The Baby's Not Even Here and Already Our Marriage is Changing

I can't even begin to fathom all the ways God has blessed my life, but one of His blessings I am most grateful for is the relationship He has given Taylor and me. And if there's one thing we have heard many times since becoming pregnant (and even before), it's that children will change your life.
I can't wait to experience these changes, but one change Taylor and I don't want to make is to neglect our relationship. We know that we can only be good parents if our marriage is strong and we approach parenting as an unshakeable team.

But I never would have guessed that even before the baby arrived, our relationship would already be changing.

Taylor buys cattle for the feedyard so two or three days a week he is driving to sales, and once in a while he will have to travel farther and stay overnight. Recently Taylor went down to Oklahoma City and planned to stay for the first part of the week to go to a few different sales. It's a trip Taylor has made many times during the four years we've been married, but it's the first time since we've been pregnant.

Until that moment, I hadn't been aware of our relationship changing. But as he got ready to leave, we both found the idea of being separated harder to deal with than usual.
I think just the knowledge that we are going to be parents together has already made our marriage grow in new ways and become even stronger.

The week ended well, though, because Taylor and I traveled to a bull sale in South Dakota as a kind of mini-vacation, and we got to spend a lot of quality time together.  We took an extra day to visit Mount Rushmore and drive through Custer National Park.

We spent several hours driving through the park hoping to spot some buffalo. As we got ready to leave the park, this guy was standing right beside the road.

Pregnancy Update: We are now 26 weeks along. And my new favorite outfit is my overalls. :) I signed up for Stitch Fix the other day because I don't like shopping, but my wardrobe is getting very limited. Now once a month I'll just have maternity clothes sent to me instead.

By the end of the day it's already becoming a chore to bend over and pick things up. Getting out of the shower last night, I experienced a moment of disappointment because I was able to see that I'd missed getting an article of clothing into the hamper and I'd have to go pick it up off the floor… And I know this struggle will become a lot more real over the next few months.

As I think to the coming summer months I feel like there's a real possibility I may start wearing cowboy boots with my shorts simply because I can pull them on without having to bend over and tie any shoe laces. ;) I'll try to abstain, but just in case you see me making such an awesome fashion statement, I'll ask for leniency in judgement.

Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God. 1 Corinthians 6:19

The lesson that went with this Scripture tells us that when we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in us. We will fight Spiritual battles all our lives, but we won't fight them alone. God will help us and give us the strength to do what we cannot in our own power.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!

Lyndee

Playing "Dress Up"

Playing "dress up" - it's basically a right of passage for any kid whether it's tying a cape (blanket) around your neck to be superman or tromping around in your mom's high heels.

I know there is at least one extremely flattering childhood picture (insert heavy sarcasm) where I wore an old flannel shirt that was much too large for me. It was an old shirt of my dad's that I found in the back room of our farmhouse. Even from a young age, I admired my dad. He was a strong, hard-working man, and he could fix nearly anything - I wanted to be like him, so I decided to dress like him.

I realize now that it takes more than simply wearing the same style of clothes to be like someone. If there is someone we admire and respect and want to be like, it is what's on the inside that matters. It is our actions that matter. It is our character that matters.

On March 4, 2016 my friend Joey Feek left this world to go to her heavenly home. I wept knowing we would no longer get to have her presence here on earth with us, but I thank God that I was blessed to have the chance to know her.
She was someone who truly exemplified living a life for Christ and for her family. I especially loved to see the way both she and Rory sought to follow Christ's example of being a servant to one another in their marriage.  There have been many occasions where I have looked to their relationship as I sought to be a godly wife to Taylor.
Getting to attend Joey's memorial service just reminded me all the more that I want to follow her example in life. Every single person there had been touched by Joey and each person felt that he/she had been made a better person simply by knowing her.

What a way to live. So while I don't intend to go out and buy the same clothes Joey wore so I can play "dress up" to be like her, I will continue to allow her life to be an example to me. And I will think of her often as I seek to, first and foremost, love and serve the Lord my God, my husband, my family, and each person I come into contact with.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, so I am really looking forward to next weekend. For quite a few years now, I have given up something for Lent as a way to honor the sacrifice Christ made for me. This year I tried something a little different. One of the things I gave up, or at least tried to, was complaining. I don't feel like I'm someone who gripes or whines a lot, but I'll admit this was harder for me than I thought.
Several times in the past I have given up sweets for Lent, and I guess I just put more conscious thought into what I eat as compared to what I say. I remember one time when I nearly forgot about not eating sweets during Lent. I stuck some bite of dessert in my mouth before I remembered, so I quickly went to the trash can and spit it out.

