update!

Good morning my fellow bloggers! I have been slackin' in the post department, due to an increase in demand of my time and a low supply of it, therefore making it very valuable! So busy lately, but not minding it too much. God is so awesome to give me friends and family that help and pray for me, so I am grateful for that.

Camp is right around the corner, I mean right around the corner, like 16 days, 20 hours, and like 37 minutes around the corner! That's way fast, super fast! So, preparations for that are flying down the pipe. I started to feel way overwhelmed with all that and someone gave me phenomenally wise advice - DELEGATE! So, I asked for help, thank you Lord, and He gave me amazing people to pitch in and totally help bear the burden. Now, I feel a complete handle on camp preparations and that I gained much closer bonds with two amazing women of God. Thank you Father God for Angela and Katie!

Hmmm . . . what other updates can I give you? Well, Caleb is doing very well. Growing up like crazy! It's wild to see just how caught between worlds he is right now. He will turn 5 in July, so he's in that between stages where sometimes he wants me to hold him (which I am not strong enough to do for very long) and sometimes it seems like he didn't even notice that I had left and we spent the whole day apart! It hurts sometimes, but I understand that it's just a phase. I love being a mommy amidst the war instead of my heart!

The things that he says amaze me too! I think to myself, "Where did this kid learn that!?" Children are like little sponges, so be careful of that responsibility! Lately he has been telling me, "Mommy, I love you, but I love Jesus more." Of course my heart soars when he tells me that! Is that not the goal of every Christian parent? Thank you Lord! I need you to help me be a better parent always. Teach me to be the parent that you are.

GIRL TIME - I am spending more time it seems like with my girls lately and LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT! Elise just got a job that she will be working full time for and that means less Sissy Time. So, I've been trying to soak up every minute with her possible before her job starts. We have to do alot of catching up right before bed and it makes for sweet late night talks. I still feel like I haven't gotten enough Leesie time and definitely our time to pray together has been cut short, so Father God please help us to deal with that. I love investing, especially in prayer, myself into Elise's life and love that she invests herself into mine. It is a sweet relationship and complete blessing! Thank you Lord!

My dearest Gina will be leaving in days so that too has been another reason that we are wringing out the clock, squeezing every last minute of our time together. Tuesday, the three of us huddled on the couch talking about girly stuff then eventually got reedy for bed. We prayed over Elise and finally fell asleep. When we woke up, more talking, breakfast, and then Elise headed home to get some things accomplished while Caleb played with Gina's dog and Gina and I got cozy on that couch again and put in a girly flick. God, thank you that I love girly movies and that you've given me Gina so that I have someone to watch them with! This is something that I treasure about being a girl. I love lying in Elise's lap while she plays with my hair. I love that two full grown women cuddle on the world's smallest couch, sharing a blanket. I love that it isn't even a question that we are going to sleep in separate beds or that it's weird that we don't. WE'RE GIRLS! I love that! God, thank you that I am a girl and that you've given me the most awesome friends to be girls with!

What else . . . Hmmm . . . well, lots actually! God is just working like crazy in my life and I love it! God is speaking to me often and we communicate about lots of things. I am humbled that the Creator of the entire universe wants anything to do with me! How cool is our God!? He has been answering prayers like the dickens and it seems like everywhere I turn He is showing me just how faithful He really is. This season is filled with wonder! I try to figure God out alot and the more that I try, the less that I can grasp what He is doing or why He is doing it! His ways are truly higher and His thoughts are beyond my greatest capacity of thinking! Just yesterday Chad asked me to tell him something crazy about my day and I told him about how God used a dream to communicate to me that He has a great purpose and promise in my life. When I finished telling him about it and hung up the phone, I sat in my car for a couple of minutes thinking, "Wow, that really was a cool story! God you amaze me!" Then I got to carry a sleepy little boy inside and rub his back and kiss his sweet cheeks goodnight, falling more in love with my child and my Father.

