Just One of Those Days

I'm a twin mom. I can handle it, right? That's what I have been saying to myself all day long. This morning started off pretty humorously. [I have to tell the stories even if it makes my entry a little more lengthy.] Signs of a good day from the start, but I found that was not the fate of my day.

Most mornings I get up with Kyle (without the snooze button and all. Preposterous!) to help get his things together for work, pack his lunch, and make his breakfast so that he can have a smooth morning out the door and wonderful "home" thoughts before leaving out into the work world. :)

Kyle's alarm went of this morning as he knocked it to the floor while it continued to make it's wretched noise, waking me up enough to notice the time on my clock: 5:50am. What? Kyle's alarm usually goes off at 6am! I am not a morning person at all so, of course, the morning stubbornness in me took over and I refused to get out of the bed until 6am.  He got in the shower and I waited until 6:05am to get up. I met him in the bathroom as the shower facet turned off. I told him in my girlish attitude that his wife refuses to get out of the bed before 6am to get the day started. He laughed and said that he had purposely set my clock ahead so that I would start getting into bed earlier at night. I objected that my clock was accurate and that his clock time was early. He argued back with the same reply. I contested him again only adding that either way he has gypped me...either of an added few minutes of precious sleep in the mornings or shorting my back rubs at night! [Kyle has a rule, which I pushover every night, that if I want a back massage before sleep that I must get to bed early because his bedtime is strictly 10pm and he ceases all activities]. All he could do was hysterically laugh at me and my objections as he went to find one of our cell phones to verify the time! And for all of you who are wondering, my clock was accurate! ;)

I then proceeded to put on tennis shoes while wearing my bathrobe. Kyle gave me funny looks before starting to make fun of me. I mean, this doesn't happen, EVER! See...I have been little "Susie Homemaker" this week. I have done more cooking in just a couple days then I probably do in a week, so my barefooted feet hurt from standing in the kitchen for long periods of time and I needed some extra foot support, even to make Kyle's breakfast. He continued to laugh and we both just started laughing at all the morning humor and started our morning fun.

But after Kyle left for work, my day quickly changed. From the little things: running to the store at 8am for much needed baby items that we suddenly found ourselves out of and then forgetting to use the coupons we had at checkout. To the bigger things: having a cancellation at the last minute so I would have to take the girls with me to my hair appointment. The hairdresser didn't even have time to style my hair due to the synchronized crying coming from two baby onlookers (We hadn't even been there 15 minutes). To everything in between: no baby naps, terrible teething from both, calling customer service about misshipped babies' birthday invitations, and on down my list of crazy things gone wrong. Aye yi yi! And did I mention all the stares from ladies who thought I should know better than to bring babies into the salon.

Ugh.....

I'm a twin mom! I deal with this stuff all the time! It usually doesn't get to me like this. God, just a little grace today! It's one of those days! I kept thinking, 'God, what are you really trying to teach me here today? I'm  just not open. It's a really hard day.'
It's one of those days. It's just one of those days....

:: Light bulb moment::

I have posted it before, you can listen here: One of Those Days by Danny Silk. I love the story! I choke up every time I hear it. The story entered my mind and I heard God whisper to my heart, 'Ashley, I'm so proud of you!'

He just wanted to love on me in the very moments/days that seemed the hardest and to remind me that 'He's so proud of me!'

Ahhhh....the day and all it's heaviness just seemed to break and my attitude quickly ceased fire.

Thanks, God, for loving me even when I am unlovable.
Joy comes in the Morning! Psalm 30:5

No crying over spilled milk, Mommy!

An Intimate Piece

My husband and I have recently discovered a new joy in our relationship with each other.

This new Joy is simply going deep with one another.

Most evenings, lately, we find ourselves turning off our television and going to bed early to spend intentional time snuggling, talking, truly enjoying, and paying attention to one another...what we like to call “intimate conversations”. Of course, this usually includes a back massage for me!! Ha! 

We then find ourselves unintentionally waking up the next morning for more snuggling, close conversation, and laughter. Enjoying each other after being away in sleep. It seems the more time we spend purposefully paying attention and listening to one another, the more we feel we need this in our marriage. We are going deeper in our relationship and finding more joy in our love and marriage that has poured itself out just by going deeper and engaging with one another. The Father is talking to us and writing on our hearts and we can't help but watch the sparks fly. It's lovely. 

