Following a Calling

I enjoy looking back in my life and seeing God's hands at work. It is no question that the blogs I read have helped change my life and God knew that this would happen all along. Around 3 years ago I stumbled upon a video. I can't tell you how exactly, I forget those details. But I don't forget how I felt after I watched it.

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Along with the video there was a link to the family's blog. I began to read along on their journey. The author talked about the organization Ordinary Hero, which her sister had began. I clicked over to their blog one day and little did I know at the time, but in a few short years I would be preparing to go to Ethiopia as well!

Between finding Ordinary Hero and deciding to go on a mission trip with them, God has led me to many other blogs that deal with international adoption. I don't know yet if that will be a part of our family's story. Let's just say God and I are having many conversations about it and Nick and I are having a few now and then :)

However reading along on these families journeys to bring their children home, all while keeping up with what Ordinary Hero does for "the least of these" was very inspiring, and was really working on my heart. What was I doing to help others? Did I feel that special, like I could really do anything that would make a big difference? No, not really. But wasn't that the whole point of the name Ordinary Hero? Yes, I am a normal wife and mom living the day-to-day routine.....but that doesn't mean God can't use me. He can use me here in the middle of that routine, and he can also use me in Ethiopia if I give a week of my life dedicated to being his hands and feet where I feel called. And as time went on it was becoming very clear to me I was being called to Ethiopia.

Combine all of this with the fact that during this time period we also became regular attenders, then members of a wonderful church after moving to a new city. We met great people, and became involved. My faith was growing like never before and I was back to reading and studying God's word. I had graduated college and was finally settling in to being a stay-at-home Mom that didn't feel like I had to split my time up between my "school life" in one city and my family life in another. We became pregnant and had Royce. It has been such a life changing time.

So when I received an email newsletter from Ordinary Hero containing their 2012 trip dates last fall, my interest was piqued. What if I just went for it? I knew in my heart God was telling me to go for it. Around that time I read this post. And my decision was made. I had seen enough pictures...read enough posts...it was time to go.

On July 5th I will board a plane headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and I can't wait! I will be putting together "blessing bags" as they mentioned in the Ordinary Hero blog post I linked to above. They contain an outfit with socks and underwear and a treat for a child. If you would like to be  a part of that, let me know! I want to take as many donations as possible for the little ones. If you would like to visit my trip fundraising page it can be found here.



Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27 NIV

Prayers for My Babies

I am a night owl. Most nights I am always the last one to fall asleep in our home. One of my favorite things to do before turning in for the night is to go in and check on my sleeping boys. I cover them back up if they have kicked off their blankets, kiss their foreheads, say a prayer for them....and sometimes I just stand there with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face at one of the most beautiful sights - a peacefully sleeping child. I don't ever want to forget the thoughts that go through my mind as I stare down at them, so I am recording them here.

My sweet baby boys....I don't think you can ever know how much I love you. My heart actually physically hurts with love for you. Someday you may understand when you become a parent yourself. But for now you are so innocent. I look at your chests slowly rising and falling in your sleep and think about the miracle of life. How the intricacies of the human body all work together so that we may live. I never paid much thought to that before you each grew inside of me and I experienced the miracle of human life and birth. When I stare at the two of you and remember feeling those precious first movements inside of me, I don't understand how anyone could ever question the existence of God.

Sometimes its hard for me to ever imagine either of you grown up, because that would make me....well, older. But it will obviously happen. Someday I will be tucking in tall teenage boys(and hopefully it doesn't freak you out if you wake up and happen to see me standing there crying). When I think of you each getting older I think about how you will be hurt at times. You will face challenges. I will want to run out into the big bad world and protect you from everything but I know I can't do that. Some things we have to experience and learn from on our own. Sweeties, I hope you always know you can come to me no matter what is going on in your life.

