May: Creating An Atmosphere

I would like to remind you of this 17 year old girl who had her fully boxed boxes of college needs, including shampoo and conditioner, about six months before moving into college, all ready and labeled and organized and ready to go.  I will testify that God has brought much change and maturity to that planned part of my former personality, HOWEVER, I still and always will love a little planning!  May has been the first month of this pregnancy that I have allowed myself to indulge in such joys.  Of course I created boundaries on this planning, and the capacity to implement those boundaries with such ease is a testimony to God, because without harnessing my natural instincts I would already have the baby lotion and wipes and diapers and bedding purchased and set up in the room, ready to go.  But God.  

This month we took some time to create an atmosphere in the bedroom our child will spend much of the early months of their life.  This was a process that demanded much work both in the natural and supernatural realms.  In the natural, we were so graciously given a beautiful crib that we were thrilled to receive and immediately set up; we also picked out and purchased and assembled a dresser for the child’s belongings, and for the first time we let ourselves plan out a little map for the child’s room of where everything could potentially go.  We spent hours in that room this month planning and dreaming about who our child might be and ways we could make their bedroom a sweet place of rest for him or her.  This was not only incredibly fun, but also made the fact that in five months we will be bringing a precious human life into our home much more of a reality.  

In the supernatural realm, we were also quite busy.  We believe that there is a supernatural world of which we cannot see but are very much a part of in our every day lives.  Ephesians 6:12 says, “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  We believe we live in a battle, constantly persuaded by good and evil and we understand there to be an enemy who desires to bring destruction into our lives.

Over the last year we have studied our authority to create an atmosphere that is life giving and full of light and goodness.  This learning began with the process of praying through the times we spent in the courtroom.  While praying before entering that room for the first time, I saw SO CLEARLY a picture of the supernatural world.  We were praying for the presence of the Holy Spirit to fill the room, for the blood of Jesus to cover those doorposts, and we bound any darkness that sought to dwell in that physical space, knowing the influence of such unseen powers.  And through this time in prayer I SAW all of the powers of darkness outside of the room pounding on the doors to come in, but they were being held back by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.  This idea of the power of the blood goes back to the bible in the Old Testament when the Israelites would cover their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificed animal so that darkness would pass by and their sins would be forgiven.  When Jesus Christ came and died as the ultimate sacrificial lamb, we now have access to the power that comes through His blood and we plead it and use it as a weapon in this supernatural world.  Darkness cannot pass by His blood.  It is too powerful as it represents our total and complete forgiveness.  

In addition to His blood, we have been given much authority in this supernatural world to bind and to loose.  The bible says, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  (Matthew 18:18)  We have authority to bind darkness and loose light.  To bind demons and loose angels.  We have authority through the blood of Christ, the name of Jesus, and the Word.  

We took that lesson of creating an atmosphere and applied it in our home.  I remember walking into our new space for the first time back in August and praying through every doorpost, praying over every room and every inch of our space, for light and goodness and light and praise and worship to fill the atmosphere.  It has always been a desire of my heart to create a life giving space for my husband to come home to in the natural world through the fun of decorating and maintaining the appearance of the physical space and supernatural worlds through bringing in light and life in my own spirit.  

We have this same deep rooted desire for our child.  As we have sought to create an atmosphere for our child, we have two specific requests: 

1. Freedom.  We know that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  (2 Corinthians 3:17)  And as we continue to maintain that space as a space where the Holy Spirit is welcome and encountered, we believe for the freedom of our child.  Children are so easily influenced by this supernatural world because of their preciousness and innocence and naivety and we view our position as parents as protectors and advocates for our child in this battle.  So we pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit to infiltrate every corner of that room, and for a supernatural freedom to follow as promised in the Word. 

2. Peace.  Because our child will be spending so much time in their early months of life sleeping, we have started praying for a peaceful place where our child can experience sweet sleep.  Proverbs 3:24 says, “When you lie down, you will not be afraid.  Your sleep will be sweet.”  We pray this is the case with our little one.  Because praise and worship music is such an important part of our lives and connection to our Father, we have been intentional this month to spend time in that space in prayer and worship, inviting the Spirit into that room specifically through music.  We believe God inhabits the praises of His people, and worship is a way to invite Him into a space.  So as we worship, we pray for a peaceful sanctuary and space where our child can have sweet sleep.  

