i've been doing alot of listening lately

Ok. I have like A MILLION things running through my head these days. All of which I would LOVE to share with you.

Lucky you.

In all seriousness, I feel like life has been as crazy as a whirlwind lately, but Jesus has been so faithful to use the quiet moments to speak to me. In fact, sometimes I swear I can hear "Just As I Am" playing softly in the background while He does a fresh work in my life somewhere between cleaning the kitchen and doing the laundry. I feel like the Lord and I have been having some good talks lately. Fortunately for me, I've been talking less and listening more. While I would love to attribute this to a new level of Godliness acheived on my part, I will be honest and tell you that it's probably because Sir Talks Alot requires most of my words on a daily basis. Sadly, thoughts are all I have left at the end of the day, and I've found I have alot more energy to just sit and BE STILL than to prattle on and on about my feelings and whatnot. {And somewhere, right at this very moment, pigs are flying by my husband's window since I'm sure he thought the day I would say this would never come.}

All of this to say that I've spent a great deal of time thinking about deep topics like Fear and Faith, which is surprisingly refreshing since my mind spends most of it's day trying to figure out how to explain the basics of going potty in the Big Boy Potty to a 2 1/2 year old...Jesus, come quickly! Now, fear is a topic for another day...or five. However, today I was listening to a message about faith. Here's the funny thing about faith. It's a pretty intense concept that isn't easy for the average human to grasp. Plus, it has way too many facets for this stay at home mom to tackle today. Like I said, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that my son is old enough for his own special potty seat that apparently will be living in MY bathroom.

But I digress.

What I've learned these last few months is that faith and trust are the opposite of fear. I've been afraid of alot of things lately...what if something happens to Luke? Or Austin. Or my parents.

You get the picture.

And when I'm not afraid I'm worrying. Because I'm a mom and so I'm a multi-tasker. Things like this go through my mind on a daily basis:

What happens when God says no to my heart's desire?

Am I being the best mom and wife I can be? {no army jokes please}

And then one day God spoke to me. It was such a clear message that I felt like I could've looked over and seen Him sitting right next to me. This is what He said:

Believe Me for good things.

Now that is a good word. Hallelujah and Amen.

I've spent so much time worrying about all the things that could go wrong, knowing that He can allow me to be tested in those ways, that I've forgotten how much He loves to give good gifts to His children.

So I went ahead and asked Him to keep reminding me of that. Because I'm a mom and so half of my brain cells belong to Austin, thus making my ability to remember half of what it used to be. And He has. Over and over again. At this point, it's almost a habit to say that to myself when I'm tempted to fear instead of trust and have faith.

Believe Him for the good. Even as undeserving as we are, He still loves to give good things to us!

the holidays. part 2.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here's The Sequel. As promised. Once again, we had a blast over the holidays and made memories that we will never forget. Here are just a couple of highlights from The Dallas Christmas...

• We've declared this "The Year of Yes" right, Lindsay & Jared?
• Austin LOVED playing with his second cousins. The proof? Yelling "This is SOOO fun!" while running down the hall.
• Mexican food, mexican food, and MORE mexican food. Luke is still on overload!
• I asked Luke if he would listen to Beth Moore with me on our way up to The Big D. He said "Sure!" and then told me I would have to listen to his music too since relationships are all about give and take. We didn't listen to Beth.
• SNOW! That's right. It snowed on us when we drove into Dallas. It didn't stick since the ground wasn't cold enough. In other words, it was my favorite kind of snow.
• Using the iPhone to take the tour of Dallas, therefore, bypassing the horrendous Cottonbowl traffic. It was touch and go at times but we made it. And that's all that matters.

Like I said, we had a blast! Can't wait 'til Christmas/New Years 2010 :)

the perfect rainy day activity

Well, now that I think about it, I could probably think of other activities that are perfect for rainy days but this one's pretty good too.

Now. Before I go any further I feel like I should address the fact that I promised the sequel to part 1 of our holidays. All I can say is...I'm sorry. I'm sorry that the thought of uploading all those pictures to One True Media is more than I can committ to at this moment. Sorry that you won't be able to enjoy the rest of the fun vicariously. And I'm sorry that I got your hopes up only to leave you disappointed.

