Happy Birthday to my Super Hero

It's a husband! It's a dad! It's... my best friend. :)

And today is his birthday. Man, am I glad he was born. :P

In the last few years, I have been through an aweful whole lot. An Peden has helped carry me through it all. He is sweet, thoughtful, compassionate, gentle.

He loves our daughter so much he might actually explode. I could not think of anyone i would rather have as a daddy to my sweet baby girl. 

I love him so much. I don't know what I would do without and there really is no way to accurately portray just how much I appreciate him. 

Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 "Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away."

AND NOW! for pictures. :) 

 

August 6 2011

February 9 2013

What Direction?

"And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bythinia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the Gospel." (Acts 16:6-10)

I am intrigued by this passage that we studied in Sunday School yesterday. Peden and I have recently started praying over direction in our life. And from I have experienced, god very seldom hides it from you when you ask, "where to, God?" 

So this could get interesting. 

That is all. :P

LITL: Joyful noises... lots. of joyful. noises.

This is my sweet, wise little girl. At the time this was taken, she was telling me very important things that I could not understand. Partly because I don't speak baby and partly because she was speaking in a pitch I almost couldn't hear. 

Yes my baby girl has found her voice. And it's a big one. I guess that shouldn't surprise me. :P

But other than making me wish I had earplugs, her ... lovely... voice :P reminds me of something. It reminds me of how beautiful of a creation we are. Yes rotten with sin, but beautiful created. "Wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:14)

Bekah is discovering the way her lungs, windpipe, vocal cords, diaphragm, lips, and tongue work together to make range of noises that she can make. Although she is still working on understanding how to make or understand the noises we do, and she is years away from understanding the why of any of it. 

Then I wonder why myself. Why did God invest such time and ingenuity into such a flawed creature? Biology always blows my mind. Getting down to the tiny little details. the way God perfectly knit all of our piece together to function just the way they do. The way he created our bodies to make sounds and our minds to make language. Our bodies to find rhythm (some not as well as others :P) and our hearts to detect the music all around us. 

God is so good. :)

We are all familiar with the verse, "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." (Psalm 95:1) I pray that I will find joy in my Savior every day. I pray that my daughter would know joy. 

I am also constantly begging God to bless me with his wisdom. I pray that my daughter also would find wisdom in the word of God. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)

So "sing to the Lord." (Psalm 96:1) Find joy in his wonders, one of those wonders being you. And seek wisdom in his word. Praise him. :)

I'm no supermom.

But I sure do try.

Motherhood has a funny way of making you feel like the strongest person in the world... and the weakest. All at the same time. 

The other day, Motherhood through me a rough play. And what did I do? I ran from it. Then I ran back to it. And past it. And kept on running. But then I stopped, turned, and walked back. 

For those of you that might be confused, let me clarify. When Peden came home,  I had had enough. I was frustrated, angry, and almost to tears. SO, like the God-sent gift that he is, he took our beautiful, but stubbornly screaming daughter and let me go for a run. On the positive side, I ran the fast mile I have run in a year. On the negative, I didn't find what I was looking for. I didn't even know WHAT I was looking for. 

Clean slate protocol. (Warning. Dont read if you havent seen the new irom man movie.)

Last weekend my husband and I went to see the new iron man movie. (Fantastic, hilarious, heart wrenching, the whole package. :) Pepper's life is put in danger by Tony's obsession with the iron man suits.

THIS IS WHERE THE SPOILING BEGINS. In the end, Tony initiates what Jarvis calls the clean slate protocol. All the remaining suits are destroyed, in order to show pepper that Tony is letting go.

Everyone brings baggage along the way in life. But when two people start traveling that way together, the quaint little stationwagon starts to get a little crowded. You start cramming in traumatic life experiences, bad teachers, past bullies, old relationships, the childhood dog that passed away. And don't get me started on the extra trailer behind just for all the sets of parents.

I mean come on! You haven't left any room for the kids to form complexes of their own along the way.

Before Tony and pepper could truly enjoy their life together, they had to let go. Pepper had to learn to trust Tony (although that didn't exactly go the way he planned), and Tony had to learn to move on from things he couldn't fix or explain.

1 Corinthians 5:17 reads "If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come." This refers to a new relationship with Christ in which he tosses all your old baggage to the curb. He step on the gas and never looks back. 

When you begin to walk life with someone here on earth, you have to do the same thing. But, unfortunately neither of you in the relationship are Christ. So not only do you have to toss out the other person's baggage, but you have to TOSS OUT YOUR OWN. Pepper couldn't initiate the clean slate protocol. Tony had to do it. 

Initiate the clean slate protocol. throw out your baggage. Let it go. Trust. You will form new baggage along the way. Together. I guarantee it. :P

Love Triangle: me, my family, and my job.

