Thank you Jesus

I finished reading the book of Matthew this morning. With it being Easter in a couple of weeks, reading Jesus’ death and resurrection story was timely. In my opinion the bible doesn’t do a great job of going into deep detail about the pain and misery that Jesus experienced while being beaten, tortured and crucified. Don’t get me wrong, it’s horrible and chilling, but the details are omitted. He gets arrested, beaten, crucified and then he rises and all is well. But after reading more detailed accounts and watching The Passion and seeing the indescribable pain that He went through, I have a whole new perspective. 

When you become a mother, you don’t really worry as much about what will happen to you, but more so what will or could happen to your children. And for a brief moment (because that’s all I could handle) I pictured Noah being crucified. As a baby. My son being tortured and hurt. Because, let’s face it, the people who would be doing the crucifying wouldn't care about how old you are. And it was enough to bring me to tears and cry out to God with gratitude. We’re God’s children. Jesus is God’s son. Though He was Jesus, He was in a mortal body and felt and lived just like any other man. Although He had a super human comprehension of Heaven and God, He didn’t have a super human ability to ignore pain. He didn't have the super human ability to keep from wanting to run when He was being captured. He was still human at the time. In fact, while He was being crucified He was so human that he accused God of forsaking him. Forgetting about him. Wondering why He was being punished the way that He was. “ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 You see, if Jesus had been crucified with the strength of God, it would have been meaningless. Anyone could be nailed to a cross and left to hang and die if they weren't affected by the pain. But not Jesus. He felt every punch, whip, thorn, and nail. He felt the weight of his body ripping through his skin and muscles. He felt the blood pouring from His body and He felt the thirst that couldn’t be quenched. While He was hanging on the cross He cried out to God begging for mercy, wondering why He wasn’t just dying already. 

EVEN JESUS QUESTIONED GOD. 

Now can we get through our heads just how remarkable the sacrifice was? Can we understand how blessed we are that we don’t have to physically hang from a tree and bleed out while in intense, agonizing pain?! Can we stop our egocentric lives for just a moment and focus on what we don’t have to do because of what He already did for us? What our children don’t have to do because of what He did for us.  It’s breathtaking. It’s indescribable. It makes me proud to be a Christian. I hope you are too

Raising a Boy-Why I may not make it to 40

Noah is only 13 months old. I can safely say that if he was our first baby, he may have been the ONLY baby! I don't know if it's because he's a boy or if it's his personality, but he is a HANDFUL! 

He's been to the emergency room once. He bangs his head against the floor (whether it be cement or carpet) when he's mad. He has a permanent bruise on his forehead-or multiple bruises across his entire forehead. He has a black eye 70% of the time. He just recently ripped his frenulum in his mouth and blood was EVERYWHERE. He climbs everything. He eats dirt. He bites. He'll throw himself on the ground in a temper tantrum in a second. 

BUT he is such a sweet and loving child. He always needs cuddles to get to sleep and he kisses and hugs constantly. He pretends to feed mommy and laughs so hard when I "eat" his food. He makes the "motor" sounds when he's playing with his cars. He brushes his hair and our hair. He opens up his little snaggle mouth and says "Ahh" when we brush our teeth. He LOVES his sisters and he is CRAZY about daddy, but he has a special place in his heart that's just for mommy and it melts my heart every.single.time.


The fact that he's constantly getting hurt makes me sound like a negligent mother, but I swear I prevent much more than he actually gets. He is fast as lightening and stubborn as a mule and some accidents just cannot be foreseen. 

I wouldn't give up this crazy life for anything and I am so thankful that God chose me to be his mom. I may have a head full of gray hair by the time I'm 30 and I'll be lucky if my heart lasts until I'm 40, but I'll live every moment with a full and joyful heart because he's my baby boy.

**NEW** Items in the shop! Little Boy Bow Ties

Just in time for Easter, I'm releasing my spring patterned clip on bow ties. These fit little boys from birth to around 5 years old. They have a metal alligator clip affixed to the back and will clip onto any button up shirt!

