EASTER!!!

Well, I have not posted anything for such a long long time! I have much to write about, but I will save that for later. We have been in Florida at my grandparents house for the last few days and I have so many amazing pictures to put up, but tonight I will just put up some adorable pictures of Ty in her first Easter outfit. I promise to write more later!!

Girl's Night

Well, tonight I had a girls night with my little girl! I picked up Tanner from work and drove him straight to the airport in Denver. His good friend Jake bought him a ticket to LA so he could drive part of the way back to KC in a new car he just bought there. They are crazy boys and will be driving through the night. I don't envy them at all. Ty and I had a relaxing night and rented the movie Julie & Julia and cuddled on the couch and ate ice cream. Well, I ate ice cream and Ty was asleep for most of the movie, but it was still really fun. I love being a mom and am so excited to think that I have so many more girl nights ahead with my beautiful daughter! I would have posted pictures, but Tanner took the camera with him. Next post I promise for updated pictures of the cutest little girl on the planet!

Growing up in the House of the Lord

This morning Tanner, Ty and I got to the house of prayer here in Colorado at about 5:45am. Usually Tanner stays home with Ty from 6-8am while I go to the prayer room. I come home at 8 and pick them up and we go back to the prayer room (which is also the missions organization where Tanner works) and Tanner goes to work while I stay there in the prayer room with Ty till noon. This morning Tanner had to work a few more hours so we all went together. Right now I am getting paid to help out with leadership in the prayer room and we need the income so I can't really be a full time stay at home mom. However, I am so thankful that I can have this kind of job and there is no other place that I love more than the house of prayer! Still, I have been thinking a lot about what it looks like for Ty to grow up in this atmosphere. In the book of 1 Samuel two different stories are told about those who grew up in the house of the Lord. Eli, the priest who ministered before the Lord, had two sons who were to grow up and take their father's role in the temple. However, they did not grow to love the place where the Lord dwells but rather became jaded to it and offered abominations before the Lord and led the people of Israel in great sin. Samuel also grew up in the house of the Lord. However, his story was very different. He learned how to listen to the voice of the Lord and grew in the fear of God and love for His ways. He became a great prophet for Israel and led many into the ways of righteousness.

I believe Ty has a great calling on her life. I desire that like Samuel she would grow up learning to love the voice of the Lord and be one that proclaims His ways to a wayward generation. However, I am sober to the reality I must contend for her little heart to not become jaded to the prayer movement. I am feeling the weight of responsibility that we have as parents to steward her heart while she is young and exemplify to her the joy of loving Jesus with all that we have.

Lord, give Tanner and I grace and strength to raise Ty in the admonition and fear of You! May she grow up with the cry that better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. May her heart be fascinated at a young age with Your endless beauty! May she have the freedom to find You for herself and realize her own identity as Your daughter. Thank you for entrusting us with such a priceless gift.

Toys

Ty has begun to play with toys which is so fun to watch. Her favorite toy is this teddy bear that her Aunt Lissa gave her when she came to visit right after her birth. This little bear will successfully entertain her for a long time. I love it! Last night Tanner and I just watched and laughed as she lay on her back and smiled, laughed and cooed at this bear. She also really enjoys sucking on it. I absolutely love watching all of the little changes in Ty. She is growing up so fast and I want to take in and enjoy every second of it!

JOB!!!!!!!!

Today I am so so proud of my amazing husband. After what seems like forever we finally got the good news that he got the job he has been wanting for such a long time! He will be working for Every Home for Christ in the International Department. It is a job that is right up his alley and work that he will really enjoy...something I prayed for before we moved! He has been working part time in this department for a little while, but we really needed the job to become full time and permanent for it to be sustainable for us as a family. It has been quite a journey of faith waiting and praying that he would get this job, and we have learned so many lessons about trusting the provision and faithfulness of God. We are so thankful to the Lord for His goodness to bring us through this season and we pray that we would continue to learn to lean on Him and Him alone!

Now Tanner just has less than one week to go and he will graduate with his Masters in Business Administration. Again, I am so so proud of him! He is such a hard worker and amazing husband and dad. The last six months have been pretty intense with moving, having a baby, starting a House of Prayer, hoping and praying for a job and lots of hours spent on school. However, now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and Christmas vacation is right around the corner, the kind of attention of our Father seems so real and near. I am so excited to spend this special Christmas rejoicing in the goodness of God as a family. I am especially excited to celebrate it with our new little girl! This time of year we often sing the song O Come O Come Emmanuel. Emmanuel, God With Us, has such new meaning this season! He has shown Himself to be a God that is indeed With Us. He is so good and will continue to be faithful in every way!

Entering the "Blog World"

Well, I have officially joined the world of blogging. After many years of resisting modern social networking tools, I have finally succumbed to sway of "the blog". However, I have come to realize that there are a great many benefits to this world and after spending hours enjoying reading and looking at blogs from other friends, I now realize that this really is a good way to stay connected to my wonderful friends and family who are now so far away.

Tanner and I recently moved to Colorado to help start a house of prayer and work with the ministry Every Home for Christ. A little over a month after we moved we had our beautiful little girl Tyler Elizabeth Joy. We have only lived here for three months, but these last three months have been such an adventure. We have already grown so much as a family and are learning what it means to actually live by faith. I want to document these adventures, and with our sweet little girl growing up so fast already, I know her grandma and grandpa and wonderful aunts and uncles who are far away will be grateful for updated pics and stories of her.

So, these are a few photos of Ty to get this blog started off right!