Art of Faith

It's been too long•••June & July 2013

I am sorry I haven't written in this long! It's been a busy and fun filled month! 

Kaleb, Elijah and I have been enjoying our new house. 

I still have thing I need to get done but it's coming along. 

Elijah is crawling all around and we have had to adjust our lives accordingly. He wants to explore everything. And we want him to be able to do so and do so 

S A F E L Y !!

We spent Fourth of July with my sister, Kiah in Minneapolis. It was a lot of sun! We had Chinese food, went to a water park and relaxed. It was nice to be together!!

Elijah popped two more teeth this month! He now has 2 bottom front teeth and 2 top teeth- half grown in! 

He has enjoyed eating new things! He loves oatmeal cereal and rice cereal. He also LOVES sweet potatoes! I mix breastmilk. Sweet potatoes and rice cereal together! So far that seems to be his favorite! He makes cute little "mmmm mmmm yummmmm sounds"

It's adorable!

Kaleb participated in a Zombie run this month with my sisters boyfriend Mason. 

They had a blast! It rained so we spent time in the car and then watched the end. But we never did get to see Kaleb or Mason running. I'm just glad they had fun. Neither one of them survived but that's ok. :) They were all smiles afterwards! 

Elijah is growing far too fast! I just can't believe it has been almost 7 months ALREADY! Kaleb and I were discussing it and praying about it, we are going to try for another baby next summer. I would really like to avoid having a winter baby. 

I know God is ultimately in control, but I would like to have another homebirth. {{well last time was in a hotel suite}} I'd like to actually stay home this next time around. . We are choosing to wait because I'd also like to enjoy the one On one time with Elijah and especially with nursing. I think it's nice to allow every child a time to nurse and have mommy all to themselves. I know you can tandem nurse and share the breasts with both kids but I justness feel in my heart, allowing some time for each child to have the breast feeding experience all to themselves. So, unless we have a fun surprise, spring/fall 2015 is when we would like to have another child. If God blesses is before that, so be it. 

Remember::: all babies are GOOD BABIES! 

Congratulations!! To someone who just told me she is expecting! You know who you are! 

ALSO, we are so crazy excited to meet our niece or nephew, BABY ELH (Emily Landon Holzhauer) .. I feel weird saying baby H because that's what we called Elijah before he was born. Haha. I have been trying to come up with a fun nickname. I thought of

Baby H2 

The 2nd Baby H 

Arizona Baby H

Desert baby h

Baby H-2014

Nothing seems cute. Or clever. I have no good ideas. 

I think I like ••The 2nd Baby H•• the beat of all the lame nicknames I tried to muster up. 

I am trying to give a quick recap of the past months events. It's hard to think. 

 

Kaleb bought me and ERGO carrier for Elijah! It has been such a blessing! Get one if you are expecting a baby!! 

Kaleb's grandparents were on a road trip and stopped by for a visit!! It was lovely to see them!! A great surprise!! Excited to see everyone in September!! 

We spent time with our friends the Sheets and their cousins from Illinois! We went to the beach and hung out at their home! Talking and laughing! They just had a new baby boy, Isaac! What a handsome little fella! 

Elijah, Gina and I went to Sonshine one day! It was fun and hard. Babies take extra planning. But seeing Lecrae was nice!! He always puts on a great show!! 

My Nona is here visiting from South Carolina and will be staying 6 weeks! We have had lots of fun! She seems very good considering Popop has only been gone 5 months. He is greatly missed. 

Nona told me she doesn't regret loving him as much as she did/does. She dedicated her life to being by his side. She did say, maybe we loved each other too much. And that lead to a lovely discussion about loving God first before anyone else. She is a wise woman. She does need your continued prayers. Thank you, to all who have prayed! 

Kaleb leaves Wednesday for Chicago for two nights. Poor guy has to get up at 2:30 am and drive to Minneapolis and then fly to Chicago. Yikes! We are gonna stay at my moms. Elijah, our bunny Derp and I will be driving up to my parents' house Wednesday afternoon! Elijah has a 6/7 month well baby check up this week! I'm excited to see how much he has changed since his last visit! 

Well, life is going along smoothly. 

My family in North Carolina is going through a tough time right now. Lift Mariah and Steve Hughes up in your prayers. They were hit by a drunk driver and lost their unborn daughter, Sylvia. She is in the arms of Jesus, but it doesn't change how sad this time is for them. My heart has been in pieces over this. I am in constant prayer for their broken hearts. And for a swift recovery for Mariah. Family is family no matter the distance and no matter how well we know one another. 

Jenni's thoughts..

I have been doing some Bible studying and really just wanted to post my thoughts. 

James 2:14-26

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (ESV)

Here James is comparing two different types of faith: genuine faith which leads to good works, and empty faith which is not faith at all. True faith is alive and backed up by works. False faith that has nothing to show for itself is dead.

In summary, both faith and works are important in salvation. However, believers are justified, or declared righteous before God, solely by faith. Jesus Christ is the only One who deserves credit for doing the work of salvation. Christians are saved by God's grace through faith alone.

Works, on the other hand, are the evidence of genuine salvation. They are the "proof in the pudding," so to speak. Good works demonstrate the truth of one's faith. In other words, works are the obvious, visible results of being justified by faith.

I read the above thoughts today and it resonated with me. 

Jesus doesn't judge us. He takes us as we are and asks us simply to include Him in our life. And believe that He died on the cross for our sins. 

No amount of things we do get us closer to Heaven!! Yes, it is important to try our best and let Jesus change us. 

But really, how far do we take it? We are only human we will mess up. And mistakes don't bring us further away from God. We simply need to repent. And continue to walk in His grace and mercy. 

And if you happen to read this and you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, simply call upon His name, confess that you are lost and allow Him to be a part of your life. Believe in Him. 

It is that simple.

It's all about JESUS. 

All JESUS, all the time. 

Let HIM change you!