God is able

Lifted up, He defeated the grave

Raised to Life, our God is able

In his Name, we overcome

For the Lord, our God, is able!

I know you’ve heard me say it before, but we go an to absolutely AMAZING church here in Birmingham. God is just doing incredible things there. He is present and moving. I just can’t even begin to explain it, other than to say, WOW! It has nothing to do with the church walls themselves, but the presence and blessing of God within it. It is such my prayer that every single one of our family members will visit us over the course of our 3 years here and attend church with us. It’s just life changing!

Pastor Chris started an unbelievable 4 week message series yesterday called Legacy – doing exactly what GOD created you to do here on this earth so that when you go, people will remember the name of the Lord.

If you’ve got 40 minutes to sit down, I’d strongly recommend watching the message from this past Sunday, and maybe tuning in for the next 3 Sundays! Legacy – part 1

Psalm 112:6 – A righteous (headed in the right direction because of a right God living within you) man will be remembered FOREVER.

Ephesians 4:1 – I URGE you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Leaving a legacy is really about living beyond ourselves because we just can’t do it on our own. We ALL have a call of God on our lives, whether we’ve accepted Him as our Lord and Savior or not. The realty is, He created each one of us and put a calling on our life. You can’t truly find out what that calling is without Him because He is the only one who knows us and knows what it is!

You see, Acts 17:26-28 says that God determined the times set for us and the exact places we should live. God did this so that we would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him. For in Him, we live and move and have our being. … God placed us here in Birmingham, right now, for a purpose. He put you right where you are too for that very same reason. Do you believe that?

Pastor Chris also talked about being a generation that finishes well so that the next generation can continue to lead in such a way. Truly leaving a legacy. Before we can leave that legacy, we’ve got to be aligned with the life God has set before us to live. You see, it’s more than just being a “good person”. Yes, God calls us to do good works, not out of duty or obligation, but because of our faith and love for Him. A profound statement from yesterday’s sermon was that we must “ALWAYS connect the good deeds with the good news!” If we feed the hungry, but don’t tell them about Jesus, their tummy’s will be full but they will still be lost. Hungry people and full people both end up in the same place if they don’t know Jesus.

John 6:27 says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.” So, let’s do good for the name of Jesus! Amen!

All this to say that David and I were extremely moved yesterday to be intentional in figuring out what kind of legacy we would like to leave. We feel so called to Birmingham at the moment and are just so excited about what God has in store here for us. Now, our focus is on being intentional, taking no credit, and giving all the glory to God.

For when (insert your name) has served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. Acts 13:36. Let’s be a generation that finishes well!

So, do you believe that your God is able to give you such purpose in your life? One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 3:20 – God is able to to immeasurably more than all we could ever ask or imagine! Praying that for you today!

Happy Monday!

Fall Fun!

This past week we have participated in a few fall events. On Tuesday we ventured to Aldridge Gardens to play with a few new friends, dress up in our Halloween costumes, and do a pumpkin hunt! It was a good practice run in our Halloween costumes to see what we may need to add before the big dress up day! Both girls are bumble bees this year. I thought about my friends, Annie and Carrie, and their annual Pumpkin Party for the kids back home. I am sure gonna miss that this year! In fact we already did because it was last night. Looked like so much fun!

Cori and her new friends from gymnastics class

 

On Friday, Dave and I took the girls to the pumpkin patch. It’s interesting here in Alabama because they don’t have a lot of these church pumpkin patches that Gainesville has. Alabama does the “REAL THANG” where you head out to where the pumpkins actually grow. Unfortunately, these patches are about an hour away from Birmingham on both sides so we decided to try out a a second annual pumpkin patch at a church near by. Let me just say that it’s not like the one at Trinity back in Gainesville, but they did have pumpkins so that was a plus! ha! And, we got to snap some pictures of the girls in their sweet pumpkin dresses, which was the main thing I wanted anyway! I’m thinking next year, the “REAL THANG” will be a must on the fall list of things to do!

We are headed to a fall festival tomorrow, a Halloween play date at the Zoo next week, and trying to solidify our Halloween plans. Fall here has been much like fall in Florida, except for the changing leaves. Those are just beautiful! We’ve had some cool days, which we’ve enjoyed very much. Everyone has mum mum’s on their front porch, and I just love that!

Hope ya’ll are enjoying fall as much as we are! Until next time…

26 Weeks!

Good gracious! How have 26 weeks flown by and I haven’t once posted a picture of my growing belly?! It’s so different with each pregnancy. I was just talking with someone about this the other day. With Cori Belle, we took a pregnancy picture EVERY week! With Finley, we didn’t start until week 17 and took one every other week. And, this sweet little guy didn’t get a picture of his growing mama’s belly until week 23 – and that didn’t even make it on the blog!

So, here we are at 26 weeks, FINALY getting a picture up! HA!

 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 Weeks

Gender: It's a BOY!!! Tucker David Smith

Size of baby: He is 2.2 lbs. according to the pregnancy tracker on my phone. The size of a cucumber!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 15 lbs – man, that feels like a lot!

Maternity Clothes: I need some!!! This is the first pregnancy I haven’t had all my friends maternity clothes to borrow! I have ONE pair of regular jeans I can wear with a hair tie. I’d MUCH rather wear maternity pants. And, I literally have NO maternity shirts. This girl needs to do some maternity shopping!

Movement: LOTS of movement when I’m sitting down. He also likes to roll to the front of my belly quite often. I love getting to feel his little body hang out there.

Sleep: Things are going pretty well in the sleep department, but I have NOT been wanting to get up early. Definitely feel like I’m requiring more sleep!

What I miss: My abs! But, it’s worth it to not have any at the moment!

Cravings: Pregnancy started out with me craving smoothies ALL THE TIME, but these days, I’d like some cookie dough, ice cream, and milk shakes. Guess I better head to the gym! HA!

Symptoms: A few Braxton Hicks and a BIG belly!

Best Moment this week: Just knowing there is a sweet boy growing in there!

 

Now, let’s take a look at some comparisons… These are all picture of me at 26 weeks. Cori on the left, Finley on the right. Tucker on the bottom. Is it just me, or does it get bigger EVERY time?!