Unfurled

It's 12:30 a.m. I don't normally write this late, but I felt I had to get this down somewhere.:)

I was in bed just now, and I was thinking of how I want to be open with God. I had this lovely image of a flower all closed in on itself, but as it was watered with rain and as the bright sun shone on it, the petals began to unfurl and spread themselves open. Each petal spread itself as far as it could possibly go, offering everything it had for the world to see.
I feel myself longing to be like that flower. As God rains Himself down on me, I want to open myself up so that every part of me is exposed to His light. I want to be transparent, so the world can see what God has to offer by looking at my life. I want to feel His warmth and His rain. I want to glisten with His glory like the flowers glisten with dew in the morning light. How awesome it must be to have the Son shine down on you like that! That's my goal. That's what I'm running after. :)

A Big Day For Marshall!

I remember waking up early one year ago feeling pain but not feeling sure if it was time or just a false alarm. I got up and moved around a bit putting things in my bag because I guess I really did know that day was the big day. The pains quickly became increasingly uncomfortable, and I knew that I had to wake Josh up if I wanted to make it to the hospital in time for the doctor to deliver the baby. My track record has been increasingly shorter labor times with each child.
I did deliver at the hospital very soon after arriving. Labor and delivery lasted 3-1/2 hours and my sweet Marshall was born. I never thought my heart could expand with love as much as it did the moment I saw him. For anyone who wonders how you can ever have enough love for another child--don't worry. Your heart has the capacity to expand beyond all limits the moment you lay eyes on your child. I know, it happened to me. ;)

Happy Birthday 1st Marshall Hunter!
Mama loves you so very much! :)

New things in the Bradley house!

Jasmine is in the process of potty training! It will be SO nice to have only one child in diapers!
She enjoys the praise she gets when she goes, so I really hope she will be quicker to catch on than Gabe. I'm still thanking God every day that Gabe is finally trained! :D






Marshall discovered it was a lot of fun to play in the cabinet with my pots and pans. :)








Marshall has learned to climb!
This is where I found him one day when I walked back into the living room. I'm very surprised he hasn't learned to climb out of his baby bed yet. I'm sure that is coming soon. :)

The New Year

I have no resolutions for the year 2010. Why? Because I am much like everyone else, and I make them and then break them. I celebrated New Year's with sick children. Marshall and Jasmine have a nasty cold. Yuck!

Our temperatures are heading back down! It's going to be in the 20's for the next few nights. That's cold to me!!! I haven't any desire to experience anything colder. ;)

Since the children are sick, I haven't been outside all week for any proper length of time. I have to do my weekly grocery shopping tomorrow, so I might actually enjoy it this week! I didn't go shopping last week, so my list has grown quite large.

Josh and I will celebrate our 8 year wedding anniversary on January 5th. We plan to celebrate next weekend. I just realized last night that my mom and dad will celebrate their 30th anniversary this year! They celebrate their day on the 4th. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

I'm off to tend to the sick ones....

Happy New Year everybody!