So, as you can see there is lots going on right now, and so much more that I haven't even gone into. I am in a sweet season of my life right now and loving every second of it. So much of me wants to hurry time along in so many ways, but the sacrifice of missing anything or not treasuring the precious moments of right now would pierce my heart more than I could even imagine. Spring has always been my favorite season and this spring is overflowing with blessing . . . I feel like a dove.

Thank you Jesus that you are working in my life in ways that I don't even know fully. My life is so full right now and my schedule is busy and packed, but I thank you that in all the chaos and hustle I can find you and be at rest in any situation. I love that you have place people in my life that long to help me, pray for me, love me, and spend time with me and I thank you for these relationships that you have ordained in my life. Help me to manage my time and be a good steward over it. Help me to be productive according to your purposes and your will. Thank you for giving me responsibilities that invest in your kingdom and allowing me to be a part of what you are building at our church. You bless me that you would entrust such responsibilities into my hands. Please anoint my relationships and anoint that which you call me to be your vessel and help me to wisely care for them, all in your Son's sweet name. AMEN.

I just thought that I would post a real life photo of Josh Kluge just so you can see how close the resemblance is between Caleb's picture and photo of Josh . . . as you can see, Caleb may have quite a talent here!

MOTHER'S DAY!

I had the bestest mother's day ever! God is so awesome to give me such a wonderful day! This is how it went . . . It really started out as a phenomonal Mother's Day the night before. I had to work a double at work and it was quite hard. I was so tired and just worn out. I physically was tired. Not to the point that I was going to crash on the way home from falling asleep at the wheel, but like running all over the restaraunt and serving every person's whim was not as joyful as it usually is, in fact it was becoming quite like work! So, as I am getting checked out to leave, right behind me comes my brother, Chad with a tender and charming smile. I buried my head in his chest as we hugged and found such a release of the work day. Then, not 5 minutes later, my sister shows up! Elise just comes walking up to me ready, willing, and able to take the weight of my tackling hug, as well as the rest of the work day that I couldn't give to Chad! We had dinner and talked about our days and Jesus was so good to us! Then, it gets even better . . . I head to Gina's house to spend the night and she's there waiting to give me my Mother's day presents! After I took my shower, I just sat there for like 15 minutes just soaking up the day and how Jesus brought me through just as He always does, then pours out amazing blessings like my friends and my beautiful son! I just sat in wonderment of His splendor and how much He loves me - I was overwhelmed! So, Gina gave me my presents catered specifically for my longing heart and encouraged my weary soul and then we had a girly sleep over. Thank you Lord for my friend and sister!

So, then we slept and I got up at 6:30am to a tired monkey asking to sleep with me. I thanked God that He gave me such responsibility and fell back asleep with my precious son in my arms. There is nothing like kissing a sleepy child's cheeks! Caleb later that morning gave me the best card ever! Here's a pic of it . . .

I love it! Caleb drew the whole front all by himself, that's a big deal for a 4 year old! (Thank you Gina for spending that time with Caleb to help him make me that card.) By the way, the "Josh" in the picture is Josh Kluge with big muscles. Caleb loves that kid . . . who can blame him?!

Anyway, we went to church later and Pastor Shawn had such a great message and an announcement that HE'S GETTING MARRIED ! God bless their marriage! At church I loved hearing all morning, "Happy Mother's Day!" It was such a blessing! My friends also gathered around me to pray and anoint me as a mommy, so it's not like it could have been better!

After church, I went to the Old Navy and bought a new zip-up thing and then headed to lunch with my family, my brother Travis, my sister Nicole and her boyfriend, Spencer, and Caleb. It was fun and so good to see them. Our time is so short but I am so thankful when we do get together. Caleb adores all of them, so it's such a blessing to get to spend time with them.

After lunch, Caleb and I headed home. I haven't seen my dad since tuesday of last week, and he had just gotten home from a business trip, so it was so good to hug him! I missed him so much! Well, after that I went to the Border's and the park with Chad. Great coffee, great company, and great conversation, a great untypical date! Who knew that John Deere tractors could become a topic of conversation?! Here's the best part about the day is that - Jesus is King!