Unfortunately, words don't quite work the same way. Once they are out of your mouth there is no taking them back (or spitting them in the trash). There have been several occasions during this Lenten season when I have said something negative and only realized it after it was too late. It has made me a lot more aware of how often I say things without really thinking about them beforehand. This is something I want to continue to work on even after Easter.

I have been very blessed the past two weekends. First Annie and Abe came out to visit us, and then this weekend Mom and Dad came out to be with me on my birthday weekend. It was wonderful to get to spend time with my family.

Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. 1 Peter 3:15

I loved this Scripture because the lesson reminded me that we should be ready at any time to share our testimony of God's work in our lives. He has done so much for me, and I am so grateful. I want to be bold in sharing my story with others.

I hope you all have had a great weekend and have a wonderful week!

Lyndee

Savoring Surprises and the Things I Didn't Know About Pregnancy

I love surprises, always have. Even when we were little, I remember us four kids waking up on Christmas morning and, as the oldest, Katie would lead us down the stairs, then we all would cover our eyes with our hands to go by the Christmas tree on our way to Mom and Dad's room. Even seconds before
we were going to open our presents, I didn't want to risk seeing or even guessing at what my presents might be…Although now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad made us crawl into bed with them and wait a half hour because apparently we'd gotten up really early that Christmas morning. I doubt that half hour earned them any extra rest though with four kids and two adults in a queen-size bed. :)

With a baby on the way, there is one surprise neither Taylor nor I want to spoil. We don't want to know whether we're having a boy or girl. We want to savor that surprise on the day of our baby's birth.

As far as pregnancies go, I can't complain at all. After watching my older sister puke constantly during her pregnancies, I am very glad to say that I have not had the same problem. Mostly I just had some nausea, but I was able to keep that pretty well under control by keeping a little food in my stomach. Now that we're into the second trimester, even the nausea seems to be lessening.

Our first picture of our baby. It will be fun to see it once it looks a little more like a baby. :)

Speaking of food controlling nausea…I can already tell this baby takes after Taylor in at least one area - Taylor LOVES bread. And since I've been pregnant, bread and carbs were the things that helped the most to keep the nausea down. Pre-pregnant Lyndee only ate very limited amounts of bread in an effort to be healthy and watch her figure. Pregnant Lyndee has relaxed that rule considerably. ;) Although now that I'm feeling better, I'm going to have to start putting those rules back in place.
But at this point this baby also takes after me at least a little because it is definitely not a night owl. Most nights by the time I finish making supper and doing dishes, I'm usually ready to shower and go to sleep. The other night we went out to dinner with some friends and didn't go to bed until after 11 p.m. The next day I had to have an hour nap and it felt like it took me two days to recover.
Simply writing this blog post has taken me over a week because any evening I would sit down to work on it, after about 10 minutes I'd pass out. :)

One thing I didn't know about pregnancy was how much you dream (or at least remember your dreams). Nearly every night I have woken up from at least one crazy dream. One that stuck with me more than any of the others was a dream where me and my little sister were young again, but in my dream, instead of being best friends like we always have been, I truly disliked her and was mean to her. The next day I talked to her on the phone and had to apologize because of how much I disliked the feelings I'd had for her in the dream.

Western Kansas Fact: (actually this is more of just a cattleman's wife fact) Any experience you have while pregnant will be compared to that of a pregnant cow. Taylor and I both frequently refer to me as a "heifer" (a young, first-time-pregnant cow). We just laugh about it - it's the thing we are most familiar with that we can compare our pregnancy to, and I'm sure as time goes on and I get bigger, the comparisons will only increase. :)

A Scripture lesson I liked that I had read recently was Isaiah 38:17.  You have cast all my sins behind Your back. 
This Scripture reminded me that I will never have to stand before God in judgement. My sins have already been judged and the punishment for those sins was taken by Christ. I am free of sin in God's eyes because I have accepted Christ as my Savior. I pray I can live well for Him to honor His sacrifice and bring Him glory.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Lyndee

Roshel's Dream Come True

Sorry for the long delay between posts…milo harvest drug on forever and the holidays had me pretty busy; then we were getting ready to take a family vacation to Hawaii so I figured I might as well wait until after that to do a blog.