Just as our marriage has drawn us both together intimately, and with time, we go deeper with one another, God is calling all of us to go deeper. The deep part of His heart is asking us to turn off the distractions and is inviting us to an intimate conversation with Him. He longs to share the intimate details of His heart with us and to be given the entirety of yours. He wants to reciprocate sweet nothings....He wants to be worshipped. He wants to share His heart with you, romance you, most of all....LOVE you. He wants to be an intimate part of your heart. He wants to love on you because He loves you so intimately.

It's Who   He   is! 

It's this love and intimacy with the Father our souls crave. We will find ourselves excited by Him, filled with joy because of Him, anticipating encounters with Him, drawn closer to Him.  

St. Augustine in his book “Confessions," said,

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

He wrote your name on the palm of His hand. (Isaiah 49:16)

He writes down every tear that falls from your eyes. (Psalm 56:8)

He knows the exact number of hairs on your head. (Matthew 10:30)

He knows every detail about you 
and He wants you!

He wants an intimate part of you and for you to be an intimate part of Him!

  

We are truly loved by the Creator of the Universe.

It's time to go deeper! 

Are you going? 

Seasons of Separation = Closeness

We all have our shares of struggles, times of trial, and sin that separates. The hardship is usually tough and we all seem to hold our breath for better days when the season is at a close. A lot of the time, grumbling is involved throughout the painful process. I'm guilty. I tend to get selfish and think how unfair the problems seem or question why I can't just let go of the things that create severance with the Father. We would all like to live the good life 100% of the time. I mean, we were created with this eternal perspective in mind; I'm talking about living with the Father eternally in Heaven one day, presumably. But what if we took on our struggles and separation with a different view in mind. 

This weekend, the girls and I took a long weekend to visit my extended family leaving my husband behind due to his work. It was the first weekend the girls and I have ever been separated from Kyle. The time apart was hard on us both, but we were both looking forward to the moment that our hearts would be physically joined back together. And even in such a short time away from each other, it brought us a little closer and appreciate each other with more excitement. I don't really need to repeat the "absence makes the heart grow fonder" quote here, do I? ::smile:: 

Last night, upon our return, as Kyle tucked the girls away in their own little cribs at three in the morning, the overwhelming smile on sweet Essie's face was priceless. Even she was so full of joy to see her Daddy and be back in her little baby bed again. She was smiling ear to ear and you could see it radiate even in the dark. 

What if we looked at our difficult chapters in life with this example? What if we took on our trials with more anticipation of what God had in store for our futures rather than to grumble and 'Ba-humbug' away the consecutive bad days? I mean, He is trying to teach us something valuable here, right? Maybe even something that will teach others or strengthen us in the future even in our failures. We can only see in 20/20 hindsight while God is navigating ahead and always with plans to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). 

In the mist, we call home more - pray and seek out the Father. Our hearts yearn and anticipate Him. We tend to open our ears, wait for His words, and yearn for Him to make His presence known.

The trying season brings forth a season of closeness with Him that we never thought possible. He embraces us with His overwhelming love and grace.  We grow! We learn even more aspects of each attribute of who He is. It brings us closer and strengthens our relationship with Him, and ultimately He reveals more of our identity in Him. All of which make us little Esther's in a world of darkness...our joy overflows to those around us when all is right again.

^{2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "}That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

An Esther Smile

So........

So, I know what you are thinking.... another blog, right? Everyone seems to be jumping on this idea like everyone has a Facebook. So, why me? Why Ashley Adams? 

I am not all that great at writing. I stay at home all day. You guessed it! I'm a homemaker! I'm a wife. I'm a mom. Blah, Blah. Are you bored yet?

Well, I had one of those days. One of those days where you are being hard on yourself. One of those days where the negative thoughts take over and get the best of you. Or as I would like to sum it up as, one of those days where the enemy likes to quietly tell you about yourself, or should I say, his lies about yourself.  

And then, the God inside of me took over and counteracted everything and I had a total God download moment. 

'You are a ministry, Ashley...

in your marriage and as a wife, 

in motherhood (and of TWINS, at that)

and in playtime,

in your creativity,

in your homemaking and starting a home, 

in your struggles,

and in your joys!

(The whole cupboard full)

Romans 12:2 (The Message) 1-2 summed it up best: 

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going -to-work, and walking around life- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

In other words, I am Ashley Adams and I do have a LOT to offer. God has blessed me with so much that my cup(s) overflow on the daily.

So, for just another Blog, I pray that my cup of God's joy and favor will overflow to all those read. May you be inspired in new ways in your home, in your heart, and in your life.

So here goes.......