Father God, thank you so much for such an incredible day! Thank you for giving me the oppurtunity to be a mother and most importantly your daughter. I pray your abundant blessings over the mothers and grandmothers in my life and ask that you protect them always. Please continue to teach them and me about what it really means to be a parent and show us how we can all be more like you, the PERFECT FATHER! This day was ordained by you and you are so amazing to bless me with it! I love you Father and I long for more and more of you. Thank you for never running dry, never witholding from me, and always seeking out more intimacy with me. Jesus, I am yours, take all of me! Amen.

quote of the day . . .

"There is an enchanted place where tender cacao plants thrive in the shadows of hearty coffee trees. Their slender pods are gathered and transformed to create Starbucks chocolate-captivating with coffee, delightful on its own."

~ Starbucks Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Starbucks quotes are sounding alot like Dove Chocolate and Oprah lately! Wouldn't it be amazing if Starbucks was a Christ glorifying company and hosted hourly Bible studies!
I can't wait to go to Heaven . . . Do you think that Jesus liked coffee?

MAY MANIA!

Okay, every year in May, the UR has a blow out bash of extreme events and crazy games! This year is going to be even more awesome! We've got stuff planned out that before we'd only dream we would do. Thank you Father for your vision! Please pray for us during this time. Pray that hearts will be changed and that unity will continue to be the pursuit of our hearts in this transitional period with our youth group. (While your at it . . . pray that God sends us a youth pastor, huh?!) Here's some fun pics:

quote of the day . . .

How nice to wake up to this in the morning!

"Mom, you have a gentle spirit!"
~ Caleb Dittmann

YEAH . . . I think I lost some weight!

People wondered where those 25 lbs came from, well, these pics can help you tell. The first one is dated around November 2005 and the second is last week. Haha ;-)

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Monday marked a major end to a major season of my life. Sunday was the last day of my commitment, thus monday was a new day marking a new path in my life. God was so awesome to allow it to be a day of resting and meditating. Elise and I had breakfast first, then she went off to school to take a final while I took a nap with Caleb. Later, the doorbell rang, and standing on my front steps was my first date! Complete with a rose and presents! Praise God! I got my favorite candy (Heath bars), chocolate covered coffee beans, a pound of Arabian Mocha Starbucks, and the new United Live CD UNITED WE STAND! It was so awesome! Oh yeah, I forgot - Elise also gave me 2 stuffed bunnies and some cherished momentos that I had to sacrifice for awhile . . . priceless! So, our date started out with a quick run up to church, then to drop Caleb off with my Dad, then we headed out to dinner at the Bread Co. After dinner, we went to Cliff Cave park and walked along the cliffs and trails, taking pictures, being silly, doing cartwheels on the train tracks, talking about the faithfulness of our Father, and getting bitten by red ants - ouch! We collected train track nails and talked about the cross. We just sat there for the longest time looking at the barges passing on the river. We watched the birds soaring in the air over the cliffs. It was peaceful and relaxing . . . SO NICE TO JUST REST! After that, we headed to the Coldstone for some ice cream . . . yum! By that time it was only about 8:30 and we thought about getting a movie, but we decided we would just fall asleep anyway. So, we headed back to church. Corporate prayer was just about to end, and we wanted to say hi to the Brothers. It was good to surprise them and we gave them each a nail and told them not to take the cross for granted and to remember what God had done for each of them. I think that it would be safe to say that they liked it! It was a good time. They headed to the Denny's to eat a late night dinner, but we decided to be disciplined and headed for home. The day was full and blessed! It was amazing, actually! I had things planned and things that I thought that I would want to do for "May 1st" but God broke every plan apart that I had and basically said, "I've got something better in mind!". . . . . . . . . . The story of the past 6 months! Here's some fun pictures that captured the day: