Warrior Prayer 21 day update

I'm so excited that there are over 700 people signed up to pray for their sons beginning June 8th as part of the 21 Days 4 Sons Summer challenge!!
I'm leading a group and if you'd like to join this group, sign up here or comment on that blog post!

There are 26 (and counting) leaders signed up here. If you see a group you'd like to join please go to that hosts site and sign up!!

I've been working with Brooke and her heart is so into this project...it truly has become a way of life for her and I'm so happy to be part of it!!!

My blog will be momentarily down on Friday as I am having it moved to wordpress. The address will be the same and I'm all kinds of excited to let www.mommakristi.com grow!!!

Have a great day!!!

Essentials of Philippians Chapter 1

I’m so excited to be sharing my Hide His Word Essentials of Philippians vlog with you!! These verses have been my lifeline over these past few months and I’m so proud of what I’ve accomplished!!!

Hide His Word 1 from Kristi E on Vimeo.

Hide His Word 2 from Kristi E on Vimeo.

I had to break it up into 2 videos…so sorry!!! I’m a newbie when it come to vlogging…but hopefully it’ll get easier the more I do it.

exciting announcements

If you’ve read my blog or follow me on twitter you know 2011 has had a rough start. On May 15th my dad passed away. He was diagnosed in late February with Stage 4 cancer. It was a short road we traveled, and while I believe in miracles and the healing power of Jesus Christ, we found our miracle in a different way. For 12 weeks my relationship with my dad and sisters grew. I realized how important faith and family are, and how those 2 go hand in hand. It was hard to say good bye to my dad, but I’m so thankful for the opportunity to say good bye. Those last hours of his life were so hard, but being together and seeing him at peace is a moment I will not soon forget.

As I walk through the mourning and healing process myself, I’m so thankful we serve a God of fresh starts and new beginnings. I’ve tackled a lot of projects in 2011 and a lot has been put on hold. One experience that I’m so excited to revisit is 21 Days of Prayer for Sons.

When Brooke, author of Warrior Prayers, asked me if I’d like to lead a 21 Days group on my blog I was ecstatic!! I admire Brooke so much and this sister friend came into my life just when I needed it. I am hopeful that praying the Scripture for my boys gives me renewed strength and purpose…and I’m so excited to invite you to join me!!!

The official challenge starts June 8th and will continue for 21 days (7 days a week). We will come together and lift up our boys in prayers. Brooke will cheer us on and we’ll be praying with others all over the world!!!

I’m craving community and I hope you’ll be part of this one and join me in praying. Are you a mom or grandmother to boys? Let’s pray. Have girls?…pray these prayers for their future husbands. I found myself praying these same prayers for myself and my husband during the last challenge.

This challenge has also catapulted me into a new goal for myself. I’m now in the process of getting my blog moved to a new home…don’t worry, you can still go to http://www.mommakristi.com/ to find me…I’m just stepping up my blogging. I want to find my footing and new normal. I’m realizing how much I love community and how much it helps me to blog. I hope this new home will have a place where I can journal about my faith, my weight loss journey, my garden, my home endeavors, and my family memories. I hope that this little corner of the internet can be an encouragement to you in your journey too. This will be a place where faith and motherhood will reside and the language we will speak is love. I’m so excited about where God is taking me and I hope you’ll come along for the ride. Please be patient with me during the transition, but my goal is to be smoothly moved into my new home well before the June 15th start date.

So what do ya say, want to pray with me? Please leave a comment below, or even better, link up your blog, facebook page or twitter page in the linky below so we can all get to know each other!! Do you have a copy of Warrior Prayers? Because you need this book, it’s life changing!!! And stay tuned, because I will be updating you about this fun challenge in the coming days!!!

**edited to change start date to June 8th!!! Hope you'll join us!!!**

3 months…and the list keeps growing…

I haven’t gotten completely out of the habit of counting gifts, I’ve just ran out of time blogging them…so here we are catching up:

91. wonderful RNs and Aids taking care of dad in the hospital

92.  catching Big Boy’s ear infection early

93.  Middle Boy being so cute right before getting his tubes

94.  Sweet RNs that loved on Middle after his surgery

95.  in-laws watching the boys so Jas & I could have a much needed date night

96.  watching Big’s imagination and hearing him sing his pirate songs

97.  the peace that washed over me on Good Friday morning when I reflected on my week & realized what He did for me

98.  connecting with dad’s RN at the ECF and realizing they are Christians

99.  Dad turning his cell phone on for our 7:30am call on the days I couldn’t visit him so we could talk.

100.  Dad liking the nursing home he’s in.

101.  Just when I think I can’t take anymore- Easter weekend reminds me I don’t have to

102.  The act of finding the eucharisteo

103.  A steady job with a good paycheck

104.  Comfortable shoes for work

105.  Middle feeling significantly better after his tubes

106.  a day with my boys

107.  hubs helping my dad with oncologist appointments

108.  (in)courage community video

109.  all 3 boys content at the same time, independent of one another

110.  (109) that let me make coffee

111.   dad being able to make his own decisions

112.  a family gathering

113.  a royal fairy tale

********

 

Then life got really busy (these are obviously from a few weeks ago).

