaxies.  And what I am learning, is that whether our house EVER sells, God does not owe me an explanation.  His ways are HIGHER than mine and that’s all there is to it.

With that being said, I still believe in the power of prayer and ask all of you saints, to continue to seek the Lord on our behalf.

Ella’s Princess Party

These pictures are a little late, but I still had to share them.  We had a Princes s Themed Party for Ella’s 3rd birthday.  It was so much fun.  We had 10 little girls from the ages of 3 months to 6 years, all dressed up like princesses.  We ate princess cake, star sandwiches, pretzel wands and Shrek punch. Each little girl got to make her own princess slippers (actually her own flip-flops with ribbon, flowers and gems).  I must say, though, the most touching part of all, was while decorating with lights, Ella looked up and the ceiling full of lights with a look of wonder and said, “THANK YOU MOMMA. THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE”. I melted right then and there.  Anyway…here are the pics.  It was a magical day, just like the day my precious Ella was born.

Running my butt off…

Well yes, I am running again. January 5th I began training for my first half marathon. At that point, to be honest, a 2 mile run was a bit taxing. But by Valentines Day, I ran my first 10K (6.3 miles), and felt pretty good.

I struggled after Valentines Day to get back on my running schedule and had 2 weeks where I was lucky to run twice a week. I finally had to re prioritize and for the past few weeks I’ve been back on track.

I am now running the longest distances of my life. On Saturday I ran 8.5 miles and yesterday I did an hour of yoga followed by a 6.5 mile training run.

With all of this running, you would think I’d be a size 4, but I’m finding that I am very hungry and therefore not losing much weight. When I limit my carbs and sugar I seem to lose the weight, but that is challenging when running these long distances.

Anyway, to all of my fellow runners, keep up the good work. And to all of who wonder if you can, the answer is YES, you can.

Get out there and wear it out!!

Asking for what only God can do

I have lots to write about our current transition, and quite honestly have planned about 10 posts in my head as I’ve laid in bed at night. But once the morning broke, life started and I had very little time to gather my thoughts again. So this post is not about how our transition to Knoxville and Northstar is going, but rather about prayer and what God is teaching me.

One of the heartbeats of Northstar is their belief in and practice of corporate prayer. They have seen people miraculously healed, seen God provide a child to a couple who had prayed to conceive for 14 years, even has seen God sell a house in 3 days. Which brings me to current situation. We are still in our house in Morristown and we are longing to be in Knoxville where we can invest in and do life with the people and students at Northstar.

So, on Sunday morning I began praying that God would sell our house this week. Yes, I know what the market is like, but I also know God could easily do it if it he so desired. Earlier today, I decided to send out an e-mail asking friends and family to do the same.

Quite honestly, I felt almost foolish for asking people to pray this specifically. But I think we  limit what we ask for because of our fears. What if God says no? What will people think? Will they think I didn’t have enough faith? Or will they think it’s presumptuous to even ask something like that, since God’s timing is best. But what I’m learning is that if it isn’t God’s timing, he’ll say no or wait. And that’s fine. But by asking for something that ONLY he can do, we are recognizing His ability to do the impossible and either way HE receives glory!

The Doghouse

Please take the time to watch this.  It is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a LONG time…and a good warning for husbands:)

Happy Birthday Kate

tr> Make a Smilebox scrapbook

One Year Ago…

One year ago today I gave birth to my sweet, second born little girl Katherine Grace Smith.  Here’s how it all went down…

I wasn’t due until December 6th, but over Thanksgiving I walked and walked, hoping for Kate’s early arrival.  On the morning of the 25th (a Sunday), I chose to stay home from church.  Which turned out to be a great choice, since my water would have broke right in the middle of pastor’s sermon…one of my great fears:)  I called Brian at church, and while at first he thought I was crying wolf, he finally believed me and came home

My contractions began within an hour or so and by noon we were headed to the hospital.  I could have stayed home longer, but many panicking friends and loved ones did not want us stuck in-route delivering Kate.  So off we drove to Knoxville.  Signing in at St. Mary’s was a bit of a challenge since I was still steadily leaking and they seemed to take their time. 

When we arrived in our room, I got changed into my lovely gown and got walking.  The rest of the afternoon was spent walking, laboring, focusing, massaging, etc.  I wasn’t dilated past 2cm, so they decided to use some Pitocin to get things moving a bit more quickly (something I actually regret at this point).  That ramped up my contractions BIG TIME.  I was attempting a V-BAC and so had decided ahead of time not to have an epidural.  Well, let’s just say those Pitocin contractions were off the charts!!!

I spent the evening hours of the 25th with teeth-chattering contractions and small bits of rest.  We finally opted for a small dose of pain meds.  I wanted a small dose so that if we needed to take Kate via C-section, she wouldn’t be groggy.  The meds took my pain from a 9.9 to a 7.5, for which I was SO very thankful.

By 11:30pm it was time to check me again.  After such pain and many hours of such intense labor, I just knew I’d be 5cm, 8 cm…but I never expected to not even be 2 cm.  We spent some time talking it through with our dr, and since everyone is a bit more cautious with a VBAC(Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), we decided to move ahead with the c-section.  I had still had no epidural, so they chose to do a spinal in the operating room.

And at 11:59pm on November 25th, 2007 my beautiful baby Kate was born into our world.  What an incredible year, and what an incredible little gift from the Lord.  She is a blessing, and a joy, truly a great reward! Happy Birthday Baby Kate!