Needless to say this has been a fun and full month of much work that we believe will produce much fruit.  We will reap what we sow, and we have already started to sow seeds of life and light over our little baby and the space in which they will dwell. We took this month to create that habit, and we hope this nightly routine of prayer and worship will continue once our child is born as we believe this is an important habit for the spiritual health of our home and daily protection and edification of our entire family.   

Habit #5: Establish a nightly routine

April: What's In A Name?

We set April aside to listen.  

We believe God created our child in this timing for a specific purpose and in His omniscience can already see the whole of his or her life.  We understand the gift of parenting as a position of stewardship.  We recognize that our child is first God’s child, and we are spending this month seeking Him for a name and a life verse that we can speak and pray over this precious life daily and display in his or her room as a reminder of the vision Christ gave us for this life as parents.  We believe words are prophetic, and that through our words we have the power to create and speak things into existence.  Along those lines, we believe names are powerfully and exponentially prophetic. 

What name will God give us for this child?  When we look at the Bible we see the significance of names, particularly through the context of the name changes God gives.  Saul became Paul, Abram became Abraham, Simon became Peter, just to name a few.   Studying these name changes we have learned that there was a significant change in each individual and therefore suitable name, which has confirmed our belief that names are powerful and important to our Father.  We also noticed how some names that were given were closely related to the child’s conception or birth.  For example, when Sarah and Abraham conceived they named their son “Isaac,” which means laughter, because of their response to conceiving in old age. 

We are confident that Christ has a specific name and purpose for our child’s life and were honored to set aside some time to listen and seek His direction.  His sheep hear His voice, and we know that when we draw near to Him He will draw near to us.  (John 10:27, James 4:8)  We know that if we ask for anything in His name, He will do it, and we have spent this entire month asking Him for a name for our child, His child.  (John 14:14)  We are excited at the thought of speaking life into our baby through the name God gives us.  

My husband and I decided to seek our Heavenly Father individually for the month, seeking names and visions and verses on our own.  We did not want to hear any voice or opinion other than our His, not even each others.  And from the beginning of the month we already set aside the last weekend of April to have a staycation, to date and enjoy each other and share all of our revelations and officially name our baby together.  We even have an idea to make a special piece of art that we want to hang in the nursery connected to the name and the life verse we believe God will speak over our little one.  While this will not be revealed until the child’s arrival, we can hardly wait to share it with the world!  

While I will not share the name, I can say I am surprised.  My hubby and I have been in agreement about a boy and girl’s name for years now, and the name we BOTH ave heard during this past month is neither of those we had initially fallen in love with.  So even though this is not a name we had considered before, it has been confirmed to be the name of our baby.  We believe God is the Father and we want HIS name and prophetic vision to prevail.  And we are thrilled!  

Habit #4: Pray the Word for our child daily

March: Saying Thank You

On Saturday, March 2nd we woke up at 4:00AM as curious as ever.  To spare the details of waiting for 2 of the longest minutes of our lives, sure enough: blue +.  We were absolutely speechless.  So speechless that all we could do is laugh.  We could not believe it.  All that came to mind was a promise I remember receiving months ago in which I believe God said, “I will show you a love that will leave you speechless.”  The love and mercy and grace of such a gift of a NEW LIFE completely solidifies everything we have been praying and asking for since my husband’s jail homecoming.  It solidifies the white as snow verse we have been praying for now weeks.  It was as if that very day when we found out about our little miracle, we got to climb into a cannon and shoot so far from the past and enter an entire new land in which everything was fresh and unfamiliarly wonderful.  No more “probation officer” and “felony” talk was going to consume our lives.  We had new things to discuss and anticipate.  And it completely brought life to our belief that we didn’t even smell like smoke so shortly after such a painful walk through the fire.  