When my daughter smiles at me I feel the same way as when I walk into a YMCA and kids run up and hug me. All i have to do is watch her sleep and it thrills me. Thrills me as much as telling kids stories from the Bible that show them how much God loves them.

Does it make me a bad mom to say that I love my job as much as my family? :P

Strangely these were the thoughts that kept me persevering through the doubt that I could a wife, mom, and missionary all at the same time. God has called me, and he is able to and will equip me. :)

So yeah. Ministry. I have a confession to make. Hopefully no one will hate me for it. In the flesh... I am extremely lazy. :( Monday, I slept until mid afternoon, and once i lost that big chunk of the day, it was so hard to resolve myself to anything, whether it be exercise, cleaning, or making calls. However, I did meet with a friend to practice my ministry presentation. Not only did I have a great run through, even while caring for the baby, but she is also considering partnering and spreading the word. :)

So yesterday i resolved myself to getting up at six am. yikes!And I was actually quite productive. I didn't get as much as wanted done because of a praticularly needy baby that day but still. I made four calls, left two messages, and got one really great response. Following up on that response in the next couple of days. 

Unfortunately my KCT coach cancelled our first call because of health issues, but i am looking forward to our first call next week. 

So over all not a terrible start. :)

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

My new journey, my new self.

"I pray for the patience of job and the wisdom of solomon. And what does God give me?"

"A daughter. Isn't His sense of humor funny that way?"  :)

I drafted this months ago and just rediscovered it. LOL. I think it was a conversation between my husband and I while I was pregnant. But while I have you here, I guess I would like to say a few words in honor of mother's day. 

I once saw a poll in Parent's magazine about whether or not a woman should use a picture of just her kid(s) as he picture on a social network. Many women said that that entailed losing one'sidentity or that they were more than just a mom. Boo, I say. There was one mother however who voiced my feeling better than I probably even understood them at the time.

She said that having her daughter had permanently changed her. That he daughter was an extension of her own identity. In the movie "A Time To Kill," Matthew Mconahey's (sp?) character calls it "life beyond her own." I know exactly how this feels.

I have been preparing to return to ministry with a large portion of time. I haven't got a breast pump or arranged for babysitters, because I have always imagined doing ministry with her in tow. And she doesn't interfere. She feels like and extension of my arm. A natural part of me.

I love my daughter and the way she has changed me and my life. :)

I'm baaaack!

I know. You've missed me, haven't you. Pining away, checking facebook every day to see if I posted a new blog. Or perhaps getting by on the adorable baby pictures all over my timeline. Yeah. I can't get enough of her either. :P

Well, I have returned. After a three month vacation (HA! haha! right.) I have returned to the blogging world. I am excited about whats in store for the future.

I am starting a new phase of ministry, after having completed a special training. I hope to start posting weekly ministry updates, to keep those curious informed, and to keep myself accountable to managing the time God has given me. 

Of course I still have that adorable doodle bug pictured above. I hope not to let her take over the blog too much. But i will be occasionally chronicling motherhood every once in a while. Don't worry. This will not become a purely mommy-blog. 

Finally, if you know me, you know one of my greatest struggles and convictions is the fact that I am horrible at keeping a daily time with God. I hope to return to frequent "Lingering in the Light" posts to share the things God is doing in my heart and in my life. 

Hope you will enjoy the ride alongside me. :) TTFN. (Yeah, the Pooh nursery theme is starting to get to me.)

PS. if there are any suggestions, stories, updates, etc, you would like to see more of, just send a shout out. You know where to find me. :)

Winter Newsletter 2013

Here is a link to my Winter 2013 CEF Newsletter. 

If you would like to receive my quarterly newsletter in the mail, please email me your contact information. You can reach me at savannahlrbarber@gmail.com or here on my blog. 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/1lq6nJ9mgZkAW7aD_v-tW5LHJGTsQ1-zik1J0BcZB5P6rkELNXanqbrFVsL10/edit

Welcome! Please come in. :)

For anyone who might not know... I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

It's by far my favorite holiday. I have always looked forward to it the whole year, since I was little. Not because of presents or anything. I love having my family all together in one place. Every year we go to my Granny's house for lunch and dirty Santa. Because none of my family lives in Montgomery with me, this was special. All my aunts, uncles, cousins gathered together in one house. Then on Christmas my sister, who either lived with her dad, away at college, or in Birmingham throughout my life, would be home for breakfast and presents. :)

When my dad passed away last year, we drove to Brimingham with my brother and had Christmas day at at my sister's house with her and her husband. I loved it. We were still together.

But this year, it's my turn! :) I never realized until I actually had a house big enough to host people in, how much I love having people over. :)

Decorating was a full scale endeavor this year because (a) there was actually room to decorate, compared to our sardine apartment we lived in last year, and (b) we can have people over to see them!

