All of a sudden

Lily just started reaching some milestones, and it seems like it was out of the blue! All of a sudden she started grabbing toys, and pulling them to her mouth. She began to try to crawl when on her tummy. And my favorite, she grabs her feet. It just seems like it was all overnight she began to change out of a newborn to a baby. And a chunky monkey at that. I took her to the ped yesterday to have her ear looked at and she's up to 17 lbs. So cute. In reality though, she has been working up to these milestones, but to me, it felt like it was suddenly.

All of a sudden. Sometimes things happen like that in our lives too. You will wake up and things have changed and you say to yourself, "when the heck did that happen?" I am not sure if I blogged about my self-esteem issues, maybe I will do that sometime if I have not, anyway...a friend asked me what finally set me free from the terrible self-image I had. It was funny because I could not pin point a specific time where I felt like I was free, I just was. It was an all of a sudden moment for me. I realized that over time, reading the Bible and praying, that I just was set free. I did not have a smack yourself in the head moment where I shouted "I'm healed!" or anything like that. But looking back on that time in life, it feels like it was all of a sudden. Does that even make sense?!

I say that to encourage you to keep pluggin' on in life. If you are walking through a trial in life at the moment, perhaps you see no end in sight, hang tight. Eventually you will be on the other side of the mountain and you will think gosh, that was all of a sudden.

What's in a name?

Jen the hen from Ivers Glen. That was what my Grandpa used to call me. He (the Grandpa who inspired the name for this blog) had nick-names for all us grandkids. Let's see: Joe the schmoe from Kokomo. Jen the hen from Ivers Glen. Jess the mess from something something dess (can't remember, sorry Jess!) and Jackie wacky from Kowasaki. So there ya go. Except for Jess. Poor middle child!

I find myself giving my kids all sorts of names. Joei is often called Bear, Kate, Jo-bear, Tuggy, Punkin butt, and the list goes on. Lily has become the Putter, Putty, Put put, Lily Picadilly, Muncher...and again, the list goes on. Nicknames are funny things. I wonder what will stick for my kids, and I wonder what other names they will aquire as they age. It's fun. If you know my husband, you know he has a nickname for everyone so why should our kids be any different?!

Psalm 66:2 says, "Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious." Names mean something. They reflect our character, our nature. God has many names:

Jehovah Jireh, means that God is our provider. Jehovah Nissi, meaning that God reigns. Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is with you. And yep, you guessed it, the list goes on.

When you are facing something overwhelming, call on the name of the Lord. Do you need the floodgates of Heaven to open up on your finances? Call on the name of the Lord. Is your health failing? Call on the name of the Lord. Do you need direction in life? Call on the name of the Lord. There is power in His name. Speak out His many names and not only will it build your faith, but it releases that faith to go out and fight for you!!

Praise the name of the Lord!