thankful thursday...

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt 6:28-34

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7

this thankful thursday is all about God's provisions and answered prayers. my cbs bible study recently challenged me to get specific in my prayer requests, just as isaac's servant did when he went on his search for rebekah. so i started praying for specific needs we had at our house...some big and some small and God has worked wonders! but i tell you, it didn't come without having to first let go of our finances...that is, giving Him our first fruits of labor each month.

the first prayer was that chris's student loan would be forgiven within the month. for those of you who don't know, the federal gov will forgive certain teachers of their student loans if they teach for 5 years in a title 1 school in a specific field. since he has taught in a title 1 school for 5 years, we applied for his loan to be forgiven and at first it was denied because they lost part of his paper work. so we tried again, and this time i prayed specifically that it be forgiven and asked that it go away in the month of january. one week after starting this prayer we got this paper in the mail...

i opened it and began crying and then immediately called chris to tell him the good news! what a weight lifted off of us financially. that was basically like a monthly pay raise! praise GOD!!

the second prayer is kind of petty but i recently borrowed some very cute maternity clothes from a great friend and she gave me so many things that would look so cute with brown boots. i warned you this was petty. so i went on a search for brown boots but since its the end of the season and i wear probably the most common female shoe size, 8, i have had no luck. so earlier this week, i started praying for God to help me find some boots at a good price. then i received this package in the mail today from an amazing friend...

i cannot describe to you how cool it is for God to meet this little, petty need of mine. it truly made me feel cared for by my Savior. it is awesome that He is a God that knows all of our thoughts and desires and cares about meeting our needs.

i know that He will continue to prove Himself faithful throughout this season in our lives...as we strive to make it on one paycheck. and every month He increases my faith more and more and it has truly caused me to be a cheerful giver...for i know that nothing we have comes from our own work but from God alone. so i challenge you to pray for God to show you how much He desires from you and then watch Him work to provide all of your needs with the rest.

preggie sisters

**new pic coming soon**

here we are at mere's shower. em is 29 weeks here and i'm 27 weeks. big things are going on in this bluster family...may 7th-mere's wedding (at home, i might add), may 19th-em's due date, june 2nd-my due date! God has been so good to us and i am thankful to be enjoying these special moments with my family. just pray for mom and dad's sanity through these next few months.

showers...

sweet little mere had her first wedding shower this past weekend. it was lots of fun and the food was too die for! remember, this is a pregnant gal's thoughts! the shower was made up of college friends, mentors, roomies, and a few friends from childhood. my favorite part was the day, besides eating, was listening to mere answer a question about her and rob as she opened each present.

hostesses with the mostest

bluster gals

days 47-61

i know we have been missing from action lately but sickness struck our house with a force like no other. we are never sick, so it kind of caught us off guard. so after a sinus infection-april, bronchitis-chris, and a stomach virus that hit all three of us...and mere and dad, we are back! because of these issues, i am missing a few days of photos. i guess my brain wasn't thinking about taking pictures during that time.

*feb.23 and 24 are missing due to photographer being under the weather

*feb.26 missing due to sickness striking house

NeNe to the rescue!

this week i've been battling a sinus infection...probably the worst i've ever had and being pregnant doesn't help because you can't take so many meds that help the case. yesterday i called in reinforcements to help me out with eli and nene came to the rescue. she took him for the whole day and still has him now, a day later. i slept until 9:50 this am. hopefully i'll be on the mend soon. i'm tired of my head pulsing every time i move it!

on a completely different note, eli has definitely been a trip lately. he is talking more and more. he uses his whole body to make his point and most of his talking is actually yelling. at first i didn't know where he was getting the idea that you need to scream everything...i mean, chris and i don't yell at each other all day and night. then while i was watching a georgia basketball game the other night, i figured out while eli does it. i was yelling at the tv, "shoot it! come on that was a foul!" and it occurred to me that since eli really started experimenting with his voice and talking, it has been either football season or basketball season...and the bluster family and eli's daddy are pretty vocal when it comes to watching sports. and on top of that, we have been to many football games and basketball games in person. and they are loud! so i think eli thinks that is how you are supposed to talk. here is an example of what i'm talking about...

eli talking to nene's iphone while looking at himself.

and yes, he can work a stinking iphone by himself!! and he decided he can walk down the stairs alone yesterday as well. as long as he has something to hold on to, he can do it! this kid is a mess but i wouldn't have it any other way.

today is the big day!!

today baseball season officially begins...though we did have a preseason scrimmage thursday night against union co. we are now in full swing here at the akridge house washing uniforms, taking daddy lunch on game days (so eli can spend a little time with him), and packing up lots of warm weather apparel in order to stay warm on these cold baseball nights. i know it will be harder for me to watch eli this year but i do have to say that it will also be much more fun because he is totally into the game and loves seeing daddy on the field. so here's to a great season raiders! make us proud.

eli watching from the press box thursday night.
**for all those in my family scared of heights: the window is closed...though chris said he had to stop of pray during the first inning that eli wouldn't fall out.
i promise i'm not michael jackson! and i had a hold of him the whole time...you just can't see my hand gripping his leg.

eli at a game last year...sitting so still. :)

days 38-46