But I don't want to get ahead of myself with worry. I want to enjoy each stage. As we walk though life what seems mundane in the present becomes treasured in the past. Our day to day life while you are each young and I am privileged enough to be home with you is so special to me. That chunk of dry wall you took out of the wall the other day Carsten - don't worry about it baby boy because a house isn't a home until its been lived in. And real life with a little boy sometimes involves flying toys. Or sometimes its silly putty being mushed onto Mommy's favorite blanket. Or changing your outfit 34 times in a day because God blessed us with a very spit-up prone baby. Its okay Roycey. I'll change your clothes and do as much laundry as it takes. I just thank God you are healthy and that is the worst of your problems.

I pray about your spiritual life and how God will use your lives if you allow him to. Daddy and I will do our best to raise you, but at some point you will have to choose for yourself what path you will take and what you believe. There may be seasons of your life where you aren't close to God. I hope and pray it doesn't happen because Mommy and Daddy each had those seasons and we have come to realize it is always better to walk with Him. I pray for who will be a part of your life as you grow in school and other activities. I pray for your future relationships and the women you will marry.

And some nights I just pray you have sweet dreams. I watch you smile in your sleep. You each may be a mini-me of your father, but when you smile I can see myself in both of your eyes and the way they get very small. As the saying goes you are each a part of my heart walking around outside of my body. There will be no changing that no matter what age you are.

So I cover you...
I lay my hand on your chest...
I feel you breathe..
I wipe away my tears...
And kiss my precious babies goodnight.



Flu Bug Be Gone

Well friends I was visited by a lovely little bug most people take shots each year to avoid. Yes I woke up early Friday morning with the flu bug. I have to give a public shout-out to my hubby, Nick, for leaving work early Friday and taking care of his sick wife and two little boys all weekend! Luckily the worst of my symptoms were over in about 48 hours but my energy level is still kaput. Although this afternoon I just couldn't take it anymore and did some cleaning. And then I collapsed back into bed with some thin mints and milk that the aforementioned good husband came home from the store with :) Gotta love a man who brings you chocolate after 2 days of not being able to eat anything!

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So since my mind is a little all over, so will the content of this post! You may remember me mentioning the book The Circle Maker. Well one of my faves, Lysa TerKeurst, interviewed the author on her website. I had to share the links, there are just 3 short videos about 6 minutes each. I highly suggest taking 20 minutes to watch!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

As you may have guessed I spent the majority of my weekend in bed or on the couch. Friday I had a very unfortunate experience where our bedroom clicker would not work and the TV was stuck on the Disney channel. At first I felt punished because who wants to watch Wizards of Waverly Place when you have the flu but then I realized God was probably telling me to go to sleep. So I commenced to sleep the rest of the day and when I woke up around 9 p.m....the clicker worked again :)

In other completely non-related news I am up for a phone upgrade. Which is probably a good thing since I currently fear for my life whenever I text because my phone gets very hot and I worry it may blow up in my hands and then what would I do?? So now I must decide whether or not to join the rest of the developed world and get a smart phone, or stick with a boring, basic(less expensive) phone. Droid or IPhone? I know, I know, such a serious first-world decision.

Finally to end this very random post I have to say I have the SAG Awards on TV as I type and can Emma Stone do no wrong?? I just love her and her fashion choices!

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As I proof read this post I realize how very random and jumbled it is, haha. So sorry....I'm just going to blame it on the fact that in this weekend I probably had more sleep in one time period than I have since Carsten was born. My brain doesn't know how to handle that much sleep anymore! 

So on that note....goodnight :)

Catchin' Up

Well it has been over a week since my last post..oops! That's not quite the consistency I was going for, but lately that beats my consistency in my workouts so I'll take it :).......now let me take a moment to set my alarm for my workout tomorrow morning...

Okay :) At the recommendation of my minister(and friend!) Chris, I am reading The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. So far, soo good. Do you struggle with the concept of grace? Is it hard to apply it to your every day life, and learn to let go of your past mistakes and live in the present? Well, then like me this book is for you, dear friend.