Strangly enough, I haven't been too terribly stressed out about the fact that there is SO MUCH TO DO and so little time. In addition to my siblings staying over Christmas Eve, We will be gone the three or four days before Christmas Eve seeing my husband's family (and frankly just having a small get away before the baby comes.) This gives me THREE days nest week to do EVERYTHING!

But I am nothing but excited. :) Well I'm tired, but who can help that at eight months pregnant. :P

It occured to me recently that perhaps I have a gift I never discovered before now. I have always admired a few friends of mine: those friends that were always welcome to open their home to people at any time. This might be because while I was growing up I often needed places opened up to me. But now I see that perhaps I have this same gift. I love to have people over. :) I love for people to know that if they need anything, they can show up on our doorstep. There is always a couch bed for anyone in need. Jesus called us to be open to such spontaneous ministry:

An Old Table and an Old Memory

One of my very favorite Christmas memories tooks place at my grandmother's house. Every year we would go to Granny and B-bob's (my grandfather) house for family Christmas on my mother's side of the family. I would play with my younger cousins while we watched my uncles and older cousins play football in the yard. Everyone of us had at least one special ornament we would look for on Granny's tree. It was special because it was there just for us. 

Then we would open presents and the children would disappear with their new toys while the adults played a game of dirty santa. We anxiously awaited the day we would be able to join them. Although probably not as anxiously as we awaited the day we were taller than Granny. That's when you could have your food in the living room with the grown ups. :P

My grandfather passed away when I was just seven years old, so this memory is one from when I as quite little. I was probably five at the oldest. B-bob stooped down and scooped my onto his lap, then did the same to my little brother. We each sat on one of his knees as B-bob started to sing. We had these large bells in our hands. I am not even sure where we got them, but as my grandfather belted out the words to Jingle Bells, we offered him the greatest and loudest accompaniment we could afford. 

And that's all I remember. That simple memory has kept my grandfather's face in the forefront of my mind every Christmas season for the last 14 years. I still remember the feeling of his old but steady hands under my armpits, and the jolt of upward movement from  he floor to his slender knee. 

LITL: See Instruction Manual

Unfortunately there are many things that do not come with instructions. For some people this isn't a huge problem. Take my husband for example. He can take a look at some pieces or the inside of almost anything and figure out how it works and how to fix it. 

Me? Not so much. I like to do research and be prepared going into a situation. I have to feel like I can control the situation if I want.

Lucky for me, God knows this. He created me. he knows how I tick. Is that an excuse? Not a chance. God often asks me to step out in faith, blindly,with out question, and I have found great joy in doing so. 

But every once in a while I remember that God also gave us specific instructions. Very recently, I studied the passage of the flood in Genesis. I would never have imagined how much it would mean to me to read through what seems at first to be obscure detail on building a massive boat, details I would never need. I prefer canoes, anyway. Less pieces. 

But for someone who gets terrified and incredibly discouraged when I find myself in the middle of a situation for which I am competely (or seemingly so) unqualified, details nad instructions pull from me a sigh of relief. 

Lately, I have been stuck in this terrifying sense of ineptitude. And it wasn't until reading through those specific instructions given to Noah that I realized that God had been pointing me towards the instruction I needed all along. Laid on my heart had been the answer I was avoiding. 

I can't imagine the that Noah found his task easy. I am sure this job God gave him was nothing if not overwhelming. In the same way, looking over the instruction God has given me can also be quite overwhelming.  But hey. God could have just told him to build a really big boat. I'm sure that would have been maddening. 

So I take courage from the fact that God did give me instructions. And I am eventually going to man up and read them. :P (hey give a girl a break.)

Genesis 6:9 "Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God."

Psalm 37:4,7 "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass ... Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."

What instructions has God given you? Have you manned up and read the manual yet? What's keeping you?

Halloween Belly Painting

"Mr Big Artiste"

Final Product. Painted by Peden and Melanie

Ugh this is a horrible Picture. But he is so proud :P

Introducing... Rebekah Leona Barber!

Yesterday we were blessed to spend some time in Birmingham with my sister Stephanie and brother-in-law Nate. We are also quite blessed to say that we got to go to a lovely ultrasound center to see our little nugget. The place was fantastic! We walked into a small waiting room, filled out one patient form, then the show began. The business is called 4dmommies, located in Mountain brook area of Birmingham.

This is the front of the office building in which the place is located. This is the best picture I could get from the website. 

The room where we had the ultrasound was like being at home. Complete with a bed (way comfier than anything I've ever been on in a doctor's office), chairs and a couch for family and friends to lounge on, and a TV that can be called nothing short of Sunday-night-football worthy (but for viewing baby instead. I'm sure a disappointment to some dads.) :P The owner of the business was so friendly and informal. Her baby girl was even asleep in the room when we got there. Adorable. 

The ultrasound was very thorough, even going overtime to attempt to insure that the gender determination was accurate. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a great 3d ultrasound experience. See their prices and information at her website here.