Our trip was amazing - we spent 5 days in Maui and 5 in Kauai. We did a bike ride down a mountain, went whale watching, snorkeling, drove the Road to Hana, did a dune buggy trail trip, took a helicopter tour, not to mention ate a hefty amount of amazing food and spent time relaxing on the beach in the sun. 

But out of all those awesome things, my favorite day/experience was the very first night we got to Hawaii. 

The day had had a few glitches - our flight was delayed for several hours because of a problem with the plane. They ended up having to change planes before we could leave. Then we found out the new plane was 12 seats short, and we were worried for a while that we wouldn't even get seats to make it to Hawaii when we were supposed to. Thankfully we did get seats, but then there was such a strong headwind that it took over an hour longer than it was supposed to to make the flight. 

Sadly this meant we weren't able to make our dinner reservations we had planned for Stewart and Roshel's anniversary (their 31st wedding anniversary was that day).

Nevertheless, we eventually made it to Maui, but by the time we landed, got our rental vehicles and drove to the resort, we were all feeling pretty tired and hangry :), so we went straight to the restaurant at the hotel. Sitting in paradise with some good food in our bellies made us all feel a lot better.

While we were getting ready to enjoy a nice dessert, Taylor and I pulled out the anniversary card we had brought along to give to Stewart & Roshel.

Inside we had stuck this picture:

I have to say it was pretty awesome to watch them open the card and then just stare for a few seconds trying to comprehend what we were telling them. :)

Even though we were only 7 weeks pregnant at the time, we knew that with more than 10 days of constant family togetherness, there would be no way we could keep the surprise. They would easily figure out I wasn't drinking any alcohol or coffee, and then our chance to surprise them would be gone. So we decided to tell them a little earlier than we otherwise would have. (I'd already had to do a lot of faking over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, and poor Taylor had to drink my share of champagne and wine on top of his. Luckily, for his sake, I'm not a big drinker).

A little bit of history - since about…oh…the day Taylor and I got married, Roshel has constantly joked with us about when we would give her some grandkids. Actually the first year we were married, at the gym Roshel and I go to, our class was supposed to dress up for Halloween. I simply stuck a pillow under my shirt and said I was "Roshel's Dream Come True" (hence the title of this blog - although I'm pretty certain Stewart was just as excited as Roshel).  ;) We were able to video tape their reactions when they opened their card. It was fabulous, but sadly the video file is too big for me to upload.

God willing, if everything goes smoothly, we should have a new little one sometime in the middle of August! Taylor and I are really excited, but I'm pretty sure until we are holding a baby in our arms, it will continue to feel kind of surreal.

For now we would greatly appreciate any prayers for strong and healthy baby growth as well as for God to prepare Taylor and I so we can be good parents and raise our child to know and love the Lord.

Here's some pictures from out trip:

Sunrise bike ride down Mount Haleakala in Maui. Taylor and I first did this on our honeymoon 4 years ago.

Luau in Maui

Helicopter Tour in Kauai 

Whale watching in Maui

Be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

In the Greek language this particular Scripture meant to be filled continually - not to be filled and then stop. I am guilty of this. I may have an especially meaningful experience where I feel filled with God's Spirit and my faith is renewed, but then I allow life, activities, obligations, etc. to get in the way and keep me from focusing on Him. Each day I want to work harder to make sure I am allowing my Heavenly Father the time and space in my life to fill me continually with His Spirit.

So I guess I could have written a blog sooner, but once we found out we were pregnant, that was all I wanted to write about so I figured I better just wait. :) I'll try to update a little more often from now on.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Lyndee

I Want to be Smarter Than a Chicken

In July we moved our baby chicks into our new chicken coop, and we had plans to get a connecting pen built shortly thereafter so they could also go outside.
"Shortly thereafter" was both ambiguous and, apparently, ambitious. We started working on it in August…and finally in the middle of October it was finished. It's a good thing we don't do this type of work to make a living - we'd probably be homeless and starving. ;)

Admittedly, we had all the posts set and a lot of the framework done, but we just hadn't found a chance to finish the rest of the framework, build a door, and put up the wire.
But, earlier this month, Taylor and I went back to my hometown for my cousin's wedding. While we were gone, Taylor's parents surprised us by having a couple of their employees, Carel and Martin, finish the pen.
They did a great job and it was wonderful to come home to such a nice surprise. (Thanks also to TJ and Jim who helped as well throughout the process!)