As soon as we saw the positive pregnancy test, our speechlessness was only converted into words through a seemingly insufficient THANK YOU to our Creator.  My husband had been out of jail for six weeks now and we were later confirmed to be officially six weeks pregnant.  We never could have dreamed our child would have been created so soon after such a painful season, and we are overwhelmed with thankfulness.  

We have nothing else to say.  

To ensure that our thankfulness would not be a quickly passing reaction, before jumping into the sheer thrill and excitement of such joy and before getting swept away in planning, we set aside the first month to relish in thankfulness and awe of a God for whom nothing is impossible, who makes all things new, and who gives good gifts to His children.  

The bible shares a story about going back to say thank you which put words to our month of intentional thankfulness.  Luke 17:11-19 shares: 

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him.  They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.”  When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they went, they were cleansed.  One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him- and he was a Samaritan.  Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?  Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.

This story recounts that only one leper came back to say thank you.  While there are incredible lessons of faith within this story, what hit me is the reality that it can be so tempting to treat God like some gumball machine, accessing His amazing and miraculous power only when we have a need or want, and then running away with our prized possession as soon as it is in our hands.  We did not want to so quickly forget our Creator who gave us this life simply because of our emotional excitement.  So we were extremely intentional to spend the entire month relishing in His amazingness.  Before looking at any cribs or talking about any names or buying any baby clothes or moving anything in the baby’s room or telling most family and friends, we entered a place of awe and thankfulness.  We do not want to EVER forget our God, the Source of life for now all three of us.  

I feel as if I have been wandering in a desert for the last 17 months, and the news of life growing inside of me is like finding a well of water.  I will never stop praising and thanking Christ for this child’s life and all that it represents.  

Through this baby, God is

bringing life after death 

breathing life into us 

lifting our heads

But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. Psalm 3:3

turning ashes into beauty 

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair.  Isaiah 61:3

restoring health 

A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, good news makes for good health.  Proverbs 15:30

giving us a good gift 

If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask!  Matthew 11:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above.  James 1:17

giving us a second chance 

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.  Jonah 3:1 

giving us a good thing 

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.  Psalm 84:11

giving us the desire of our heart

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4

During this month of thankfulness and through the miracle of such great news, I saw my husband transform.  I saw the labels that had been placed on him of “felon” and “unemployed” and “failure” erase, only to be replaced with a new role and new purpose.  Words like “protector” and “provider” and “dad” were suddenly restoring the twinkle to his eye.  God is a good God.  And not just when He answers our petty prayers.  He is always good, and we have been declaring His goodness for the last 15 months.  He gives and takes away.  And we are now entering a season in which we get to receive His good gifts.  He is a loving Father and He gives good gifts to His children.  (Matthew 11:17) 

And He is the lifter of our heads. (Psalm 3:3)  I saw my husband LOOK UP.  After internally looking down in shame for a year, I saw his spirits rise and I saw him look up.  He still does not have a job and is asking for work that can position him to provide for our family again.  But we know it will come.  I was actually getting impatient and a bit concerned about his lack of work UNTIL we found out that we were going to have a baby.  I know God’s word says that He meets every need, and our financial needs just increased in a HUGE way, so for me this means that God will provide a well paying job very very soon.  

It was through the process of sharing with a friend about our precious miracle that I was enlightened to the title of this blog as, “a new book.”  When rejoicing about this new life, someone mentioned, “It is like a whole new chapter for you guys” to which I completely agreed.  But then my friend chimed in, “It is really like a whole new book.”  

And it really is.  And we are thankful.  We run back to say thank you.

Habit #3: Say thank you

February: Trusting, Not Trying

One of the greatest losses for me personally during the past year has been the loss of our plans to have children.  While my husband and I are aware that we are not at ALL in control of the timing of conception nor birth, it was an ambiguous loss of the freedom to choose and talk about and “try” to start a family.  It was the loss of our timeline, and the pause button we had to press on the desire of our hearts.  Just one week prior to my husband’s arrest, we were getting into significant conversations about starting a family.  We had just gotten out of debt and we were ready for the next step- BABIES!  We had it all figured out financially- we were going to get out of debt and then start a family and then save up for a house and then by the time our first child was walking we would be in our own home.  Yuck.  That dream burst into flames in about two seconds flat.  And I thank Jesus that so many of our sins were exposed and dealt with before we stepped into such an incredibly life changing role, however it was my most painful ongoing loss that continued to trigger much grief over the past year.  

