Whew... time is flying these days.  Josiah is growing by leaps and bounds as you can see in the photos below.  Arielle & Rachel are the dutiful big sisters who love to care for their little brother.  I'm not sure where the Lord is leading me with this blog.  It may be time to end it soon, but I will be in prayer about that.  In the meantime, a quick update is that in June we are preparing to move back to the US -- Georgia to be exact.  Our stint in Europe is soon to be over and we will certainly miss many things, especially our church family.  Nonetheless, I know that God is preparing a place of worship and fellowship for us in Georgia -- even if that place is to be OUR OWN HOME!

Easter Sunday - Arielle, Josiah & Rachel

Josiah & I

Sean & I

In Christ,

Talya

Here are photos from the girls' ballet recital earlier this month.  Some are from the dress rehearsal while others are from the actual performance.  Arielle and Rachel had great fun and did a wonderful job following the steps.  This was Rachel's first recital.

 Arielle & Rachel in third position.

Rachel is all smiles!

Smiles from Arielle!

 Concentrate...concentrate...

The girls and their dance instructor.

Sean and the girls.

Last night Arielle had dress rehearsal for tonight's ballet recital.  She is dancing as a "doll".  She enjoyed her ballet class and hopes to continue in the future.  Her dance instructor said she could advance to the next level as long as she worked on pointing her toes.  We are so proud of our big girl!:-)

Rachel enjoyed her ballet class as well, although we had a rough, non-participatory first few classes.  She would go into the dance studio and stand in the middle of the room, unmoving!  She would only move if I did the movements with her.  Then at about the 4th class, she all of sudden did not want me to help and wanted to dance all on her own... and that's what she did!:-)

In Christ, Talya

We are having some of Sean's co-workers over to share our Thanksgiving meal.  Here's the planned menu (subject to change without notice!):

• Turkey w/ gravy
• Pot roast
• Ham
• Fried (thanks, Sean!) & baked chicken
• Stuffing
• Greens
• Green beans
• Cabbage (my favorite!)
• Macaroni & Cheese (the girls' favorite)
• Sweet potato souffle/casserole (Sean's favorite)
• Tortellini (shout out to Italy)
• Cornbread
• Dinner rolls
• Cake (yellow w/ chocolate frosting)
• Apple pie (thanks, Mrs Smith!)
• Sweet potato pie (thanks, Sara Lee!)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  I pray that we all take a moment to give thanks to the Lord and that our gratitude becomes our daily way of life.  I pray that we thank the people we see each day, but often take for granted, like our spouses, our children.  I pray that we thank the people we don't see each day -- those who may be far away.  I pray we thank the people we don't know, but have made an impact in our lives or in the lives of others.  I pray a special prayer of thanks for the soldiers who have willingly put themselves in harm's way.  In Christ, Talya

Clip Art from ClipArtHeaven.com

I believe that as believers we are to be good stewards over everything with which God has blessed us – including our bodies and our health.  I believe God wants us to eat healthy food, eat in moderation and get ample exercise and rest.  Despite these beliefs, I have struggled in this area. 

Since marriage and pregnancies, I have seen my weight fluctuate within an unhealthy 10-lb range.  Whenever my weight starts to dwell in the upper weights of the range, my health has been adversely affected.  Such was the case this spring & summer.  The reality hit me that I must do something about my weight.  I could not sit idly by as my health and quality of life suffered.  I was ready to make a change!  Well, I had been hit with this realization several times in the past, but it’s never been a catalyst for any lasting change.  I’ve tried Weightwatchers and biblically-based hunger/fullness plans, but something was missing and after a few weeks I would give up.  However, this time the Lord let me in on something -- my motivation was all wrong.

In past attempts at weight loss, my motivations were driven by my desires and what I thought was noble -- I wanted to look and feel better for myself and my husband, to be an example of health to my daughters,  to take care of my body the way I believed God intended.  Sounds good, right?  Well, the Lord showed me that this “laundry list” was not a list of proper motivations at all, but rather by-products or results of what was to be my TRUE motivation – obedience to the Lord in ALL things through surrender to Him (Deut 13:4, 1 John 5:3).  Putting my desires ahead of obedience to the Lord, no matter how well-intentioned, had proven futile and fruitless.  I am learning that only through true obedience can those by-products that I so desire, or my “laundry list”, be achieved as the fruits of my obedience.

So what has this meant in my current journey toward weight loss and a healthier lifestyle? 

It has meant a complete shift in my focus.  I have learned that more important than simply feeling better physically or being a better example, I am to be obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit – the rest will come if I am attentive and follow His lead.  So many times, I would head into the kitchen just to eat SOMETHING, knowing I was not in the least bit hungry, and I would hear the Holy Spirit nudge me with a simple “No.”  Ninety-nine percent of the time, I would ignore the Holy Spirit and eat whatever I wanted to eat, rationalizing that one cookie wouldn’t make any difference.  It’s true, one cookie probably won’t make much of a difference to my waistline, but grieving the Holy Spirit by my disobedience is nothing to take lightly and has serious spiritual consequences, especially if I make it a habit (Eph 4:30 “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”).  It was like saying, “Holy Spirit, I don’t really care what you say.  I’m going to eat/do what I want to eat/do anyway.” 

How arrogant of me.  

How humbling to realize this.   

It wasn’t until I called my disobedience what it is – SIN – that I felt the conviction to change my behavior.   I have had to confess my sins of intentional disregard and disobedience and repent, continually.  Only then do I believe my journey toward greater physical health and weight loss began in earnest.

Check back soon for “Weighty Considerations:   Part 2 – Sowing & Reaping”  In Christ, Talya

Here's a photo of my husband Sean and I.

Our 6-yr-old was the photographer.  She loves to take photos with her princess camera, but was thrilled that she could use Mommy's digital camera for this one!  Sean and I have been married for 7.5 years.  God is good because I don't think any other man could put up with me!:-)  I love him and must make a greater effort to let him know that!

Here are our darling little girls, Arielle, age 6 and Rachel, age 3.

I am so grateful for my daughters.  They are such sweet little girls.  Arielle is my "reading machine".  She is also very creative, drawing and writing stories almost constantly.  Rachel is so affectionate, yet very serious at times. 

God has blessed me greatly to have a Godly husband who seeks the Lord diligently and wonderful children that we have the privilege of training and guiding.  I don't thank the Lord for them as often as I should.  In Christ, Talya

This is my first real blog.  I have been inspired by reading the blogs of several other godly women.  The Lord has used those blogs and those women's lifestyles to be examples to me at a time when I feel the Lord is leading our household in a direction that's very different from that of those around us.  We are to be set apart from the world, but sometimes moving in that direction can be lonely.

This summer I started wearing only dresses and skirts in an effort to dress more modestly and femininely (1Tim. 2:9). 

I did a major wardrobe overhaul for myself and my daughters (ages 6 & 3).  Although my girls love dresses and skirts, we haven't been able to buy quite as many as we need to make a good weekly rotation of clothes for them, so they still wear pants and shorts at least once or twice per week.  I don't quite believe the Bible is telling me that pants are sinful, so I do still own pants and jeans for myself.  Maybe it's more of my reluctance to let go of the old and fully embrace the new.

My next goal is to learn to to sew.  I can do basic hand sewing to mend or sew a button, but I would like to get a sewing machine and learn to make tops and skirts for my daughters and myself.  Modest , feminine clothing can be hard to find.  In Christ, Talya