Do Not Fear

My devotion this morning started with a verse.  One verse and as soon as I read the verse I broke down.  This is definitely a heart sharing post.  Isaiah 41:13 says "For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."  But I'm scared to death God.  I don't know how not to fear.  I'm not in control.  And He says to me, Be still and listen.  (Sometimes I wonder if God doesn't need to smack me in the face to awaken me from my hysterical fits.) He says to me "I AM".  I will take hold of your right hand.  DO NOT FEAR.  It's amazing how many times (depending on the translation) Fear not, or do not fear appears in the Bible.  Over 100 times, and yet we let fear and anxiety get the best of us in so many situations.  He says "I will help you."  As I plead my case before God this morning, admitting my fears, He says to me I will take your right hand, just trust Me, and when you fully accept My help and let me lead, your feet will not even be touching the ground.  Trust me and DO NOT FEAR.  All for now.

Be Still

He says listen, just listen.  This morning after my alone time with God, He revealed to me one of the ways I need to listen more.  Big Man got up early and shared with me something that truly touched my heart.  And God says "See."  Just listen and trust.  One of the purposes that Addison fulfilled in my life was teaching me to look at each one of my children so differently and to listen intently to the bazillion questions they ask and statements they may have.  You never know where God may choose to reveal Himself.

Seeking God

Right now I am seeking God more than I ever have before in my life.  Hoping and praying for the big picture.  Without fail, He keeps telling me to let it go.  Now is not the time.  Keep loving Me.  God speaks to me a lot through music and songs and I thought I would share a beautiful song by Plumb that keeps playing in my head and truly speaks to the heart of where I am right now.  I might even have to sing it.  All for now.

Through the Bible in One Year

It's a New Year so I thought I would post one of my favorite Bible reading plans.  It covers Old and New Testament over the course of a week which is very appealing to me.  I'm not a big fan of the plans that go from beginning to end.  I did this plan last year and thought I would share it with you.  It begins on a Sunday so you could start Jan. 6.  I hope you enjoy.

52 Week Bible Reading Plan

All for now.

Reflections of 2012

2012 was such a difficult year for our family.  A lot of hard lessons were learned and our emotions were pushed to the limit with the birth and death of our beautiful Addison.  I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. I resolve to grow in every aspect of my life everyday.  Having said that, if I were to make just one, it would be to grow more in my relationship with God and to follow His will more whole-heartedly than I did in 2012.  He carried, and is still carrying, us through the most difficult situation we've ever faced.  So I decided to take a little inspiration from Ashley Sisk and show our year in pictures.  I hope you enjoy.

Me

A somewhat decent picture of me.  Not many of those ;P.

I Love You

My rock, I love him so much.  We've been through a lot.

Still Laughing

Not entirely sure what she was eating, but we still laugh about this picture.

Winter Wonderland

Last February, we had a blast that day.  Big Man and his snowman.

Birthday

It was so hard to choose between all the birthday pics, but I absolutely love the joy on his face in this pic.

Friends

My bestie, even if we do live 13 hours apart. ;P

I Was Inspired

The hubbie and I were inspired last February.  We walked into a goodwill and found this desk for just a few dollars and completely refinished it.  It is so beautiful now.

Spring Fever

This beautiful flower is on a bush right next to our front door.  So beautiful in the spring.

Travel or Vacation

In August, we wanted to go on a family vacation and involve Addison, even if she was still in the belly.  This was our trip to Lake Erie.

Summer Days

This is from our annual 4th of July water gun fight.

A Day in my Life

I figured that these two pictures together really capture a day in my life.

All Smiles

The bestest of friends, don't you just love those adorable smiles.

Autumn Harvest

Around the corner from our house.  It's so beautiful.  I'm definitely going to miss it when we leave.

Family or Home

Our entire family in 2012.

Celebrate!

We celebrate that our little Addison made it to term, was born alive and lived long enough to let her brothers and sister meet her and love her before going home.

Let's Do It Again

A few days after Christmas we all went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for a little holiday vacation.  It was such a blast.

I Miss You

I miss my baby girl.  Addison Grace Frisk

Beautiful

This is such a beautiful shot and how much Princess Peat Peat loves her daddy.

Dress Up!

My handsome little man all dressed up.

Macro

Oddly enough this was the closest I came to a macro shot in 2012.  Weird.

Holidays

Our yearly Christmas pic.

My Favorite

So many, I narrowed it down to these two.

Don't Ever Change

Love these two so much.  

Just Because... So There!

There is something I absolutely loved about this profile of the princess.  One of my favorite.

Hopes and Dreams!

My hopes and dreams are my children and that we will see Addison again one day.

I hope you enjoyed a look back at our 2012 and we are hopeful (God willing and the creek don't rise ;P) that 2013 will be a year of joy.

Merry Christmas!

Let us all remember in the midst of chaos and traditions, there is a higher meaning in this season.  This Christmas which for some of us is very different this year, but it is the same yesterday, today and forever.

"'⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.'"

"...And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

The Frisks

Fun Food Friday 12/14/12

So something came to my attention on Friday.  I have not been in the best of mindsets electronically.   I have my bad days and my good days.  Yesterday I made huge progress.  I didn't run screaming from the building when there was a baby in the room.  About 1 month after Addison passed, I ran from the library because someone had a newborn in there.  It was almost involuntary.  So, what came to my attention on Friday?  I didn't realize how many people still look forward to my FFF posts until Friday night I had a couple of different people call to see what we did for FFF.  I will be getting back to my blogging more frequently very soon.  Still trying to figure out how I'm moving through my grief.  What I know is that God is carrying me through, He keeps me standing on two feet and is teaching me what this whole process was for.  So, FFF, our main dish was absolutely heavenly and I'll probably put it in my personal cookbook that I'm compiling.  It was Pesto Chicken Mac 'n Cheese.  Basically it is adult mac and cheese.  What I want to know is, do you guys prefer me to post the recipe or not.  Let me know.  Our dessert was Egg Nog Pound cake  oh my, definitely one you will want to try for Christmas.  Super good.   Our movie was 101 Dalmatians.  The princess begged for a dog movie.  It's definitely been a challenge setting up the air mattresses for FFF with the Christmas tree set up, but we had a blast.  Hope you enjoyed and that you'll join me with your own FFF.  All for now.