There have been soo many good passages in the book so far. It's great because I checked it out from the library and obviously someone who had it before me thought so too because they took the liberty to underline, mark, and star all over - I love a book that has been well loved :) I have to share one of my fave passages just in case it touches anyone else like it has me...

"In conversation, the disciple who is truly poor in spirit always leaves the other person with the feeling, "My life has been enriched by talking with you." This is neither false modesty nor phony humility. His or her life has been enriched and graced. He is not all exhaust and no intake. She does not impose herself on others. He listens well because he knows he has so much to learn from others. Her spiritual poverty enables her to enter the world of the other when she cannot identify with that world...
The poor man and woman of the gospel have made peace with their flawed existence. They are aware of their lack of wholeness, their brokeness, the simple fact that they don't have it all together. While they do not excuse their sin, they are humbly aware that sin is precisely what has caused them to throw themselves at the mercy of the Father. They do not pretend to be anything but what they are: sinners saved by grace."

I truly hope and pray I can be anything close to that kind of disciple in my interactions with others!

My sweet friend Alicia recently had to move to Mississippi for over a year while her hubby completes training for the Air Force. Alicia has been such an inspiration to me since we met! We decided we would be accountability partners for memorizing 2 verses a month. I haven't memorized scripture since I was a kid. There is a reason it says in the Bible to learn the verses and hide it in your heart.....because it helps. So grateful to be doing this with a friend!
Now I better get to sleep before that alarm for my workout comes way too soon :)

Oh How He Loves Us

I have sat down to write a post a few times in the past week, but just wasn't feeling it and I told myself I wouldn't just write to post for posting's sake. It doesn't mean I didn't have things flowing through my head and heart because I do, but I think I know now why God wasn't allowing them to flow into words on this blog.

Have you ever had instances in your life where the same things keep popping up and you finally realize God is trying to make a point? I have had this a few times, and I've definitely been experiencing it in the past week. I've come to believe there are no such thing as coincidences, but instead as I heard my Mom call them this week "God-incidences". I like that term much better :)

If you've been reading along you know I am working on my prayer life. I am reading The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. It is all about praying bold prayers. Also this week while reading the Bible I read about Elijah. He's a cool dude. Go read about him in 1 Kings. He happens to be a pretty awesome pray-er. (Just made that word up I think - but it works). This week in small group we talked about Jonah. He knows God wants him to do something but he runs away, and ends up in a situation(and a huge fish) where he is praying a heartfelt prayer knowing he has messed it up, but wanting more than anything to get the chance to do it right. Finally in multiple places this week I have been confronted with the verse Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still".

So all of what I'm reading, all of what God has put in my path this week has led me to know he wants me to be still, pray diligently, keep studying his Word, and rely on him. He is teaching me right now. Preparing me. I may not know what all for, or I may have an idea but not see the full picture yet. But I know he wants the best for me just like any loving Father wants for his child. He wants more for each and every one of us. It's exciting!

A friend of mine shared this video on facebook today. I love this song, and this video is too powerful not to share. I hope you take the time to watch....

Have a wonderful weekend....I am looking forward to a snowy evening spent inside with the fire burning and breakfast for supper with my sweet boys. Perfection :)

A Chat with the Big Guy

Yesterday while Mr. C was at preschool and the baby took a long morning nap I did something I rarely get to do. I just laid in bed. Usually when this happens I try to take advantage of that time and clean house, exercise/shower without being interrupted(quite a feat when you have little ones), read a book...you get the idea. But for some reason yesterday I just felt like laying down.

I did get on the computer for a while - checked my email, got on facebook for a bit, and thought about writing a blog post. But nothing was coming to mind. So I put the laptop down. I just stared at the ceiling for a bit(thinking how weird it felt to be laying in my bed with sunlight shining through my window and the house being so quiet. Can you tell this doesn't happen much?).

And then I just started talking to God. Nothing serious. But I felt so relaxed, and it was just me and Him in the middle of my day. I'll be honest, usually he hears from me at the end of my day, when I'm tired and weary and more than likely in a hurry because sleep is calling my name. But yesterday I was reminded why I made prayer one of my resolutions. And I firmly believe that just taking those few moments of being quiet in his presence allowed some ideas for future posts to come to mind.