SInce the moment my husband and I fell in love, our children have been on our radar.  I remember having a significant conversation while still dating in which we were seriously considering baby names.  We have planned our financial lifestyle and goals around our children and pray for them consistently.  We cannot wait to be parents and have anticipated this joy for years as it is a deep deep desire of both of our hearts.  As soon as my husband was released from jail on bail the first time, this was one of the first conversations that arose.  It was obvious that our plans of starting a family that were so pressing just the week before needed to be paused for an indefinite period of time, and this conclusion brought much pain and loss for us both.  It was also then that we decided, once everything is finished, once he is sentenced and serves time in jail and is released, lets resume this conversation. Now of course we had no idea how long it was going to take to get a sentencing date; from the beginning we were told that this entire legal ordeal could take anywhere from 4-18 months.  Our legal story just recently ended when my husband walked out of jail on January 14, 2013, so for us it took 14 months.  To fast forward 14 months, my husband walked out of jail and we reunited and hugged and got in the car together.  The first conversation that took place once we started driving home looked something like this:

Me: So are we really going to do this?

Husband: (Knowing exactly what I am referring to)  Yep.

Me: Like are we going to start when we get home?

Husband: Yep. 

Me: So we are going to start “trying”?

Husband: No, we are going to start trusting.  We are not desperately impatient to have children, we are fully aware that this might not be the best timing, but we are entering a new story and a new season in which we will trust that God will create our children in His perfect timing.  We are going to be open and if it takes two months or two years or five years, we are going to trust. 

Me: Ok.  I completely and totally agree. 

Then I remember praying a good portion of the way home over such ideas, and that began our journey of trusting God for our family.  I assume this bold action to move from inmate to dad or jail widow to mom could be taken in one of two ways: irresponsibility/naivety/impatience or faith/trust.  Our heart was trusting.  And as a dear mentor recently put it, “This child’s life was preceded with faith.”  Before this child was even conceived, the decision to move towards the miracle of conception was made while standing OUT OF THE BOAT in faith.  

This again parallels to the idea that we believe in the complete and total work of Jesus Christ.  We believe in the sufficiency and sovereignty of Christ.  We believe His word when it says, “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:19)  We know this God that will make a way where there seems to be no way.  We have just seen it in other avenues of our lives- complete and total supernatural provision.  And in that place of faith, we decided to take the next step towards starting a family.  My husband was one hour out of jail and very unemployed with an “only God” kind of hope for finding work.  Most companies have a strict policy against hiring anyone with a felony on their record and we did not have any hopeful leads at that point.  We were still climbing our way out of the $10,000 of debt that remained.  We were living paycheck to paycheck and had been living on one income for almost a year.  

But God.  

Our faith was believing for that which we didn’t see, (2 Corinthians 5:7) and so this lack of seeing did not stop us from being open to God’s plan, God’s way.  We brought to mind that this is a God who took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed 5,000 people.   (Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6)  This is a God who breathed into a valley of dry bones and they rose and formed into humans who came back to life again.  (Ezekiel 37)  This is a God who spoke the world into existence.  (Genesis 1:3)  We trusted God and we believed that everything would come together under His timing.  Remember our pretty financial plans of how this baby thing was going to work?  We released those plans and that illusion of control to receive Him and His unconventional ways.  

I have learned to stop planning and start listening.  To discern the voice and direction of the Holy Spirit.  To submit myself under God’s plans.  I grew up as someone who loved to have all of their ducks in a row.  To illustrate, by mid February of my senior year of high school I already had most of my boxes packed and labeled for college (a good six months early), including shampoo and conditioner.  I loved to have everything figured out and planned well in advance.  I was a ducks in a row kind of person.  And I had always been that way.  And here we were, talking about walking into something so incredibly life changing that the repercussions of such a decision were so unfathomable, and not only did I not have ANY of my ducks in a row, but I had no idea where most of the ducks were nor the pond.  And having this trusting mentality with our fertility and parenting and future was potentially the most freeing experience of my life.  It required intention, but the fruit of freedom was worth the sacrifice of change.  I had no plans, no timelines, nothing figured out.  My hope was in Christ and nothing else.  It is a testament to a God that can change people.  He literally is changing the way I am wired.  And it is an ongoing process that I hope and pray never ends. 