Tomorrow starts the memorial services for my dad'.  Today, I needed an attitude change and to think back on the gifts I failed to count this last week.

 

114.  hospice RNs and doctors that lived life with us these past few days

115. social workers and nurse managers that were on our team

116.  my dad’s proud face when he completed his physical therapy and the gals doted on him

117.  5/12/11 the last full day I spent with dad…his friend came up and we had lots of fun joking around

118.  that day also when I realized dad’s fight was almost over and he was okay with it

119.  saying good bye to my dad and hearing him tell me how much he loved me

120.  being by his side as he took his last breath

121.  knowing he is walking with Jesus now…the angels are rejoicing

122.  3 months – the amount of time from diagnosis to dad’s passing

123.  3 months – the amount of time I had to get closer to my dad and sisters

124.  my best friend coming over to help me prepare the photo collages for the funeral home

125.  the mixed bag of emotions that includes grief, relief, and of course, eucharisteo

 

I know this is wednesday, so I’ll link this monday to Ann Voskamp’s blog.

 

I would appreciate your prayers Thursday and Friday as we have the visitation and memorial for my dad.  Thank you for your support and prayers up to this point.

 

Much Love,

Top 10 Tuesday/ Hide His Word update

It’s no secret that I’m having a rough time right now…I have 3 boys under 3.5, my dad is battling Stage 4 cancer, I work full time and am trying to do it all.  My postpartum depression has grown into full blown depression, my weight loss has plateaued (despite my promises to my dad not to give up), and I’m physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted.

But the thing that has sustained me has been scripture memorization…so today I’m double dipping…you get a two-fer!!!  I’m linking this list up to Oh Amanda and Do Not Depart. 

I decided to split my top 10 Tuesday list into 2 parts. 

1st- 

5 way to memorize scripture (as gathered from Do Not Depart and A Holy Experience)
1. Write it down (I love my hhw moleskine)

2. Read it often

3. Listen to it (I love the links that Katie provided at Do Not Depart to the verses set to music…has helped me so much)

4. Hang it up everywhere (I have it hanging in my shower!!)

5. Practice with first letters (I’ve made index cards that you can see in the picture above that shows the first letter of each word…great for helping me recall.

 

2nd

Reasons to memorize scripture:
1. Fighting depression- I find that I need to take my thoughts captive when the depression starts.  Between Hide His Word and Seeds Family Worship I’m thinking about things that are true, noble, right, pure and lovely (Phil4:8)

2. Fighting fatigue- I am exhausted and restless.  Insomnia haunts me…so I play my verses on my iPhone and fall asleep feeling the Lords comfort.

3. Fight compulsive behavior- I believe that my depression and my emotional eating are forms of compulsive behavior.  I’m currently reading Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst. A quote from Chapter 1 of this book that has hit me hard is this: We consume what we think about.  And what we think about can consume us if we’re not careful. I want my thoughts to be on things above!!  She also uses the scripture “everything is permissable, but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 10:23) as a battle verse…and I’m gonna cling to it too!!! 

4. Strengthen my faith walk- I can’t imagine how hard these last few months would have been had I not been as deeply rooted in the Word…I love being able to fight this battle with the Sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17)

5. All the cool kids are doing it!! I love the camaraderie and support I get from my sister friends on twitter.  The gals following the #HideHisWord hashtag are so encouraging and all my gals from #hellomornings, #warriorprayers, #b90days all are ready with verses to encourage and lift up one another.

 

So there you go…I feel like this blog post could also be titled,

“How memorizing Scripture has Changed my Life”

 

It’s amazing to have the Word of God always on my lips.  It’s almost automatic for me now because I’ve been working on it so much.  But I still need to make a conscious decision to do it.  Last week I paused to review (aka…didn’t touch it all week)….now I’m motivated and ready to tackle it again head on!!!

Do you have a top ten list posted today?  Do you have any additional tips for memorizing scripture?  Post a comment, I’d love to visit your blog too!!!

Much Love,