I need to pray more often throughout the day. Be in continual prayer, if you will. God is our Heavenly Father and if we truly love him and want him in our lives, we should obviously be talking to him, right?! I feel like we(and I'm including myself in that "we") often wonder at different times why God feels so far away, maybe not too real....just a looming figure in the skies. But I believe it is because we have distanced ourselves from him. He has never moved. Prayer is the medium by which we can talk with him, and the Bible being one of the ways he can talk to us if we take the time to read it, study it, and apply it to our lives. When we do these things we are drawing closer to Him.

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Philippians 4:6-7 The Message

So I'm working on it! :) Do you have anything you would like prayer for? I know I have people in my life who pray for me and it is such a comfort, and it has always made a difference. I may not get the "answer" or outcome I want every time, but I know God hears those prayers from me and the ones made on my behalf....and he answers in his perfect will. So if you would like the comfort of knowing someone else is praying for you or along with you - let me know. I don't care if I see you every day in "real life", if we haven't talked in years, or if we have never met - Leave a comment or email me libbybolesky@gmail .com.

Friendship Bread Failure

I had never heard of friendship bread until recently. My sweet friend Amanda sent me a text and said she had three starters for friendship bread and would I like one? I replied with "Umm...what is friendship bread?? :)"  So after laughing at me she went on to explain that it is basically a bag of ingredients that are the start of homemade bread. You then do a little something to the bag for several days, be it just mashing up the mixture or adding a few ingredients, until it is time to bake! Sounds good(and fairly easy), right??

So I accepted this little bag of possibilities and set it on my kitchen counter. I took the recipe card that Amanda had hand-written the instructions on. For the first few days it wasn't much, just mashing up the mixture a bit. I was successful at my mashing on days one and two. But then I got busy....it was the week before Christmas and I was doing lots of baking in my kitchen.....and that poor little bag got pushed to the back of the counter and forgotten.....

Fast forward a few days. Nick is in the kitchen. He sees a bag of what appears to be....well..."mush" for lack of a better term and wonders what it is. So he opens the Ziploc bag and sticks his nose in it... Let's just say he got a rude surprise with the aroma that wafted out.....it wasn't very "friendly" :) And I was outed as a very bad person to give a friendship bread starter to. I haven't fessed up to Amanda yet(mostly because I haven't seen her since this happened!) I know she will laugh at me forgetting....in the long run ruined friendship bread isn't too big of a deal, but I really don't want to be a failure as a friend.

If you are like me then perhaps you can relate. You have the best intentions to call that friend that has been on your mind, check in with the one you haven't seen in a while, send a letter to one who has been going through a rough time. But it doesn't get done. You are busy doing life and at the end of the day when you are laying in bed you think "Oh....I will do that tomorrow!" But the next night you are thinking "Oops...definitely tomorrow". I am trying to be better at this. That means not waiting til I have perfect peace and quiet to pick up the phone, because really - when does a Mommy of 2 little boys ever have perfect peace and quiet??

I have found as a stay-at-home Mom that sometimes its easy to get lost in my own little world. It revolves around 2 sweet little boys and my husband, and right now I wouldn't change that for the world. But there are times when I have to remind myself life is continuing to go on outside my door and I need to continue to foster those relationships I have with my sweet girlfriends. Some of those friendships are over a decade old. The kind that you know will make it though thick and thin. You know too much about each other for them not be your friend, right?? :) (Just kidding. Sort of.) Some of those friendships are women I have met in the last few years and have come to treasure as a part of my life. I know God placed each woman in my path at the perfect time. I can learn from them, and I can give to them in some way if I take the time.

So my prayer is that each of my friendships with the special women in my life will grow deeper throughout this next year and beyond. I pray I take the time to make that happen. And I promise all my friends to give more effort to our friendships than I did to making friendship bread :)