This trusting and not trying mindset carried us through the month of February.  We had a blast!  We so enjoyed each other and being together again.  Simple things like holding hands and driving in the car together and talking for longer than the ten minute limit we had set during his time in jail gave us such delight.  We had one entire weekend of dates, surprising one another with new places to which we had never been.  This has been a month of freedom and joy. 

I remember taking one pregnancy test on February 18th, when I thought I would have known if I had gotten pregnant that first month based on the ovulation math.  And it was negative.  Not this month, we thought.  We knew people who tried for seven years before ever getting pregnant, and we had heard it takes the average couple about a year.  We were super open and very aware that fertility is not something to take lightly or take for granted or make any assumptions or plans as we have no control over such things.  To be honest, our only assumption was that it would take us awhile to conceive because of the different ways we had sinned against our own bodies in the past.  Between a childhood eating disorder, heavy young adult anxiety, and a former struggle with sexual addiction, my husband and I had both engaged in sinning against our very own flesh.  While we were both walking in freedom from the chains that used to bind us, the Bible is very clear about how to live in obedience when it comes to our physical bodies.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your body.   We knew with humble and broken spirits that we indeed had sinned against our bodies and against God which led us to approach conception and the incredible gift of child bearing with such humble expectation, knowing our only hope of conceiving was the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ Himself.  And so we put all of our hope for our children’s lives in His hands and we prayed and prayed and prayed and humbled ourselves and simply trusted and let it go.  

So in seeing that first negative pregnancy test, I simply pushed those emotions of excitement that has risen during the two minutes of waiting for the blue line to appear aside until next month.  But then, over the next two weeks, my body was acting a bit “unusual” and had still not returned to it’s regular cycle.  And then I started to get curious.  I made myself wait until March 1st to take a pregnancy test again, assuming my body would kick back into gear and I would not need to waste the seven dollars on a pregnancy test.  It was a wonderful time of training my mind during those two weeks to let it go.  Let it go.  Let it go.  Let it go. I am not in control of it anyways.  Trust.  I had to activate and access all of my strategies for taking thoughts captive.  Change the channel.  Think about something else.  Distract myself.  Take the thought and throw it out of my mind.  Sometimes minute by minute.  My constant curiosity was very unproductive which created an opportune time to be intentional to trust and not worry or wonder or question or plan.  And then February 28th came and went and those signs of potential life growing inside of me were still ever present. 

Habit #2: Trust

January: White As Snow

INTRODUCTION 

Ah, a fresh book to write in.  Not just a fresh page or fresh chapter, but a fresh book.  New white pages.  No red stains from the past.  A new start.  Nothing but blank pages just waiting to be filled.  My husband and I have been through the fire and back over the past 14 months.  The day before Thanksgiving in November of 2011 he made a mistake at work and effectively lost his job as a PE and Health teacher along with his teaching license and future career.  He was arrested and spent 6 days in jail, only to be released on bail to wait for 51 weeks to be sentenced and most recently serve his final 60 days in jail.  In one day we lost his job and income and career, our home, thousands of dollars, our reputation, the foundation of trust in our marriage, our hopes of teaching in the same school and having blissful summers together, our plans to start a family, and so many dreams and visions of what we had hoped our life could be like.  Needless to say this mistake threw us into a fire-y furnace.  But God.  