But...our chickens are definitely not the brightest bulbs in the box. We opened the little doors so our  chickies could enjoy their nice new pen in the beautiful fall weather, but they would not venture outside. Even when I tried to lure them out with food, they would just stand at the edge of the opening, too afraid to take the next step.

Taylor even picked one up and pushed it outside, but it quickly ran right back in the door - back to the place where it felt comfortable.

I can make fun of our chickens all I want, but the truth is, I can be just as bad. I am a serious creature of habit, and I cling to the things I know.

Even when I was little I didn't like to be out of my comfort zone. Unlike my two older siblings, I never went to 4-H camp because I was afraid to be in a new place away from my home and my mom. For the same reason, I never went with my Grandma and Grandpa Patterson on their annual Branson trip when I was young like my older siblings and some of my cousins did. Looking back I can say I'm sorry I didn't take the opportunity to make those memories with my grandparents.

Another time I was going to stay at my Grandma and Grandpa Whitesell's but in the middle of the night, my mom came and picked me up because I was crying and wanted to go home. Luckily we only lived 7 miles from Grandma.
I was kind of like our chicken that got put in a new situation and quickly ran back to what was comfortable without really giving it a chance. :) (Go figure that it would be me who moved away from home when I got married!)

They finally made it outside!!!!

But if the chickens can figure it out, there's hope for me too. Now when I look at our chicken coop, I'm going to try to use it as a reminder - be adventurous; make memories; and be willing to try something new  - God may have amazing things in store for me if I do!

We've been running pretty hard the past several weeks with corn and milo harvest. We finished the corn last night, but we still have several fields of milo to cut. The rain that came through today is allowing everyone to have the weekend off, though, which is pretty nice! :)

This was one of my favorite pictures from the wedding we went to a couple of weekends ago. Their faces cracked me up!

Last weekend I went to the Southwest Women's Encounter spiritual retreat. I went to my first one in April as an attendee, but this time I went in a leadership role. I did it because I wanted to give back - I wanted to help give the women attending for the first time the same type of wonderful experience I'd had in April. I had no idea how amazing and rewarding the experience would be for me as well by serving in this capacity.  It makes me think of a Scripture out of the book of Luke.

Give and it shall be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure - pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return. Luke 6:38

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend everyone!

Lyndee

A Few More "Firsts"

Since Taylor and I have been married, we've experienced a lot of "firsts"…first home, first time buying property, first time starting a grow yard (and all the little things that went with that),  first time traveling to Africa, and so on. This summer I've got to experience a few more "firsts," albeit, maybe of a less exotic nature than others, but it's the little things that make life truly great! :)

For instance, I've never raised chickens before, but earlier this summer we had a chicken coop built and our first order of 25 layers came in. That number has been trimmed down to 20 hens and one rooster (whom we've decided to name Billy Bob). :) They're still growing and it will probably be a few months yet before they are old enough to start laying eggs, but we're excited about the prospect. In the mean time we're working to build a pen out from the coop so they can go outside.

One of the other cool firsts for both Taylor and I was a direct result of the wonderful rainfall we've received this summer. For the first time (since either of us have lived out here) there has been enough rain to make the Arkansas River run through Lakin. It used to be fairly common for people to "float the river" in tubes or horse tanks, but it has been years since anyone's been able to do it.

A few weeks ago, Taylor and I and some of our friends took a Sunday afternoon to try out the river for ourselves. 

 

Admittedly, near Lakin the river was only about  three feet deep in most places and not running super fast so it took us all afternoon and evening to float several miles. 

Note to self - bring duct tape on a trip like this! Several of our tubes got holes poked in them. At this point they became less of a means for movement and more of a hinderance to making it to our destination. By the time we got done they were ready for the dumpster. Even so, I'm glad I can now say I've floated the river!