I have nothing to say for myself. And that's saying something! ;)

But don't worry. I wanted to share another list of blogs I really enjoy reading. Some give me fun ideas to try. Others are just inspiring. And some are very encouraging. So make yourself a nice, steaming cup of coffee {or tea. I don't discriminate}, pull up a chair, and make me feel better by blogstalking these people like I do. :) You know you want to so don't fight that feeling.

Chatting At The Sky

My Cup 2 Yours

The Tomkat Studio

The McClenahans

The Pioneer Woman

Enjoy your rainy Friday, friends!

the holidays. part 1.

Ok. Due to the large volume of pictures I took over the holidays, I've decided to share them with you via A Slide Show. It has taken me a ridiculous amount of time to get this all set up. No, really. A ridiculous amount. So, with that in mind, I've decided to give you the highlights {in bullet form...get excited} of our holiday festivities with the Bauerlein side instead of using large amounts of words to describe every moment. Besides, they say a picture is worth a thousand words and I need to save as many words as possible for my conversations with Sir Talks Alot.

Now. Without further ado, I give you The Highlights followed by a RIVETING slide show. {If you want captions, you'll have to visit my facebook profile. Apparently, you have to upgrade to "premium" with One True Media if you want to actually tell a story with your pictures. No thank you. I'm all about free...well, in this case anyway.}

• Austin and I decorated the tree. It looked great, and I'm convinced that's because all of the candy canes were grouped thisclose together on one side of the tree.
• Besides the close knit group of candy canes, my favorite part of decorating the tree with Austin was showing him Daddy's ornaments and his First Christmas ornaments. Later he would proudly tell all of our visitors that, "this is me!" or "this is Daddy!" when pointing to said ornaments.
• We all got to experience Austin's first Christmas program. I dressed him in his cutest red sweater, dropped him off at his class, and waited excitedly to see him ham it up with all of his friends. I should know by now that things rarely go as planned... He cried. I sat with his class. And it was like none of it ever happend afterwards.
• Austin got to help Gigi, Claire, and me do some Christmas baking. He loved every minute. So we bought him some play food for Christmas. Here's hoping our little chef will be making dinner SOON! ;)
• Christmas Eve brought lots of exciting events and gifts. The sisters were thrilled to recieve Snuggies from our Granny. Austin, however, was NOT thrilled to see his Mommy wearing it. He cried for 10 minutes and not even the new Hot Wheels could save the day. That didn't stop us from seizing the moment and taking multiple Classy with a "K" pictures!
• Austin decided he wanted the zebra striped snuggie to be his.
• He asks to wear it every time he sees the pictures. Or opens the blanket drawer. Or just feels the need for a snuggle.
• Luke and I made cookies with Austin for Santa. We chose sugar cookies with M&Ms, and by we, I mean me. I learned alot about Santa that night. For example, sometimes he prefers his cookies sans the M&Ms, and Dr. Pepper is his drink of choice for the big night. Can't wait for Austin to tell all his friends he leaves a big glass of Dr. Pepper out for Santa on Christmas Eve...
• The Keiffers started a new Christmas morning tradition...a visit to our local IHOP for some pancakes and hot chocolate. And oh yeah, some Dr. Pepper too. You know, for "Santa."
• Christmas was at our house. We ate. ALOT. I think I'm still full.
• We all celebrated my mom's 54th birthday. Good times were had by all, but how can you not when funny girls like Claire and Britt are present. We loved making the night special for the Birthday Girl! :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After celebrating Christmas "Bauerlein style" my little family headed up to Dallas to celebrate with the other Keiffers. I'll post pictures of that next. We loved every minute we got to spend with our families and continue to feel blessed beyond measure where they are concerned! Hope your holidays were merry too!! :)

happy new year

Well. I've let too much time pass between posts. The problem is that if I wait too long, I forget all the events I want to record in cyberspace. You know, so as never to forget them. I have much to fill you in on, but I just finished posting pictures on facebook. Sadly, I don't have the wherewithall to wait any longer for pictures to upload on here. My deepest apologies.

But until my next post, know that we had a great Christmas and New Years. Once again we are in awe of God's blessings and humbled that He would give us such amazing families! We are so excited to see what 2010 holds for us, and know that God is already all over it. The good, the bad, and the ugly. So we are thankful in advance and can't wait to share it all with you. I will leave you with this:

Psalm 65:11

"You crown the year with Your good blessings, and You leave abundance in Your wake."