These can also be worn as hair bows for little girls! 

Order yours from my Etsy shop by March 30th to guarantee delivery by Good Friday for Easter. Your little boy will be a show stopper with this adorable bow tie!! 

Noah can't wait to rock his for Easter this year. Look at this little face! Just 6 months old :)

Happy ordering!!!

Just another day at the Bernardon's

Today is unseasonably warm and we've all be craving warm weather so much. We opened the windows and soaked in the warmth and enjoyed watching the curtains blow in the breeze. Then this happened...

Flying just like a superhero

They said they were "stronging"

She's stuffing her bean bag weapons into her scarf belt

This is the face you use when you get the bad guys

Baby Brother wasn't in costume, but he was definitely enjoying watching Big Sisters get the bad guys!

Being mom to these three is such an honor. They are so creative, imaginative, strong and hilarious. I'm so blessed.

Currently

I haven't done a Currently post in months. Writing helps me to make sense of my life and I think a Currently post is definitely in order. So...

I am currently...

Thinking About- So much. Too much. We want to try to sell the house again this year and we really need to get it on the market now, but it requires so much work and I'm not motivated. Last year we took it off the market because so many houses were for sale in our neighborhood and we were just not feeling it with a newborn and two little girls 4 and under. This year, I feel like we're much more prepared mentally and we've made the house much more visually appealing since last year. I'm just not ready for all of the work involved. We also have no idea where we're going to move if we do sell our house. Too many grown up decisions. 

I'm totally stressing about homeschooling Madelynn. Some days I'm 100% content with our decision to homeschool her. Other days, I'm a complete mess about it. Is it the right decision for our social butterfly? Am I going to be enough for her? I don't want to start this endeavor in our current house and we need a home that has a dedicated room for homeschooling which is going to be a task to find. If we do homeschool her, we need to find a sport/activity for her to participate in, but what do we choose? Kids activities can be very expensive.

I'm also thinking about how much God loves me and how He has a plan for us. But I'm constantly scrambling around trying to figure it out-I need to sit. Be still. Listen to Him. It's so hard for me. I need answers now.

Listening To-JJ Heller. One of her songs came on Pandora a few weeks ago and it turned out her albums were Prime on Amazon, so we get to listen for free. I love her music. It's a perfect combination of folksy, singer songwriter and Jesus. The kids love it too.

Reading- Jonathan and I were reading a daily devotional, but we've fallen off the wagon and we need to catch up the entire month of February. So we'll be doing 2-3 devotionals a day until we're caught up. I also need to choose a new book for my daily quiet time, I just finished Exodus. 

Thankful For- I'm thankful for Jesus and every moment that He gives us. I squander so much of it-time with the kids, moments with my husband, opportunities to love and give more. But He gives me more grace than I deserve and I get the opportunity to do the right thing again.

I've also been extremely thankful for my husband lately. Not only is he an amazing husband, but he's the best daddy. He loves the kids so much and he makes a point to spend quality time with them everyday. Every decision he makes revolves around our family and I'm so thankful for the man that he's become. We've been together since we were barely teenagers, so we've had the privilege of watching each other grow up. Our journey has been crazy, but today I am so incredibly thankful for where we are, who we've become and who we will become as we grow and mature with the Lord.

Photographing-I spent a lot of time photographing, editing and replacing photos in my Etsy shop this weekend. Jonathan was on kid duty most of Saturday morning so I could reorganize and revamp my shop in the silence of our bedroom. Then I made a couple of new items, photographed them and added them to the shop. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the babes this weekend, so that will be my goal for this week. However, yesterday Madelynn took her camera to Sunday School and she got a lot of adorable photos of her Sunday School class, so that's a win for my baby girl. 

However, in January I took an entire day to myself to drive all around the farms in our area and photograph our little corner of the world. These are a few pics from that day. I hope I get the itch to do it again soon. :)