So I don't blog nearly as much these days. I am going to try to ramble more, but life is kinda crazy with a 6 month old, so you never know. Oh wait I never told the Xanga world that the baby came (not that anyone reads regularly these days since I don't post much)! We named him Asa Mark Roneree. Asa - (pronounced "ay-suh") - after King Asa from 2 Chronicles 14. In 14:2 it states, "Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God." We pray this will be true for our Asa, all his days! And Mark, after Erich's long time friend Mark Griffin who passed away from cancer a few years ago.

I can't even express how much I LOVE being a mom. Despite the challenges that come with it (especially in the first 2 months), it is absolutely an amazing experience. I LOVE this kid sooo much. He makes my heart sing. I look at him and I see the Lord - he is testimony to me that the Lord is amazing and real. Only God could form a little huma being inside my womb and bring him out to meet us. I love watching him develop every day. He rolls over both ways now and almost sits up on his own. He started solids this week too. The past 6 months have flown by! It really does go as fast as everyone says it does.

So I went on leave from my job when Asa came. Can't say I miss working much. Got rid of those Sunday night blues that plagued me for years. I'll take a 3 AM wakeup call for my baby over the Sunday night blues any day! Not that he wakes up at 3 AM anymore. He's such a good baby - been sleeping 10 hours + since 10 weeks old! We've been using the Babywise books program with him and it seems to work well - although God is still the giver of the increase, not the books of course. To follow up from my last post, I prayed and prayed and God finally made it clear that I was to leave my job even though that meant we weren't going to be bringing in enough money to pay our bills. So after some internal fighting with him (I am so stubborn), I obeyed and went on leave. I am on unpaid leave until July right now, but not expecting to return unless God makes it clear that He wants me there again. I don't feel Him leading in that direction though. Some people praise my decision and understand what it means to trust the Lord by faith and take a scary step like this. Others do not understand why I didn't just take the part time or go back. All they could see was the $ signs and that they didn't add up. I saw and still see a bigger God that can, is, and will provide for us. When I walk in His will, in obedience to Him, then and only then am I in the best place possible.

That being said, God blessed me with a great babysitting job for a few hours once a week where I can take Asa and it helps with the bills. Erich and I have also started our own small business - Straight Shot Computer Solutions LLC - computer support, tutoring, wireless network set up, small business/church technical consulting, etc. We felt God leading us down that path and have now embarked upon it. It allows us more flexibility so I can stay home with the baby. I will be doing the scheduling, invoicing, administrative stuff and Erich will be doing the actual work. Although, I have some of the knowledge to do the work also when necessary. We have already had good business (although not consistent yet) and really feel the Lord guiding us. Website and marketing coming soon. God is the only one that could have ever caused us to do this - it was never in my plans. Plus there are other ways He is showing us how He provides. Amazing God.

Being an at home mom and house wife is the most fulfilling career I have ever had. It is priceless. I finally feel like I found my place in life - my niche. I guess that is because God created Eve as Adam's helpmate. It was never God's intention for me as a woman to be trying to balance a career and a family. His word is clear that my first priority (after Him of course) is my husband and family/raising my children, and that anything else must come after that. With our new arrangement we are definitely more aligned with God's word and I feel a new peace that I have never felt before. I LOVE being the one that cleans the house, cooks the meals, makes the beds, does the laundry, cares for Asa, etc. I LOVE doing this for my husband. Best job ever. God will provide financially - He already is.

E.

Well the more news is here!  I am pregnant with our first child!  Very exciting times for us.  Two months today - due May 18, 2010. I kept it a secret for a little while, since we lost the first two babies earlier this year, but now that we know this pregnancy is going in a different direction then the other two I felt the need to announce it. I never do well keeping my life a secret - anyone that knows me knows that my life is an open book - and frankly it really stresses me out to keep things like this to myself!  And stress is not good for the baby!  What can I say, I am just an extrovert that gets my energy from interacting with people.