When my husband recently got home from jail, I surprised him with a night at our honeymoon destination, which is a romantically private spot in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the beauty of the wilderness.  There were many reasons why this spot was appropriate for such a celebration of his homecoming, but the one that seemed to rise above the rest was the peaceful, quiet WHITE snow covered grounds.  I am the epitome of someone who, for half the year, wonders why I live here in the Midwest.  I don’t love snow, but for some reason the vision of being surrounded by white on every side was so attractive to me because of the biblical parallels and promises that our gracious Father extends to us.  Isaiah 1:18 says, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."  I have always said from the beginning of this painful road we have now been traveling for 14 months that while my husband’s sin was publicly exposed, the most painful part of the last year for me was dealing with myself.  Dealing with the red stains of my own sin.  The pressure of so much change and loss exposed so many of my selfish tendencies, my fleshly desires, my weaknesses, my capacity to be jealous and immature and sinful.  And so when I speak of a new fresh white beginning, I need this whiteness and purifying just as much as my husband.  We have both been rescued and redeemed from our sinfulness.  

If there was one truth that rises above the rest that has changed everything about our lives, it is the reality and truth of the gospel.  2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "Jesus Christ, who knew NO SIN came to be sin for us that we might be called the righteousness of God."  Who are we to be called righteous?  We have learned that our righteousness has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him.  God can take our red stained hearts and wash us, cleansing us from our sins and making us white as snow again.  God is a God is second chances.  He is a merciful God.  He has the power to clear our record and wipe the slate clean.  And what is so amazing about the last year is that we have learned about these incredible promises in His Word and we have been able to ACTIVATE them.  This freedom from sin and guilt and shame is available to everyone, but until such blatant sins are committed with so many consequences is there a need for activation.  And we have had this painful privilege.  And it has been the most miraculous supernatural experience of our lives.  To see His mercy manifest itself in our lives.  To see the second chances of a new job and career, a new home, new support and friendships, new hope, new dreams, total forgiveness and healing.  To see the complete and finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  We have been able to activate the gospel.

I recently learned that when Christ said, “It is finished” on the cross, that statement carried cultural significance because at that time when prisoners were released they would literally wear a sign around the community saying, “It is finished."  This served as a reminder and symbol that this individual had paid their debt to society and the past was now behind them. No one could use their mistakes against them anymore.  We believe this to be true for my husband as well.  He paid the price, he did everything he was asked to do, and he humbled himself under God’s mighty hand, that God could lift Him up in due time.  (1 Peter 5:6)  With the power of our words and perspective, we declared that the MOMENT my husband walked out of that jail door, the moment his cell was unlocked, that this was finished.  That the blood of Jesus Christ was enough to cover and cleanse his mistakes.  That God is true to His word and therefore really can move our sins and mistakes as far as the east is from the west.  (Psalm 103:12)  If God said it, it must be true and we chose to activate it.  It required much intention, but through the process of studying God’s word, praying God’s word, and believing God’s word, we have seen this incredible gospel manifest in our very own lives.  

Our deepest prayer is that we would live our lives worthy of this gospel, so that God could point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)  Revelation 12:11 declares that we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.  We are hopeful that our testimony, the story of what God has done in our lives, can benefit the lives of others.  We find value in recounting God's deeds, sharing what He has done, and declaring His greatness through His mighty works.  The intention of this blog is to document the miraculous testimony of life after death.  We will never stop sharing the miracles, signs, and wonders of our great God. 

I remember a specific prayer our dear friends prayed over us just weeks before my husband was sentenced: “I pray that when they walk out of this fire, that they would not even smell like smoke.”  And we can testify that this is truly the case.  This new book represents a new hopeful and bright future which has appeared in many ways. I am excited to dive into the details of our new story and start filling the blank pages with the signs and wonders we have seen since my husband’s release and share the miracle of a new life that has been so graciously given to us.  We look down at our garments only to see that they truly are as white and pure as this January snow.  

In light of this new fresh and white beginning and the hope of a new year, we are excited to create new habits as a family in 2013.  Our goal is to create a new habit each month of this year, with the hope that a year from now we will be practicing 12 new habits!  Starting this blog is the first habit I plan to maintain, as documentation of this process and the miracles God will do, as well as to hold us accountable to our intention to grow and change as a family.  

As an addition to this year of intention and new habits, we found it appropriate to lay out the rules in our family that we can hang in our home as a reminder of what we value and how we intend to interact.  After so much change and as we transition into a new life together, we believe starting with a new set of "rules" will bring us clarity and freedom as we move forward into the incredible future that lies ahead.   

Habit #1: Document