Our little trip took longer than expected and had a few of its own difficulties, but we soon found out our problems were minor compared to what they could have been. When we got done, part of our group took the vehicle we'd left at the stopping point back to our truck where we had gotten into the river. By this time it was almost 9 p.m. When they got to our truck, they found a group of people there who had gotten in the river several miles further back from where we did. They had only made it about half the distance they had anticipated, and to top it off they forgot their keys for the vehicle they had left at their stopping point, so they were stranded. 

Taylor took them back to their vehicle, but if we hadn't come along they would have either had to float for about another 6 hrs in the dark to get to their vehicle (and even then they wouldn't have had the keys for it), or they would have had to stay there on the riverbank in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention a nasty storm blew in that night, and would have made their predicament much worse.

I'm grateful God put us in a position to help them because I know if I'd been in their situation I sure would have wanted someone to do the same for us. 

Now I just hope the wet weather pattern will continue and hopefully we'll be able to float the river again soon. :) 

Thanks Landi for taking and sharing your pictures!

Scripture:

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

I really liked the reminder this Scripture lesson gave. Some people may never read the Bible, but they may see how I live my life. I need to make sure I am living in a way that allows them to see and experience Christ even if they never read His Word.

I hope your Monday has set this week of to a great start!

Lyndee

The Tricky Little Difference Between Talking and Communicating

I have been talking for over 25 years. I would like to think I am reasonably good at it… somewhat articulate, don't mind talking in front of groups… but I'm learning there is a vast difference between talking and communicating. If I'm talking, words are coming out of my mouth.  But if I'm communicating my words/meanings/intents are being heard and received in the manner I intended by the person I'm talking to, and vice versa.

Taylor and I have a wonderful relationship. We like to talk to each other, and we frequently find ourselves thinking or saying exactly the same thing. But that doesn't mean we communicate perfectly.

A couple weeks ago we were trying to get ready for harvest. It can be a stressful time. There's always a list of things we feel we need to get done before we get into the fields because once harvest starts, you really don't have time for anything else until it's over. But, somehow, the wheat always seems to be ready before we've completed our list. :)
After a couple days of harvesting, it rained and kept us out of the field for a day. Taylor and I were trying our best to use that day to finish some of those remaining to-dos. Earlier in the week Taylor had to cancel the haircut he had scheduled, and he was getting pretty shaggy. While eating lunch I mentioned that maybe he would even have a chance to get his hair cut that afternoon. Taylor said it would be nice but that he still had some work to finish at the feedyard as well as mowing the yard, weed eating, along with a few other tasks he felt were more important, and he doubted he would have time for a haircut even if he wanted.
I sat there thinking for a few moments and then said something along the lines of "I'll be able to help you with the yard work. You've got time to get your hair cut." What I meant was to be a considerate, helpful wife offering to share the work load so he wouldn't have to neglect himself to get everything done.
(Que breakdown of communication here)
But to Taylor, me telling him that he "had time" after he'd just finished telling me he didn't, was the equivalent of me telling him that things he felt needed to be done really weren't that important and that a haircut should actually be at the top of his list. To him, my comment seemed disrespectful and like I did not value the work he had to do.

With a little extra time we were able to fix this misunderstanding, but it reminded me how easily I assume others will precisely understand my words and meanings when I talk.  It also reminded me how easy it is for a lack of communication to create hard feelings.

I'm sure Taylor and I will spend the rest of our lives developing our communication skills, but I know it's something we're both committed to working on to keep our relationship strong.

My nephew, Kolden, got in on the harvest action. He came out to visit me and we started harvesting the day after he arrived. I was so glad to get to spend some special time with him.

Western Kansas Fact: If it rains, they will come.
The past 3+ years I've lived in Western Kansas, one of the bonuses of the dry weather was the lack of mosquitoes. However, we were blessed to get quite a bit of rain this spring and with the rain came the mosquitoes. I was amazed at how fast they showed up.

This is a Scripture I have fallen in love with:

"Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear." Isaiah 65:24
This verse reminds me that, no matter where we are at in our lives, God knows exactly what we need. He knows the desires of our hearts, and if we seek Him and His will, He will answer our prayers, and a lot of times He may be working on answering them before we even pray.

I hope you all have a fabulous remainder of the week and weekend!

Lyndee