I definitely still get nervous that something could happen to this one too, but then am reminded by my awesome Lord that He is in control and the sustainer of life.  He gives and takes away - and who am I to say that He is wrong either way?  Pain is part of life and helps one grow - not that I want to go through it again, but I am just learning that God is creator and not me. Plus it sure helps to have all the support from your friends and family if something does happen.  Asking for prayer is not to be under-valued!

So very excited we are! I have a couple of ultrasound pictures now and we saw a heartbeat a couple weeks ago. That was a pretty cool thing!  We get another picture this Friday which I am excited about.  And then next week the fertility specialist is going to release me back to the regular OB/Gyn hopefully! Yay! So yes - still walking one day at a time.

I've been very nauseous pretty much daily with little to no appetite.  And I am soooo fatigued it's insane sometimes! And all the other little symptoms that go with it.  They are defintiely uncomfortable and I am so tempted to complain sometimes - and often I do ha!  But I keep reminding myself that the tangible sick signs are a good sign that the baby is doing well this time and then I remember to thank the Lord for them! ( I am looking forward to getting my appetite back though. I just love food usually!  )

Well off to whatever it is I do for now.  More from me soon.  I miss writing on this blog more often.

E.

So a friend of mine asked me how I can, as a Christian be a fan of a show with the title idol in it? He wanted to know if it bothers me. I thought this out for awhile before responding.  I think it's worth posting my thoughts for everyone else.

Yes, it does bother me that it has idol in the title. But I think we get legalistic when we focus on just the title. The real questions I think we should be asking are: am I treating the show or the people in it as idols in my life? And what is the content in the show?

Shouldn't it also bother me to watch a movie with swear words in it, or fornication or drunkenness? -- as the Bible clearly speaks against these as well. I mean it does bother me, which is why I limit what I watch, but then I go and watch The Office and other shows that are definitely still worldly in nature (as are most shows). Or many people, including Christians, idolize sports way more than they would ever do so with American Idol, despite the name. So which is worse? Neither right.

I would just beg to say, that we as American Christians, could benefit spiritually from analyzing whether many things belong in our lives. Although I do agree about the title, I think we as Christians need to look a little deeper at ourselves than that because we are all doing it when it come to media. Just because it's not in the title doesn't mean it's not in the show.

And in regards to American Idol specifically, I do appreciate that many of the people on the show have been Christians (as far as I know anyway) and one that I remember even advocated for purity/waiting for marriage after she won. I actually find American Idol to be one of the cleaner, more family based shows on tv if you actually watch the content and don't focus as much on the title. (Although note that this is the first time I ever watched most of a season.) Of course I am sure that there are people out there that make these "idols" that win the show their "religion," but then again there are people out there that have made "Jedi"their religion too. If we're not careful, we can make everything from food to our own families our idols instead of worshipping God.

Here is video of the winner of this season (8), Kris Allen, performing "God of this City."
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=97628869608&h=lkkVK&u=9zviz&ref=mf

I think that if He is a true believer that He has a great chance of influencing the world for Christ now. They are more apt to listen to Him - He can point them away from him being their idol to God being their idol (as He should be)! He was very, very humble throughout the whole competition - and it really seemed sincere. I think we ought to pray for Him to influence this crazy world and that He doesn't instead get caught up in hollywood. God puts His people everywhere to influence others.

Too much entertainment in general and not enough prayer and Word and true fellowship in the Word is definitely an area the Lord is speaking to me on. Do you ever notice that sometimes even when you are with Christians, "fellowshipping," you still only wind up talking about natural things and not supernatural things? Sometimes to the point where it almost feels just as uncomfortable to bring up God around certain believer friends as it does when you do with unbelievers, as if your going to kill the fun or something? Just food for thought - as it is something I have been thinking about a lot and trying to overcome. Feeding the flesh fosters natural things, feeding the Spirit fosters Spiritual things and fulfills completely.

I know that all of this is definitely an area God is working on in me. He needs to be first in my life, my all in all, completely enough for me. Although I feel like I fail so oftern, I pray for His strength to do this every day.

Thoughts?

E.

p.s. I could also go down the road that most of the time watching tv in general really doesn't glorify God in any way or edify people, but I think that is for a different blog and something I honestly don't know if I myself am ready to face.